The Value of Amex Membership Rewards Points vs Chase Sapphire Reserve Points
Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Membership Rewards points are both rewards programs that you can use to buy things, such as airfare or hotels, without directly spending your own money. Each program has its pros and cons, so it’s important to understand how they work if you’re trying to choose between the two. If you’re trying to decide between the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the American Express Membership Rewards points, this article covers how each points program works and what factors might help you decide which one is best for you.
What is the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a travel credit card designed for frequent travelers. The card is designed for people who may not have had much experience managing credit cards or have bad credit. The card does not have a huge sign-up bonus, in fact, it has no sign-up bonus, so it’s not really targeted toward heavy credit card users. The card charges a $450 annual fee, which is high for a card that doesn’t really have any amazing long-term benefits. You do get 50,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on the card in the first three months, which is worth $750, but many travel rewards cards have higher bonuses.
What are Amex Membership Rewards Points?
With the Amex Membership Rewards program, you earn points that you can redeem for a wide variety of travel and shopping rewards. You can use Membership Rewards points to book flights on any airline, stay at hotels and resorts in any city, or even buy gift cards to your favorite places. The Membership Rewards program has a few different cards, but the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card is one of the most flexible travel cards out there. The card has a $195 annual fee and will give you 50,000 bonus points after you spend $2,000 on the card in the first three months.
How to Earn Chase Sapphire Reserve Points
You get one point for every dollar you spend. You get double points when you spend on travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards booking engine. You get triple points when you book travel through the Chase travel portal with hotels or car rental companies that are partners with Chase. You can also get 1,000 points if you add an authorized user to your account.
How to Earn Amex Membership Rewards Points
To earn the most Membership Rewards points, you should use your card for all of your purchases. You’ll get one point per dollar spent, with a few exceptions. You’ll earn more points if you use your card for certain types of purchases, such as gas. You can also earn more points by spending money at certain retailers or booking hotels through Amex’s travel partners.
Pros of using Chase Sapphire Reserve points
– If you’re trying to book a flight or hotel that is part of a rewards program, it can be frustrating to use points from some cards to book a flight or hotel. If you have Chase Sapphire Reserve points, you can transfer them to any of their travel partners without issue. That means you could use those points to book a seat on a flight that is only available to members of that rewards program. – You can transfer points to any frequent traveler program for an easy use. For example, if you want to book a flight on Emirates Airlines but it uses Etihad’s rewards program, you can transfer your points to Etihad’s program and book a flight with them.
Pros of using Amex Membership Rewards points
– The Amex Premier Rewards Gold card lets you earn one point for every dollar spent, but it also lets you transfer Membership Rewards points to frequent traveler programs. That means you can use Membership Rewards points to book travel with any airline or hotel that partners with the Amex travel portal. – You can transfer Membership Rewards points to certain frequent traveler programs, such as Aeromexico, Air Canada, Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. You can also transfer points to Hilton, Hertz, and Marriott.
Cons of using Chase Sapphire Reserve points
– Chase Sapphire Reserve charges a hefty fee for transferring points to another frequent traveler program. The fee is $50 per 10,000 points, making it a very expensive option. You could always use the points to book travel with Chase’s travel partners, but you’ll earn fewer points per dollar spent.
Cons of using Amex Membership Rewards points
– You may earn fewer points per dollar spent if you use your Amex card to make purchases instead of a card that offers a higher rewards rate. The Premier Rewards Gold card has a higher rewards rate than the Blue card, but it’s not as high as other travel rewards cards.
Final Words
If you’re trying to decide between the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the American Express Membership Rewards points, this article covers how each points program works and what factors might help you decide which one is best for you. Keep in mind, these are just general guidelines for using these rewards programs. Everyone’s spending habits are different, so you may find that one rewards program suits you better than the other based on your spending habits.
