Update, June 2026: Chase announced a major Sapphire Preferred refresh, including a change to its Hyatt transfer ratio. This post was updated to reflect these changed rates. Read our full breakdown of every change and the key dates.
They're both excellent cards, but they're built for different people, and pretending otherwise leads to bad decisions. Here's the full head-to-head.
The Lineups
Chase Trifecta ($95 total annual fees)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95): 3x dining, 2x travel, 3x online groceries, 3x streaming. Transfer hub.
- Chase Freedom Unlimited ($0): 1.5x everything, 3x dining, 3x drugstores, 5x travel via portal.
- Chase Freedom Flex ($0): 5x rotating quarterly categories (cap $1,500/quarter), 3x dining, 3x drugstores.
Amex Trifecta ($1,220 total annual fees before credits)
- Amex Gold ($325): 4x dining, 4x US supermarkets (cap $25K/yr), 3x flights booked directly.
- Amex Platinum ($895): 5x flights booked directly, 1x everything else. Lounge access, airline credit, Lululemon credits, Resy restaurant credits, hotel status, streaming credits, and more.
- Amex Blue Business Plus ($0): 2x everything up to $50K/year, then 1x.
Category Coverage: Side by Side
| Category | Chase Trifecta | Amex Trifecta | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | 3x UR (CSP/CFU/CFF) | 4x MR (Gold) | Amex |
| Groceries (in-store) | 1.5x UR (CFU) | 4x MR (Gold, $25K cap) | Amex |
| Groceries (online) | 3x UR (CSP) | 4x MR (Gold) | Amex |
| Flights (booked direct) | 3x UR (CSP) | 5x MR (Platinum) | Amex |
| Hotels / Car Rentals | 3x UR (CSP) | 2x MR (BBP) | Chase |
| Gas | 1.5x UR (CFU) | 2x MR (BBP) | Amex |
| Streaming | 3x UR (CSP) | 2x MR (BBP) | Chase |
| Rotating Categories | 5x UR (CFF) | N/A | Chase |
| Drugstores | 3x UR (CFU/CFF) | 2x MR (BBP) | Chase |
| Everything Else | 1.5x UR (CFU) | 2x MR (BBP) | Amex |
Amex wins the biggest categories (dining, groceries, flights) by a meaningful margin. Chase wins streaming, drugstores, hotels/cars, and rotating categories. The "everything else" base rate goes to Amex - 2x vs 1.5x makes a real difference on non-category spending, which is often 40-50% of total spend.
The Cost Gap
This is where things get wild to think about. The Chase Trifecta costs $95 per year. The Amex Trifecta costs $1,220, an absolutely massive gap of $1,125.
But the Amex cards come loaded with credits, whereas the Chase cards (that are above), don't have many credits:
| Credit | Annual Value | Realistically Usable? |
|---|---|---|
| Platinum: Hotel credits | $600 | High - $300 2/year at Fine Hotels + Resorts or The Hotel Collection hotel stays |
| Platinum: Resy Dining credits | $400 | High - $100 4/year at select Resy restaurants |
| Platinum: Lululemnon credit | $300 | Medium - $75 4/year at Lululemon |
| Platinum: Digital entertainment credit | $240 | Medium - covers Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, NYT, etc. |
| Platinum: Airline incidental credit | $200 | Varies - covers baggage fees, seat upgrades, small airlines incidental purchases |
| Platinum: Uber credit | $200 | Medium - $15/month + $20 bonus in December |
| Platinum: Uber One Credit | $120 | Medium - Uber membership for discounted food and rides |
| Gold: Dining credits | $120 | Low - $10/month at select restaurants (and GrubHub) |
| Gold: Resy dining credit | $100 | High - $50 2/year at select Resy Restaurants |
| Gold: Uber credit | $120 | High - $10/month |
| Gold: Dunkin' credit | $84 | Medium - $7/month |
If you use all credits at face value, the Platinum's effective fee drops from $895 to being paid to have the card by $1,165, and the Gold's drops from $325 to be paid to have the card by $99. Total effective: around -$1264 (because they pay you to have the card).
