The Quick Verdict
The Amex Gold and the Chase Sapphire Preferred are the two cards most people land on once they decide to take points seriously. They sit in the same "mid-tier" tier of the market, both earn transferable points, and both have loyal followings. But they are built for different people, and the gap in their annual fees — $95 for the Sapphire Preferred versus $325 for the Amex Gold — tells you most of what you need to know about who each is for.
Here is the short version: the Chase Sapphire Preferred wins on value, simplicity, and cost, and it keeps access to World of Hyatt (with a caveat we'll cover). The Amex Gold wins on raw earning for people who spend heavily on dining and groceries — but only if they will actually use its coupon-book-style credits. If you won't use the credits, the Gold's higher fee is hard to justify on earn rate alone.
| Feature | Amex Gold | Chase Sapphire Preferred |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $325 | $95 |
| Dining | 4x worldwide | 3x |
| U.S. supermarkets | 4x (to $25k/yr) | 1x |
| Travel | 3x flights only | 5x portal / 2x other |
| Statement credits | Several, coupon-style | $100 hotel credit |
| Transfers to Hyatt | No | Yes (now 4:3) |
| Airline partner breadth | Wider (ANA, etc.) | Narrower |
The rest of this guide unpacks each row so you can see exactly where the value comes from — and where the marketing gets ahead of reality.
Annual Fees Compared
This is the biggest practical difference between the two cards, and it's worth sitting with for a moment. The Chase Sapphire Preferred charges $95 a year. The Amex Gold charges $325 a year. That's a $230 gap before you've earned a single point.
The Sapphire Preferred's $95 is close to a "set it and forget it" fee — you don't have to do anything special to come out ahead, because the card's $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit more than covers the fee on its own if you book even one hotel night through Chase Travel. (That credit was doubled from $50 to $100 in the 2026 refresh.) After that, every point you earn is gravy.
The Amex Gold's $325 is a different animal. Amex effectively assumes you'll claw most of it back through statement credits — but those credits only have value if you'd spend at the specific merchants anyway. We'll get into exactly how that math works below, because it's the single most important factor in deciding whether the Gold is worth it for you.
Honest take: Don't think of the Gold as a "$325 card." Think of it as a "$325 card minus whatever credits you'll genuinely use." For some people that nets out near $80. For others it stays close to $325. Your honest answer to "will I use these?" decides everything.
Earning Structure
This is where the two cards diverge in philosophy. The Gold is a spending card built around food. The Sapphire Preferred is a travel card built around breadth.
Amex Gold: heavy on dining and groceries
- 4x points at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 in purchases per year, then 1x)
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per year, then 1x)
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel
- 5x points on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel
- 1x on everything else
If you spend a lot on food — at restaurants, on takeout, and at the grocery store — the Gold's 4x in two of the biggest everyday categories is genuinely hard to beat. A household spending $1,500 a month across dining and groceries earns 72,000 Membership Rewards points a year just from those two categories.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: dining plus broad travel
- 5x on Chase Travel purchases (flights, hotels, cars booked through Chase's portal)
- 3x on dining, streaming services, and online groceries
- 3x on gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals like Airbnb and Vrbo (added in the June 2026 refresh)
- 2x on all other travel worldwide
- 1x on everything else
The Sapphire Preferred earns a little less on dining (3x vs. 4x) and doesn't reward U.S. supermarkets at the grocery store the way the Gold does — but it covers far more of your travel spending, and it adds a meaningful perk most people forget about: a 1.25x boost when you redeem points through the Chase Travel portal. That means 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel booked through Chase, even before you consider transfer partners. The Gold has no equivalent portal multiplier on Membership Rewards.
One note on the anniversary bonus: the Sapphire Preferred's old 10% anniversary points bonus was discontinued for new applicants in the June 2026 refresh. If you applied before that change you may keep it for a transition period — but don't count on it as a reason to apply today. Always confirm the current terms with Chase.
The Statement-Credit Reality
This is the part of the Amex Gold pitch that deserves the most scrutiny, because it's where the "effective cost" of the card lives — and where a lot of people fool themselves.
The Amex Gold credits are a coupon book
The Gold offers several statement credits, but each one is narrow, capped, and time-boxed. As of 2026 the lineup typically includes:
- Up to $120 in Uber Cash ($10 per month) — usable on Uber rides and Uber Eats in the U.S.
- Up to $120 dining credit ($10 per month) at a fixed set of partners (Grubhub, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wonder)
- Up to $100 Resy credit at eligible Resy restaurants
- Up to $84 Dunkin' credit ($7 per month)
On paper that's over $400 in credits against a $325 fee — which is exactly how Amex markets it. But read the fine print on how they actually work. The monthly credits do not roll over. If you don't use your $10 Uber Cash in a given month, it's gone. If you don't eat at one of the five eligible dining partners, that $10 is gone too. The Dunkin' credit only matters if you're a regular Dunkin' customer.
So the credits are only "worth" what you would have spent at those exact places anyway. If you already take Ubers and order takeout monthly, the Uber and dining credits are close to real cash and the Gold's effective fee drops dramatically. If you don't, you're chasing $10 coupons every month to justify a fee — which is a chore, not a benefit.
The Sapphire Preferred credit is simpler
The Sapphire Preferred keeps it clean: a $100 annual Chase Travel hotel credit that applies automatically to a hotel booked through Chase's portal. There's no monthly coupon-chasing. One credit, once a year, and it already covers the entire $95 fee. That simplicity is a real advantage for people who don't want a part-time job managing their card.
