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

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card and the American Express^® Green Card are both popular picks for a starter travel rewards card. While neither offers the rewards or benefits of their respective premium versions, both are very solid cards in their own right.

Each card offers a rich rewards ecosystem, great bonus categories, and perks to help offset its annual fee and provide value to cardholders. That said, there are quite a few unique differences between the 2 cards that we’ll get into today. In this post, we’ll provide you with a full breakdown of each card to help you determine which one is right for you.

American Express^® Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary

Let’s start with an overview of what each card offers before diving into a deeper comparison section by section.

Bottom Line: Both cards largely offer overlapping benefits, so deciding which one is better suited for you can largely come down to which rewards ecosystem you prefer.

The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer

American Express^® 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 $189 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.
• Access to American Express transfer partners
• No foreign transaction fees

Cons

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

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.
• $189 CLEAR Plus Credit: Receive up to $189 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

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• Credit Card Reviews
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American Express Membership Rewards

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• Amex Gold vs Amex Green
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Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

POPULAR FIRST CARD

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® 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.

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Learn More(at Chase's secure site)

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card

A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.

Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards^®.

60,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:

$1,200

Annual Fee

$95

APR

21.49%-28.49% 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.

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred^® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.

Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• 5x points on all travel booked via the Chase Travel portal
• 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $150 (through March 31, 2025)
• 5x points on Lyft purchases (through March 31, 2025)
• 3x points on dining purchases, online grocery purchases, and select streaming services
• 2x points on all other travel worldwide
• $50 annual credit on hotel stays booked through the Chase Travel portal
• 6 months of complimentary Instacart+ (activate by July 31, 2024), plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter through July 2024
• Excellent travel and car rental insurance
• 10% annual bonus points
• No foreign transaction fees
• 1:1 point transfer to leading airline and hotel loyalty programs like United MileagePlus and World of Hyatt

Cons

• $95 annual fee
• No elite benefits like airport lounge access or hotel elite status

Card Highlights

• Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.
• Enjoy benefits such as 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases, $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, plus more.
• Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Travel℠. For example, 60,000 points are worth $750 toward travel.
• Count on Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, Lost Luggage Insurance and more.
• Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024.
• Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

• APR: 21.49%-28.49% Variable
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

Card Categories

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Chase Ultimate Rewards

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• Chase Sapphire Preferred vs Reserve
• Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

Earning Potential

Now let’s dive into how the cards’ earning rates compare against each other.

As it stands, the American Express^® Green Card is definitely the better option when it comes to general travel purchases (unless those purchases are made through the Chase travel portal), other travel purchases with the exception of Lyft rides, and of course transit purchases.

Meanwhile, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is better for Chase travel portal purchases, Lyft rides, online grocery store purchases, and select streaming service purchases. Fortunately, both cards offer a solid 3x points on dining purchases, including takeout and delivery.

One added benefit that sets the Chase Sapphire Preferred card apart is that it offers bonus points on your account anniversary each year equal to 10% of the amount you spent on the card in that year. For example, if you spend $24,000 on your card, you’d receive 2,400 bonus points.

Hot Tip: Consider which card’s bonus categories better suit the purchases you already spend the most on when deciding which is likely to suit you better. 

Redemption Options

Fortunately, both the American Express^® Green Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card earn flexible rewards points, giving cardholders quite a few options when it comes time to redeem.

American Express^® Green Card

With the American Express^® Green Card, your redemption options include utilizing the Amex transfer partners, bookings through the AmexTravel.com portal, cash-back via a statement credit, gift cards, and shopping with select merchants like Amazon.

However, our favorite use of your Amex Membership Rewards points is using the program’s airline and hotel transfer partners. With this strategy, you can often receive significantly more value out of your points when redeeming them for business-class flights and luxury hotel stays for a fraction of the cash price.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

For Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders, you have virtually all of the same redemption options with a few tweaks.

It is no surprise that our favorite way to redeem Ultimate Rewards points is also through the transfer partners that Chase offers, and it includes some fan favorites like World of Hyatt and United Airlines.

However, 1 unique feature of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is the ability to receive a 25% bonus in value when you redeem through the Chase travel portal. Now, these redemptions are seldom higher value than using transfer partners, but cardholders can easily use their points at a rate of 1.25 cents per point towards virtually any travel purchase without dealing with the headaches of location airline award space or dealing with blackout dates.

Bottom Line: Both cards offer virtually the same redemptions, but while Amex is better for transfer partners (as it offers more high-quality partners), Chase still offers solid transfer partners and is much better when it comes to redeeming through its Chase travel portal and for cash-back. 

Statement Credits

Since both cards charge an annual fee, one great way to help offset that fee is through statement credits.

