Amex Gold vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred (Which is better?)

by Daniel | Last Updated June 29th, 2021

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So today I am going to I’m going to compare the Amex Gold card versus the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
I’ll go over what they offer in terms of a sign up bonus, how much they cost each year, how you can earn points when using the cards and then I’ll choose which card is best in terms of rewards and value.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqyiGuDYc3w

Annual Fee & Sign-up Bonus

To begin with, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card has an annual fee of $95, and for new cardmembers only after spending $4,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account, you can earn 100,000 bonus points that are worth at least $1,250.
This is 40,000 more points than you get when you sign up for the Chases Sapphire Reserve card which also happens to be considerably more expensive with an annual fee of $550.

The Amex Gold Card has an annual fee of $250 and for new card members, it currently offers 60,000 reward points after you spend $4,000 within the first 6 months of opening the account, and these points are worth at least $600.

So the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a lot more value based on both the sign-up bonus and the annual fee, even though you have 3 extra months to earn the reward points with the Amex Gold card, you will save $155 on the annual fee and the bonus points are worth $650 more.

Earning Points

So next up let’s look at how many points you can earn with each card.

Amex Gold Card

The Amex Gold card currently offers 4x times points at restaurants.
You will also receive 4x points at US supermarkets with a maximum spend limit of $25,000 per calendar year, (after this it will revert to 1 point per dollar spent)
Next up you will earn 3 x points on any flights that are booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com.
Any other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you will earn 5x points for all Lyft rides through March 2022.
Next up you will earn unlimited 2x points for both dining and travel, and the best thing about this is that Chase has a relatively relaxed view of what counts for travel, things such as Uber rides, car rentals, and food delivery also count.
Anything else will receive 1 point per dollar spent.

So in terms of the value, you get when earning points the Amex Gold card offers a bit than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Even though you get a bit more variety in terms of where you can earn points due to the fact that dining and travel are quite broadly defined by Chase, the Amex Gold card has a higher earning rate of 4x points for both restaurants and US Supermarkets, so I would assume that you would be able to accrue more points due to this.

Benefits and User Perks 

Now let’s have a look at some of the additional perks and benefits that each card offers you throughout the year.

Amex Gold Card

So with the Amex Gold card, you will get up to $120 each year in Uber credit that can be used on either Uber rides or Uber Eats.
This credit is spread out over the year and gives you $10 per month.
You will also get a 12 month complimentary Uber Eats pass which is valued at up to $119, and this gives you free delivery and 5% off orders that are over $15 at eligible restaurants.
There is also a $120 dining credit that can be used and companies such as Grubhub, Seamless, Boxed, and many more, and this is also offered on a monthly basis of $10 per month in available credit.
And finally, if you make a booking for a minimum of 2 nights through Amex’s ‘The Hotel Collection’ you will receive a $100 onsite credit for qualifying activities such as dining or spa treatments.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

So first up will receive a DashPass valued at $9.99 per month (or $119.99 per year) and this gives you complimentary DoorDash delivery for orders over $12 and is valid for one year.
Next up you will also get a $60 credit back for Peloton Digital or All-Access memberships until the end of 2021.

So calculating these benefits the Amex Gold Card offers up to $459.00 in value which is pretty good.
And the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers slightly less value with $259.99 in value.

So the Amex Gold card offers $200 more in value than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Travel Insurance

So finally let’s look at what each card offers in terms of insurance coverage.

Amex Gold Card

So starting with the Amex Gold card you will get baggage Insurance which will cover up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and $500 for checked baggage, and this covers any baggage that is damaged or stolen.
You also get car rental loss and damage insurance that will cover up to $50,000.
The Amex Gold card also offers an extended warranty that will provide you with an extra 1 year of coverage for any warranty that is 5 years or less and from within the United States.

You will also get purchase protection for an extra 90 days on eligible items up to $10,000 per item and up to a maximum of $50,000 per calendar year.
And finally, you will receive trip delay insurance that will cover up to $300 per covered trip with a maximum of 2 claims per consecutive 12 month period.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

Now let’s look at what the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers.
First of all, you get baggage delay insurance, so if your baggage is delayed more than 6 hours by a passenger carrier you can receive up to $100 a day for 5 days.

There is also Primary car rental insurance that covers a reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the car for theft or collision damage caused to the rental car. 

And similar to the Amex Gold card you also get extended warranty protection that gives you an extra year of protection for eligible warranties of three years or less that are purchased in the US.

Purchase protection is also included and covers up to damage or theft for 120 days up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account

A finally there is trip cancellation insurance that covers $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip.
There is also trip delay Insurance which covers up to $500 per ticket.

So for this section, the Amex gold card offers slightly more insurance coverage than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Recap

Ok so now let go back over all of the sections that I’ve covered and see what card offers the most value.

So first up we covered the annual fee and sign-up bonus for each card, and for this section, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card quite easily beat out the Amex Gold card.
First of all the annual fee is $155 cheaper than the Amex Gold card and due to the fact it now offers 100,000 bonus points for new cardmembers, the points are worth $650 more than what the Amex Gold card offers you.

Next up I went over how each card can earn you points and for this section, the Amex Gold card beat put the Chase Sapphire Preferred card as it offers a higher earning rate of 4x points for both restaurants and US Supermarkets.
So if you are able to take advantage of this you will eventually earn more points.

In the next section I went over some of the benefits and user perks that each card offers, and for this section, the Amex Gold card beat outage Chase Sapphire Reserve card as it offers $200 more in value.

And lastly, I went over travel insurance options that each card offers, and for this section, the Amex gold card offers slightly more insurance coverage than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Firstly the Amex Gold card covers up to $1250 for lost or damaged baggage whereas the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers just $500.
Also, the Amex Gold card has a higher claim limit per item for its purchase protection which is $10,000 whereas the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is limited to $500 per item.

So based on the numbers above the Amex Gold card comes out on top with 3 points to 1 as it offers higher points earning, $200 more in user benefits and perks, and slightly more value in travel insurance options.

But if you take into account the savings that the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers on the annual fee which is $155, then you add the extra value of the 100,000 points which are worth $650 more than what the Gold card offers, and then minus the $200 more in value you get in cashback value from the Gold card.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card actually offers you an extra $605 in value over the Amex Gold card due to the large bonus offer of 100,000 points.

So the winner for this review is the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

If you want to learn more about either card you can click here for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or you can click here for the Amex Gold card.

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