The Amex Gold Card Is Offering 100K Bonus Points to Some New Members. Do You Qualify?

The American Express® Gold Card has long had an attractive welcome bonus. New cardholders can earn 60,000 points + earn up to $100 back after spending $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership (terms apply). If you were to get $0.01 per point, the resulting $600 in value would be enough to cover the card's $325 annual fee more than twice over (see rates and fees).

But 60,000 points + earn up to $100 back is only a public offer -- American Express advertises this generally to all. If you're lucky, however, you might get targeted for a chance to earn more than 60,000 points + earn up to $100 back as a new cardholder. In fact, you could get as much as 100,000. Here's how.

Only select applicants are targeted for this special offer

First, the not-so-good news: There's no clean, works-every-time method to getting served a welcome offer of 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points on the American Express® Gold Card. While I can offer some pointers, they're not going to work for everyone.

But for those lucky few, the offer is as follows: Certain applicants can earn 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after they spend $6,000 on eligible purchases within the first 6 months of card membership (terms apply). As you can see, this is the same criteria as the 60,000 points + earn up to $100 back welcome offer, except this one offers 40,000 more points. More points, same spending.

So, how do you see if you qualify for the higher 100,000-point welcome offer?

Again, there's no clean method to getting served either offer, but here's what I would do. First, navigate to the American Express® Gold Card page on American Express's website. Look for the blue box with a welcome offer (it should be near the top of the page). If you see a "Limited Time Offer" for 100,000 Membership Rewards Points, congratulations -- you're one of the chosen few.

If you don't see an elevated welcome offer, try going incognito. This worked for me, and it might work for you, too. On my regular web page -- with all my cookies open for algorithms to feast on -- I was served an elevated offer of 75,000 points -- not bad. But when I went incognito, the card page fed me the 100,000-point welcome offer.

If that doesn't work, try using someone else's computer. In fact, the first time I ever saw the elevated 100,000 offer was on my spouse's laptop.

I got a special welcome offer. Now what?

If you're interested in this credit card, apply for it. There's no guarantee the special offer will return if you leave the web page and come back later.

If you can't remember the American Express® Gold Card's features, here's a quick rundown. As an American Express® Gold Card holder, you'll earn

• 4X Membership Rewards® Points at restaurants worldwide , plus takeout and delivery in the U.S. (up to $50,000 per year in purchases)
• 4X Membership Rewards® Points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 each year in purchases)
• 3X Membership Rewards® Points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
• terms apply

But wait, there's more. You'll also get:

• $120 annually in Uber Cash for Uber rides or Uber Eats orders in the U.S., dished out in $10 monthly increments (terms apply)
• $10 monthly statement credit when you use your card for Grubhub orders or at certain restaurants, including Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, Milk Bar, and select Shake Shack locations (terms apply, enrollment required)

It's the ideal card for foodies, but made even sweeter with the elevated special welcome offer. While there's no guarantee you'll get 100,000 bonus points, there also doesn't appear to be any known criteria for why you wouldn't. Check, refresh, go incognito, use a friend's laptop, and see if you can pull up this incredible welcome offer on your own.