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 time’s premium card battle continues into the autumn with the Amex Platinum receiving a refresh that options new and enhanced advantages and the next $895 annual payment (see charges and costs). These modifications immediately problem the Sapphire Reserve’s personal overhaul, which passed off earlier this 12 months in June.
With each playing cards present process massive modifications inside months of one another, let’s talk about 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 throughout the first six months of card membership. Welcome presents differ, and also you might not be eligible for a proposal. | Earn 125,000 bonus factors after spending $6,000 on purchases throughout the first three months of account opening. |
| Annual payment | $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 payment, 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 primarily based 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 due to its decrease spending requirement when in comparison with the Amex Platinum.
Hold bonus eligibility for each playing cards in thoughts.
Amex solely means that you can earn a welcome provide on a card as soon as per lifetime, so in the event you aren’t focused for the very best provide, it could be value holding off till you’re.
The Sapphire Reserve’s eligibility additionally modified — in the event you’ve beforehand acquired a welcome provide, no matter how a lot time has handed because you have been final accepted, you’re not eligible to obtain one other welcome bonus on the Sapphire Reserve.
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Winner: Tie. We advocate you go together with the Amex Platinum if focused for a minimum of 125,000 bonus factors; in any other case, the Sapphire Reserve is a more sensible choice.
Associated: The most effective 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 current cardholders, they are going to be out there 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 gives advantages that provide help to recoup greater than you are paying. Here 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 packages like World Entry, TSA PreCheck and Clear Plus.
The tie-breaker right here, nonetheless, 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 provided by each playing cards.
Eligible Amex Platinum cardmembers have entry to the American Categorical World Lounge Assortment, together with Centurion Lounges, Precedence Move™ lounges, Delta Sky Golf equipment (when touring on same-day Delta Air Traces flights; restricted to 10 visits) and extra. Enrollment required.
Cardmembers can unlock Centurion Lounge visitor privileges after spending $75,000 in a calendar 12 months.
The Sapphire Reserve gives entry to Precedence Move lounges and Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Membership places, and allows you to usher in as much as two company for no extra payment or minimal spend requirement.
Cardholders additionally get entry to pick out Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Cafes in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Regardless of its smaller footprint, I want Sapphire Lounges as a result of I can carry as much as two company, whereas I want to achieve a minimal spend on the Amex Platinum to earn visitor privileges.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve as a consequence of its approachable assertion credit and visitor privileges at Sapphire Lounges.
Associated: Inside Chase’s beautiful new Sapphire Lounge in San Diego
Eating advantages
Premium playing cards additionally present cardmembers with advantages at dwelling, 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 through OpenTable.
The Amex Platinum gives an as much as $400 Resy assertion credit score (as much as $100 every quarter) per calendar 12 months for eating at eligible U.S. eating places and entry to particular reservations at extremely acclaimed collaborating eating places by way of the cardboard’s new function, Platinum Nights by Resy. Enrollment required.
By comparability, the Resy credit score can be utilized at over 10,000 eating places throughout 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 optimistic word, neither the Amex Platinum nor the Sapphire Reserve requires a reservation to make use of the eating credit.
Winner: Amex Platinum. Increased eating assertion credit score worth and out there at extra eating places throughout the U.S.
Leisure and way of life advantages
With the cardboard’s newest refresh, the Amex Platinum continues to increase into way of life perks.
As famous above, cardmembers earn assertion credit with notable manufacturers equivalent to 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).
Extra way of life 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 gives 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 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 way of life assertion credit, however many of those credit do not imply a lot to each cardmember, and folks merely use them or exit of their approach to make use of them as a result of the cardboard presents 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 collection of journey safety advantages to the Amex Platinum Card
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. It presents higher general protection throughout all varieties of safety.
Associated: The way to determine if a bank card’s annual payment is value paying
Incomes factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
Though the welcome bonus is an efficient technique to begin your factors steadiness, you need a card that’ll provide help to shortly earn beneficial transferable factors.
The Amex Platinum earns:
- 5 factors per greenback spent on airfare bought immediately with airways or by way of Amex Journey (on as much as $500,000 of airfare purchases per calendar 12 months, then 1 level per greenback)
- 5 factors per greenback spent on pay as you go inns booked with Amex Journey
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
The Sapphire Reserve presents a broader vary of bonus classes and earns:
- 10 factors per greenback spent on Peloton gear and accent purchases of $150 or extra (by way of 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 way of Sept. 30, 2027)
- 4 factors per greenback spent on flights and lodge purchases made immediately 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 finest for these with important airfare purchases (because it gives a terrific 10% return primarily based 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 gives a minimum of a 16% (primarily based on TPG’s September 2025 valuations) return on Chase Journey purchases. It additionally presents extra bonus classes for incomes, equivalent to inns and eating.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. This card presents 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 gives assured worth by providing a 50% bonus when redeeming factors for journey immediately by way of Chase Journey till Oct. 26, 2027 (for current cardholders earlier than June 23), and as much as a 100% bonus of two factors per greenback spent with choose airways and The Edit inns by way of Chase Journey, due to Factors Enhance.
Add this to Chase’s checklist 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 presents extra methods to make use of your factors due to 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 could be redeemed for nontravel redemptions equivalent to money again, assertion credit and present playing cards, however these redemptions typically yield poor worth.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. The cardboard has the next redemption worth for journey.
Transferring factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
You may nearly at all times get higher worth each time transferring your factors to airline and lodge loyalty packages. All Chase companion transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, and most of them are immediate. A beneficial switch companion is World of Hyatt, the place you’ll be able to guide an award night time for as little as 3,500 factors per night time.
On the airline aspect, fashionable 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 beneath 1:1, and a few switch occasions are longer, which could 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 want transferring my factors to packages like ANA Mileage Membership, Air Canada Aeroplan and British Airways Membership.
Just lately, I transferred 50,000 factors from my Sapphire Reserve to Aeroplan to guide a multicity stopover ticket in enterprise class all through Europe for my household. On account of increased summer time pricing, the fee would’ve been nicely 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.
Associated: A whole checklist of switch bonuses over the previous decade — which issuer is essentially the most beneficiant?
Ought to I get the Amex Platinum or Sapphire Reserve?
Each playing cards provide stellar worth in the event you use most of their perks, however they differ in key areas.
Selecting the one which most closely fits you boils right down to what particular assertion credit and advantages finest align along with your way of life, journey habits and spending patterns. It is also value eager about the $100 annual payment distinction between the 2 merchandise, that are already dear.
And do not forget that it does not should be one or the opposite — some TPG staffers have each playing cards as a result of they get outsize worth from each. It merely is dependent upon what you want from every product.
Backside line
The Sapphire Reserve is a simple premium bank card with a formidable checklist of assertion credit and perks that really feel much less like a “coupon guide” to me than the Amex Platinum. The Reserve presents complete incomes charges for airfare, eating and inns, one thing lacking on the Amex Platinum.
The Amex Platinum responded strongly to Chase and has elevated the cardboard past journey, including a number of new assertion credit value over $1,000 in worth, and speedy entry to new advantages, one thing Reserve cardholders needed to wait a couple of months for.
With each choices, the playing cards are solely as beneficial as the advantages you maximize.
To study extra, learn our full critiques of the Sapphire Reserve and the Amex Platinum.
Apply right here: Amex Platinum
Apply right here: Sapphire Reserve
For charges and costs of the Amex Platinum, click on right here.
