With regards to journey rewards playing cards, you normally get what you pay for when it comes to bonus classes and perks. That is why we normally evaluate playing cards inside a single class to attempt to discover the very best premium rewards card or the very best no-annual-fee playing cards.
The issue is that the American Specific® Gold Card would not match neatly into any class. It straddles the road between midlevel and premium, providing high-value bonus classes for the foodie at a $325 annual price (see charges and charges). Then there’s the premium Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and charges) that only in the near past acquired a significant overhaul.
When you’re a foodie and traveler attempting to determine between the Amex Gold and the Chase Sapphire Reserve — probably the greatest playing cards for journey and eating general — here is what to think about that will help you determine which card is a greater match to your wants.
Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold comparability
Let’s begin with a fast overview of every card’s highlights:
| Chase Sapphire Reserve^ | Amex Gold | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual price | $795 | $325 |
| Welcome provide | Earn 100,000 factors and a $500 Chase Journey℠ credit score after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. | Discover out your provide and see if you’re eligible to earn as excessive as 100,000 Membership Rewards factors after spending $6,000 on purchases inside the first six months of card membership. Welcome affords differ, and also you is probably not eligible for a suggestion. |
| Bonus classes |
Elevated incomes charges on flights and lodges booked straight and Chase Journey purchases apply solely after exhausting the $300 annual journey credit score and the $500 Chase Journey credit score featured as a part of the welcome bonus. Current Sapphire Reserve cardholders will not get entry to the brand new incomes charges till Oct. 26. |
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| Annual assertion credit |
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| Different card advantages |
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*Eligibility and profit degree differ by card. Phrases, situations and limitations apply. Go to americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for particulars. Insurance policies are underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance coverage Firm, an AIG Firm.
**Eligibility and profit degree differ by card. Phrases, situations and limitations apply. Go to americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for particulars. Insurance policies are underwritten by AMEX Assurance Firm.
***Eligible fees differ by property.
^It is also vital to notice that present Sapphire Reserve cardholders who utilized earlier than June 23 won’t have entry to the brand new advantages and earnings fee till Oct. 26.
Associated: Is the Amex Gold definitely worth the annual price?
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Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold welcome provide
Each playing cards provide useful welcome affords that may assist fund your subsequent large journey.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve affords new candidates 100,000 bonus factors and a $500 Chase Journey credit score after they spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
It is vital to notice that the phrases for the journey credit score state: “The promotional credit score is legitimate for a one-time use solely, should you apply the promotional credit score to a transaction lower than $500, you’ll forfeit the remaining stability.”
When factoring within the Chase Journey credit score, that is the very best welcome provide we have seen because the card was initially launched again in 2016.
TPG’s July 2025 valuations peg Final Rewards factors at 2.05 cents every, making the Sapphire Reserve bonus value as much as $2,550 if you embody the $500 Chase Journey credit score.
In the meantime, with the Amex Gold, new candidates can discover out their provide and see if they’re eligible to earn as excessive as 100,000 Membership Rewards factors after spending $6,000 on purchases inside the first six months of card membership. Welcome affords differ, and also you is probably not eligible for a suggestion.
TPG’s July 2025 valuations peg Membership Rewards factors at 2 cents a chunk, making this welcome provide value as much as $2,000.
In fact, the bonus worth is just one piece of the equation. You additionally have to be sure to’re eligible to use for both of those playing cards, as Chase and Amex have totally different restrictions on welcome bonus eligibility.
Chase has applied new guidelines for welcome bonus eligibility on its Sapphire playing cards. Now you can maintain a couple of Sapphire product on the identical time, however should you’re a present cardholder of the Chase Sapphire Most popular® Card (see charges and charges) or beforehand earned a welcome bonus on a Sapphire product — excluding the Chase Sapphire Reserve for Enterprise℠ (see charges and charges) — you nearly positively won’t be eligible for a second Sapphire card bonus.
With the Amex Gold, you might be topic to Amex’s once-in-a-lifetime rule and household restrictions.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. Its welcome provide is the upper and extra useful one.
Associated: Finest welcome affords of the month
Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold advantages
This is a breakdown of the advantages offered on every card at first look.
| Assertion credit |
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Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply. |
|---|---|---|
| Different card advantages |
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Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply. |
That is the place we begin to see the most important variations come up, because the Chase Sapphire Reserve is a premium, luxurious journey card with the perks to match.