American Express^® Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy

With your American Express^® Green Card, you receive annual statement credits to both a CLEAR Plus membership and LoungeBuddy visits.

While many cards on the market offer a Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, the American Express^® Green Card stands out with its CLEAR Plus credit. With it, you’ll receive a faster security experience at select airports and stadiums nationwide.

This CLEAR Plus credit gives you up to $189 per calendar year in statement credits, which will fully cover the cost of an annual membership. This is a huge annual benefit, and The American Express^® Green Card is currently only one of a handful of credit cards that offers such a large CLEAR benefit.

Cardholders also receive an annual LoungeBuddy credit of up to $100, allowing you to pay to enter any of the 300+ lounges in the LoungeBuddy network in 50+ countries. Depending on which lounges you visit, this credit could get you 2 to 3 complimentary lounge visits each year.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Annual Hotel Credit, Instacart

To help offset its annual fee, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a $50 annual hotel statement credit towards hotel stays made through its native Chase travel portal. You can use the credit on any and all hotels bookable through the Chase travel portal, with no minimum purchase required or certain stay lengths.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a complimentary 6-month membership plus up to $15 in statement credits each quarter for Instacart purchases. This benefit must be activated by July 31, 2024.

Other Card Benefits

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – DoorDash

Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders receive a 1-year membership of DoorDash DashPass, offering complimentary delivery and reduced service fees on orders of $12 or more. The standard price of a DashPass subscription is $10 per month, giving you $120 in value from this single benefit.

Travel Benefits

When it comes to travel card protections, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card wins out in nearly every category. This is an important consideration as, while you hope you never have to use any of these perks, they certainly come in handy when things go wrong during your travels.

Shopping Benefits

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

The American Express^® Green Card offers these benefits:

• Amex Offers — Discounts and opportunities to earn more points with 100 merchants each month
• American Express Experiences — Exclusive access to ticket presales
• Purchase Protection — Coverage up to 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 — Adds 1 year of additional warranty to extended warranties of 5 years or less

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers these benefits:

• 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 $500 in coverage per claim and $50,000 per account
• Extended Warranty* — Extends a U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of 3 years or less

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees

As discussed, the respective annual fees of the American Express^® Green Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card are $150 and $95. Since the American Express^® Green Card comes in at $55 more than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll want to make sure any added benefits you’re receiving are worth that additional expense. If you use the annual CLEAR Plus credit and/or spend a lot on travel, then this is more than justified in our opinion.

Authorized Users

Fortunately, there is no added cost to add authorized users to the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and authorized user cards are also complimentary for the first 5 cards with the American Express^® Green Card, and $35 per card thereafter.

On both cards, authorized users receive all of the benefits and the same rewards on purchases as the primary cardholder, but do not receive additional statement credits.

Final Thoughts

Both the American Express^® Green Card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card are great all-around travel rewards cards for those looking to earn transferable rewards and solid perks for a reasonable annual fee.

If you’re trying to decide which card is better for you then you’ll want to consider which card’s reward ecosystem seems more rewarding for your goals, along with which card perks and protections you prefer, and which bonus categories would earn you the most points on your monthly expenses.

*Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Subject to additional terms, conditions and exclusions.  For full Terms and Conditions, see americanexpress.com/CRLDIterms. If You have any questions about a specific vehicle, please call Us at 1-800-338-1670, if international, collect at 1-303-273-6497.

*Baggage Insurance Plan is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Subject to additional terms, conditions and exclusions.  For full Terms and Conditions, see americanexpress.com/BIPterms. If You have any questions about a specific item, please call Us at 1-800-228-6855, if international, collect at 1-303-273-6498.

*Extended Warranty is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Subject to additional terms, conditions and exclusions.  For full Terms and Conditions, see americanexpress.com/EWterms. If You have any questions about a specific item, please call Us at 1-800-228-6855, if international, collect at 1-303-273-6498.

*For the Global Assist Hotline benefit of the Amex Green card, you can rely on Global Assist Hotline 24 hours a day / 7 days a week for medical, legal, financial or other select emergency coordination and assistance services while traveling more than 100 miles away from your home. Third-party service costs may be your responsibility. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Card Members are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.

*Purchase Protection is underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Subject to additional terms, conditions and exclusions.  For full Terms and Conditions, see americanexpress.com/PPterms. If You have any questions about a specific item, please call Us at 1-800-228-6855, if international, collect at 1-303-273-6498.

*For the trip delay insurance benefit of the Amex Green card, up to $300 per covered trip that is delayed for more than 12 hours; and 2 claims per eligible card per 12 consecutive month period. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.