Bottom line on credits: the Gold's net cost can swing from roughly $325 down to under $100 depending entirely on whether you'll use the coupons. The Sapphire Preferred's net cost is reliably near zero for anyone who books a hotel through Chase once a year. Be honest about which kind of person you are. For more on how to value all this, see our guide on how to value your points.
Transfer Partners
For most points enthusiasts, the real value of these cards isn't cash back or portal bookings — it's transferring points to airline and hotel partners for outsized redemptions. This is where the two currencies differ in important ways.
Chase Ultimate Rewards (Sapphire Preferred)
Chase's standout partners are World of Hyatt and United MileagePlus. Hyatt has long been the single best reason to hold a Chase card — its award chart can deliver well over 2 cents per point at top properties, far above what cash-back redemptions return. United opens up Star Alliance partners like ANA and Lufthansa for premium-cabin awards.
One important 2026 update: with the Sapphire Preferred refresh, new cardholders now transfer to Hyatt at a 4:3 ratio rather than the old 1:1 — so 1,000 Chase points become 750 Hyatt points. That still leaves Hyatt a strong redemption, but it's a meaningful trim from what made Chase famous. Always check the current ratio before you transfer. For the full lineup, see our Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer guide.
Amex Membership Rewards (Gold)
Amex's edge is breadth. Membership Rewards transfers to a much longer list of airlines, including several that Chase doesn't offer — most notably ANA, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and Virgin Atlantic. That breadth is what makes the Gold a quietly powerful card for international premium-cabin redemptions. ANA in particular unlocks some of the best first- and business-class sweet spots in the world. Our Amex Membership Rewards transfer guide breaks down the best of them.
The two key asymmetries: Chase does not partner with ANA or Cathay Pacific — so those programs are off-limits with Sapphire Preferred points. And Amex does not transfer to World of Hyatt at all — so if Hyatt hotels are your goal, only Chase gets you there. Neither card does everything; pick based on the redemptions you actually want.
| Partner Type | Chase UR (CSP) | Amex MR (Gold) |
|---|---|---|
| World of Hyatt | Yes (4:3) | No |
| United MileagePlus | Yes | No |
| ANA | No | Yes |
| Aeroplan | Yes | Yes |
| Flying Blue | Yes | Yes |
| Virgin Atlantic | Yes | Yes |
Who Should Pick Which
Pick the Chase Sapphire Preferred if…
- You want the lower fee and a card that pays for itself with one hotel credit.
- You value simplicity over squeezing every coupon — no monthly credit-chasing.
- World of Hyatt or United awards are on your wishlist.
- You spend across a range of travel categories and want the 1.25x portal redemption boost.
- You're newer to points and want one reliable card to anchor your strategy.
Pick the Amex Gold if…
- You spend heavily on dining and U.S. groceries and want 4x in both.
- You'll genuinely use the monthly credits (Uber, dining, Dunkin', Resy) — making the effective fee much lower.
- You want access to ANA and Amex's wider airline list for international business and first class.
- You're comfortable doing a little monthly admin to extract full value.
Still torn? For a lot of people the honest answer is "the Sapphire Preferred first, the Gold later." Start with the cheaper, simpler card to learn how transfers work, then add the Gold once you know you'll use its credits and want grocery earning. Many points enthusiasts eventually hold both — they complement each other, since each reaches partners the other can't. See our full best travel credit cards roundup for where these fit, and our Sapphire Preferred vs. Reserve comparison if you're weighing the step-up Chase card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which card has the lower annual fee, Amex Gold or Chase Sapphire Preferred?
The Chase Sapphire Preferred has the lower annual fee at $95, compared to $325 for the Amex Gold — a $230 difference. The Gold's higher fee is partly offset by statement credits, but only if you use them. If you want a simple, low-cost travel card with transfer partners, the Sapphire Preferred is the cheaper entry point.
Which card earns more on dining?
The Amex Gold earns 4x points at restaurants worldwide (up to $50,000 per year), while the Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 3x on dining. So the Gold earns more per dollar at restaurants. The Gold also adds 4x at U.S. supermarkets, which the Sapphire Preferred does not match. For heavy dining and grocery spenders, the Gold pulls ahead on raw earning.
Can I transfer points to World of Hyatt with these cards?
Chase Ultimate Rewards (Sapphire Preferred) transfers to World of Hyatt, but as of the June 2026 refresh new cardholders transfer at a 4:3 ratio rather than the old 1:1, which reduces the value. Amex Membership Rewards (Gold) does not transfer to Hyatt at all — Hyatt is not an Amex partner. If Hyatt is your goal, Chase is the only option of the two, but check the current transfer ratio before you move points.
Which card is better for international business class?
The Amex Gold generally wins for international premium cabins because Amex Membership Rewards has a broader airline transfer list — including ANA, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and Virgin Atlantic. Chase Ultimate Rewards has fewer airline partners and does not partner with ANA or Cathay Pacific. If your goal is long-haul business or first class, Amex's breadth of partners is the bigger advantage.
Are the Amex Gold statement credits actually worth it?
Only if you would spend at those specific merchants anyway. The Gold's credits are coupon-book style — monthly Uber Cash, a monthly dining credit at a fixed set of restaurants, a Resy credit, and a Dunkin' credit. Each must be used in its window or it is lost. If you already use Uber and eat at the eligible restaurants, the credits can offset most of the $325 fee. If you do not, treat the fee as $325 and earn rate alone may not justify it.
Find Your Best Redemption
Whichever card you pick, the points are only worth what you redeem them for. Use our free tools to see exactly what your points can buy — and which transfer partner gives you the most value.