Amex Points Vs. Chase Points: Which Rewards Points are Best?
American Express (Amex) and Chase Ultimate Rewards are the two major transferable points currencies for travel enthusiasts. Both cards have unique benefits, and both offer a range of offers, from everyday cash back to the most premium travel cards on the market.
Only some people accurately know about the function of these cards, and many don’t even hear the names of these cards in their daily lives. When people have these points with them, they can redeem many benefits for travel, hotels, and more.
But, at the time of the pandemic, when people have to stay at home and want a break for refreshment and are planning to take a break from these circumstances, then at that time, the individual can benefit from these programs.
Amex and Chase’s programs offer various travel rewards credit cards and redemption options, such as transferring to airlines and hotels directly through your bank’s portals. To learn more about these programs, read this article carefully. It provides detailed information about Amex and Chase cards and shares many essential details on both cards.
What is Amex Point?
Amex stands for American Express. Amex membership rewards are helpful for both personal and business use. The Amex cards especially earn a base point value of 1 point per $1 spent. If a person has multiple personal and business Amex cards, all the membership rewards points are combined into one pool.
American Express also offers many redeemable benefits for Amex points. For instance, if a person uses American Express cards for traveling, the points are transferred directly to their airlines or hotel partners, gift cards, or statement credits. In short, redeeming points such as gift cards, statement credits, and online shopping offer the lowest values for Amex points.
The individual also uses Amex cards to book hotels and resorts at 1% per point. Usually, you will get the best value if you transfer your points to any travel partners to book an award reservation.
What is Chase Point?
Chase Ultimate Rewards is also a flexible point program that allows cardholders to earn and redeem more points in many ways. People can enjoy the ultimate rewards using the Chase card, but this benefit only applies to the cardholder and no one else.
Earning Chase rewards depends on various cards and categories. Eight personal and small business credit cards benefit from Chase Ultimate Rewards. Some cards, like Chase Freedom Unlimited, also offer several cashback offers.
Difference Between Amex and Chase Points:
The workings of the Amex and Chase cards are similar. It depends upon the eligible points and the cards you select. You will also get specific points per dollar in some bonus spending categories.
Now, for example, with the Amex Express Gold Card, you can earn 4X membership, and with that, you also get rewards points from restaurants and U.S. supermarkets for up to $25000 per calendar year in the purchase. On the other hand, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you will earn 3X ultimate reward points on dining and online grocery purchases. For further reward opportunities, you will have to select streaming services.
The primary distinction between the Amex and Chase points is their redemption value, which you will get when you are ready to trade with those points for the statements of the credits, purchases, or travel.
Merits and Demerits of Amex Point and Chase Point:
Merits of Amex Point:
- The Amex Card will automatically combine all the points from multiple cards into one bucket.
- It transfers to 18 airlines and three hotel partners.
- If people redeem first-class or business-class airfares, they get high potential value.
- The Amex card occasionally transfers some bonus amounts.
- Pay with the points at checkout on Amazon, Paypal, and other sites.
- The Amex Point does not expire.
Demerits of Amex Point:
- The only difference in the Amex point of airline and hotel is their partner ratio.
- It needs better redemption value for cashback.
- Welcome bonuses.
Merits and Demerits of Chase Points:
Merits of Chase Point:
- It transfers 1:1 to 11 airlines and three hotel transfers.
- The cardholder may earn bonus points through the ultimate rewards shopping portals.
- It is worth up to 50% more for travel.
- 1% point in cash back option.
- Points do not expire.
Demerits of Chase Point:
- It’s a manual combined point from different cards.
- Every point has another redemption value.
- The Chase Sapphire has 48 48-month use limitation, and the Chased 5/24 rule limits new cards.
So, these are the advantages and disadvantages of both card points, which everyone must know before purchasing.
Transfer Partners Rewards from both the Cards Amex and Chase:
Amex points and the Chase Ultimate Rewards points offer a group of a dozen transfer partners. Both have multiple airline and hotel partners that can easily permit you to transfer your flexible points into airline miles and hotel points. Usually, the travel charges higher prices for your reservation booking than the booking you get with the help of points.
