Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred: Benefits, 100k Bonus, Fees, and Pre-Approval Guide

Take advantage of the best travel-oriented credit cards for your plans ahead of summer vacation. When choosing between Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred, insight on their travel perks, eating awards, and point payoffs might determine which credit card is best suited for any upcoming thrifty travel.

If you’re looking for the best cashback redemption, points system, and travel awards, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Amex Gold are both competitive options for those looking to break into their first (or a better) travel credit card. 

Quick Comparison: Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred

The Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a $95 annual fee versus the Amex Gold $325 annual fee. 

As of 2025, the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus includes 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. This is a limited-time promotion granted to new Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders with $2,000 in redemption value. For context, the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus is normally around the 60,000 range–making it fairly equivalent to the Amex Gold sign up bonus. 

Currently, the Amex Gold sign up bonus involves earning 60,000 points after you spend $6,000 in eligible purchases on your American Express Gold Card within the first 6 months of your card.

Annual Fees and APRs

There’s definitely a stark difference between the $325 annual fee for the Amex Gold and $95 annual fee for the Chase Sapphire Preferred. Depending on how you maximize the awards for each card will normally determine whether the annual fee is worth it. 

The APR rate for the Chase Sapphire Preferred ranges from 19.99 to 28.24% whereas the Amex Gold is variable around 20.24% to 29.24%. 

As of April 2025, there does not appear to be any intro APR rates in regards to Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred. However both credit cards are offering generous sign up bonuses, with the aforementioned Chase Sapphire Preferred 100k points offer.

Jeramey Lende

Rewards and Earning Potential

Sapphire Chase Preferred 

In terms of rewards and earning potential, the Chase Sapphire bonus boasts several different rewards programs like DoorDash & Caviar benefits, anniversary points, and 5x points on Lyft services. 

When ordering through DoorDash, Sapphire Chase Preferred cardholders can enjoy a $0 delivery fee and lower service fees on eligible orders for a minimum of one year until December 31, 2027. DoorDash members also receive upwards to $10 off a month on non-restaurant DoorDash orders. 

If you were thinking of digital nomading or anticipating sluggish moments where you’d prefer your food delivered to your AirBnB, it might be helpful to know that DoorDash announced plans in February 2024 to strengthen its presence abroad. 

There’s also an anniversary points bonus system in which Chase will reward you an annual point bonus worth 10% of your total purchases for the year (so $25,000 = 2,500 bonus points). 

Amex Gold

Amex Gold, in contrast, has a rewards program with Lyft’s competitor, Uber, and more dining credits with restaurants like Dunkin’ Donuts, Resy, Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys. 

If you connect your Gold Card and Uber account, you earn $120 in Uber Cash and receive $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. You can also earn 4x points for Uber Eats purchases made at restaurants or U.S. supermarkets. 

Other eating rewards programs include $84 Dunkin’ credit ($7/mo), $100 Resy credit, and $120 dining credit ($10/mo) when used at Grubhub, The Cheesecake Factory, Goldbelly, Wine.com, and Five Guys.

Cashback Options

Neither card has a traditional cashback program, but Chase Sapphire Preferred does have a statement credit of 1¢ per point which is better than Amex Gold’s ~ 0.6¢ per point. Both cards are meant to be redeemed through their various travel perks, which sets the point value anywhere from 1¢ to 2¢+ per point when used through their eligible travel partners and respective travel portals.

Sign-Up Bonuses

The last time that the Chase Sapphire Preferred 100k sign-up bonus was offered, travel was still a tumultuous time in 2021. Avid travelers can likely recall tedious COVID-19 tests before flights and in airport parking lots, often receiving the test results moments before checkpoints. 

Now, travel has been picking up again and the Chase Sapphire Preferred sign up bonus couldn’t have come at a better time.

These points are worth $1,250 when redeemed for travel through the Chase Travel portal thanks to the 25% bonus. You can also transfer them to airline and hotel partners like United, Southwest, Hyatt, and Marriott, where they can be worth even more—often enough for a roundtrip to Europe, a week in a nice hotel, or multiple domestic flights.

Amex Gold Sign Up Bonus 

The Amex Gold sign up bonus is currently set at 60,000 points after $6,000 spent within the first 6 months of membership. These points are especially valuable for travel, worth about $600 toward flights or hotels when booked through AmexTravel.com, or potentially $900–$1,200+ when transferred to airline partners like Delta, Air France, or British Airways. Whether you cash them in for a few domestic flights, some hotel nights, or a one-way ticket in business class, it’s up to your discretion on how to take advantage of the sign up offer.

Foreign Use and International Travel

Does Chase Sapphire Preferred have foreign transaction fees? The Chase Sapphire Preferred foreign transaction fee is a hefty $0. In fact, both credit cards do not have foreign transaction fees. You can use either card without worrying about extra charges for international vendors while traveling. 

Chase Sapphire Preferred has partnerships with well-known hotel and flight companies such as United, JetBlue, Hyatt, Marriott, making it a solid option for taking advantage of bookings. 

This is pretty comparable to Amex Gold’s transfer partners with Delta, Hilton, JetBlue, and Marriott.

