The Amex Green Card is closed to new applicants. Amex's Green Card page now redirects to its general card listing, and the card is no longer offered there. That makes this a comparison with only one side you can still act on: if you are choosing a mid-tier travel card today, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the live option. The Green half of this piece is for people who already hold one and are deciding whether to keep it.
Because Amex no longer publishes the Green's terms, the current annual fee, earning rates and statement credits for your card are the ones in your own account and cardmember agreement. Start there before running any of the math below.
Introduction
The Chase Sapphire Preferred and the American Express Green Card sit in the same shelf at the credit-card store, but they were built for different travelers. The Sapphire Preferred is the no-management mid-tier pick. The Amex Green is the credit-stack mid-tier pick. The annual fees suggest the Sapphire Preferred is cheaper, and on paper it is, but the Green's credit structure flips that result for the right user.
Both cards earn flexible transferable points (Chase Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards), and both deliver a meaningful slice of travel-insurance benefits. They are not the same product. Sapphire Preferred earns broadly through Chase Travel and dining and pairs cleanly with the Hyatt transfer. Amex Green earns flat on travel and dining and asks you to use coupon-style credits to make the math work.
The Headline Math
This is where the comparison gets decided, so it goes first.
Chase Sapphire Preferred. $95 annual fee. The card includes up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel, and purchases covered by the credit don't earn points. Use the full credit on one Chase Travel hotel booking a year and it more than covers the $95 fee before the points even count.
American Express Green Card. Closed to new applicants. For existing cardholders the card carries two credits, one toward a CLEAR Plus membership and a $100 LoungeBuddy statement credit usable at participating airport lounges with no membership required. Amex publishes no Green page now, so check your own account for the current fee and the current credit amount before deciding whether the card still earns its keep. If you use the CLEAR credit, it does most of the work of covering the fee. If you don't fly through CLEAR airports, you are paying an annual fee for travel and dining multipliers you can get for $95 elsewhere.
Two takeaways. First, the Sapphire Preferred is the easier card to keep year over year because the math works without effort. The $100 hotel credit applies automatically when you pay for a hotel stay booked through Chase Travel. Second, for an existing Green holder the card can still come out cheaper in net terms. CLEAR is the dividing line. If you already pay for CLEAR Plus, the Green's credit covers it and the rest of the card is upside.
Earning Structure
Two different philosophies, and you should know which one fits how you spend.
Sapphire Preferred earns category-heavy. 5x points on Chase Travel, 3x on dining (including takeout and eligible delivery services), 3x on gas and EV charging, 3x on vacation homes at top brands like Airbnb and Vrbo, 3x on online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs), 3x on top streaming services, and 2x on all other travel. Everything else earns 1x. The 5x rate on Chase Travel is the headline, and it pairs well with the $100 hotel credit. The 3x dining category covers a lot of real spend.
Amex Green earns flat. 3x Membership Rewards points on travel (flights, hotels, vacation packages, car rentals, cruises, transit, and rideshare) and 3x on restaurants worldwide. Everything else earns 1x. There is no 5x portal category, and there is no grocery or streaming bonus. The travel category is broader than the Sapphire Preferred's, which catches things like subway fare and rideshare that do not always code as travel on Chase. For someone whose travel spending skews heavily toward transit and rideshare rather than booking sites, the Green's 3x flat structure earns more on those purchases than the Sapphire Preferred's 2x non-portal travel rate.
A simple rule of thumb. If you book most travel through Chase Travel and you eat out regularly, the Sapphire Preferred earns more total points. If your travel spend is heavy on transit, rideshare, and direct-with-airline bookings, the Green's flat 3x catches more of that. The dining categories are functionally tied (both 3x), so the deciding factor is non-restaurant spend.
Transfer Partners
Both cards plug into proprietary transferable-points programs. Both have international airline partners. The breadth differs, and so do the headliners.
Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to 14 partners, most at 1:1: Aer Lingus AerClub, Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France/KLM Flying Blue, British Airways Avios, Iberia Plus, JetBlue TrueBlue, Singapore KrisFlyer, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United MileagePlus, Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, and Wyndham Rewards. Chase says Sapphire Preferred points transfer to World of Hyatt at 4:3 instead, so 1,000 points become 750; for accounts opened before June 15, 2026, the rate was 1:1 through September 30, 2026 and moved to 4:3 on October 1, 2026. Check the rate in your Ultimate Rewards account before you transfer (what changes). Hyatt is the marquee partner. Say you transfer 75,000 points: at the Sapphire Preferred's 4:3 rate they become 56,250 Hyatt points.
