Link: Apply now for The Platinum Card® from American Express or Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card
Nowadays premium cards are more popular than ever before. Two of the most well-known are The Platinum Card® from American Express and Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, and I know a lot of people struggle to decide which card is a better fit.
In this post, I want to take a closer look at that question — what are the pros and cons of both cards, and can it make sense to have both of them? I figure this is an especially interesting time to examine this, given the recent refresh of Chase’s premium card.
In this post:
Basics of the Amex Platinum Card
The Amex Platinum has a $695 annual fee (Rates & Fees), and offers a variety of perks (Enrollment is required for select benefits), including:
- A variety of annual credits, including up to $300 in annual statement credits on a digital or club membership at Equinox, up to $240 in annual digital entertainment credits, up to $200 in annual hotel credits (minimum two-night stay for The Hotel Collection, one night stay for Fine Hotels + Resorts®), up to $200 in annual airline fee credits, up to $200 in annual U.S. Uber credits, up to $199 in annual CLEAR® Plus credits, and up to $100 in annual Saks credits
- The most comprehensive airport lounge access offered by any card, including access to Amex Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs®, Plaza Premium Lounges, a Priority Pass membership, and more
- 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines (on up to $500,000 in flight purchases per calendar year, and then 1x), making this the best card for airfare purchases; other than that, there are better cards for earning Amex Membership Rewards points
- Hotel status with Marriott and Hilton, and car rental status with National, Avis, and Hertz
- A Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit (this benefit applies once every 4.5 years for the application of TSA PreCheck, and once every four years for the application of Global Entry)
- Access to the Amex International Airline Program, which can save you money on premium international airfare
Read a full review of the Amex Platinum Card, and read about my favorite perks of the Amex Platinum Card.
It’s hard to do a “one size fits all” number-crunching on the Amex Platinum. That’s because the card could offer well over twice the credits of the annual fee, but a vast majority of people won’t fully maximize them. That doesn’t account for all the other perks of the card, like the airport lounge access program.
The catch is that not everyone is going to use all of those credits. Let me share my math, based on my own situation. Personally, I get near full value out of the:
- $200 annual airline fee credit
- $200 annual hotel credit
- $200 annual Uber credit
- $199 annual CLEAR credit
- $100 annual Saks credit
That’s $899 worth of credits that I’m more or less maximizing, so that’s pretty awesome, if you ask me, as that more than covers the annual fee, by my math. That’s without even using the Equinox or digital entertainment credits. Admittedly there are some hoops to jump through, which is a point of frustration among many cardmembers.
Basics of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has a $795 annual fee, and offers a variety of benefits, including:
- A variety of annual credits, including up to $300 in annual travel credits, up to $300 in annual dining credits, up to $500 in annual hotel credits with The Edit (minimum two-night stay), up to $300 in annual Stubhub & viagogo credits, up to $250 in annual Apple TV+ & Apple Music benefits, and more
- Airport lounge access, including access to Chase Sapphire Lounges, select Air Canada Lounges, and a Priority Pass membership
- A lucrative rewards structure, with 8x points on Chase Travel bookings, 4x points on direct airfare and hotel bookings, 3x points on dining spending, and more
- If you spend $75,000 per calendar year on the card, you can earn extra benefits, like IHG One Rewards Diamond status, Southwest Rapid Rewards A-List status, a $500 Southwest credit via Chase Travel, and a $250 Shops at Chase credit
- Fantastic rental car coverage, as well as travel and baggage protection
- A Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck fee credit every four years
Read a full review of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, and read my take on whether the Chase Sapphire Reserve is independently worth it.
With the recent refresh of the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the card is much more comparable to the Amex Platinum in terms of the effort required to justify the fee. That’s because the card has a higher annual fee than it previously had, but also added a bunch of benefits that can help justify it.
One thing that sets the card apart is that it actually has a lucrative rewards structure across many categories that people spend a significant amount in, from airfare, to hotels, to dining, so this is a card that many people may want to get for the rewards structure.
When it comes to justifying the annual fee, I think everyone should be able to deduct $300 immediately from that amount for mental accounting purposes, given the ease with which the $300 travel credit can be used. The other credits are a bit trickier to maximize, and people will have conflicting takes when it comes to how much value they’ll get out of them.
Another consideration is how much you value the airport lounge access offered by the card, and how that factors into justifying the annual fee.
How do you decide between these premium cards?
So, how should you decide whether to pick up the Amex Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve? Or should you decide to get both or neither? Personally, I’d kind of view the value propositions independently, given that nowadays both cards have steep annual fees, and then you have to work backwards to justify them, in terms of how you value lounge access, the return on spending, and the credits.
What the two cards have in common is that they both offer a Priority Pass membership and a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck fee credit. Neither of those are particularly noteworthy benefits among premium cards.
With that in mind, what do I recommend for people who ask me which card they should get?
