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To choose between the American Express® Gold Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, consider how well their rewards and benefits align with your lifestyle and spending habits.
The Amex Gold is an excellent choice for dining-related benefits and earning travel rewards on everyday spending. But if you want a lower annual fee, the Sapphire Preferred is the better option.
Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred overview
Annual fee
The Amex Gold has a $325 annual cardholder fee. You can help offset this cost by taking advantage of the card’s foodie benefits.
However, the Chase Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee, which is immediately much lower and easier to offset than the Amex Gold’s fee.
Winner
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome bonus
The Amex Gold and Sapphire Preferred provide these welcome bonuses:
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American Express Gold Card: Earn 60,000 Amex Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases in the first six months.
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Chase Sapphire Preferred: Earn 100,000 bonus points after $5,000 in purchases in your first three months from account opening.
You can nitpick at the small details between these welcome bonuses — like differences in required spending amounts or how much time you have to complete the spending — but the actual number of points you can earn is the same.
Winner
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Rewards
These are the earning rates for both cards:
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American Express Gold Card:
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4x points at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x)
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4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x)
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3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or on AmexTravel.com
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2x points on prepaid hotels and other eligible purchases booked on AmexTravel.com
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1x points on all other eligible purchases
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Chase Sapphire Preferred:
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5x points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
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3x points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries
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2x points on all other travel purchases
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1x points on all other purchases
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The Sapphire Preferred has great earning potential in useful spending categories, but the Amex Gold is better for everyday purchases, especially at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. For this reason, we think the Amex Gold has a better rewards rate for most people, though it could depend on your spending habits.
Winner
American Express® Gold Card
Transfer partners
The Amex Gold provides more transfer partners than the Chase Sapphire Preferred, but that doesn’t automatically make it better. The actual value of transfer partners depends on whether you use a specific airline and/or hotel loyalty program.
For example, the Sapphire Preferred could be better if you’re a World of Hyatt loyalist. But if you can often find good flight deals with avianca lifemiles, the Amex Gold might make more sense.
Winner: It’s a toss-up
American Express® Gold Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Additional perks and benefits
The Sapphire Preferred has some quality benefits, but they don’t quite match up to what you can get from the Amex Gold. The many Amex Gold perks and annual credits can add up to more than $400 in value per year.
From our experience, it’s not hard to get value from the Amex Gold benefits as long as you live in an area (or travel to areas) where they can be used.
Winner
American Express® Gold Card
Choose the Amex Gold if…
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You prefer American Express transfer partners
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You want to earn more travel rewards on everyday purchases
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You want food-related perks and benefits
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You want to combine points between multiple eligible Amex cards
The Amex Gold focuses on using dining-related benefits and earning rewards on everyday purchases. It’s an excellent card for foodies and anyone wanting to rack up points on common expenses.
Applying for the Amex Gold doesn’t make as much sense if your spending habits don’t align with its bonus categories.
Choose the Chase Sapphire Preferred if…
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You prefer Chase transfer partners
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You want a lower annual fee
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You want travel perks and benefits
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You want to combine points between multiple eligible Chase cards
The Chase Sapphire Preferred strikes a fine balance between keeping its cardmember annual fee low and providing decent benefits. It’s the type of card that all types of travelers can get value from, whether you travel a few or many times a year.
We recommend this card if you want a low annual fee and easy-to-understand rewards and benefits. It’s especially useful if you already have certain other Chase credit cards — like the Chase Freedom Unlimited or Chase Freedom Flex — because you can combine points between cards.
Should I get both cards?
For most cardholders, there’s little reason to apply for both the American Express Gold Card and the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card. They have relatively similar reward structures, and neither offers extra benefits like lounge access, elite status, or other huge annual discounts that could justify the extra cost of owning both.
Instead, consider which of these cards makes the most sense for how you spend. Take groceries, for example — for many Americans, it’s one of the most consistently high monthly expenses.
If you don’t already have a grocery rewards card but do spend a lot of money at your local supermarket, the Amex Gold offers one of the highest rates among any rewards credit card today. But maybe you already have a card for grocery rewards, or you prefer your groceries through an online service. Then, you’ll probably get much more value from the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Other cards to consider
Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Annual fee$0
- Welcome offerEarn a $200 bonus after you spend $500 in your first 3 months
- Introductory Purchases APR0% Intro APR on Purchases for 15 months
- Ongoing Purchases APR18.99% - 28.49% Variable
- Introductory Balance Transfer APR0% Intro APR on Balance Transfers for 15 months
- Ongoing Balance Transfer APR18.99% - 28.49% Variable
- Rewards rate
- Enjoy 5% cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3% cash back on drugstore purchases and dining at restaurants (includes takeout and eligible delivery service)
- 1.5% on all other purchases
- Benefits
- You can choose to receive a statement credit or direct deposit into most U.S. checking and savings accounts
- Chase Credit Journey helps you monitor your credit with free access to your latest score, alerts, and more
- Generous intro APR on purchases and balance transfers
Why we like it: The Chase Freedom Unlimited is an all-around excellent card for earning rewards on everyday purchases. With no annual fee and generous intro APR offers, it’s a quality cash-back card to keep in your wallet.
Read our full Chase Freedom Unlimited review
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Annual fee$95
- Welcome offerEarn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months, plus a one-time $250 Capital One Travel credit in your first cardholder year – that’s equal to $1,000 in travel
- Rewards rate
- 5x miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2x miles on all other purchases
- Benefits
- Receive up to a $120 statement credit for Global Entry or TSA Precheck application fees
- Receive a $50 experience credit, room upgrades, and early check-in at eligible hotels
- Access Hertz's Five Star membership tier, offering free upgrades, a wider selection of vehicles, and more
Why we like it: The Capital One Venture Rewards is an excellent travel credit card for earning rewards if you don’t want to deal with multiple spending categories. It could easily be the only card in your wallet if you like to keep things simple.
Read our full Capital One Venture Rewards review
The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Annual fee$695
- Welcome offerEarn 80,000 Membership Rewards® Points after spending $8,000 in the first 6 months
- Rewards rate
- 5x points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel (up to $500,000 per year)
- 5x points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel
- 1x points on all other purchases
- Benefits
- Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection bookings with American Express Travel (requires a minimum two-night stay)
- Get up to $199 back per calendar year on your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your card (CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues)
- Enjoy up to $200 in Uber savings annually on rides in the U.S. — that's $15 in Uber Cash for rides each month, plus a bonus $20 in December (you must have the latest version of the Uber App downloaded and your eligible American Express Platinum Card must be a method of payment in your Uber account; Amex benefit may only be used in United States)
Why we like it: Few credit cards can compete with the Amex Platinum regarding the sheer amount of available perks and benefits offered, especially for frequent travelers. However, this card might not make much sense if you only travel occasionally, as much of the card’s value comes from travel-related benefits.
Read our full Amex Platinum Card review
Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. All opinions belong solely to the author(s) and are not those of any other entity. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers. Credit score alone does not guarantee or imply approval for any financial product.
