Amex Platinum Card vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® and The Platinum Card® from American Express are two of the most popular premium travel cards.

UPDATE 2022: I would now argue that the new Capital One Venture X is the best premium card. If I could only have 1 card in my wallet, I may choose Sapphire Reserve. But if you’re willing to keep multiple cards, I would use a Chase Sapphire Preferred (lower annual fee) and then open a Capital One Venture X as your premium card. I’m going to leave this post up, though, since lots of readers love the Amex and Chase rewards ecosystems. You can read more about the Capital One Venture X here and you can find a list of our current favorite credit card offers here.

Here are the recent updates to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®:

The annual fee increased from $450 to $550. For some people, the blow of the increase was softened by a few added benefits.

If you’re able to use of all of these credits, they more than offset the annual fee increase. The problem is, some cardholders may not be able to use Lyft and DoorDash enough, if at all, to make use of these credits.

Note that a few of the card details and benefits overlap.

	The Platinum Card from American Express	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Welcome Bonus	Earn 80,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months.Terms apply	60,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
Annual Fee	$695 [rates and fees]	$550
Annual Travel Credit	$200 for airline incidental fees, up to $200 in hotel credits	$300 for ANY travel expenses
Global Entry Fee Credit	Yes, $100	Yes, $100
Other Credits/Benefits	up to $100 annually at Saks, up to $240 on select digital subscriptions, up to $300 annually on select equinox memberships. Terms apply.	DoorDash DashPass membership for one year
Bonus Categories	5 Membership Rewards points per dollar on flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel and 5 points per dollar on eligible hotels booked on amextravel.com on up to $500,000 per calendar year.	Earn 10 points per dollar on Chase Dining purchases through Ultimate Rewards Earn 3 points per dollar on all other dining purchases Earn 10 points per dollar on hotel stays and car rentals purchased through Ultimate Rewards Earn 5 points per dollar on flights purchased through Ultimate Rewards Earn 3 points per dollar on all other travel purchases
All Other Purchases	1 point per dollar	1 point per dollar
Foreign Transaction Fees	No	No
Airport Lounge Access	Yes	Yes
Airline Transfer Partners	17 (At least one in each of the 3 major alliances)	11 (At least one in each of the 3 major alliances)
Hotel Transfer Parters	3	3
Value if you use points to book travel	.7 or 1 cent per point if you use points to pay on amextravel.com, depending on the type of travel	1.5 cents per point if you use points to book travel through the Ultimate Rewards booking portal

Welcome Bonuses on the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months
• The Platinum Card from American Express: Earn 80,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 in the first 6 months. Terms apply

Both of these currencies are valuable. There are 2 ways to redeem both Chase Ultimate Rewards points and Amex Membership Rewards points for travel.

1. Redeem points for cash via amextravel.com or the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
2. Transfer to partners

I’ll discuss these options more below, but if you were to redeem the first way, the bonuses are equal. 60,000 Ultimate Rewards points redeemed this way would be worth $900. 80,000 Amex points redeemed this way would be worth $800 in flights (less for other travel).

But it’s tough to put an exact value on the points if you use transfer partners. I generally can redeem Amex or Chase points for at least 2 cents per point by using transfer partners. Since I often use transfer partners to redeem, I would consider the Amex Platinum Bonus more valuable.

Winner: Depends on how you redeem. The best card depends on one’s spending habits, travel goals, and willingness to put in time to learn about transfer partners.

Statement credits on Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum Card

Both of these cards have a few different statement credits that may help offset the fee.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: $300 for ANY travel expenses, DoorDash DashPass membership for one year,
• The Platinum Card from American Express: $200 for airline incidental fees, up to $100 annually at Saks, get up to $200 back annually in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with Amex Travel, up to $20 in monthly statement credits (for a total of $240 annually) on eligible purchases on these digital entertainment providers: Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times; up to $25 back each month on select Equinox memberships (for a total of up to $300 annually), receive up to $179 back annually on a CLEAR membership.

Both cards reimburse Global Entry fees ($100) every four years (Global Entry is valid for 5 years).

I don’t really like having to go out of my way to use a credit that needs to be used in order for me to justify an annual fee. So even though the potential value of one card’s credits may be higher, you need to consider how practical these credits are.

