Two titans come to thoughts when discussing the premium card market: The Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see charges and costs) and The Platinum Card® from American Categorical.
The summer season’s premium card battle continues into the autumn with the Amex Platinum receiving a refresh that options new and enhanced advantages and a better $895 annual charge (see charges and costs). These modifications instantly problem the Sapphire Reserve’s personal overhaul, which passed off earlier this yr in June.
With each playing cards present process massive modifications inside months of one another, let’s focus on which one deserves a spot in your pockets.
Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve comparability
| Card | Amex Platinum | Sapphire Reserve |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome provide | Discover out your provide and see in case you are eligible for as excessive as 175,000 bonus factors after spending $8,000 on purchases inside the first six months of card membership. Welcome affords fluctuate, and also you is probably not eligible for a suggestion. | Earn 125,000 bonus factors after spending $6,000 on purchases inside the first three months of account opening. |
| Annual charge | $895 | $795 |
| Incomes charges |
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| Notable advantages |
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*Enrollment is required.
Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve welcome provide
When contemplating a brand new premium card with a excessive annual charge, a big welcome provide will assist to recoup a few of that value. With the Amex Platinum, the present welcome provide is value as much as $3,500 based mostly on TPG’s September 2025 valuations.
In the meantime, the Sapphire Reserve‘s welcome provide is value $2,563 per our September 2025 valuations. It is value noting that the Sapphire Reserve’s bonus is less complicated to realize because of its decrease spending requirement when in comparison with the Amex Platinum.
Preserve bonus eligibility for each playing cards in thoughts.
Amex solely lets you earn a welcome provide on a card as soon as per lifetime, so should you aren’t focused for the best provide, it could be value holding off till you’re.
The Sapphire Reserve’s eligibility additionally modified — should you’ve beforehand acquired a welcome provide, no matter how a lot time has handed because you had been final accredited, you’re not eligible to obtain one other welcome bonus on the Sapphire Reserve.
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Winner: Tie. We suggest you go together with the Amex Platinum if focused for at the very least 125,000 bonus factors; in any other case, the Sapphire Reserve is a more sensible choice.
Associated: One of the best bank card welcome bonuses
Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve advantages
The Sapphire Reserve and the Amex Platinum are the 2 most costly playing cards within the market.
The brand new Sapphire Reserve advantages can be found instantly to cardholders who opened their accounts after June 23, 2025. For present cardholders, they are going to be accessible beginning Oct. 26, 2025.
Present Platinum holders have already got entry to the brand new advantages introduced.
Regardless of such excessive annual charges, every card offers advantages that assist you to recoup greater than you are paying. This is how every card’s advantages evaluate.
Journey advantages
Each playing cards present comparable journey perks, together with lodge assertion credit, membership credit for journey applications like International Entry, TSA PreCheck and Clear Plus.
The tie-breaker right here, nevertheless, is the Sapphire Reserve’s easy-to-use $300 journey credit score — particularly in comparison with the extra restrictive perks of the Amex Platinum, just like the as much as $200 airline assertion credit score.
Then there’s the airport lounge entry supplied by each playing cards.
Eligible Amex Platinum cardmembers have entry to the American Categorical International Lounge Assortment, together with Centurion Lounges, Precedence Go™ lounges, Delta Sky Golf equipment (when touring on same-day Delta Air Strains flights; restricted to 10 visits) and extra. Enrollment required.
Cardmembers can unlock Centurion Lounge visitor privileges after spending $75,000 in a calendar yr.
The Sapphire Reserve offers entry to Precedence Go lounges and Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Membership places, and allows you to usher in as much as two company for no further charge or minimal spend requirement.
Cardholders additionally get entry to pick Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafes in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Regardless of its smaller footprint, I choose Sapphire Lounges as a result of I can convey as much as two company, whereas I would like to succeed in a minimal spend on the Amex Platinum to earn visitor privileges.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve because of its approachable assertion credit and visitor privileges at Sapphire Lounges.
Associated: Inside Chase’s gorgeous new Sapphire Lounge in San Diego
Eating advantages
Premium playing cards additionally present cardmembers with advantages at residence, together with meals supply and eating perks.
Sapphire Reserve’s dining-related perks embody as much as a $300 annual eating credit score at Sapphire Reserve Unique Tables by way of OpenTable.
The Amex Platinum offers an as much as $400 Resy assertion credit score (as much as $100 every quarter) per calendar yr for eating at eligible U.S. eating places and entry to particular reservations at extremely acclaimed collaborating eating places by the cardboard’s new characteristic, Platinum Nights by Resy. Enrollment required.
By comparability, the Resy credit score can be utilized at over 10,000 eating places inside the U.S., however the Sapphire Reserve’s $300 credit score is barely legitimate at OpenTable eating places positioned in 26 U.S. cities.
On a constructive word, neither the Amex Platinum nor the Sapphire Reserve requires a reservation to make use of the eating credit.
Winner: Amex Platinum. Larger eating assertion credit score worth and accessible at extra eating places throughout the U.S.
Leisure and life-style advantages
With the cardboard’s newest refresh, the Amex Platinum continues to increase into life-style perks.
As famous above, cardmembers earn assertion credit with notable manufacturers resembling as much as $75 1 / 4 at Lululemon in-store (U.S.) and on-line (excluding retailers), as much as $200 yearly for an Oura Ring ({hardware} solely), as much as $50 biannually at Saks, as much as $120 yearly for an Uber One membership (topic to auto-renewal) and as much as $12.95 a month plus relevant taxes for a Walmart+ membership (topic to auto-renewal, Plus Up excluded).
Further life-style assertion credit embody an as much as $300 Equinox assertion credit score (topic to auto-renewal) and an as much as $300 SoulCycle assertion credit score.