Amex Membership Rewards transfers to 21 partners, mostly at 1:1, with a few at 1:0.8 (Marriott Bonvoy) or 5:4 (Virgin Atlantic in some windows). The headliners that the Sapphire Preferred cannot match: ANA Mileage Club at 1:1 (a Star Alliance powerhouse for cheap business-class redemptions to Asia), Delta SkyMiles at 1:1 (the only flexible-points way into Delta), Avianca LifeMiles, and Cathay Pacific Asia Miles. The list also includes most of the airline partners Chase has, sometimes with the same ratio.
Hyatt is the dividing line. If you book Hyatt regularly, or you want the option to, the Sapphire Preferred's transfer chart is materially more useful. If you fly Delta, fly Star Alliance carriers regularly, or value transfer breadth over hotel redemptions, the Amex Membership Rewards chart is broader. For a deep dive into the head-to-head currency comparison, see our Amex Membership Rewards vs. Chase Ultimate Rewards breakdown.
Bundled Benefits Worth Naming
This is the place where the Green's credit-stack approach gets interesting.
Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits.
- Up to $100 in statement credits each account anniversary year for hotel stays purchased through Chase Travel.
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS application fee credit of up to $120 every four years.
- Primary rental car coverage up to $60,000 for theft and collision damage when you decline the rental company's coverage and pay with the card.
- Trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance up to $10,000 per covered traveler and $20,000 per trip.
- Trip delay reimbursement up to $500 per covered traveler when a common carrier trip is delayed more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay.
- Baggage delay reimbursement up to $100 per day.
- Purchase protection on new purchases against damage or theft for 120 days.
- No foreign transaction fees.
Amex Green Card benefits, as they stand for existing cardholders. Confirm each against your own cardmember agreement, since Amex no longer publishes them.
- CLEAR Plus statement credit (annual).
- $100 LoungeBuddy statement credit (annual).
- Trip delay insurance after a covered delay of more than 12 hours.
- Baggage insurance up to $1,250 for carry-on and $500 for checked baggage.
- Secondary rental car loss and damage coverage when you pay with the card.
- Global Assist Hotline for emergency assistance abroad.
- No foreign transaction fees.
The credit math is the entire point of the Green Card. Without using the CLEAR credit, the Green is hard to justify against the Sapphire Preferred. With it, the Green's net cost drops below the Sapphire Preferred's gross cost. The rental car insurance is worth flagging: the Sapphire Preferred provides primary coverage, which means it pays before your personal auto insurance. Chase notes limits for New York residents on the Preferred: inside the United States, rental coverage is secondary to your personal auto insurance, lost luggage is additionally limited to $2,000 per bag and $10,000 for all covered travelers per trip, and purchase protection covers 90 days from the date of purchase. The Green's coverage is secondary, which is meaningfully less useful if you actually need to file a claim.
Welcome Bonuses
Only one of these cards still has one to chase. Confirm the active offer on Chase's application page before you apply, since these numbers move.
As of October 3, 2026, Chase's offer for new Sapphire Preferred cardmembers is 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points after $5,000 in purchases in the first three months. The bonus may not be available if you previously held the card or received a new cardmember bonus for it. Transferred to Hyatt or to partner airlines like Air France or Virgin Atlantic, points like these go furthest on hotel nights and premium long-haul flights.
The Amex Green Card no longer has a welcome offer, because it is closed to new applicants. If you are an existing holder, your points keep pooling with any other Amex card on your login, so the comparison that matters is between keeping the Green and switching to something Amex still offers.
How They Compare to a Few Alternatives
Worth naming the cards that sit on either side of these two so the framing is clear.
Capital One Venture Rewards. $95 fee, 2x miles flat on everything, simpler than either card here. Outclassed by the Sapphire Preferred for users who value 5x portal earning or Hyatt transfers.
Amex Gold Card. $325 fee, 4x at U.S. supermarkets (capped at $25,000 per year), 4x at restaurants, and dining and grocery credits. The right pick for a household with serious supermarket and restaurant spend, and the card Amex still offers to someone who wanted the Green's Membership Rewards access.
