Amex Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve Card [Detailed Comparison]

Both the American Express^® Green Card* and the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® are 2 fantastic travel rewards cards. That said, each card is quite different in the value they offer to cardholders between their bonus categories, benefits, protections, and fees.

In this guide, we will provide a detailed comparison of everything that both cards have to offer to help you decide which is the better fit for you.

*The information regarding the American Express^® Green Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Overview

Before we do a deeper dive into how these cards stack up against each other, here’s a quick overview of the rewards, perks, protections, and fees of both cards.

While both cards offer compelling rewards and benefits, you’ll notice that the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers significantly more perks — but that is to be expected given its annual fee is $400 higher than the Amex Green card.

Given that, deciding which card is the better option for you will come down to what type of perks and protections you are looking for, how much value you think you can receive from each benefit, and how much you are willing to pay for those perks and benefits.

Welcome Offer Comparison

Amex Green Card

American Express^® Green Card

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

This card can provide a great way to accumulate Membership Rewards points on eligible travel, transit, and at restaurants.

All information about American Express^® Green Card has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

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American Express^® Green Card

This card can provide a great way to accumulate Membership Rewards points on eligible travel, transit, and at restaurants.

Welcome Offer

Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express^® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.

40,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$880

Annual Fee

$150

APR

See Pay Over Time APR

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The American Express^® Green Card is an excellent all-around travel rewards card thanks to earning 3x Membership Rewards^® points on eligible travel and transit purchases and at restaurants, access to American Express transfer partners, and a reasonable annual fee.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 3x points per $1 spent at restaurants worldwide, on all eligible travel purchases, and transit purchases
• Up to $199 per calendar year in statement credits after you pay for a CLEAR^® Plus membership with the Card.
• Up to $100 in statement credits annually when you purchase airport lounge access through LoungeBuddy with the Card.

Cons

• $150 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 40,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $3,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express^® Green Card within the first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on travel, including airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, and vacation rentals.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® Points on transit purchases, including trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways.
• Earn 3X Membership Rewards^® points on eligible purchases at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the US.
• $199 CLEAR Plus Credit: Receive up to $199 per calendar year in statement credits when you pay for your CLEAR Plus membership (subject to auto-renewal) with the American Express^® Green Card.
• $100 LoungeBuddy: No airport lounge membership? No problem! Purchase lounge access through the LoungeBuddy app using the American Express^® Green Card and receive up to $100 in statement credits annually.
• Payment Flexibility: When it comes to paying your bill, you have options. You can always pay in full. You also have the flexibility to carry a balance with interest or use Plan It^® to split up large purchases into monthly payments with a fixed fee, up to your Pay Over Time Limit. You may be able to keep spending beyond your limit – you’ll just need to pay for any new purchases in full when your bill is due.
• Trip Delay Insurance: If a round-trip is paid for entirely with your Eligible Card and a covered reason delays your trip more than 12 hours, Trip Delay Insurance can help reimburse certain additional expenses purchased on the same Eligible Card, up to $300 per trip, maximum 2 claims per eligible account per 12 consecutive month period. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Coverage is provided by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
• No Foreign Transaction Fees: No matter where you’re traveling, when you use your American Express^® Green Card there are no foreign transaction fees.
• $150 annual fee.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

American Express Membership Rewards

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

U.P. Rating 

The rating for this card has been determined by our own industry experts who know the in's and out's of credit card products. Bonuses, rewards as well as rates and fees are all taken into account. Compensation from the issuer does not affect our rating. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse.

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

Learn More(at Chase's secure site)

Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

60,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,200

Annual Fee

$550

APR

21.74% - 28.74% Variable

Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Excellent (740-850)

Why We Like This Card

If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve^® is one of the best options out there.

The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options.  Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.

Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase TravelSM immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually
• 10x points on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025
• 10x points on Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $250 through March 31, 2025

Cons

• $550 annual fee
• Does not offer any sort of hotel elite status

Read Full Review

Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
• $300 Annual Travel Credit as reimbursement for travel purchases charged to your card each account anniversary year.
• Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases
• Get 50% more value when you redeem your points for travel through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $900 toward travel.
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs
• Access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide after an easy, one-time enrollment in Priority Pass™ Select and up to $120 application fee credit every four years for Global Entry, NEXUS, or TSA PreCheck^®
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Coverage, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 21.74% - 28.74% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Bottom Line: Our valuation of Amex Membership Rewards points and Chase Ultimate Rewards points are quite close, at 2.2 cents per point and 2 cents per point, respectively. This means the more lucrative bonus will usually come down to which card has a larger welcome offer.