Travel credits:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: $300 for ANY travel expenses
• The Platinum Card from American Express: $200 for airline incidental fees, get up to $200 back annually in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with Amex Travel (this requires a minimum 2 night stay)

$400 is obviously better than $300. But the ease of using the credit is better with Chase. The credit on the Amex Platinum card is limited to airline incidentals*. Furthermore, it is limited to one airline. Each year, you choose an airline for this credit. The hotel credit is limited to certain hotels and you have to book with Amex Travel.

*Select a qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 (Platinum) or $100 (Gold) per calendar year in statement credits when incidental fees, such as baggage fees and other incidentals, are charged by the airline to your card.

Other credits:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve:
  • DoorDash DashPass membership for one year (~$120 value, as DashPass is $9.99 monthly)
  • Lyft Pink for one year (~$199 value)
• The Platinum Card from American Express:
  • up to $100 annually at Saks– Twice a year (Jan-Jun and Jul-Dec), you will receive a statement credit of up to $50 for purchases at Saks Fifth Avenue.  
  • up to $20 in monthly statement credits (for a total of $240 annually) on eligible purchases on these digital entertainment providers: Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times;
  • up to $25 back each month on select Equinox memberships (for a total of up to $300 annually)
  • receive up to $179 back annually on a CLEAR membership.

Assuming you can use every single credit presented here, these are the annual values:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: $719/$619
  • $300 per year for ANY travel expenses
  • DoorDash DashPass membership for one year (~$120 value, as DashPass is $9.99 monthly)
  • Lyft Pink for one year (~$199 value)
  • Global Entry or TSA Pre ✓^® Fee Credit: Receive a statement credit of $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card.
• The Platinum Card from American Express: $1219/$1119
  • $200 annually in airline incidental fees
  • up to $100 annually at Saks
  • Global Entry or TSA Pre ✓^® Fee Credit: Receive a statement credit of $100 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card.
  • get up to $200 back annually in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts® or The Hotel Collection bookings with Amex Travel (this requires a minimum 2 night stay)
  • up to $20 monthly in statement credits (for a total of $240 annually) on eligible purchases on these digital entertainment providers: Peacock, Audible, SiriusXM, and The New York Times
  • up to $25 back each month on select Equinox memberships (for a total of up to $300 annually)
  • receive up to $179 back annually on a CLEAR membership.

Winner: On paper, Amex looks better, but this kind of depends on if you’re able to use the credits.

Redemption options

When it comes to redemption, not all miles and points have equal value.

There are two ways to redeem points from either Chase Sapphire Reserve or The Platinum Card from American Express for travel:

1. Redeem miles/points at a fixed value for travel purchases. This is also called “pay with points”.
2. Transfer to airline or hotel partners. Chase Ultimate Rewards points and American Express Membership Rewards become airline miles and you can redeem them according to the rules and redemption prices of the airline program to which you transfer.

Option 1: Redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards points at a fixed rate for travel purchases

The first way to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards and/or Amex Membership Rewards points for travel is to use the points for travel purchases. The way this works is different for each program. More importantly, the fixed values of points in each program are also different.

The advantage to this (as opposed to transferring to airline partners) is that you have lots of options. Also, some prefer this because it’s a little less complicated than learning how to utilize transfer partners.

The disadvantage is that you will be redeeming the points at a fixed value. There are no blackout dates to worry about and you don’t have to worry about award seat availability. The problem is, a more expensive plane ticket (think holidays) is going to require more points.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

You can ‘pay’ for all or part of your hotel, airfare, rental car, and more by redeeming Chase Ultimate Rewards points through the Ultimate Rewards redemption portal.

The value of an Ultimate Rewards point earned from a Chase Sapphire Reserve card is 1.50 cents per point when redeeming for travel via the Ultimate Rewards portal.  

For example, the 60,000 welcome bonus points would be worth $900 if you use them in the redemption portal. The math is simple:

• 50,000 X 1.50=75,000
• 75,000/100=$750

American Express Membership Rewards Points

To do this, you can book travel through amextravel.com and pay with points. The problem is, this is not a great value. At all. If you use points to pay for a flight, your points are worth 1 cent each. This means a $300 flight would require 30,000 points. Hotels, cars, and activities are an even worse value. Your points would only be worth .7 cents each.

Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve wins but… If you’re going to redeem points this way (pay with points, points as cash, whatever you want to call it), and you do not see yourself taking a little time to learn about transfer partners, I suggest adding a card with a better earn and redemption rate to your wallet. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card is the most simple when it comes to earning and redeeming points. Click here for more information.

Option 2: Transfer points to airlines or hotels

The second way to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards points is to transfer them to airline or hotel partners.

Transferring bank points such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards points to airline or hotel partners is how you can potentially get more value out of your points than 0.7-1.50 cents per point.

A lot of people don’t want to bother with this, but this is how Ryan and I have stretched our points to make all of our travels happen over the past 8 years! Using transfer partners can make your points at least two times more valuable than if you redeem them as cash.

Each program has its own set of airline transfer partners. More importantly, the transfer ratios are also different.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards earned from the Chase Sapphire Reserve to 11 different airline frequent flyer programs or 3 different hotel loyalty programs.  The transfer ratio to any airline or hotel partner is 1:1.

60,000 Ultimate Rewards points=60,000 airline or hotel miles/points.

Chase Ultimate Rewards airline partners

Chase Ultimate Rewards hotel partners

There are 3 hotel transfer partners:

World of Hyatt is a great hotel program. We use this transfer partner all the time and have gotten lots of value over the years. For more info about using Ultimate Rewards to book Hyatt stays, click here.

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards points earned from The Platinum Card from American Express are transferable to 18 different airlines and 3 different hotels.

American Express Membership Rewards airline transfer partners

Note that Alitalia no longer exists so there are now 17 partners.

American Express Membership Rewards hotel transfer partners

There are 3 hotel programs, but it’s usually not a good value to transfer Membership Rewards points to hotel programs. I like to get 2 cents per point or more when redeeming Amex Membership Rewards points. All 3 of these programs have such inflated redemption charts that 2 cents per point usually isn’t going to happen.

For example, a category 6 Marriott property would require 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a standard free night. To get those points, I can transfer 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Marriott Bonvoy. To get 2 cents per point out of a redemption that requires 50,000 points, paid rates would need to be $1,000 or more. In rare cases, this may happen. But more than likely, a category 6 property isn’t going to be valued at $1,000 per night.

Which card has better transfer partners?

• Chase Sapphire Reserve:11 airlines, 3 hotels
• The Platinum Card from American Express: 17 airlines, 3 hotels

There isn’t really a clear winner for airline partners.

It’s tough to make generalizations because there are so many variables. Home airport, where you want to fly/stay, and award availability are all going to be factors. In my experience, Amex Membership Rewards is usually best for long haul premium cabin flights. For domestic flights, Chase Ultimate Rewards is probably better, especially if you fly Southwest.

Chase wins on hotel partners.

Being able to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to World of Hyatt has been extremely valuable for us.

Which card wins overall for redemption options?

Overall, Chase Sapphire Reserve probably wins for redemption options. Ultimate Rewards points are more valuable than Amex MR points if you prefer to book with points as cash. Airline partners of each program is a toss-up depending on the factors I mentioned. For hotel partners, Chase wins.

Tip: You can potentially earn even more on non-category bonus everyday spending by adding an additional card to your wallet. The Chase Freedom Unlimited has no annual fee and earns 1.5 points per dollar instead of just one point per dollar. That results in an even higher return rate! Click here for details.

Final Thoughts

If you’re wanting a premium card, both the Chase Sapphire Reserve and The Platinum Card from American Express are great choices.

I generally tend to steer beginners who want a premium card towards the Chase Sapphire Reserve for a few reasons.

5/24. First, the Chase 5/24 rule means you may miss out on being able to acquire this card if you open other cards first.

Redemption value. I strongly encourage everyone to learn bout transfer partners. But there will be times when transfer partners aren’t a good redemption option. When this happens, you can use your points as cash. When you use points as cash, Ultimate Rewards points are more valuable than Amex Membership Rewards points.

Statement credits.

Better bonus categories. The travel category bonus on the CSR is better than Amex Platinum, plus CSR has a category bonus for restaurant spend.

The value of other benefits, transfer partners, and even the welcome bonus of each just depends on a variety of factors.

Analyzing your spending habits and doing a little math will help you decide which card is best. It is important to consider the earning and redeeming sides of both cards.

To see our other current favorite credit card welcome bonus deals, click here.

Amex Rates and Fees:

• The Platinum Card from American Express [rates and fees]

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