Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: which travel rewards card is right for you?

You tend to book flights and hotels through online travel agencies

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card earns a rewards currency called Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. You can redeem these points in several ways, all offering varying return rates.

One of the most popular ways to redeem points is by “purchasing” travel through the Chase Travel Portal. This online platform is similar to Expedia or Orbitz, where you can reserve airfare, hotel stays, rental cars, and cruises.

If you generally book your travel through an online travel agency instead of booking directly, you’ll love that you can redeem Chase points to book travel at a rate of 1.25 cents per point through the Chase Ultimate Rewards® travel portal.

By comparison, with the rewards you earn from the Amex Gold Card, you’ll only get one cent per point when reserving the same travel through Amex’s travel portal — and even less if redeeming for hotels.

Therefore, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card’s rewards are 25% more valuable if you book this kind of travel frequently.

You want solid travel insurance

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card comes with some of the best built-in travel insurance of any card on the market. Here are a few coverages you’ll automatically receive simply by using the card to pay for your travel:

• Trip delay insurance — When your flight is delayed overnight (or by 12+ hours), you can be reimbursed up to $500 per ticket for things like hotel, meals, toiletries, and even clothes.
• Baggage delay insurance — When your baggage is delayed by six hours or more at your destination, you’re eligible to get up to $100 per day for up to five days for things like clothes and toiletries.
• Primary rental car insurance — When you decline the rental car agency’s in-house insurance, you’ll receive primary coverage for damage and theft to your rental. This can otherwise cost $12+ per day, so this is a big money-saver for anyone who frequently rents a car.

Read more: the unique Chase credit card benefits and rewards

To quickly compare these insurance benefits with the Amex Gold card:

• The Amex Gold offers trip delay insurance for up to $300 in reasonable expenses ($200 less than the Sapphire Preferred® Card).
• The Amex Gold offers no baggage delay insurance (although it does cover lost baggage).
• The Amex Gold offers secondary insurance instead of primary, meaning you’ll have to invoke your personal insurance if you wreck a rental car.

I’ve had the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for many years, and its travel insurance has saved me thousands of dollars.

Ready to get the card? Apply now for the Chase Sapphire Preferred®

You spend a lot at supermarkets and restaurants

The Amex Gold Card earns 4x points per dollar at U.S. supermarkets and restaurants worldwide on up to $25,000 in spending per calendar year. That’s a generous return for some of the most common purchases in life.

If you’re like me, you spend about $1000 per month between these two categories. By using the Amex Gold Card for these expenses, you’ll earn 48,000 points annually for purchases you would make anyway. These points can be redeemed in similar ways to Chase Ultimate Rewards® points and can be worth:

• $288.00 when redeeming as a statement credit (0.6 cents per point).
• $480 in travel when redeeming through the Amex Travel Portal.
• $800+ at the Waldorf Astoria Orlando when transferring Amex points to Hilton.
• 3 one-ways (or 1.5 roundtrips) to Ireland from the East Coast when transferring points to Aer Lingus.

Again, you’ll almost always get the best value for your points by transferring to airline and hotel partners.

You eat out a lot

The American Express® Gold Card comes with a $250 annual fee. That’s $155 more expensive than the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. But this price is somewhat justified with the following annual statement credits:

• Up to $120 in dining credits per year ($10 per month) toward Grubhub, Seamless, The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Boxed, and some Shake Shack locations.
• Up to $120 in Uber Cash credits ($10 per month).
• The Uber Cash credits you’ll receive each month can also be used with Uber Eats — so even if you don’t often use rideshare services, you can still squeeze some free food out of it.

Pair these credits with the fact that you’ll earn four points per dollar on dining, and you can see that this card was built for foodies.

You maximize Amex Offers

Amex Offers are available on all American Express cards. They have targeted statement credits and bonus points for spending with specific merchants. Simply enroll your Amex Gold Card through your online account, and you’ll be automatically rewarded when you use them.

For example, I have an Amex Offer to earn four bonus points per dollar at Buffalo Wild Wings (capped at 5,000 bonus points). I just used it tonight and received 120 bonus points for making a purchase I had planned to make anyway.

Read more: are Amex cards worth it?

I also have an offer for $50 off $250 spent with Marriott. I’ve already planned a Marriott stay, so I’ll use my card for that and get a free $50 out of it.

Amex Offers change all the time, but if you monitor them with regularity, you can easily offset your credit card annual fee — and then some. I’ve done it many times.

To determine the travel credit card that best suits your lifestyle, you need to examine each card’s ongoing benefits in relation to its annual fee. The card is a no-brainer if you’ll save more money each year than you’re paying in fees.

While the redemption rates of Amex points versus Chase points vary slightly, they are both the two most powerful tools for achieving free travel.

Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® comes out ahead in my book. It’s got a lower annual fee ($95 vs. $250), more versatile point redemption options, and a solid suite of perks.

Both cards are excellent choices. No matter what your bucket list looks like, these cards can help you expedite your wildest travel dreams.