But here's the honest take: most people don't use all credits, or if they do use the full credit, they may not value the credit at the price that the credit is worth. An example of this would be a person who doesn't normally shop at Lululemon, but uses the full $300, but allows values what they received from the $300 from Lululemon at a cost of $150. This means that they would shop at Lululemon if the price was 50% off. This means they didn't realize a full $300 of value from this credit, they realized $150. This is where PointBagel can shine - because it allows a user to track their benefits and value each benefit at their own personal valuation, so they understand exactly whether their card is worth the annual fee when they either track their benefits live, or look at the card's year-end summary.
Earning Comparison at $5,000/Month Spend
Let's model a realistic monthly breakdown: $800 dining, $600 groceries, $300 flights, $200 gas, $200 streaming/subscriptions, $100 drugstores, and $2,800 everything else.
| Category | Monthly Spend | Chase Annual Points | Amex Annual Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dining | $800 | 28,800 UR (3x) | 38,400 MR (4x) |
| Groceries | $600 | 10,800 UR (1.5x) | 28,800 MR (4x) |
| Flights | $300 | 10,800 UR (3x) | 18,000 MR (5x) |
| Gas | $200 | 3,600 UR (1.5x) | 4,800 MR (2x) |
| Streaming | $200 | 7,200 UR (3x) | 4,800 MR (2x) |
| Drugstores | $100 | 3,600 UR (3x) | 2,400 MR (2x) |
| Everything Else | $2,800 | 50,400 UR (1.5x) | 67,200 MR (2x) |
Chase total: 115,200 UR x 2.3¢ = $2,649.60 gross. Minus $95 fee = $2,554.60 net.
Amex total: 164,400 MR x 2.3¢ = $3,781.20 gross. Minus ~$1220 of annual fees = $2,561.20. This means that Chase trifecta beats the Amex trifecta if you DON'T include any of the benefits that come with the Amex trifecta. If you can realize even just $100 of benefits from Amex out of the entire long list of benefits, then Amex wins the trifecta. More realistically - you may get a realized value of approximately 50% of the main Amex benefits listed above (50% of $2060 = $1030). This is where people who are willing to have annual fees, but use the benefits (as long as the card provides benefits that offset the annual fee), can get strong value - and tip the scale towards annual fee cards.
The Amex Trifecta produces about $1000+ more in net annual value, even when only half of the credits are realized! - but that gap depends heavily on your credit usage assumptions.
Transfer Partner Comparison
Both ecosystems offer strong transfer partner lineups, but they're different:
Chase-exclusive highlights: Hyatt (arguably the single best hotel transfer partner, at 4:3 ratio without a Chase Sapphire Reserve card starting June 15th to new applicants or October 1st for current card holders), Southwest, IHG
Amex-exclusive highlights: ANA (incredible for business class to Japan), Hilton (at 1:2 ratio), Cathay Pacific (5:4 since March 2026), Qatar, Etihad
Available through both: British Airways Avios, Singapore KrisFlyer, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, Virgin Atlantic, JetBlue
If Hyatt is your primary hotel program, Chase is the clear winner - Amex can't transfer to Hyatt. If you want premium cabin flights to Asia, Amex's access to ANA is hard to match. Most serious collectors eventually want access to both ecosystems, which is why many end up with cards from each.
Who Should Pick Which
Pick the Chase Trifecta if:
- You want to keep costs under $100/year
- Hyatt is important to your travel style
- You don't want to track credit usage monthly
- You're under 5/24 and want to start building Chase relationships
- Your non-category spending isn't dominant (the 1.5x base rate hurts less)
Pick the Amex Trifecta if:
- Dining and groceries are your two biggest categories
- You'll actually use the Platinum/Gold credits (hotel, Uber, streaming, airline)
- You fly enough to value 5x on direct airline bookings and lounge access
- You have a business that qualifies for the Blue Business Plus
- Your "everything else" spending is significant (2x > 1.5x adds up fast)
There's also a third option that nobody talks about enough: pick pieces from both. An Amex Gold for dining and groceries, a Chase Freedom Unlimited for the base rate, and a CSP for Chase transfer access gives you 4x on food (Amex's strength) with Chase's transfer partners (Hyatt). You lose the Platinum's benefits, but you keep costs to $420 in fees.
The trifectas are frameworks, definitely not commandments. Use them as starting points, then customize based on your actual spending and redemption goals.