- Now, let’s see the list of Amex Transfer Partners:
The Amex Transfer Partner includes 18 various airline programs and three hotel chains, which include;
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Air Canada Aeroplane
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- Alitalia MileMiglia
- All Nippon Airways Mileage Club
- Avianca LifeMiles
- British Airways Executive Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Delta SkyMiles
- Emirates Skywards
- Etihad Guest
- Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles
- Iberia Plus
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Singapore KrisFlyer
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
Three Hotels Amex Transfer Partners are as follows:
- Choice Privileges
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy
Now, let’s see the list of Chase Transfer Partners:
With the help of Chase Ultimate Reward, you can transfer the points to ten airline programs and also in three hotel programs, which are as follows:
- British Airways Executive Club
- Air France-KLM Flying Blue
- JetBlue TrueBlue
- Emirates Skywards
- Singapore Airlines Krisflyer
- Southwest Rapid Rewards
- United MileagePlus
- Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Aer Lingus AerClub
- Iberia Plus
- World of Hyatt
- IHG Rewards Club
- Marriott Bonvoy
In Chase transfer partners, all the points have 1:1 ratios; you may transfer them in 1,000-point increments.
According to the report, Chase only transferred sometimes, the very first transfer bonus done to British Airways Avios in 2019, again in November, and then a bonus on the IHG rewards club in August. This is the significant difference between Chase and Amax; Amax frequently offers transfer bonuses to Marriott and Aeroplan in their program.
Earning Points with the help of Amex Point and Chase Point:
- Earning Points with the help of Amex Point:
Amex Point is relatively easy with the help of refreshed card options, such as the American Express Green Card and the American Express Gold Card. Both cards offer welcome bonuses to their cardholder. The Amex Card only provides a once-a-lifetime bonus policy. Still, too many cards earn the membership rewards, which means accumulating a large balance, which is not a difficult task.
You can use the Amex Card daily because it earns 4X points on dining at a restaurant and 4X points at U.S. supermarkets. Using the Amex gold card, you can quickly bring in at least 2,000 points a month.
Now, here are some of the cards that will help you to earn Amex Membership Reward Points;
- American Express Green Card
- American Express Gold Card
- The Platinum Card from American Express
- American Express Business Gold Card
- The Business Platinum Card from American Express
- The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express
- The Amex Everyday Credit Card from American Express
- The Amex Everyday Preferred Credit Card from American Express
Amongst the list of cards, there are a few cards that offer great welcome offers. For instance, The Platinum Card from American Express offers 80,000 membership rewards once you spend $6,000 on a purchase within the first six months of the card issues.
Another way to earn Amex Points is by using the targeted Amex Offers. The cardholder sees the various Amex offers available on a given card, and you have to scroll down on your online account page or click on the “Offer” option on the Amex application.
These other offers come from various merchants, including travel providers, restaurants, clothing, etc.
If any Cardholder has access to multiple Amex cards, then make sure to check all the cards to get better offers. Not only that, but you also have to review the terms of the Amex offers that you have added to your cards. Some of the recommendations are also related to online shopping portals, so make sure to use such shopping portals, too.
- Earning Points with the help of Chase Point:
Chase Ultimate Rewards offers three cards that help you to earn transferable Ultimate Rewards points, including;
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
A few cards do not allow you to use them while transferring points to your travel partners. If the cardholder has any of the cards mentioned above, they can share your points into that account and then move them to the airlines and hotel partners.
The list of cards mentioned below is no longer available to use as a travel partner;
- Chase Freedom (this card is now not applicable to new members)
- Chase Freedom Unlimited
- Ink Business Cash Credit Card
- Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card
As discussed earlier, some cards have limitations on use. Here is one of the cards, the Chase 5/24 rules, which limit your ability to get approved for these cards.
Bonus Points Earning Opportunities by Using Both Cards:
- Bonus Earning Opportunity as per the Amex Points:
As mentioned earlier, using some Amex cards quickly gives the cardholder several advantages of bonus categories. For instance, the Amex Green Card offers 3X dining, travel, and transit points and 1X points on all other purchases.
