Hey, how it’s going everyone?
Hope you all are having a great week.
It’s Ernest from Trip Astute.
Make sure you’re sitting down before you start this video, since today we are going
over a controversial and heated topic.
I’ll be comparing Chase Ultimate Rewards to American Express Membership Rewards, and
sharing which one I think is better.
(light chiming music)
The two biggest players in the points and miles game are Chase and American Express.
I know Citi is also in the game with their ThankYou Rewards program, but for the sake
of simplicity, I’m going to compare the Chase Ultimate Rewards program to the American
Express Membership Rewards program.
I know this question comes up a lot during my credit card consultations.
A lot of people want to know whether I think Chase is better than American Express, and
whether they should wait until they are under 5/24 to pursue more Chase cards or build out
their American Express cards.
So today, I’m going to share my personal opinion on both programs.
Obviously, it’s just my opinion, and you might feel completely different about it.
But for those of you who are new to the points and miles hobby, or even new to one of these
rewards programs, I’m hoping my analysis is helpful.
And if you’re an experienced points and miles nerd, I would love to hear your thoughts
on which program you prefer and why.
Before we get started, if you’re new here, welcome to our channel.
Trip Astute is a travel channel that is focused on sharing ways to make travel easier, affordable,
and more enjoyable.
Traveling can be stressful and expensive, so we’re looking for ways to help you maximize
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To be fair, I want to compare both programs in a couple of different categories and share
the pros and cons of each.
I’ll be looking at point earnings, point redemptions, benefits, acceptance, customer
service, downgrade options, and approval and welcome offer rules.
So, let’s jump in.
For points earnings, it’s a bit of mixed bag.
For both Chase and American Express, there are multiple personal and business credit
cards that earn in different rewards categories.
However, I will say that Chase lacks a card that offers a bonus category in groceries,
which is often a big spending category for people.
Chase does have the Freedom card which usually has at least one quarter where you can earn
five points per dollar on grocery spending.
However, I do wish that Chase would add a grocery category to one of their cards, as
I think it’s an area where American Express has the upper hand.
On the flip side, I dislike how American Express has more restrictive bonus categories.
For example, while the American Express Gold earns four points per dollar on dining out
and groceries, it’s only valid for US merchants.
While the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve earn bonus points on dining out even when
outside the US.
Also, since travel is a bonus category for the Chase Sapphire cards too, you don’t
have to think twice about earning a bonus at a hotel restaurant since it might code
as a hotel instead of an actual restaurant.
In summary, both have fairly equal earning potentials, especially if you get multiple
cards that offer different bonus categories.
However, Chase is definitely lacking when it comes to grocery purchases.
And while I like American Express' bonus categories, I do find them to be a bit more restrictive.
So for me, it’s a tie for both programs.
Moving on to point redemptions, I personally find Chase Ultimate Rewards points to be a
lot easier to redeem.
Chase might not have as many airline travel partners as American Express, but they seem
to have the ones that I personally use the most, like Southwest and United.
Also, we often use our points toward Hyatt and have been able to get some amazing redemptions,
even at some of Hyatt’s more budget hotels.
I also like that I can use the Chase Travel Portal to redeem points.
It might not be the highest redemption value, but getting 1.25 or 1.5 cents per point isn’t
horrible either.
Plus, it gives me the opportunity to redeem for boutique hotels or even tours, which
I think is very handy.
In fact, check out our video on how and when to use the Chase Travel Portal for more information.
I do have friends that absolutely love and prefer American Express points.
A friend of mine loves to fly ANA to Japan and she finds the point transfers to be very
lucrative, especially for business class travel.
It’s definitely possible to get a lot of value from American Express points, but I
think you’re mostly limited to air travel redemptions.
And I’d even argue that the best value redemptions are for business and first-class travel, which
may or may not be your style.
I know personally that while I love the idea of luxury aspirational travel, I personally would
rather be able to travel further and more often with my points, which means that I’m more
inclined to fly on budget airlines or economy.
Again, this is going to be a very personal choice and will really depend on your travel
style, destinations, and personal spending.
American Express does offer bonuses at times on their points transfers, which is something
I wish Chase would offer.
However, while I love this aspect of Membership Rewards points, I dislike that they charge
a fee to transfer points to domestic travel partners.
Also, redeeming points on the American Express Travel Portal yields you a much lower redemption
rate, so I don’t recommend using it unless you’re determined to use your points at
whatever value you can get.
Lastly, for the sake of simplicity, I’m not going to cover American Express versus
Chase cash back redemptions.
I know there are American Express cards that can help you get to get a higher cash back
redemption rate, but that’s a whole another topic and video.
So, in summary, Chase has more flexible redemption types and options with hotel and travel portal
bookings.
Though they lack additional bonuses and have less airline travel partners to choose from.
American Express, on the other hand, has more airline travel partners and offers bonuses
certain times of the year on transfers, but also charges a fee to transfer points to domestic
carriers.
I personally prefer Chase points, so I’m going to give this category to them.
But again, your travel preferences and style will dictate which program is a better fit
for you.
Next up are benefits.
This is also a mixed bag.
Both Chase and American Express offer benefits on their cards.
I think you’ll find that American Express does offer credits on more of their cards,
though the catch is that they tend to be a bit more restrictive.
For example, the Gold and Platinum card both have an airline incidental fee credit, but
you can’t use it toward paying for flights.
I know you buy gift cards, but even that is kind of a workaround solution since it’s
not officially supported by American Express.
Also, American Express often requires you to redeem your credits over the span of a year.
For example, the dining credit on the Gold card is $120, but you can only redeem $10
per month at select restaurants and ordering services.
