by Daniel | Last Updated April 16th, 2022
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Are you looking to travel a bit more this year and are wondering if there are any good credit cards that can provide you with some decent value and a nice sign-up bonus?
Then either of the two credit cards in the review are worth considering.
In this article, I’m going to review and compare both the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the American Express Green card.
I’ll go over how much they cost on an annual basis, what you can expect to receive each year in terms of benefits and user perks, and then I’ll give you my opinion on which card I think is the better card.
So Who Are These Cards Good For?
Both of these cards are good for travelers who are looking for a way to get more value from their spending and also receive some pretty nice travel-related perks, such as an annual credit that can be used to visit airport lounges from all over the world or a hotel credit of $50 each year.
Also, both cards also come with some pretty decent travel-related insurance that can come in handy if and when you need it.
APR
So now let’s take a look at what the APR is for each of these cards and what the applicable charges are for getting a cash advance or making a balance transfer.
And both of these cards will base what your actual APR is depending on what your creditworthiness is and what the Prime Rate is.
So starting first with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card the APR for purchases is between 16.24% and 23.24%.
Now if you make a Balance Transfer the APR is the same but you will be charged a fee of either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever amount is more.
Then if you get a Cash Advance the APR will be 25.24%, and this will also come with a fee of either $10 or 5% of the amount of each transaction, again, whichever amount is more.
And then finally, if you fail to make a minimum payment by the date due or you have a payment that is returned by your bank, you will incur a fee of up to $40 for each Penalty, along with this you will also be put on a Penalty APR of 29.99%, and according to Chase, this Penalty APR can remain in effect indefinitely.
Next up, let’s see how the Amex Green Card differs.
And the APR for purchases is the same as the Chase card at 16.24% to 23.24%.
For a Cash Advance, the APR is only slightly higher at 25.49%, and the fees that come with it are the same at $10 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is more.
And finally, if you have a late payment or have a payment returned by your bank the Penalty APR is the same at 29.99% and the fee charged for each is also the same at up to $40.
So for this section, there is not really any noticeable difference in the APR and fees that are charged with these two cards.
Annual Fee
Now for the next section of this review, I’ll go over what each card cost on an annual basis.
And starting with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card there is an annual fee of $95, which just happens to be the cheaper of the two cards.
Next up, with the Amex Green Card, there is an annual fee of $150, which is just $55 more than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.
So for this section, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is a bit cheaper than the Amex Green card.
Sign-up Bonus
Now for the next section of this review, I’m going to go over what the current sign-up bonus is for each card and if there is much difference.
So with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, the sign-up bonus is currently 80,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening the account.
And with Chase Sapphire Preferred points being worth 1.25 cents per point, this sign-up bonus is worth $1000.
Now with the Amex Green Card, the current sign-up bonus is 40,000 bonus points after you spend just $2,000 within the first 6 months of opening the account.
And with Amex points being worth up to 1 cent per point if they are redeemed on the right benefits, this sign-up bonus is worth up to $400.
So for this section of the review, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card clearly offers quite a lot more value from its sign-up bonus, $600 more to be exact.
One difference worth taking into account is that you will need to spend twice as much on the Chase card in half the amount of time to receive the sign-up bonus.
So if you don’t use the card very frequently or spend much, the Amex Green Card my way be more suitable for you.
Earning Points
Now let’s take a closer look at how each card earns points, and which card has the better points earning potential.
And starting with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card you will have a fair amount of variety in where you can earn points from.
The highest points earning that this card offers is 5x points for any travel-related purchases that are made through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Also, until June 30th, 2022, you will be able to earn 5x points on any Peloton Bike and Treadmill purchase up to a total of 25,000 points.
You will then earn 3x points from the following purchases:
- Eating out at restaurants or getting home delivery
- Online grocery purchases that exclude Walmart, Target, and Wholesale Clubs
- Select streaming services
Then any travel purchases that are not made through Chase Ultimate Rewards will receive 2x points.
And then finally, all other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
Now with the Amex Green Card, there is also a pretty wide variety of points earning potential.
Basically, you will receive 3x points for the following categories:
- Restaurant purchases that include home delivery
- Transit that includes buses, trains, ferries, and more
- Travel purchases that include airfares, hotels, car rentals, and more
And then finally just like the Chase card, all other purchases will receive 1 point per dollar spent.
