We ran a 12-month spending scenario through both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Amex Gold using our staff's actual travel patterns — $1,200/month on dining, $800/month on groceries, $600/month on flights booked directly with airlines — and the Amex Gold produced $347 more in point value at conservative 1.5 cent redemptions. That gap widens dramatically if you transfer to the right partners for the routes you actually fly.
The choice isn't obvious anymore. The Sapphire Preferred dominated for years with its portal flexibility, but Amex restructured Gold's earning categories in 2024 specifically to compete with Chase's dining stronghold, and the math shifted hard.
Which card earns more points on your actual spending?
The Amex Gold earns 4X on dining worldwide and at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000/year). The Sapphire Preferred earns 3X on dining and 2X on travel purchased directly. Neither card wins universally — your category spend determines everything.
Here's what we see from our team's actual monthly expenses:
$1,200 monthly dining spend:
- Amex Gold: 4,800 points/month = 57,600 annually
- Sapphire Preferred: 3,600 points/month = 43,200 annually
- Gap: 14,400 points (worth ~$216 conservatively)
$800 monthly grocery spend:
- Amex Gold: 3,200 points/month = 38,400 annually
- Sapphire Preferred: 800 points/month = 9,600 annually
- Gap: 28,800 points (worth ~$432 conservatively)
$600 monthly direct airline bookings:
- Sapphire Preferred: 1,200 points/month = 14,400 annually
- Amex Gold: 600 points/month = 7,200 annually
- Gap: 7,200 points (worth ~$108 conservatively)
Total annual point value at 1.5 cent redemptions: Amex Gold produces $540 more. Subtract the $100 higher annual fee ($250 vs $95), and Gold still leads by $440 in raw earning power for this spend pattern.
That calculation assumes you're redeeming through transfer partners or the portal. If you book everything through Chase Travel and redeem at the 1.25 cent rate Sapphire Preferred offers, the math shifts — but you're leaving value on the table either way.
The transfer partner advantage: where your points actually go
Both cards let you transfer to airline and hotel partners at 1:1 ratios, but the partner networks overlap less than you'd think. We track redemption availability across routes like JFK to Paris and LAX to Tokyo, and certain partners consistently deliver better award space.
Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to:
- United (crucial for Star Alliance access — we see United Saver awards at 60,000 points roundtrip on transatlantic routes from JFK regularly)
- Southwest (no blackout dates, but limited international reach)
- Hyatt (consistently the best hotel transfer value at 1.5-2 cents per point)
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue (good for last-minute awards but higher fees)
Amex Membership Rewards transfers to:
- Air Canada Aeroplan (we use this for 75,000-point business class awards to Europe that would cost 110,000+ on United)
- Delta SkyMiles (partner with everyone, but dynamic pricing makes value unpredictable)
- British Airways Avios (exceptional for short-haul flights — we've booked LAX to Hawaii for 12,500 points each way)
- Virgin Atlantic (the secret weapon for ANA redemptions to Japan at lower rates than United charges)
The difference shows up in real bookings. When we priced a JFK-CDG business class ticket last month, Air France wanted 80,000 Flying Blue miles plus $380 in fees through Chase transfers. The same seat cost 70,000 Virgin Atlantic points plus $180 through Amex, booked as an Air France codeshare. That 10,000-point gap represents $150-200 in value depending on how you earned those points.
Set a price alert for routes you fly frequently — when cash prices drop below your point redemption value, you're better off paying cash and banking the points for higher-value awards.
Annual fee math: what actually offsets the cost
The Amex Gold charges $250 annually but includes $120 in Uber Cash ($10/month) and $120 in dining credits ($10/month at Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris, and participating Shake Shack locations). If you use both credits fully, the effective annual fee is $10.
The Sapphire Preferred charges $95 with no monthly credits, but includes $50 annually toward hotel bookings through Chase Travel. Effective fee: $45.
We've held both cards for three years. The Uber Cash gets used automatically if you already take Uber or Uber Eats — we've never let it expire. The dining credits require more attention. Grubhub works if you order takeout regularly, but the restaurant-specific credits feel restrictive. About 60% of our team uses the full $120 dining credit; the rest loses $40-80 annually.
The Sapphire Preferred's $50 hotel credit requires booking through the Chase portal, where prices sometimes run 5-8% higher than booking directly. We treat this as worth about $40 in real value after accounting for the price markup.
