Which is better, the Amex Green card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

Both cards are relatively similar in their offers, so which is better will come down to which card’s bonus categories and benefits feel like they would benefit your situation more.

What are the benefits of the Amex Green card?

The top benefits of the Amex Green card are its bonus categories, with 3x points on travel, transit, and dining purchases, along with an annual CLEAR Plus statement credit of up to $189 and annual LoungeBuddy statement credit of up to $100, plus travel and purchase protections.

What are the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn between 2x to 5x points in 6 different bonus categories, receive a $50 annual hotel statement credit and monthly GoPuff credit, along with top-notch travel protections.

Does the Amex Green card have an annual fee?

Yes, the annual fee of the Amex Green card is $150.

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card have an annual fee?

Yes, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card annual fee is $95.

Does the Amex Green card charge foreign transaction fees?

No, the Amex Green card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card charge foreign transaction fees?

No, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does not charge foreign transaction fees.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card vs. Amex Green Card [2023]

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.

Table of contents

Amex Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary
The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer
- Amex Green Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Earning Potential
Redemption Options
- Amex Green Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Statement Credits
- Amex Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Annual Hotel Credit, GoPuff, Instacart
Other Card Benefits
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – DoorDash
Travel Protections
Shopping Benefits and Protections
Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users
- Annual Fees
- Authorized Users
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

Amex Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary
The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer
- Amex Green Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Earning Potential
Redemption Options
- Amex Green Card
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Statement Credits
- Amex Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Annual Hotel Credit, GoPuff, Instacart
Other Card Benefits
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – DoorDash
Travel Protections
Shopping Benefits and Protections
Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users
- Annual Fees
- Authorized Users
Final Thoughts

Amex 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.

Benefit or Feature	Amex Green Card	Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Welcome Offer	NEW OFFER: Earn 60,000 points after spending $3,000 on purchases in your first 6 months. Plus, earn 20% back on eligible travel and transit purchases made during your first 6 months, up to $200 back as a statement credit.	Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months.
Earning Potential	3x points at restaurants (including takeout and delivery in the U.S.) 3x points on transit (including rideshares, trains, subways, parking, and more) 3x points on travel (including airfare, hotels, car rentals, and more) 1x point on all other purchases	5x points on Chase travel portal purchases 5x points on Lyft rides (through March 31, 2025) 5x points on select Peloton purchases over $250 (through March 31, 2025) 3x points on dining, online grocery store, and select streaming service purchases 2x points on general travel purchases 1x point on all other eligible purchases
Redemption Options	Amex transfer partners Amex Travel bookings Cash-back via statement credit Gift cards Shopping with select retailers	Chase transfer partners Chase travel portal bookings (25% bonus) Cash-back via statement credit Pay Yourself Back Gift cards Shopping with select retailers
Statement Credits	Up to $189 annual CLEAR Plus credit Up to $100 annual LoungeBuddy credit	$50 annual hotel credit through the Chase travel portal $10 monthly through GoPuff $15 quarterly Instacart credit
Travel Protections	No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees) Secondary car rental loss & damage insurance Baggage insurance plan Trip delay insurance	No foreign transaction fees Primary rental car insurance Trip cancellation/interruption insurance Baggage delay insurance Trip delay reimbursement Travel and emergency assistance services
Shopping Benefits and Protections	Amex Offers (Enrollment required) Purchase protection Extended warranty American Express Experiences	Chase Offers Purchase protection Extended warranty
Annual Fee	$150 (rates and fees)	$95
Authorized User Fee	$0 (rates and fees)	$0

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

Amex Green Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Earning Potential

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

Bonus Category	Amex Green Card	Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Chase Travel Portal Purchases	n/a	5x points
Travel	3x points	2x points
Dining	3x points	3x points
Transit (Trains, Ferries, Buses, Subways, Rideshares, Etc.)	3x points	2x points (categorized as travel purchases)
Lyft Rides	3x points	5x points
Online Grocery Store Purchases	1x point	3x points
Select Streaming Services	1x point	3x points
All Other Purchases	1x point	1x point

As it stands, the Amex Green card is the better option when it comes to general travel purchases (unless those purchases are made through the Chase travel portal) and other travel purchases (with the exception of Lyft rides), while 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 Amex Green card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card earn flexible rewards points, giving cardholders quite a few options when it comes time to redeem.

Amex Green Card

With the Amex Green card, your redemption options include utilizing the Amex transfer partners, bookings through the Amex Travel 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 programs airline and hotel transfer partners, as you can often easily get significantly more value out of your points when redeeming them for business class flights and luxury hotel stays for a fraction of what the cash price would have cost you.