Let’s begin with an important profit that may assist offset the cardboard’s $750 annual price: a $300 annual journey credit score. This credit score is robotically utilized to a variety of journey purchases, together with airfare and lodges. Bookings don’t should be made through a journey portal and no activation is required.
The Sapphire Reserve’s different standout profit is lounge entry. You may have entry to Chase Sapphire Lounges and a Precedence Move Choose membership for you and as much as two friends. Plus, you and one visitor will obtain entry to pick Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges when flying on a Star Alliance airline.
Moreover, Sapphire Reserve cardholders obtain a number of different assertion credit, together with a eating credit score; an leisure credit score with StubHub and Viagogo; complimentary Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscriptions; and a International Entry, TSA PreCheck or Nexus utility price credit score, and a number of other helpful journey and baggage insurance coverage insurance policies.
Cardholders additionally get pleasure from a complimentary DoorDash DashPass membership and $25 in month-to-month DoorDash promos. (Should activate by Dec. 31, 2027.)
The Amex Gold rewards foodies with as much as $10 in month-to-month eating credit score legitimate on the following retailers: 5 Guys, Grubhub, the Cheesecake Manufacturing facility, Goldbelly and Wine.com (as much as $120 per calendar yr). Cardmembers additionally obtain as much as $120 in annual Uber Money every calendar yr, issued in $10 month-to-month increments, which is legitimate on Uber rides or Uber Eats purchases. Your Amex Gold should be added to your Uber account, and you may redeem it with any Amex card.
As well as, cardmembers can rise up to $100 in assertion credit each calendar yr for purchases made at U.S. Resy-affiliated eating places (as much as $50 in assertion credit biannually). As a closing foodie profit, the Amex Gold gives as much as $7 in month-to-month assertion credit for U.S. Dunkin’ purchases (as much as $84 every calendar yr).
The Sapphire Reserve affords extra lifestyle- and travel-oriented advantages, whereas the Amex Gold is solely centered on meals and eating. When you maximize these obtainable advantages, you may wind up with $424 in annual worth, simply justifying the cardboard’s $325 annual price and leaving you within the inexperienced. Enrollment is required for choose advantages; phrases apply.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. It affords extra substantial perks, together with lounge entry and industry-leading journey protections. Nevertheless, should you’re on the lookout for a extra food-focused card, the Amex Gold ought to be your high choose.
Associated: Chase Sapphire Reserve assertion credit: What they’re and how you can use them
Incomes factors on the Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold
Each playing cards earn useful versatile rewards in quite a lot of bonus classes.
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve you may earn:
- 10 factors per greenback spent on Peloton gear and accent purchases of $150 or extra (by means of Dec. 31, 2027), with a most of fifty,000 factors
- 8 factors per greenback spent on purchases made by means of Chase Journey, together with The Edit
- 5 factors per greenback spent on Lyft rides (by means of Sept. 30, 2027)
- 4 factors per greenback spent on flights and lodges booked straight
- 3 factors per greenback spent on eating worldwide
- 1 level per greenback spent on all the pieces else
Observe that the elevated incomes fee on journey kicks in after spending your first $300 on journey every calendar yr with the Sapphire Reserve.
In the meantime, with the Amex Gold you may earn:
- 4 factors per greenback spent at eating places and U.S. supermarkets (U.S. supermarkets capped at $25,000 per calendar yr, then 1 level per greenback; eating places capped at $50,000 per calendar yr, then 1 level per greenback)
- 3 factors per greenback spent on flights booked straight with the airline or by means of amextravel.com
- 2 factors per greenback spent on pay as you go lodges and different journey purchases made by means of Amex Journey
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
The Amex Gold is clearly focused as a foodie-friendly card, and that is mirrored within the bonus classes. The 4 factors per greenback spent at U.S. supermarkets (an 8% return primarily based on TPG’s July 2025 valuations, on as much as $25,000 per calendar yr) is among the greatest incomes charges you may discover from any card.
The Amex Gold additionally has an edge when eating at eating places, as its 4 factors per greenback spent (on as much as $50,000 per calendar yr) once more wins out over 3 factors per greenback spent on the Sapphire Reserve, which is not any slouch both (an 8% versus 6.15% return primarily based on our July 2025 valuations).
For journey earnings, the Sapphire Reserve takes the cake because it earns 4 factors per greenback spent on lodges and flights booked straight, whereas the Amex Gold earns 3 factors per greenback spent on airfare booked straight or on amextravel.com.
Whereas the Sapphire Reserve is healthier suited to journey purchases, you probably have larger spending on meals and groceries, you are higher suited with the Amex Gold card.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve, because it has barely extra bonus classes.