The Amex Gold card offers 4X points on dining at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets, with an annual fee of up to $250. You can also use the Amex Platinum, through which you can earn up to $5X points on airfare booked directly or via Amex Travel. Now, you can also book pre-paid hotels by using American Express Travel.
- Bonus Earning Opportunity as per the Chase Points:
Chase Ultimate Rewards offers several cards from which the cardholder can earn up to specific points by using its bonus categories. For example, the cardholder can earn 5X points on travel by booking through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 3X points on dining, 3X on selecting streaming services, 3X on online grocery purchases, and 2X points on all travels, and by taking the help of Chase Sapphire, you can points of 1X.
Now, with the help of Ink Business Preferred, there are many extra bonuses related to this. The cardholder can earn 3X on traveling, shipping, internet, cable, phone services, and advertising purchasing on social media sites. Also, the search engine on the first $1,50,000 is combined purchases of each account anniversary year that is 1X on everything else.
Now, with the help of Chase Sapphire Reserve, the cardholder can earn 3X points on all types of travel (except the $300 travel credit) and dining purchases worldwide and 1X in everything else. The bonus categories include ride-sharing services, food deliveries, and much more.
If any cardholder is a Lyft rider in Sapphire Reserve, the member automatically earns 10X of the total points whenever they use the Lyft rider’s card; we will implement this concept in March 2025.
Now, it is entirely upon the cardholder or member to select the best plans according to their needs. If the card member wants to travel more than they can for Chase Sapphire Reserve or Preferred, they can use a card like the Amex Platinum. If they spend a lot on airfares or dining, they can get 5X from a card like the Amex Platinum or 4X on dining at restaurants on the Golf card.
Redemption Options for both Cards:
- Redemption based on Amex Points:
With the help of an Amex Card, you can earn tons of benefits from your choices, some of which are more valuable than others.
For example, you can use Virgin Atlantic’s ANA award chart to fly ANA’s The Room business class for 90,000 miles from the West Coast. This is a steal, as ANA’s first-class ticket price would be $16,000 or more.
The cardholder may use the Virgin Atlantic Flying Clubs miles to fly Hawaiian Airlines between the mainland of the U.S. and Hawaii. The business class awards the cost at 40,000 miles each way between the West Coast or 65,000 miles each way between Hawaii and the East Coast.
You can also use the Amex Travel Portal to find a preferred room with points valued at 0.7 cents. You can also book other facilities, including hotels and resort programs.
Note: You cannot earn hotel points from any third party with your card.
- Redemption based on Chase Points:
With the help of Chase Points, you can book travels through the travel portals and redeem points to pay for your plane tickets, hotel stays, rental cars, etc. And if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Ink Business Preferred card, each point is considered 1.25 percent. And, if you have the Chase Sapphire Reserve, your issues are worth 1.5 percent towards the redemptions through the portal.
Other Ways to Maximize Your Rewards:
Here are a few ways that can help you to maximize your rewards,
- Flexible point transfer and a large bonus with the help of Chase Sapphire Preferred Card.
- No annual fees are required when you link it with the Bank of America Travel Rewards Credit Card.
- Flat travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.
- Luxury Perks: The Platinum Card from American Express.
So, these are several other ways to maximize your rewards.
Conclusion:
Amex and Chase are both top-rated rewards programs, and cardholders enjoy the benefits of these cards. Although Amex and Chase have different views and reasons, they are superior values in the credit card market.
Selecting one of these two is an individual choice, which depends on how much the individual wants to earn and redeem. Suppose any cardholder wants to enjoy both programs’ advantages. In that case, they can also go for that by taking both the cards and may also go for Citi ThankYou Points, which means you can earn the redeems and get benefits from three programs, i.e., the Amex, Chase, and any other third program together.
In this article, we have discussed all the details about Amex and Chase points, which will play an essential role in selecting the suitable program for you without taking much time in decision-making. Both are authentic and offer a variety of benefits and rewards.