The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (learn more) and American Express® Gold Card (learn more) are two of the more popular rewards cards out there, and they take nearly opposite approaches to earning transferable points. The Sapphire Preferred is the travel card, with broad bonus categories, travel protections, and one simple travel credit. The Amex Gold is the card for foodies, with best-in-class earning at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, and a bigger but more fragmented stack of credits.
I think both cards can make sense for certain people, but given how different they are, it’s worth understanding which card is better for your situation, or whether it can even make sense to have both cards. In this post, I’d like to compare the two cards across a variety of factors.
While this post is focused on a comparison, I’ve done a more in-depth analysis on each card, so see my posts on whether the Sapphire Preferred is worth it, and whether the Amex Gold is worth it.
For context, I hold the Amex Gold myself, and in the above post I shared exactly which credits I’m able to take advantage of, and how that helps me justify the annual fee. When it comes to the Chase Sapphire ecosystem, I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (learn more), which is the more premium version of the Sapphire Preferred, though I’ve also had that card in the past, so I’ve experienced all parts of the Chase Sapphire ecosystem.
In this post:
Welcome bonuses: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold
Chase Sapphire Preferred: The card offers a welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 within the first three months. At a minimum, Ultimate Rewards points can be redeemed for one cent each toward the cost of a travel purchase (potentially way more), giving the 100,000 points a minimum value of $1,000. However, I value them significantly more than that, at 1.7 cents each, meaning I consider the bonus to be worth around $1,700.
Amex Gold: The card has a welcome offer where you can earn a bonus as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $8,000 within the first six months. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. The way this works, you can apply for the card, and then find out your offer amount, and thanks to Amex’s “apply with confidence” feature, there won’t be a hard pull unless you accept the offer. I value Membership Rewards points at 1.7 cents each, so to me, those 100,000 points are worth $1,700 (assuming that’s what you’re eligible for).
Eligibility works differently on each card. The Sapphire Preferred bonus is once per lifetime on that exact card, and you can’t be approved if you currently have it open. Meanwhile, the Amex Gold bonus isn’t available to those who currently have the card, or those who have had the Premier Rewards Gold Card in the past, and those who have or have had the American Express Platinum Card® (learn more) may also not be eligible. That’s why I always recommend applying for the Amex Gold before the Amex Platinum, since that will allow you to eventually earn the welcome offer on both cards.
Winner: At my valuations this is a $1,700 tie, though the structures differ. The Sapphire Preferred’s bonus of 100,000 points is the same for everyone, assuming you’re eligible, while the Amex Gold’s offer is “as high as” 100,000, and what you’re shown can vary. The Amex Gold gives you six months and a lower monthly pace, but the total spending requirement is higher ($8,000 versus $5,000). If you’re offered the full amount on each, call it a wash. If certainty matters to you, the Sapphire Preferred has a slight edge.
Annual fees and credits: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold
Chase Sapphire Preferred: The card has a $95 annual fee. Its credit structure is simple. There’s a $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit with no minimum stay required, and that one credit, once a year, can alone more than offset the annual fee. On top of that, the June 2026 refresh added an up to $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit once every four years, and a complimentary year of Apple TV (activation required by December 31, 2026), and the card includes DoorDash DashPass perks as well.
Amex Gold: The card has a $325 annual fee (Rates & Fees). It also comes with a bigger stack of statement credits that could save you up to $424 per year (Enrollment is required for select benefits). Those break down into up to $120 in Uber Cash An Amex Card must be selected as the payment method for your Uber or Uber Eats transaction to redeem the Amex Uber Cash benefit, up to $120 in dining credits with select partners like Grubhub, up to $100 in semi-annual Resy credits, and up to $84 in Dunkin’ credits. But they’re fragmented across several buckets, most of them monthly use-it-or-lose-it, so I expect most people won’t take advantage of all $424 in credits, and you’ll want to crunch the numbers for yourself.
Speaking from my own Amex Gold situation: I take full advantage of the Uber Cash and Resy credits, while the dining credit is a struggle for me many months, and I’ve been forfeiting the Dunkin’ credit entirely. In practice, I’m recouping a little over half of the $424 in credits.
Winner: The Amex Gold’s selection of credits is much bigger, and if you can maximize them, you can potentially come out most ahead. However, the Sapphire Preferred has a much more straightforward credit concept, with a single hotel booking potentially recouping the $95 fee, with no monthly tracking. If you’re great at maximizing Amex credits, then the Amex Gold’s math works. If you don’t, the Sapphire Preferred is the card you can hold without thinking about it. Thankfully, both cards have no foreign transaction fees (Rates & Fees).
Ability to earn points: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold
Chase Sapphire Preferred: The card offers 5x points on travel booked through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining, online groceries, select streaming services, gas stations, EV charging, and vacation rentals, 2x points on all other travel, and 1x points on everything else.
Amex Gold: The card offers 5x points on prepaid hotel stays booked through Amex Travel, 4x points at restaurants worldwide (plus takeout and delivery in the U.S.) on up to $50,000 in purchases annually, 4x points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 in purchases annually, and 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com.
On food, this isn’t close. For dining, the Amex Gold beats the 3x points that the Sapphire Preferred offers, and it’s one of the best rewards cards for dining purchases. There’s a grocery distinction worth understanding, though. The Amex Gold’s 4x points applies at U.S. supermarkets in person (excluding superstores and warehouse clubs), while the Sapphire Preferred’s 3x points applies to online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs). Depending on how your household actually buys groceries, one of these fits much better than the other.