Associated: Which purchases depend as journey with the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
Redeeming factors on the Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold
Each playing cards share related methods of redeeming factors.
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, factors might be redeemed for journey by means of Chase Journey at a worth of as much as 2 cents per level, relying on the particular redemption, with the Factors Increase characteristic. With Factors Increase, you’ll be able to obtain elevated redemption charges of greater than 1 cent per level on choose Chase Journey redemptions. Choose flight and resort redemptions might be made at a fee between 1.5 and a couple of cents per level.
Moreover, you can even redeem your factors for reward playing cards, merchandise or assertion credit score.
With the Amex Gold Card, you’ll be able to redeem your factors for journey by means of amextravel.com or for reward playing cards or money again as an announcement credit score. It is vital to notice that you just obtain a redemption fee of 1 cent per level when reserving flights by means of Amex Journey.
All different redemption choices, together with these by means of Amex Journey, present a worth of beneath 1 cent per level, nicely beneath TPG’s July 2025 valuation of two cents per level, and should not beneficial.
With each playing cards, you may typically be higher off transferring your factors to considered one of Chase’s or Amex’s switch companions for max worth.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. Its factors are value not less than 1 cent per level, whatever the redemption methodology, whereas with the Amex Gold, there are not any redemption strategies which have a fee of 1 cent per level.
Associated: Amex Platinum vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve
Transferring factors on the Sapphire Reserve vs. Amex Gold
Each playing cards have wonderful rosters of switch companions.
With the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you may have entry to the Chase roster of 14 airline and resort companions.
With the Amex Gold, you may have entry to Amex’s roster of 20 airline and resort companions, together with Avianca LifeMiles and Qantas Frequent Flyer.
Each playing cards share some switch companions, together with Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Emirates Skywards, British Airways Membership, Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership and Singapore Airways KrisFlyer.
Moreover, every card has two home airways as a switch companion, with Chase having United MileagePlus and Southwest Speedy Rewards and Amex having Delta SkyMiles and JetBlue TrueBlue.
Chase has fewer airline switch companions however is significantly better for these trying to redeem factors for resort stays, as World of Hyatt affords the best-value resort redemptions, as Hyatt nonetheless makes use of a hard and fast award chart. Each playing cards share Marriott Bonvoy and Hilton Honors as resort switch companions.
TPG Credit score Playing cards Author Chris Nelson likes to switch his Amex factors to Delta SkyMiles to benefit from flash gross sales on award flights. Moreover, he likes to switch his Chase factors to Air Canada Aeroplan to ebook long-haul business-class flights on Star Alliance companions.
Switch companions are one of the simplest ways to maximise your factors, particularly if you wish to keep at luxurious lodges or fly in fancy premium cabins.
Winner: Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Sapphire Reserve takes the slight edge regardless of Aemx having extra switch companions, as Chase has World of Hyatt as a switch companion.
Associated: Why all vacationers ought to earn transferable factors
Ought to I get the Sapphire Reserve or Amex Gold?
When you’re eligible for each of those playing cards, they make an all-star pairing, and there is a actual case for having each in your pockets, as Credit score Playing cards Editor Daisy Hernandez can attest to: “I get a ton of worth from each my Sapphire Reserve and my Amex Gold as journey, eating and groceries are amongst my largest bills.”
These two playing cards complement one another very nicely when it comes to advantages and incomes and redeeming factors. However should you should choose one, you may should determine if you need higher incomes charges on meals and eating and a decrease annual price with the Amex Gold or luxurious journey advantages with the Sapphire Reserve.
When you’re on the lookout for a extra travel-oriented card, the Sapphire Reserve is your best option, however should you spend rather a lot on meals and eating, the Amex Gold will possible be a greater match.
Associated: How to decide on the very best bank card for you
Backside line
Regardless of not technically being a premium card, the Amex Gold offers the Chase Sapphire Reserve a run for its cash in a number of totally different classes.
These two playing cards complement one another fairly nicely, but additionally goal barely totally different audiences. The Amex Gold is a go-to card for all issues food-related, whereas the Sapphire Reserve focuses on luxurious journey experiences. Both card might make a wonderful addition to your pockets.
To be taught extra, try our full evaluations of the Amex Gold and the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Apply right here: Amex Gold
Apply right here: Chase Sapphire Reserve
Associated: Amex Platinum vs. Chase Sapphire Reserve
For charges and charges of the Amex Gold card, click on right here.
