Amex Gold vs HDFC Regalia Gold 2026: Fees, Rewards, Lounges

Amex Gold and HDFC Regalia Gold are both gold-branded rewards cards, but they are priced and built very differently. Amex Gold is the cheaper card to qualify for, at ₹50,000 a month of income, and its Membership Rewards points never expire and transfer to partners. HDFC Regalia Gold needs ₹1,50,000 a month but gives lounge access, flight-voucher milestones and a lower forex markup, and its fee can be waived. On our numbers, Regalia Gold is the stronger card for anyone who can get it.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Amex Gold	HDFC Regalia Gold
Network	Amex	Visa
Joining fee	₹1,000	₹2,500
Annual fee	₹4,500	₹2,500
Fee waiver spend	None listed	₹4,00,000/year
Base reward rate	1%	1.25% (5 points per ₹200)
Bonus categories	2% dining, 2% groceries	2.5% travel, 5X at Myntra, Nykaa, Reliance Digital, M&S
Point value	30 paise	50 paise
Forex markup	3.5%	2%
Domestic lounge	None listed	3 visits per quarter on ₹60,000 prior-quarter spend
International lounge	None listed	6 visits a year via Priority Pass
Min monthly income	₹50,000	₹1,50,000
Min credit score	750	750

All figures are from BestCard's latest card data. Regalia Gold's current rewards structure applies from 15 May 2026. Check each issuer's current terms before applying.

How the rewards actually work

Amex Gold

Amex Gold earns 1% on most spends and 2% on dining and groceries, in Membership Rewards points valued at 30 paise each. Points never expire and transfer to airline and hotel loyalty partners with no fee. Our data also lists bonus points on a joining-year spend milestone and on annual spend milestones, but not the amounts or thresholds. Amex does not offer cash advances on this card, and acceptance is narrower than Visa or RuPay.

HDFC Regalia Gold

HDFC Regalia Gold earns 5 reward points per ₹200 on eligible spends, which is about 1.25% when redeemed for flights or hotels on SmartBuy at ₹0.50 a point. You can redeem up to 70% of a booking this way, with a maximum of 50,000 points a month. The Gold catalogue values points at ₹0.65 each, about 1.6%, while statement credit is worth only up to ₹0.20 a point, about 0.5%. Myntra, Nykaa, Reliance Digital and Marks & Spencer earn 5X, capped at 5,000 bonus points a month, and grocery points are capped at 2,000 a month.

The extras matter more than the base rate: ₹5,000 of flight vouchers at both ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh of annual spend, a ₹1,500 Myntra or Nykaa voucher for every quarter with ₹1.5 lakh of spend, and Swiggy One plus MakeMyTrip Black Gold memberships on ₹1 lakh of spend in the first 90 days.

Worked example 1: ₹50,000 a month

Split: ₹10,000 dining, ₹8,000 groceries, ₹32,000 other. Annual spend ₹6 lakh.

Amex Gold

• Dining: 2% × ₹10,000 = ₹200
• Groceries: 2% × ₹8,000 = ₹160
• Other: 1% × ₹32,000 = ₹320
• Total: ₹680 a month, ₹8,160 a year
• Less the ₹4,500 annual fee: ₹3,660 net, before any milestone bonus (not listed in our data)

HDFC Regalia Gold

• Base: 1.25% × ₹50,000 = ₹625
• Total: ₹625 a month, ₹7,500 a year
• ₹6 lakh clears the ₹4 lakh waiver, so no fee
• Crossing ₹5 lakh adds a ₹5,000 flight voucher
• A ₹1,500 voucher each quarter is possible only if you hit ₹1.5 lakh every quarter, and ₹50,000 a month sits exactly at that line: up to ₹6,000 more
• Net: ₹7,500 to ₹18,500 a year

At ₹50,000 a month, Amex's higher dining and grocery rates do not make up for its fee. Regalia Gold's milestones decide it.

Worked example 2: ₹1,50,000 a month

Split: ₹25,000 dining, ₹20,000 groceries, ₹1,05,000 other. Annual spend ₹18 lakh.

Amex Gold

• Dining: 2% × ₹25,000 = ₹500
• Groceries: 2% × ₹20,000 = ₹400
• Other: 1% × ₹1,05,000 = ₹1,050
• Total: ₹1,950 a month, ₹23,400 a year
• Less ₹4,500 fee: ₹18,900 net, plus any milestone bonus

HDFC Regalia Gold

• Base: 1.25% × ₹1,50,000 = ₹1,875
• Total: ₹1,875 a month, ₹22,500 a year
• Flight vouchers at ₹5 lakh and ₹7.5 lakh: ₹10,000
• Quarterly ₹1,500 voucher on ₹4.5 lakh a quarter: ₹6,000
• Fee waived
• Net: about ₹38,500 a year, and this ignores the 5X categories

Regalia Gold leads by roughly ₹19,600 a year on these numbers, but only if you use the vouchers. Amex Gold's lead on dining and groceries is real but small. If your spend is mostly dining and groceries and you value Amex points for transfers, the gap narrows.

Lounge access and travel

HDFC Regalia Gold lists 3 complimentary domestic lounge visits per calendar quarter, unlocked by ₹60,000 of spend in the preceding quarter, and 6 international visits a year through Priority Pass. New cardholders get no domestic visits in their first quarter. It also adds Boarding Edge from 15 May 2026: upload a boarding pass on SmartBuy and pick 2 of a spa visit, Uber airport transfer, hotel dining or a room upgrade each quarter.

Amex Gold lists no lounge access in our data. Its travel value comes from transferring Membership Rewards points to airline and hotel partners, which can suit someone who likes managing points but is hard to put a rupee value on. Abroad, Regalia Gold's 2% forex markup beats Amex's 3.5%: on ₹1 lakh of foreign spend, that is ₹2,000 against ₹3,500. For help valuing points, see how to calculate the real value of reward points.

Fees and waivers

Amex Gold costs ₹1,000 to join and ₹4,500 a year, with no waiver listed. Regalia Gold costs ₹2,500 to join and ₹2,500 a year, waived at ₹4 lakh of annual spend, about ₹33,333 a month.

The trade-off is eligibility. Regalia Gold needs ₹1,50,000 a month (₹1 lakh for government employees). Amex Gold needs ₹50,000 a month.

Who should pick which

Choose Amex Gold if:

• You earn between ₹50,000 and ₹1,50,000 a month and cannot qualify for Regalia Gold
• You spend heavily on dining and groceries
• You want non-expiring points that transfer to airline and hotel partners
• You are happy to carry a fee that cannot be waived

Choose HDFC Regalia Gold if:

• You earn ₹1,50,000 a month or more
• You can reach ₹5 lakh a year to unlock flight vouchers
• You want lounge access, Priority Pass and a lower forex markup
• You want a card with a waivable fee and wider acceptance

Verdict

HDFC Regalia Gold is the better card for most people who can qualify: it has a waivable fee, lounge access, milestone vouchers and a lower forex markup. Amex Gold makes sense only if your income is below Regalia's bar, your spending is mostly dining and groceries, and you want Membership Rewards points that never expire. Its ₹4,500 fee and 1% base rate are hard to justify otherwise.

For more detail, read our Amex Gold review and HDFC Regalia Gold review. See also Amex Gold vs Amex Membership Rewards, Amex Platinum Travel vs HDFC Regalia Gold, our Amex cards guide, or compare both on BestCard's compare tool.