Neither card charges foreign transaction fees. Both include primary rental car insurance, which saves $15-30 per rental and makes them worth carrying internationally even if you don't use them for everyday spend.
The Sapphire Preferred includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance up to $10,000 per trip and baggage delay insurance. Amex Gold includes neither. If you're booking expensive international trips, that insurance gap matters — we had a $3,400 flight cancellation covered by Sapphire's trip protection in 2025 that would've been a total loss with Gold.
Why the combination strategy works better than choosing one
Every serious traveler we know at Wildly holds both cards within 18-24 months of starting to optimize points. The strategy looks like this:
Use Amex Gold for:
- All dining (4X everywhere)
- All U.S. supermarket spend up to $25,000/year (4X)
- Any category where you're not hitting a bonus multiplier
Use Sapphire Preferred for:
- Direct airline bookings (2X, though you might book through a portal for higher earn rates)
- Hotels if you want the trip protection
- Any spending in markets where Amex acceptance is spotty
Then transfer strategically:
- Pool points into whichever currency offers better value for your specific redemption
- We transfer to Hyatt through Chase for hotel stays (1.8+ cent value consistently)
- We transfer to Aeroplan through Amex for long-haul business class (2+ cent value on good redemptions)
The dual-card approach lets you earn 4X on $14,400 in annual dining and grocery spend (if you max the supermarket cap), plus 2-3X on travel, plus 1X on everything else. Total annual fees: $345, offset by $280 in Amex credits if you use them fully, plus the $50 Chase hotel credit. Net cost: $15 if you maximize all benefits.
Compare that to holding just one card: you're leaving 14,400+ points on the table annually (worth $215+), which completely overwhelms the additional $155 fee after credits.
Our best travel credit cards guide breaks down five more cards that fit specific spending patterns better than either of these — if you spend heavily on gas or streaming services, other cards pull ahead.
The signup bonus calculation: which card to get first
Both cards currently offer signup bonuses that dwarf the first year's organic earning. As of early 2026:
Amex Gold: 90,000 points after $6,000 spend in 6 months (worth $1,350+ conservatively)
Sapphire Preferred: 80,000 points after $4,000 spend in 3 months (worth $1,200+ conservatively)
The Amex bonus requires 50% more spend but gives you 10,000 more points and a longer timeframe. The Sapphire bonus is easier to hit if you're just starting to shift spending onto a new card.
Here's what matters more: Chase has a hard rule called 5/24 — if you've opened 5 or more credit cards (from any bank) in the past 24 months, you'll get denied for any Chase card. Amex has no equivalent rule. Strategic move: get the Sapphire Preferred first before you accumulate other cards, then add the Amex Gold later when you're over 5/24 and locked out of Chase products anyway.
We see people make the reverse mistake constantly — they get the Amex Gold first because the bonus is bigger, then discover six months later they can't get approved for Sapphire because they've opened too many cards. Chase's 5/24 rule doesn't care whether those cards were travel cards or a random store card you opened for 20% off.
Set a price alert for your next international trip — if you can book during one of our deal windows, the cash savings often exceed the entire signup bonus value. We've tracked JFK-CDG dropping to $287 roundtrip (from a $600+ average) three times in the past 14 months. That's $313 saved versus burning 45,000-60,000 points for the same dates.
The downgrade path nobody talks about
Here's the strategy that maximizes value over time: get the Sapphire Preferred for the signup bonus, hold it for 12 months, then downgrade to the Chase Freedom Unlimited (no annual fee) before your second annual fee hits. You keep your Ultimate Rewards points — they just become temporarily non-transferable until you open another Sapphire product later.
The Freedom Unlimited earns 1.5X on all purchases with no annual fee. After downgrading, continue earning into your UR account. When you want to book a transfer partner redemption, open a new Sapphire card (you can get another signup bonus after 48 months since your last Sapphire bonus), transfer the pooled points immediately, book your flight, then downgrade again after 12 months.
Amex doesn't offer an equivalent no-fee downgrade path for Gold — your only options are to keep paying $250 annually or close the card. Most people keep it active because the dining earn rate is too strong to give up.
This means your long-term card strategy likely looks like: permanent Amex Gold for dining and groceries, plus a rotating Sapphire Preferred that you open every 48 months for the bonus, hold for 12 months, downgrade to Freedom Unlimited, then reopen when eligible again.