On travel, the cards split. The Amex Gold earns 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines, beating the Sapphire Preferred’s 2x points. But the Preferred earns 2x points on all other travel (hotels, rental cars, trains, and more), where the Amex Gold earns 1x points, and the Sapphire Preferred is alone in offering bonus points on gas stations, EV charging, vacation rentals, and streaming. As for the Amex Gold’s 5x on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel, as a general rule of thumb, that isn’t worth it, because you’re usually not earning points with your preferred hotel program when you book that way, so that’s quite an opportunity cost.
Winner: If food is the center of your spending, the Amex Gold wins. Its 4x points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets is best-in-class (just note the annual caps). Across everything else, the Sapphire Preferred’s categories are broader, especially after the June 2026 additions. For a lot of households, that’s exactly why these two cards pair so well.
Value of points: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold
Chase Sapphire Preferred: Ultimate Rewards points have a guaranteed floor of one cent each toward the cost of a travel purchase through Chase Travel℠, or up to 1.75 cents with Points Boost. Better yet, they can be transferred to Ultimate Rewards airline and hotel partners, most at a 1:1 ratio (World of Hyatt transfers at 4:3 on this card as of June 2026, while the Sapphire Reserve keeps 1:1).
The opportunities for outsized value are incredible, especially for luxury hotel stays with World of Hyatt. While the 4:3 transfer ratio makes this less appealing than in the past, there’s still value to be had.
Amex Gold: The best way to redeem Membership Rewards points is to transfer them to one of the Membership Rewards airline or hotel partners — points can be transferred to over 20 partners. On top of that, Amex often has transfer bonuses, which can stretch your points even further. While you can redeem Membership Rewards points toward merchandise or gift cards, or to pay off your statement, these aren’t good uses of your points, as you’ll typically get less than one cent of value per point.
One asymmetry worth knowing: World of Hyatt isn’t a Membership Rewards transfer partner at all. So even at the 4:3 ratio, the Sapphire Preferred gives you access to a hotel program the Amex Gold simply can’t reach.
There’s a second redemption factor working against Amex, and this one costs real money, but only if you redeem certain ways. When you transfer Membership Rewards points to a U.S. airline partner, Amex adds an excise tax fee of 0.06 cents per point, capped at $99 per transfer. Chase doesn’t charge anything to move Ultimate Rewards to any of its partners. It’s small in percentage terms, but it’s a paper cut the Sapphire Preferred side just doesn’t have. In fairness, I don’t view this to be a huge deal, since I don’t actually like to transfer my points to carriers based in the United States.
Winner: Nowadays I value both currencies equally, at 1.7 cents each. Ultimate Rewards has the stronger floor, a guaranteed one cent toward travel (and more with Points Boost), plus the Hyatt access. Membership Rewards counters with more transfer partners and frequent transfer bonuses. So it’s probably a tie, and depends on your individual redemption patterns.
Travel protections: Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold
Chase Sapphire Preferred: This is perhaps the Sapphire Preferred’s biggest structural advantage. The card offers primary rental car coverage both in the United States and abroad, trip cancellation and interruption insurance up to $10,000 per person, trip delay reimbursement up to $500 per traveler, lost luggage coverage up to $3,000 per traveler, and emergency evacuation coverage, which is new as of June 2026.
Amex Gold: The Amex Gold’s value proposition is built around earning and credits rather than travel protections, and coverage isn’t the reason anyone picks up this card.
Winner: The Sapphire Preferred, decisively. The primary rental car coverage alone can be worth many times the annual fee if you ever need it.
Should you get the Sapphire Preferred, the Amex Gold, or both?
Get the Sapphire Preferred if:
- Travel protections matter to you, since primary rental car coverage and trip coverage are a major advantage of the Sapphire Preferred
- You want the lower annual fee and a credit structure you don’t have to put as much thought into
- World of Hyatt is part of your points strategy, or your spending leans toward gas, EV charging, vacation rentals, or streaming
Get the Amex Gold if:
- Restaurants and U.S. supermarkets are big spending categories for you, where the Amex Gold’s 4x points is best-in-class, and no Chase card matches it
- You’ll realistically recoup much of the monthly credits, greatly lowering your real out of pocket on the card
- You’re building toward Membership Rewards long term, including applying for the Amex Gold before the Amex Platinum to stay eligible for both welcome offers
As I see it, get both cards if you can swing it. This is one of those pairings with essentially no overlap. Food goes on the Amex Gold at 4x points, travel and the new 3x points categories go on the Sapphire Preferred, and you end up with two excellent transferable currencies instead of one. And if neither sounds right, and you’d rather earn a flat rate on everything without tracking categories or credits, see my Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Capital One Venture comparison, since the Venture is built for exactly that.
Bottom line
The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Amex Gold are both excellent cards that solve different problems. The Sapphire Preferred is the better all-around travel card, with broader categories after the June 2026 refresh, a simpler and cheaper fee structure, real protections, and World of Hyatt points transfers. The Amex Gold is the better food card, as long as the credits match your spending patterns.
If I could only recommend one to most people, the Sapphire Preferred’s lower fee and protections make it the easier default. But for households that spend heavily on food, the Amex Gold’s 4x points earning is hard to ignore. For a lot of people, the strongest answer is carrying both.
Which do you prefer, the Chase Sapphire Preferred or the Amex Gold? And if you hold both, how do you split your spending between them?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: American Express® Gold Card (Rates & Fees).
You can add $7/month to the DD app and accrue up to a limit
$10/month is a pick up order of wings atBWW
Two completely different cards. Please try again. Like Amex gold vs Citi strata premier. Or Chase sapphire preferred vs no fee strata or vs autograph.