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

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

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 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 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, 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 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.

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