Editor’s note: All figures below were verified directly against American Express and Chase official card pages and cross-checked with The Points Guy and NerdWallet in July 2026. Both cards received significant refreshes in 2026 (Amex Gold in April, Sapphire Preferred in June), so older comparisons may be outdated. Card terms change frequently — always confirm current details with the issuer before applying. This article is not financial advice. See our full Disclaimer.
This is one of the most interesting card matchups of 2026, because both cards were refreshed within weeks of each other — the Amex Gold in April (its 60th-anniversary update) and the Sapphire Preferred in June — and both kept their annual fees unchanged while adding benefits. The real question isn’t which card is “better” in the abstract: it’s whether your spending looks more like a food-and-groceries budget or a travel-and-everything budget.
Side-by-side comparison
| Amex Gold | Chase Sapphire Preferred | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $325 | $95 |
| Welcome bonus | Up to 100,000 points after $8,000 spend in 6 months (personalized offer) | 100,000 points after $5,000 spend in 3 months (limited-time) |
| Dining | 4x (up to $50,000/year, then 1x) | 3x |
| U.S. supermarkets | 4x (up to $25,000/year, then 1x) | 1x |
| Travel booked via issuer portal | 5x prepaid hotels, 3x flights | 5x |
| Gas & EV charging | 1x | 3x (new in June 2026) |
| Vacation rentals (Airbnb, Vrbo) | 1x | 3x (new in June 2026) |
| Annual credits | Up to $424 (dining, Uber Cash, Resy, Dunkin’) | $100 Chase Travel hotel credit |
| Lounge access | None | None |
| Transfer partners | ~20 airline/hotel partners | 14 airline/hotel partners |
(Nota para ti: recrea esta tabla en TablePress al publicar.)
Annual fee: $325 vs $95 — but the gap is smaller than it looks
On paper, the Amex Gold costs $230 more per year. In practice, the Gold carries up to $424 in annual statement credits: a $120 dining credit ($10/month at partners including Buffalo Wild Wings and Wonder as of the 2026 refresh), $120 in Uber Cash ($10/month), $100 in Resy credits (two $50 semi-annual windows), and $84 in Dunkin’ credits ($7/month).
If you naturally use most of those, the Gold’s effective cost drops below the Preferred’s $95. But that’s a real “if” — these are use-it-or-lose-it monthly and semi-annual credits. Miss a few months of the Uber or Dunkin’ credit, and the math shifts quickly. The Preferred’s single $100 annual hotel credit is much harder to waste, which makes its effective cost more predictable.
Welcome bonus: same headline number, different fine print
Both cards currently advertise up to 100,000 points, but the terms differ meaningfully:
- Sapphire Preferred: a flat 100,000 points after $5,000 spend in 3 months. Everyone approved gets this offer. It’s a limited-time elevated bonus — the card’s standard offer has historically been 60,000–75,000 points.
- Amex Gold: up to 100,000 points after $8,000 spend in 6 months — but Amex personalizes offers, so you may be shown 60,000 or 75,000 instead. You find out your exact offer after applying (with no credit score impact until you accept). Note that Amex raised this spending requirement from $6,000 to $8,000 in 2026.
The Preferred’s offer is both more transparent and easier to hit. And remember both issuers apply once-per-lifetime bonus rules to these cards, so timing your application around a strong offer matters.
Earning rates: it comes down to where your money actually goes
The Amex Gold dominates food spending. 4x at restaurants worldwide and 4x at U.S. supermarkets (with generous caps of $50,000 and $25,000 per year respectively) is the strongest combined food-earning structure of any card in this class. If you spend, say, $800/month between dining and groceries, that’s roughly 38,000 points per year from those categories alone.
The Sapphire Preferred covers more ground. Its June 2026 refresh added 3x on gas, EV charging, and vacation rentals (Airbnb, Vrbo and similar) to its existing 3x dining and 5x Chase Travel bookings. No single category beats the Gold’s 4x on food, but the Preferred earns bonus points across more of a typical travel-oriented budget — including categories the Gold ignores entirely.
A useful rule of thumb: if more than half of your card spending is restaurants plus supermarkets, the Gold earns more total points. If your spending is spread across gas, travel, rentals, and dining, the Preferred usually comes out ahead.
Points value and transfer partners: Amex has more partners, Chase has Hyatt (sort of)
Both Membership Rewards and Ultimate Rewards are premium transferable currencies, generally valued at around 2 cents per point when transferred well. Amex has the larger partner list (around 20 programs, including standouts like Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Air Canada Aeroplan). Chase counters with 14 partners — and historically its crown jewel was the 1:1 World of Hyatt transfer.
That changed in June 2026: Sapphire Preferred transfers to Hyatt were devalued to a 4:3 ratio (you now get 750 Hyatt points per 1,000 Chase points). It’s still a usable transfer, but the Preferred lost part of what made Chase points special for hotel redemptions. If Hyatt was your main reason for choosing Chase, factor this in — only the pricier Sapphire Reserve keeps the 1:1 Hyatt rate.
Credits and perks beyond the headline numbers
- Amex Gold (post-April 2026 refresh): 5x on prepaid hotels through Amex Travel (up from 2x), complimentary Hertz Five Star status, and a $100 property credit on Hotel Collection bookings of 2+ nights.
- Sapphire Preferred (post-June 2026 refresh): $120 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck/NEXUS credit every four years (new — this filled the card’s most-cited gap), a complimentary year of Apple TV if activated by December 31, 2026, complimentary DashPass, and solid travel protections including primary rental car coverage and trip delay reimbursement.
The Preferred’s travel protections deserve emphasis: primary rental car coverage at a $95 price point is rare, and it’s a benefit the Amex Gold doesn’t match.
Who should get the Amex Gold
- Your restaurant and supermarket spending is the core of your budget ($500+/month combined makes the math work comfortably)
- You’ll realistically use the monthly Uber and dining credits without forcing purchases
- You want access to Amex’s broader transfer partner list
- You’re comfortable with a personalized (variable) welcome offer
Who should get the Chase Sapphire Preferred
- You want the lowest predictable annual cost with the least credit-tracking effort
- Your spending is spread across travel, gas, rentals, and dining rather than concentrated in food
- You value travel protections (primary rental coverage, trip delay) on a budget card
- You want the more straightforward, guaranteed welcome bonus
Can you have both?
Yes — and this pairing is genuinely popular among points enthusiasts, because the cards cover each other’s gaps almost perfectly: the Gold handles restaurants and supermarkets at 4x, while the Preferred covers travel, gas, and rentals at 3-5x, each feeding a different transferable points balance. If you can justify both fees, it’s one of the most complementary two-card setups available. If you’re choosing just one to start, base it on the earning-rate rule of thumb above.
Bottom line
The Amex Gold is the stronger earner for food-centric spending; the Sapphire Preferred is the stronger travel card overall at a third of the price. In 2026, with both cards refreshed and neither raising its fee, there’s no wrong answer here — only a wrong match for your particular spending pattern.
Deciding between Chase’s own two cards instead? Read our full Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve comparison.