Earning Potential

One of the main goals of any rewards card is to earn as many points as possible. Here’s how many points each card earns in each of its spending categories.

The Amex Green Card is no slouch when it comes to earning points by offering 3x points on eligible travel, transit, and at restaurants. That said, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card matches those 3x earnings in those areas and offers 5 more bonus categories that allow you to earn 5x to 10x points.

Redemption Options

One of the best benefits of both the Amex Green Card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is that they earn flexible rewards points that can be redeemed in a variety of ways.

Amex Green Card

Those who hold the Amex Green Card can use their earned Membership Rewards points to book through the AmexTravel.com portal, transfer them to Amex’s transfer partners, or redeem them for cash-back via a statement credit, gift cards, or shopping with select merchants like Apple and Amazon.

That said, each redemption option can offer significantly different value, which is why our favorite redemption option is using Amex’s airline and hotel transfer partners. Redeeming your points this way allows you to book luxury travel experiences for a fraction of what the retail price would have set you back.

Some of our favorite Amex transfer partners include Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and Virgin Atlantic.

For instance, you could transfer your Amex Membership Rewards points to the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program to book a business class ticket from the East Coast to Paris or Amsterdam for as low as 53,000 miles, or even less if you combine it with a Flying Blue Promo Award. Given that these tickets regularly cost around $2,500, this gives you over 4.7 cents per point in value for your Amex Membership Rewards.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, you have many of the same redemption options with your Ultimate Rewards points, including Chase’s transfer partners, redeeming for cash-back, Pay Yourself Back, gift cards, and shopping partners.

One big added perk of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is that you receive a 50% bonus when redeeming your points through the Chase Travel portal, allowing you to redeem your points toward virtually any travel purchase for 1.5 cents per point. With most cards (from all banks), you’ll only get 1 cent per point in value when redeeming through their respective travel portal. While you can often get more value than that by strategically using Chase’s transfer partners, the 50% bonus gives your points a baseline value of 1.5 cents each towards travel redemptions with significant flexibility and no blackout dates, which is a huge plus.

Chase offers access to one of our all-time favorite transfer partners, the World of Hyatt program. Through the World of Hyatt program, award nights at the very best properties cost between 30,000 and 40,000 points per night, which can be over 50% to 60% less than what competitors, like Marriott and Hilton, charge for top-tier hotels. Given that your Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to Hyatt, you can get fantastic value at premium properties like the Park Hyatt Sydney, Andaz Tokyo Toranomon Hills, and the Park Hyatt Paris.

Hot Tip: Read more about the best ways to use Amex Membership Rewards points and how to maximize their value and the best ways to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to get outsized value. 

Comparing Statement Credits

No matter which card you pick you’ll need to pay an annual fee, but both cards offer statement credits to help offset that cost.

Amex Green Card

One of the best benefits of the Amex Green Card is that it offers an annual CLEAR Plus credit to receive up to $199 per calendar year in statement credits after paying for a CLEAR Plus membership with the Amex Green Card. This benefit alone can easily offset the $150 annual fee if you are someone who would have paid for CLEAR Plus anyway.

If you’re not familiar with CLEAR, it provides a faster security experience at select airports and stadiums nationwide using biometrics.

With the Amex Green card, you’ll also receive a $100 annual LoungeBuddy credit and receive up to $100 in statement credits annually when purchasing lounge access through LoungeBuddy using the Amex Green Card. Depending on which lounges you choose, this credit should cover 2 to 3 visits each year.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

Annual Travel Credit

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers arguably one of the best annual travel credits of all travel rewards cards. With it, you’ll receive $300 toward any travel purchase you make with the card each year. Chase really means it when they say any travel purchase, as even items like rideshare services, parking garages, and tolls can apply, in addition to the more obvious purchases like flights, hotels, and rental cars.