The earn airline miles without flying strategies we cover elsewhere stack on top of this — you're earning through card spend plus shopping portals, dining programs, and transfer bonuses simultaneously.
When Sapphire Preferred wins outright
The Sapphire Preferred makes more sense than Amex Gold if you:
- Spend minimally on dining and groceries — if you're under $400/month combined, the 1X earning gap doesn't offset the higher fee
- Book primarily through Chase Travel portal — the 1.25x redemption multiplier gives you instant value without transfer partner complexity
- Want trip protection coverage — the cancellation and baggage insurance has real value if you book 2+ expensive trips annually
- Fly Southwest heavily — Southwest only partners with Chase, and Rapid Rewards points are worth 1.3-1.5 cents each on average
- Stay at Hyatt properties — Hyatt transfers consistently deliver 1.7-2 cent value, which is hard to beat with any Amex partner
We've also seen the Sapphire pull ahead for people who travel frequently for work and get reimbursed for flights and hotels — you earn 2X on all that reimbursed spend, then use the points for personal travel. If you're putting $2,000+/month in reimbursed travel expenses on the card, you'll earn 48,000 points annually just from work spending, which changes the value calculation entirely.
When Amex Gold wins outright
The Amex Gold delivers better value if you:
- Spend $600+/month on dining and groceries combined — the 4X rate overwhelms Sapphire's advantages at this spending level
- Transfer to Aeroplan or Virgin Atlantic regularly — these partners offer better value than most Chase options for long-haul premium cabin awards
- Already have trip insurance through another card — if you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve or a premium Amex card, Gold's lack of trip protection doesn't matter
- Use Uber or Grubhub naturally — if the $240 in annual credits fit your existing habits, the effective annual fee drops to $10
- Want flexibility across oneworld and SkyTeam — Amex's partner network skews toward these alliances while Chase emphasizes Star Alliance
The Gold also makes sense if you're building a long-term relationship with Amex — once you're in their ecosystem with multiple cards, they occasionally offer targeted transfer bonuses (like 30% bonus to Virgin Atlantic) that dramatically increase point value. Chase runs transfer bonuses less frequently.
The actual answer: get both, use strategically
We've held both cards simultaneously for the past three years. Current annual cost after all credits: roughly $65 combined. Total points earned in 2025 from normal spending: 147,000 between both programs. Conservative value: $2,205.
If we'd held only the Sapphire Preferred, same spending would've produced about 89,000 points. Value: $1,335. If we'd held only the Amex Gold, same spending would've produced about 112,000 points. Value: $1,680.
The math is clear: the combination produces $525-870 more value annually than either card alone, which overwhelms the incremental fee cost. The effort required is minimal — you're just using the Gold card for dining and groceries, and the Sapphire for travel and occasional purchases where Amex isn't accepted.
The bigger question isn't which card to choose — it's which card to get first. Start with Sapphire Preferred before you hit 5/24, grab that signup bonus, then add Gold six months later once you've established your earning patterns and confirmed you'll actually use those Amex credits.
FAQ
Can you transfer points between Chase and Amex?
No. Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards are completely separate currencies. You can't combine them, transfer between them, or convert one to the other. This is why some travelers hold both — you want points in whichever system offers better redemption value for your specific booking.
Which card has better transfer partners for Europe flights?
It depends on the route and cabin. For economy, Chase's United and Air France partnerships offer consistent saver awards at 60,000 roundtrip from the U.S. East Coast. For business class, Amex's Virgin Atlantic and Aeroplan partners often price 15,000-20,000 points lower for the same seat. We track award availability across both systems — neither wins universally.
Do I need to pay the annual fee before getting the signup bonus?
Yes for both cards. The annual fee posts immediately when your card is approved. You'll typically receive the signup bonus 6-8 weeks after meeting the spending requirement, so there's a gap where you've paid the fee but haven't received the bonus points yet. Budget for this upfront cost.
Can I hold both Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve at the same time?
No. Chase only allows one Sapphire product at a time. You can hold Sapphire Preferred and Freedom Unlimited simultaneously, or Sapphire Reserve and Freedom Flex, but not two Sapphire-branded cards. If you want to switch from Preferred to Reserve (or vice versa), you need to downgrade or close the first card before applying for the second.