Travel Perks and Protections 

In addition to the Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits listed above, the card also includes trip insurance–reimbursement up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses if your trip is cancelled or cut short due to covered situations. 

The trip cancellation and interruption insurance is reliable for situations related to sickness, severe weather, and other covered situations. 

If you’re often setting sail towards tropical weather, clear water, and warm sunshine, it can be tempting to travel during the off-seasons for cheaper deals… this can also mean playing russian roulette with hurricane season and tropical storms.

Points with Chase Sapphire Preferred have a neat 1:1 point transfer to leading frequent travel programs and flexibility using points or a combination of both when booking airfare, hotels, and car rentals through Chase Travel using the Sapphire Preferred card. 

There’s also trip delay reimbursement if your common carrier travel is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay, with $500 of reimbursable expenses and lodging per covered traveler. Lost luggage also accounts for up to $3,000 per covered traveler for the cost to repair or replace checked or carry-on baggage lost, damaged, or stolen during a covered trip. 

Sometimes a rental car in a city or country is required and infrastructure/road laws can be hairy. The Chase Sapphire Preferred allows you to decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card–providing reimbursement up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage for most rental vehicles with an MSRP of $125,000 or less. 

Other benefits include Roadside Assistance, and Travel and Emergency Assistance.

Amex Gold 

Amex Gold gives $100 credit towards eligible hotel bookings done through their Amex Travel portal at over 1,000 upscale hotels worldwide. This may not suit your fancy if you’re usually a two-star hotel type of traveler. 

There’s the same general services that the Chase Sapphire Preferred provides as well: when you travel more than 100 miles from home, the Global Assist® Hotline gives you 24/7 access to help with emergencies like medical or legal referrals, lost luggage, and emergency cash transfers. You’ll be responsible for any costs from third-party providers.

If your luggage is lost, damaged, or stolen during a trip and you paid for the full ticket with your Amex Gold, the Baggage Insurance Plan can reimburse you—up to $1,250 for carry-ons and up to $500 for checked bags. This is in addition to what the airline or travel company might cover.

When you rent a car and pay with your Amex Gold (and decline the rental company’s insurance), you’ll be covered for damage or theft of the vehicle. This Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance is secondary coverage, doesn’t include liability, and doesn’t apply to rentals in Australia, Italy, or New Zealand.

Just like Chase Sapphire Preferred, you can use your points to book flights and hotels through their designated portal AmexTravel.com.

Traveling in Europe 

As of 2025, the European Central Bank has been advocating for a third payment platform to compete with traditional payment systems like Mastercard and Visa. In places like the UK, Visa and Mastercard process 95% of all credit card and debit card payments. While there is no third payment system announced yet (and we’re far from knowing any details anytime soon), this is something to keep in mind for frequent travelers to Europe.

Travel Portal UI Reviews

Both credit cards boast unique offers and deals through their exclusive travel portals. But what do members online think about their user experience?  

Chase Travel Portal 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred allows you to earn 5x points on travel through the Chase Travel portal. Users online have commented that the deals seem legitimate, although the portal may have a more simple interface. It seems to be a toss up on whether or not the deals on the Chase Travel portal are better than booking directly, so it’s recommended to do your research just to make sure. 

Amex Travel Portal

In comparison, the Amex Travel Portal offers 3 points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or through the AmexTravel.com portal and 2 points per dollar on prepaid hotels, car rentals, cruises, and vacation packages booked through AmexTravel.com. Users were generally not a fan of the Amex Travel UI, reporting clunky, lagging performance–although the deals were more or less favorable.

Pre Approval Rates and Credit Limits (or lackthereof?) 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred credit limit varies on the combination of your income, job, financial history, credit score, and more. Generally, the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit limit ranges from $5,000 - $20,000. The Chase Sapphire Preferred pre approval rate is also dependent on an unspoken 5/24 rule–to be approved for a Chase credit card, you must have fewer than five approvals for credit cards within the last 24 months. 

In comparison, the Amex Gold approval rate is determined through a hard credit inquiry, taking into account your credit score, credit history, personal financial factors, including income, assets and housing payments, history or existing relationships with American Express, and number of previously opened accounts. 

The result is a no preset spending limit (NPSL). Amex Gold does not have a hard credit limit. Your spending power with the card is determined on a month-to-month basis, depending on your previous spending habits, income, payment history, and other factors.

Users online have clarified that this means Amex will only put a hold on your account if there’s an unusual upswing in spending (especially in relation to your income). Some people have reported being limited at $500, whereas some have mentioned interference on their account at $2,000. 

If there is any uptick in card use (such as buying a flight), recommendations include calling Amex to explain the credit charge.

Final Verdict

The Chase Sapphire Preferred 100k bonus points after you spend $5,000 the first 3 months can be advantageous if you’re already anticipating spending that amount in your budgeting. While travelers don’t have to worry about taking COVID-19 tests like they did four years ago, budgets are understandably tightening in a rocky financial market. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred, especially for a unique 100k bonus offer and competitive annual fee, will suit the savvy traveler looking to economize their travels as much as possible. Overall, Amex Gold seems to have the edge if you’re looking to maximize your dining/grocery rewards whereas Chase Sapphire Preferred offers a better cash-like redemption system and travel perks.