Enrollment is required for choose advantages.
Whereas Amex overwhelms with area of interest assertion credit, Chase retains it easy and offers as much as a $300 annual assertion credit score for StubHub or Viagogo (activation required) and complimentary memberships for Apple TV+ and Apple Music (a one-time activation is required per service).
The newest assertion credit added to the Amex Platinum enchantment to me personally. I like Lululemon, and their athletic put on makes for the perfect journey outfits.
Moreover, Amex has elevated the month-to-month assertion credit score to as much as $25 for streaming providers and added Paramount+, YouTube Premium and YouTube TV, (enrollment required). Amex Platinum can also be the king of streaming service suppliers as a result of, as Walmart+ members, cardmembers get entry to both Paramount+ Important (separate enrollment required) or a Peacock premium plan.
It goes with out saying that the Amex Platinum has extra life-style assertion credit, however many of those credit do not imply a lot to each cardmember, and folks merely use them or exit of their manner to make use of them as a result of the cardboard affords them. In any other case, these advantages are typically not on their radar.
Winner: Tie. If the Amex Platinum assertion credit apply to you, it is value it. In any other case, the Sapphire Reserve credit are simpler to make use of.
Journey protections
The Sapphire Reserve comes with its industry-leading journey protections:
Chase has traditionally been the chief in journey insurance coverage, as its choices have beneficiant phrases. Amex has partially closed the hole, including a set of journey safety advantages to the Amex Platinum Card
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. It affords higher general protection throughout all kinds of safety.
Associated: The right way to resolve if a bank card’s annual charge is value paying
Incomes factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
Though the welcome bonus is an effective technique to begin your factors stability, you desire a card that’ll assist you to rapidly earn beneficial transferable factors.
The Amex Platinum earns:
- 5 factors per greenback spent on airfare bought instantly with airways or by Amex Journey (on as much as $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar yr, then 1 level per greenback)
- 5 factors per greenback spent on pay as you go accommodations booked with Amex Journey
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
The Sapphire Reserve affords a broader vary of bonus classes and earns:
- 10 factors per greenback spent on Peloton tools and accent purchases of $150 or extra (by Dec. 31, 2027), with a most of fifty,000 factors
- 8 factors per greenback spent on all Chase Journey purchases
- 5 factors per greenback spent on Lyft rides (by Sept. 30, 2027)
- 4 factors per greenback spent on flights and lodge purchases made instantly with the service provider
- 3 factors per greenback spent on eating purchases
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
The Amex Platinum is greatest for these with important airfare purchases (because it offers a terrific 10% return based mostly on TPG’s September 2025 valuations), however that is additionally the place the issue lies; it is too centered on airfare purchases.
The Sapphire Reserve is a card relevant to most individuals because it offers at the very least a 16% (based mostly on TPG’s September 2025 valuations) return on Chase Journey purchases. It additionally affords extra bonus classes for incomes, resembling accommodations and eating.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. This card affords the perfect bonus factors throughout a number of bonus classes.
Associated: Greatest reward bank cards
Redeeming factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
Chase Final Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards are equally valued at 2.05 and a pair of cents apiece, respectively, in accordance with TPG’s September 2025 valuations.
Chase offers assured worth by providing a 50% bonus when redeeming factors for journey instantly by Chase Journey till Oct. 26, 2027 (for present cardholders earlier than June 23), and as much as a 100% bonus of two factors per greenback spent with choose airways and The Edit accommodations by Chase Journey, because of Factors Increase.
Add this to Chase’s listing of its 14 airline and lodge switch companions (13 as of Oct. 16 with the lack of Emirates Skywards).
In the meantime, the Amex Platinum affords extra methods to make use of your factors because of 17 airline and three lodge switch companions. Sadly, in comparison with Chase, American Categorical Journey redemptions are only one cent per level for flight bookings and 0.7 cents per level for lodge reservations.
Factors earned from the Amex Platinum and the Sapphire Reserve might be redeemed for nontravel redemptions resembling money again, assertion credit and present playing cards, however these redemptions typically yield poor worth.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. The cardboard has a better redemption worth for journey.
Transferring factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
You will virtually all the time get higher worth at any time when transferring your factors to airline and lodge loyalty applications. All Chase accomplice transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, and most of them are immediate. A beneficial switch accomplice is World of Hyatt, the place you’ll be able to ebook an award evening for as little as 3,500 factors per evening.
On the airline aspect, widespread switch companions embody Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Southwest Fast Rewards and Virgin Atlantic Flying Membership.
In the meantime, Amex Membership Rewards has 20 switch companions, although not all are worthwhile. Some switch ratios are under 1:1, and some switch instances are longer, which might be dangerous when it comes to award area disappearing whilst you wait.
As somebody who has each the Amex Platinum and the Sapphire Reserve, I choose transferring my factors to applications like ANA Mileage Membership, Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Membership.
Not too long ago, I transferred 50,000 factors from my Sapphire Reserve to Aeroplan to ebook a multicity stopover ticket in enterprise class all through Europe for my household. On account of increased summer season pricing, the price would’ve been effectively over $2,000 if I had paid money for the flights.
Winner: Tie. Though the Sapphire Reserve has higher switch ratios, the Amex Platinum has extra companions, together with some not discovered with different issuers.
Ought to I get the Amex Platinum or Sapphire Reserve?
Each playing cards provide stellar worth should you use most of their perks, however they differ in key areas.
Selecting the one which most accurately fits you boils all the way down to what particular assertion credit and advantages greatest align along with your life-style, journey habits and spending patterns. It is also value serious about the $100 annual charge distinction between the 2 merchandise, th
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