Chase Sapphire Reserve. $795 fee (after the 2025 refresh), with Priority Pass and Chase Sapphire Lounge access and 8x on Chase Travel. The premium-tier upgrade from the Sapphire Preferred for travelers who value Priority Pass and the growing Chase Sapphire Lounge network.
For travelers comparing two-card setups rather than single-card choices, the Chase vs. Amex points for European summer travel analysis is a useful companion read.
Pros and Cons
Chase Sapphire Preferred.
- Pros: $95 fee. The up to $100 Chase Travel hotel credit can cover the whole fee with a single hotel booking. Point transfers to World of Hyatt at 4:3 (accounts opened before June 15, 2026 moved to 4:3 on October 1, 2026). Primary rental car coverage. A 75,000-point welcome offer for new cardmembers as of October 3, 2026.
- Cons: 1x on everything outside its bonus categories, which covers many everyday purchases. No lounge access of any kind. Many applicants plan around what's commonly called Chase's 5/24 rule, which looks at whether you've opened five or more credit cards from any issuer in the prior 24 months.
American Express Green Card, for existing cardholders.
- Pros: the CLEAR Plus credit does most of the work of covering the annual fee for any CLEAR member. $100 LoungeBuddy credit adds airport lounge access without a membership. 3x flat on travel covers transit, rideshare, and direct-with-airline bookings that the Sapphire Preferred catches at only 2x. Membership Rewards transfer chart is broader, including ANA, Delta, and Avianca LifeMiles.
- Cons: closed to new applicants, so it is a card to keep rather than one to get, and Amex no longer publishes its terms. The fee is hard to justify unless you use the CLEAR credit. No 5x portal category. Secondary rental car coverage rather than primary. No grocery or streaming bonuses. LoungeBuddy availability is limited to participating lounges and not a true Priority Pass replacement.
Who Should Pick Which
Chase Sapphire Preferred is the right card if:
- You want a single travel card you do not have to manage.
- You book travel through Chase Travel or want the option to.
- World of Hyatt is in your hotel rotation, or you want a path toward it.
- You rent cars regularly and want primary rental coverage.
- You are not already paying for CLEAR.
- You have opened fewer than five credit cards in the past 24 months (what's commonly called Chase's 5/24 rule).
Keeping an Amex Green you already hold makes sense if:
- You already pay for CLEAR Plus and the card's credit covers it.
- Your travel spending leans toward transit, rideshare, and direct airline bookings rather than portal purchases.
- You want LoungeBuddy access without a premium-card fee.
- You value transfer breadth, especially the ANA, Delta, and Avianca partners that Chase does not offer.
A note for existing Green holders weighing both. There is no rule against holding the Green alongside a Sapphire Preferred, and the CLEAR credit does much of the work of paying for the pair. That buys two flexible-points engines feeding two different transfer charts.
The Bottom Line
If you are choosing today, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is the pick, because it is the only one of these two you can still apply for. Chase's current welcome offer for new cardmembers is 75,000 points. The card does not require credit-stack management; the math just works.
If you already hold the Amex Green, the question is whether to keep it. If you pay for CLEAR Plus, the card's credit covers that membership and the 3x flat on travel and the $100 lounge credit sit on top, which is a reasonable case for renewing. If you don't fly through CLEAR airports, the credit is a number on paper and the fee is buying multipliers you can get more cheaply.
Run your own credits-and-spend math from your cardmember agreement, and if the Green no longer earns its fee, ask Amex about a product change rather than closing an old account outright. If the points game is new to you, our Chase Sapphire Preferred 2026 review goes deeper on that single card.
Updated October 5, 2026: Amex Green closed to new applicants.
Sources
- Chase newsroom: Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred points transfer to World of Hyatt at 4:3 (read 2026-09-28)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred benefits page: earning rates, $100 Chase Travel hotel credit, Points Boost up to 1.5x, travel protections, transfer partners and Hyatt at 4:3 (read 2026-10-03)
- Chase Sapphire Preferred card page and offer terms: 75,000-point offer, $95 annual fee, earning rates, $100 Chase Travel hotel credit, travel coverage (read 2026-10-03)