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.

Amex Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy

Clear agents at kiosks — Get $189 off CLEAR Plus with your Amex Green card. Image Credit: CLEAR

With your Amex 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/TSA PreCheck credit, the Amex 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.

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, GoPuff, 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 also includes a monthly GoPuff credit. GoPuff is an on-demand delivery service specializing in snack items and household essentials. With your Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you receive a $10 monthly credit towards GoPuff orders through December 31, 2023.

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 Protections

Benefit	Amex Green Card	Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
Foreign Transaction Fees	None	None
Rental Car Insurance	Secondary	Primary
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance	Not offered	Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses
Baggage Delay Insurance	Not offered	Receive coverage of up to $100 a day, for up to 5 days, on bags that are delayed by more than 6 hours
Baggage Insurance Plan	Up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage for bags or items that are lost, damaged, or stolen	Not offered
Trip Delay Insurance	If your flight is delayed by more than 12 hours, you can receive up to $300 in secondary coverage	For flights delayed by 12 hours or more, you can receive up to $500 in coverage for expenses like meals and lodging
Travel and Emergency Assistance Services	Yes; access to Global Assist hotline	Yes

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 and Protections

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

The Amex 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 Amex Green card and Chase Sapphire Preferred card are $150 and $95. Since the Amex 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.

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 Amex 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 Amex 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.

For the car rental loss and damage insurance benefit of the [card name], 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. Please 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.

For the baggage insurance plan benefit of the Amex Green card, baggage insurance plan coverage can be in effect for eligible persons for eligible lost, damaged, or stolen baggage during their travel on a common carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus) when the entire fare for a common carrier vehicle ticket for the trip (one-way or round-trip) is charged to an eligible account. Coverage can be provided for up to $1,250 for carry-on baggage and up to $500 for checked baggage, in excess of coverage provided by the common carrier (e.g. plane, train, ship, or bus). For New York State residents, there is a $10,000 aggregate maximum limit for all covered persons per covered trip. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the extended warranty benefit of the Amex Green card, when an American Express® card member charges a covered purchase to an eligible card, extended warranty can provide up to one extra year added to the original manufacturer’s warranty. Applies to warranties of five (5) years or less. Coverage is up to the actual amount charged to your card for the item up to a maximum of $10,000; not to exceed $50,000 per card member account per calendar year. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

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.

For the purchase protection benefit of the Amex Green card, when an American Express® card member charges a covered purchase with their eligible card, purchase protection can help protect their covered purchases for up to 90 days from the covered purchase date if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. The coverage is limited up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per card member account per calendar year. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

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.

For rates and fees of the American Express® Green Card, click here.

Earn Points

Use Points

Business Credit Card Reviews

Business Guides

Air Travel Guides

Airline Points

Earn & Use Hotel Points

Hotel Loyalty Program Reviews

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

Amex Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary

The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer

Amex Green Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Earning Potential

Redemption Options

Amex Green Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Statement Credits

Amex Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Annual Hotel Credit, GoPuff, Instacart

Other Card Benefits

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – DoorDash

Travel Protections

Shopping Benefits and Protections

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees

Authorized Users

Final Thoughts

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, the Amex Green card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

What are the benefits of the Amex Green card?

What are the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

Does the Amex Green card have an annual fee?

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card have an annual fee?

Does the Amex Green card charge foreign transaction fees?

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card charge foreign transaction fees?

About Jarrod West

Any thoughts or questions? Comment below! Cancel reply

Advertiser Disclosure

Amex Green Card vs. Chase Sapphire Preferred Card — Summary

The Value of a Welcome Bonus Offer

Amex Green Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Earning Potential

Redemption Options

Amex Green Card

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Statement Credits

Amex Green Card — CLEAR Plus and LoungeBuddy

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – Annual Hotel Credit, GoPuff, Instacart

Other Card Benefits

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – DoorDash

Travel Protections

Shopping Benefits and Protections

Annual Fees and Adding Authorized Users

Annual Fees

Authorized Users

Final Thoughts

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, the Amex Green card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

What are the benefits of the Amex Green card?

What are the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred card?

Does the Amex Green card have an annual fee?

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card have an annual fee?

Does the Amex Green card charge foreign transaction fees?

Does the Chase Sapphire Preferred card charge foreign transaction fees?

About Jarrod West

Any thoughts or questions? Comment below! Cancel reply

Related Posts

Advertiser Disclosure