Better yet, the $300 annual credit doesn’t require you to book directly through the Chase Travel portal and applies to any sort of travel purchase, so you can truly use it almost any way you see fit.

DoorDash

The card comes with a DoorDash DashPass subscription, a $9.99 per month value, which includes $0 delivery fees and lower service fees on eligible orders, along with $5 in DoorDash credits each month. DoorDash specializes in food delivery from restaurants but also offers grocery and alcohol delivery.

Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS

Wrapping up the statements credits for the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is its Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS credit. The credit is offered every 4 years and can be applied to any of the 3 programs.

In our view, we think opting for Global Entry is the best option because it offers an expedited customs experience when reentering the U.S. and includes TSA PreCheck access which offers expedited security at every U.S. airport.

Travel Benefits and Protection Analysis

Once again the Chase Sapphire Reserve card wins out on every category here, as we would expect it to given the difference in annual fees.

Put simply, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is one of the best cards on the market when it comes to travel protections, so when you throw in perks like complimentary Priority Pass access, access to the Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, and a Lyft Pink All Access membership, it is easy to see just how much value cardmembers can receive by holding it.

With your Priority Pass Select membership, you’ll receive access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide, so you’ll always have a place to relax before your flight. When you book a hotel through the Chase Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection, you get perks like a space-available room upgrade, late checkout, and daily breakfast for 2. If you’re a regular Lyft user, Lyft Pink All Access really comes in handy thanks to free priority pickups, waived cancellation fees, unlimited 45-minute classic bike rides, and more.

Comparing Shopping Protection and Benefits

Here is how each option keeps you covered when purchasing items with your card.

Amex Green Card

• Amex Offers — Discounts and opportunities to earn more points and statement credits with 100 merchants each month
• Purchase Protection — Coverage 90 days from the date of purchase towards stolen or damaged items for up to $1,000 per occurrence and $50,000 per year
• Extended Warranty Coverage — Adds 1 year of additional warranty to extended warranties of 5 years or less
• American Express Experiences — Exclusive access to ticket presales

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

• Chase Offers — Discounts with select merchants
• Purchase Protection — Covers new purchases against damage or theft for up to 120 days from purchase with up to $10,000 in coverage per claim and $50,000 per account
• Extended Warranty Coverage — Extends a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less
• Return Protection — Covers if a merchant will not allow you to return an item 90 days from purchase with up to $500 in coverage per claim and $50,000 per account

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees

The annual fee of the Amex Green card is $150 while the annual fee of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card is $550. Since the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s annual fee is significantly higher than that of the Amex Green card, you’ll want to make sure that you can get enough value out from the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s benefits to justify the higher cost.

Authorized Users

When it comes to authorized users, you can add authorized users to your Amex Green card for no additional cost.

With the Chase Sapphire Reserve card you need to pay $75 per authorized user. Of course, authorized users don’t receive all of the benefits of the primary cardholder, but they do receive their own Priority Pass membership (which can easily be worth more than $75), and all of the card’s travel and purchase protections.

Final Thoughts

You can get great value out of both the Amex Green card and the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, but when it comes to a head-to-head comparison, it’s not much of a fair fight.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers more bonus categories, more perks, more statement credits, and better travel and purchase protections. That said, it also comes with a hefty $550 annual fee, so you’ll want to make sure you get plenty of value out of the card. For those looking for one of the best travel rewards cards on the market, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card would be a great option.

On the other hand, if you don’t travel often enough to take advantage of all of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s perks and don’t want to pay its large annual fee, then the Amex Green card could be a more pragmatic option since it still offers great points-earning bonus categories, access to the Amex transfer partners, and an annual CLEAR Plus credit, but with a more reasonable annual fee.

Read our Amex vs Chase guide to find a detailed overview of the different rewards and points offered by both credit card providers .

For the secondary rental car coverage benefit of the American Express^® Green Card, Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance can provide coverage up to $50,000 for theft of or damage to most rental vehicles when you use your eligible Card to reserve and pay for the entire eligible vehicle rental and decline the collision damage waiver or similar option offered by the Commercial Car Rental Company. This product provides secondary coverage and does not include liability coverage. Not all vehicle types or rentals are covered. Geographic restrictions apply. Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.