You won’t find as many credits on Chase’s cards.
However, if we look at the Chase Sapphire Reserve, it has a $300 annual travel credit,
which you can basically redeem all at once.
Plus, since Chase is fairly liberal with what they qualify as travel, it’s so easy to
redeem the credit.
In fact, I often tell people that though the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s annual fee is $450,
it’s really more like $150 since it’s so easy to get the travel credit.
Even for me, I’ll often see parking expenses get credited on my account, which is, unfortunately,
a common expense for me since we live in LA.
If we compare lounge access, the American Express definitely wins since their Platinum
card offers access to Centurion lounges.
Both Chase and American Express do have concierge services, though I have to admit that I’ve
never used it.
Also, when looking at things like primary car rental insurance and trip delays, the
Chase Sapphire cards offer a lot more protection as part of their membership.
On the other hand, purchase protection is more seamless on American Express cards since
you file a claim with American Express and not a third party.
This is not the case with Chase.
I’m not saying that it doesn’t work, but my experience is that it's often easier when
it’s processed by the same company as the card issuer.
American Express card members also get a free membership to ShopRunner, which is like Amazon
Prime for other retailers.
Also, I really like the way that American Express does their offers.
All you have to do is activate the offer, rather than going through a portal.
This means that you can potentially double up on rewards by using a cash back portal
or a discount coupon with your purchase.
I know that Chase recently started to do offers as well, but I think that American Express
is way ahead in this regard.
In summary, American Express offers credits on more of their cards, though they are more
restrictive to redeem.
American Express also tends to have better lounge access, concierge service, and purchase
protection.
They also have an incredible offers program as part of their membership.
However, Chase has much easier to redeem credits and better car rental and trip delay coverages.
It’s a bit of a toss-up since they both offer significant value, though
in different ways.
But if you’re some who can maximize the benefits of your American Express cards, there
is probably more there to take advantage of.
Even with higher annual fees on their cards, there is a lot of benefits included.
So, I’m giving this category to American Express.
Next up is acceptance.
This is one is pretty simple.
You’re going to have more acceptance with a Visa or Mastercard over American Express.
It’s not much of an issue here in the US, but when traveling abroad, it can be difficult
to find places that will accept American Express cards.
So, Chase takes this category.
In terms of customer service, I’ve had great experiences with both the service
reps from Chase and American Express.
Though I would probably give the edge to American Express, mostly because they have a fantastic
chat functionality on their website.
I’ve asked the reps to downgrade cards over chat, and they’ve been able to do it without
any problems.
Speaking of downgrade options, this is an area where Chase definitely has the advantage.
If you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred card, you can always downgrade your
card to a Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, or even a basic Sapphire, which isn’t even listed
on the Chase website.
American Express, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated.
If you have an American Express Platinum or Gold card, and you want to downgrade, your
only option is the Green Card, which still has an annual fee.
You can’t downgrade to an Everyday card, even though it also earns Membership Rewards
points, since the Everyday card is a credit card and the Platinum, Gold, and Green card
are charge cards.
This presents some issues for those of you that don’t want to cancel cards since it
can temporarily hurt your credit score.
So, in this category, I have to say that Chase definitely has the advantage.
While American Express does have a lot of cards, including a mix of charge and credit
cards, it isn’t easy to downgrade their charge cards since there isn’t a no-annual-fee
charge card in their lineup.
Lastly, approval and welcome offer rules!
Chase is notorious for some of their strict approval rules like 5/24 and 2/30.
If you’re not familiar with them, see our videos on the topic.
However, these rules usually result in people wanting to build their Chase portfolio before
American Express.
I recommend that strategy as well since you can essentially disqualify yourself from getting
Chase cards if you get too many other cards within a 24 month period.
Also, a lot of people will go the small business card route in order to get around the 5/24 rule.
Basically, you need to be below 5/24 to get a business credit card, but once you get one,
it doesn’t count against your 5/24 total.
If you qualify for a business card, it’s definitely a great way to go.
Business cards provide some of the best welcome offers and bonus categories.
If you’re interested in small business cards or want to understand whether you may qualify,
check out our video on the topic.
American Express has fewer restrictions when it comes to getting approvals.
However, they do have a once in a lifetime rule for their welcome offers.
For example, if you had the American Express Platinum card in the past and received the
welcome offer, but then canceled or downgraded the card, you won’t be able to get the welcome offer
again if you apply for the card.
So in, this category, I have to give the upper hand to American Express.
Though, if you do have any interest in building a Chase card portfolio, then you should start
with them since their cards are much more difficult to get due to these rules.
When we tally up the points, you can see that it’s tied, which is what I expected.
Both programs offer a lot of value, especially if you’re able to take advantage of the
benefits.
Though if I could only earn one points program, I would say that I prefer to earn Chase Ultimate
Rewards points.
That shouldn’t be a surprise to those of you that have been watching my channel for
a while.
I just find that the program seems to meet my travel needs, and I feel like I’m able
to get a lot of value from the points.
And I don’t think I’m the only one that feels this way either.
When I asked the question on my Community tab a few months ago, I noticed that about
60% of you felt the same way.
That being said, I still think it’s a good idea to diversify and build multiple points
programs.
Things change all the time in this hobby, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m focused
on another program within the next three years.
Though I kind of hope not, especially since I love my collection of Chase Ultimate Rewards
earning cards.
I was going to say sixfecta, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the right terminology.
In fact, if you know that the equivalent of “trifecta” is for six cards, let me know.
Which flexible points program do you prefer?
Do you earn multiple currencies, or do you focus on just one?
Let me know in the comment section below.
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Until next time, travel safe and travel smart.