Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred: which pays more for food?

Amex Gold vs Chase Sapphire Preferred: which earns more on dining and groceries?

The Amex Gold earns more on both. Amex pays 4X Membership Rewards points at restaurants worldwide on the first $50,000 each calendar year and 4X at U.S. supermarkets on the first $25,000, then 1X. The Chase Sapphire Preferred pays 3X Ultimate Rewards points on dining, including takeout and eligible delivery, and its page shows no cap.

Groceries are where the gap opens up. Chase's 3X grocery rate covers online grocery only, meaning pickup and delivery orders placed online with grocery stores, and it leaves out Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs. Paying at the supermarket register earns 1X. Amex counts U.S. supermarkets but not superstores, convenience stores, warehouse clubs or meal kits, so neither card pays its grocery rate at Costco.

• The Gold's restaurant rate skips bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, caterers, bakeries and restaurants inside a hotel, casino or event venue.
• Chase's dining category leaves out bakeries, caterers, meal-kit services and gift card merchants.
• Amex says a purchase through a third party, a mobile card reader or a digital wallet may miss its extra points.
• If you drive a lot, the Sapphire Preferred's 3X on gas stations and EV charging claws back some of the food gap. The Gold earns 1X at the pump.

What are the Amex Gold and Sapphire Preferred welcome offers right now?

As of October 23, 2026, the Chase Sapphire Preferred offers 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months. Chase says the points post 6 to 8 weeks after you qualify.

The Amex Gold offer depends on who is applying. The public page says "as high as" 100,000 points after $8,000 in purchases in your first 6 months. Amex shows your actual amount after you apply and before you accept the card, and its terms warn that you may get fewer points or no offer at all. Amex says checking for approval does not affect your credit score, though accepting the card may. Points arrive 8 to 12 weeks after you hit the spend.

Points are not cash, and neither issuer gives them a fixed value: both say it varies by how you redeem. The points value calculator shows what a balance could be worth under different redemptions.

What is the Amex Gold annual fee, and do the credits cover it?

The Amex Gold annual fee is $325, which is $230 more than the Chase Sapphire Preferred's $95. Up to 5 additional Gold cards are free; each one after that costs $35. The Gold's four food credits can return up to $424 a year, more than the fee gap, but each runs on its own clock and most need enrollment.

• Dining credit, up to $10 a month: enroll, then pay with the Gold at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory or Wonder in the U.S.
• Uber Cash, $10 a month: add the Gold to your Uber account and pay with an Amex card. It expires at the end of each month and works only in the U.S.
• Resy credit, up to $50 from January to June and $50 from July to December: enroll and pay at eligible U.S. Resy restaurants. Delivery and gift cards may not count.
• Dunkin' credit, up to $7 a month: enroll and pay at a U.S. Dunkin'. Delivery apps and shops inside airports or gas stations may not count.
• Sapphire Preferred: up to $100 a year back on hotels booked through Chase Travel (that first $100 earns no points), plus DashPass when activated by December 31, 2029, with a $10 monthly promo on one non-restaurant DoorDash order. Some older write-ups still say $50 for the hotel credit; Chase's page now says $100.

How do the travel earning rates and transfer partners compare?

The Amex Gold earns 3X on flights booked directly with airlines or through Amex Travel and 5X on prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel. The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 5X on Chase Travel bookings and 2X on all other travel, including flights you book with the airline.

Both cards let you move points to travel programs. Chase lists 10 airline programs, including United, Southwest, Air Canada Aeroplan and Flying Blue, and 4 hotel programs: IHG, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt and Wyndham. Chase transfers go in 1,000-point steps and cannot be undone. Amex moves Membership Rewards points to participating frequent flyer and frequent guest programs, and charges $0.0006 per point, up to $99, on each transfer to a U.S. airline.

Neither card charges a foreign transaction fee, though an ATM or shop abroad may add its own.

Who can get each bonus? Amex eligibility rules vs Chase 5/24

Chase will not open a Sapphire Preferred for you if you have one open now, and it says the bonus may not be available if you held this card before or already got its new cardmember bonus. Chase may also look at how many cards you have opened and closed.

Amex's Gold terms say you may not be eligible if you have or have had the Gold Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card or a Platinum Card, including the Schwab and Morgan Stanley versions. Amex also weighs your balance transfer history, your history as a card member and how many cards you have opened and closed.

Chase 5/24 does not appear on Chase's page. It is an unofficial rule pieced together from reported approvals: applicants with five or more new cards from any bank in the past 24 months often report Chase declines. The Chase 5/24 calculator counts your cards and shows when you drop below five.

How many points does a sample food budget earn on each card?

On an example budget of $2,350 a month, the Amex Gold earns 70,200 points a year. The Chase Sapphire Preferred earns 45,000, or 59,400 if every grocery order goes through an eligible online grocer. The math uses each issuer's published rates and leaves out welcome offers, credits and travel portal bookings.

• Restaurants, $500 a month: Gold 4X = 2,000 points; Sapphire Preferred 3X = 1,500.
• U.S. supermarket groceries, $600 a month: Gold 4X = 2,400; Sapphire Preferred 1X = 600, or 3X = 1,800 if ordered online.
• Gas, $150 a month: Gold 1X = 150; Sapphire Preferred 3X = 450.
• Flights booked with the airline, $100 a month on average: Gold 3X = 300; Sapphire Preferred 2X = 200.
• Everything else, $1,000 a month: 1,000 points on each card.
• Monthly totals: Gold 5,850; Sapphire Preferred 3,750 with in-store groceries or 4,950 with online groceries. Multiply by 12 for the yearly figures.

Is the higher Amex Gold annual fee worth it on that budget?

On that example, the Amex Gold earns 25,200 more points a year than the Sapphire Preferred with in-store groceries, or 10,800 more with online groceries, against a $230 fee gap. For the extra points alone to cover $230, each would need to be worth about 0.91 cents in the first case and about 2.13 cents in the second. That is division, not a valuation.

The credits usually decide it. If you already spend at Uber, Grubhub, Resy restaurants and Dunkin' every month, the Gold's credits can cover the gap on their own. If you would have to change habits to use them, count them as zero and compare the points.

Which should you get, Amex Gold or Chase Sapphire Preferred?

Look at where your food money goes before you look at the bonus.

• Big restaurant bills and a weekly supermarket run: the Amex Gold, within its $50,000 and $25,000 yearly caps, especially if you already use Uber, Grubhub or Resy restaurants.
• A lower fee, more driving, streaming or online grocery orders: the Sapphire Preferred at $95, with 3X in those categories.
• You have held a Gold or Platinum Card: the Amex offer may be small or missing, so read the amount Amex shows you before you accept.

How do you keep track of the welcome offer deadline?

Note the day the card opens. The Amex Gold gives you 6 months to spend $8,000, though Amex says the window can be shorter depending on when the card reaches you; the Sapphire Preferred gives you 3 months to spend $5,000. doddo's tracker works out the requirement, payout and annual fee dates from your opening date and lists them under Coming up in your Money Inbox, next to other bank and card bonuses. New doddo accounts are on a waitlist for now.