- If you actually want a card that has a fairly lucrative and well-rounded rewards structure, the Chase Sapphire Reserve shines; meanwhile the Amex Platinum is only worth using for airfare spending, and is otherwise a card you get for the perks
- While both cards have lounge access benefits, they’re very different — if you value Amex Centurion Lounge and Delta Sky Club® access, go for the Amex Platinum, while if you value Chase Sapphire Lounge and Air Canada Lounge access, go for the Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Both cards have a “coupon book” model of sorts, where credits can be used to help offset the annual fee, for mental accounting purposes; we all have different consumer behavior, so there’s not going to be a “one size fits all” answer as to which credits are better, though I think we can all agree the Chase Sapphire Reserve $300 travel credit is the easiest of all the credits to use with ease
I don’t think one card is the obvious winner, but for those with a certain type of consumer behavior who are willing to put in the effort, I think you can come out way ahead with either or both cards.
Personally, I have both the Amex Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Yes, that means I’m paying nearly $1,500 in annual fees, and that’s a massive amount to spend. That being said, the math mostly checks out for me.
If anything, what I struggle with most in justifying these cards on an ongoing basis is the credit card fatigue I feel, and the effort it takes to maximize value and make the math work. I think people will be in wildly different camps when it comes to making the value work.
Bottom line
The Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve are the two most popular premium cards. Both cards can potentially offer outsized value. While the cards have distinct benefits, the concept is similar — both have steep annual fees, which can hopefully be justified due to a combination of useful lounge access and credits that can offset the annual fee, among other things.
Personally, I continue to make the fees work on both of these cards, in terms of mental accounting. If you’re trying to decide which card makes the most sense, consider how much value you’d get out of the benefits of each card, particularly with the credits. If you’re anything like me, the math may make sense on both cards, while for others, it might not make sense on either card.
Where do you stand on the value of the Amex Platinum vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve?
The following links will direct you to the rates and fees for mentioned American Express Cards. These include: The Platinum Card® from American Express (Rates & Fees).
For now definitely Amex is still better. Fine hotel and Hotel collection are much more superior than hotels under CSR. I used to have both but I chose to get rid of CSR some time ago. Amex has more lounges even though the ones in the U.S. are always over crowded but overseas are much better.
Now the question is when and how much will Amex increase their annual fees? since CSR increased theirs...
For now definitely Amex is still better. Fine hotel and Hotel collection are much more superior than hotels under CSR. I used to have both but I chose to get rid of CSR some time ago. Amex has more lounges even though the ones in the U.S. are always over crowded but overseas are much better.
Now the question is when and how much will Amex increase their annual fees? since CSR increased theirs by almost 45%. If it's going to be increased by the same rate, that would take Amex fee to over $1K. Not sure if it's worth it to keep it.
The question is best asked after the Amex Platinum refresh. Its current narrow rewards structure is clearly inferior -- 5x on directly purchased airfare is great, 5x on hotels is only via Amex Travel, and there are no other bonus categories.
This is true, although I can't imagine Amex making the card's rewards structure better and competing with CSR head-on. Realistically, I can only hope that enough of the credits continue to work for things I would naturally spend on (or on something similar to them). It's probably more a question of Amex Platinum vs Delta Reserve for me in the medium-term.
Amex Platinum, simply because Amex doesn’t have the punitive 5/24 rule.
Let's say that a person has both cards. The question is which card gives the person greater value and utility. Chase's 5/24 rule has nothing to do with the CSR's value and utility. What an absurd comment.
Right, but the ease of acquiring a card for qualified borrowers is part of its utility. Look at Reddit, there are stories of dozens if not hundreds of people with 800+ credit scores and six figure incomes being denied Sapphire cards because of this stupid rule.
I definitely like the CSR more than Amex Platinum.
Amex Platinum Pros
* Lounge network is the best.
* Amex offers are great.
* Purchase protection and CS is a little bit better with Amex.
Amex Platinum Cons
* Literally only earns 5X on Flights, there is no point in even using the card anymore.
* Too difficult to use credits, very specific. At least CSR has some commonly...
I definitely like the CSR more than Amex Platinum.
Amex Platinum Pros
* Lounge network is the best.
* Amex offers are great.
* Purchase protection and CS is a little bit better with Amex.
Amex Platinum Cons
* Literally only earns 5X on Flights, there is no point in even using the card anymore.
* Too difficult to use credits, very specific. At least CSR has some commonly used ones.
CSR Pros
* Multiple earning categories (Even though losing 3X on All travel is bad)
* 8X on Portal seems great, but definitely depends on pricing.
* 300 Credit is the easiest to use.
CSR Cons
* Lounge network is poor particularly in the West Coast.
* Getting approved with Chase is definitely harder compared to Amex.
When is the "fall" announcement of Amex Platinum refresh rumored to drop? Any surveys being sent out? Given that Chase is going the coupon book route is seems more likely that people are going to end up choosing one or the other. But the really fair comparison will be when we know the upcoming changes in the next few months. It just takes too much bandwidth to keep track of these credits for both.
This. I find it strange to have this article now. I have VentureX, CSR and Amex Plat. Right now the Amex platinum is the weakest link. Time will tell!