There’s a new travel rewards credit card on the market, and it looks like one of the richest introductory offers that I’ve ever seen.  The new American Express Gold Rewards Card is built for customers who spend more than $2,500 a month on their credit card and love to accumulate travel points to get them to their next destination.

Here are the features and benefits for the American Express Gold Rewards Card:

American Express Gold Rewards Card

While most travel rewards cards are tied to a program like Air Miles or Aeroplan, the American Express Gold Rewards Card gives you the option to redeem your points with other affiliated frequent flyer programs and hotel rewards programs.

You can also redeem your points for gift card rewards and merchandise.  And just for signing up, they are offering enough bonus points for a short-haul flight.

The introductory sign-up offer includes the following:

• Earn 15,000 Welcome Bonus points – enough for a short-haul flight
• Annual fee is waived for the 1st year – a savings of $150
• 1 free supplementary card – a $50 value

Keep in mind, that’s just for signing-up.  Here’s a list of benefits for the cardholder:

• Earn 2 points for every $1 in eligible travel purchases including flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, and more
• Earn 2 points for every $1 in eligible gas, grocery and drugstore purchases
• Earn one point for every $1 in purchases everywhere else

Redeeming Points for Travel and More

As previously mentioned, redeeming points for travel and gift cards is simple and flexible with this card.  You can simply charge any travel to your card and then call American Express to pay for it with your points.  You can also transfer points to other participating frequent flyer programs and hotel rewards programs.

You can transfer your Gold Rewards points one-to-one to Aeroplan.  Lastly, you can redeem your points for top brand merchandise, retail and restaurant gift cards, entertainment, Ticketmaster and many other options.

It’s important to note that your membership rewards points can only be redeemed for a statement credit towards a qualified travel purchase charged to your Card.  There is a minimum redemption requirement of 1,000 points for a $10 credit and redemptions must be made within 12 months after the travel purchase is posted to your account.

Membership rewards points transfers must be made in 100 point increments, with a minimum redemption requirement of 1,000 points for each transfer.  1,000 Membership Rewards points = 1,000 Aeroplan Miles.  Visit membershiprewards.ca for more information.

Travel Protection

American Express Gold Rewards Card members receive generous travel perks and protection including; emergency medical insurance for out of province/country travel, trip interruption insurance, car rental theft and damage insurance, $500,000 in travel accident insurance, lost or stolen baggage insurance, flight delay insurance, hotel burglary insurance, and emergency card replacement coverage.

Final Thoughts

This is an exciting offer from American Express.  When combined with the 15,000 bonus points for signing-up, members will have already earned $200 in rewards.

The only downside for me is that American Express is not widely accepted in Canada for everyday spending, so it would be difficult to accumulate a lot of points unless you travel regularly.  You will also have to determine that the total rewards will out-weigh the $150 annual fee that will apply after the first year, and still be more profitable than other rewards cards.