So for this section, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a bit more value from its points earning potential, specifically because the points are more valuable than the Amex points.
Benefits and User Perks
Now for the next section of this review, I’m going to go over all of the benefits that come with each card and again see which card offers more.
So starting with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card you will receive a $50 statement credit each anniversary year for hotel bookings made through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You will also be able to transfer your points 1:1 to 11 different airline partners and 3 different hotel partners.
Now with the Amex Green Card, you will get a bit more value. First of all, you will receive a $100 credit that can go towards paying for a CLEAR membership which usually costs $179 per year. And this is a quick way to get through airport security that uses Biometrics such as your eyes and face to check in.
You will then get a $100 LoungeBuddy credit which is accessible from either the LoungeBuddy website or the LoungeBuddy app. And this basically provides you credit of up to $100 for any airport lounge that you pay for on their website.
So as you can see, for this section, the Amex Green Card actually offers $150 more in value than the Chase Sapphire Preferred card does.
Insurance Related Benefits
Now for the last section of this review, I am going to go over all of the insurance-related benefits that each card offers.
And starting with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card there is an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver that covers you in case of theft or collision damage to a rental car.
And for this coverage to be effective you must decline the car rental agency’s collision insurance and then pay for the entire car rental with the card.
Then there is Trip Delay Reimbursement that covers you and your family in the event that there is a delay of more than 12 hours on a trip that you are currently on.
And with this coverage, you can receive up to $500 per ticket that can be used to cover lodging and meals.
Similar to this, there is Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, and this is valid for pre-paid non-refundable travel expenses such as hotels, passenger fairs, and tours. Basically, this coverage can range up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip and is only valid when a trip is canceled due to sickness or severe weather.
There is Baggage Delay Insurance that comes into effect if your bags are delayed for more than 6 hours by a passenger carrier and covers up to $100 per day for a total of 5 days.
Now there are also two different types of shopping-related insurance coverage that include Purchase Protection.
And this is basically to cover any new purchases for 120 days from the date of purchase against theft or damage. With each claim offering up to $500 and a total of $50,000 per account.
And then finally the card has Extended Warranty Protection of 1 extra year on US manufacturer warranties that are 3 years or less.
Next up, with the Amex Green Card, you will get a similar Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance that covers up to $50,000 for a rental car in case of theft or damage caused to the rental vehicle.
There is also similar Trip Delay Insurance which comes into effect as long as you book a round trip with the card.
So if your trip gets delayed for more than 12 hours, it is possible to receive up to $300 per trip, with a maximum of 2 eligible claims per 12 month period.
Then there is a Baggage Insurance Plan that covers you in the event that your luggage is damaged or lost whilst in transit, and coverage is up to $500 per person for check-in baggage and $1,250 per person for carry-on baggage.
And just like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you will get similar shopping-related insurance.
So, you will get Purchase Protection that covers you for 90 days (not 120 days like the Chase card).
And this covers you for up to $1,000 per item (which is twice that of what the Chase card offers per item, which is $500), and then the same $50,000 per card per year.
And then finally, the Extended Warranty coverage with the Amex Green Card is up to 1 extra year of warranty on an Original Manufactures warranty that is 5 years or less.
And this covers up to $10,000 per item and $50,000 per calendar year.
So for this section, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers a bit more value as it also has Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance, which the Amex card does not offer.
Final Thoughts
So now that I’ve gone over everything that these cards have to offer, which card do I think offers the most value?
Clearly, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card offers quite a bit more value than the Amex Green Card in just about every aspect, the only section that I covered that it doesn’t provide more value in is the benefits that it comes with, which were worth $200 each year versus the Chase Sapphire Preferred cards $50 in benefits each year.
But given that the Amex Green Card cost $55 more each year for the annual fee, it is only $95 more value than what you get with the Chase card.
It’s also worth noting that the sign-up bonus with the Chase card is worth $600 more than what the Amex Green Card is currently offering, which in itself makes the card more desirable, also the fact that you have the ability to earn more points that are worth more per point than Amex points is another reason I like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card more.
Now, this doesn’t mean that the Amex Green Card is a bad card, it just doesn’t quite match up to this particular card from Chase.
So if you like the idea of getting a better Amex Card that comes with quite a lot more benefits, and provides more value than the Green card, I would recommend checking out my review and comparison of the American Express Gold card versus the Delta Skymiles Platinum Card here.