Traveling on a regular basis, either for work or for pleasure, can really take a toll on your budget. The damage is worse if you’re not using the right credit card for your traveling endeavors.
In fact, with a great card, you’ll enjoy your trips without worrying about finances too much, because some of them are designed specifically to suit travelers and their lifestyles, allowing you to earn points you can later redeem for various useful things.
If wondering whether these types of financial tools are worth having, this should help you understand.
Of course, not all of the cards are the same. What does that precisely mean for you, then? Well, as you might have guessed, it means you’ll have to be quite careful when selecting the best one for you. While most of them offer similar benefits, those definitely do differ in certain aspects, and it is your personal spending habits that will dictate which card will be best for you.
Have you already done some research and come across the two cards that are deemed to be sort of the best on the market nowadays? Precisely, the Amex Gold and The Chase Sapphire Preferred?
Those two are considered highly useful for numerous reasons, and I get why you may have a hard time selecting one or the other. Learning more about them is crucial here because doing so will help you understand which one could be better for your specific purposes.
The Amex Gold
Ready to learn a bit more about both of these financial instruments? Well, then, keep on reading. We’ll explore the Amex Gold first and then proceed towards checking the Chase Sapphire Preferred, aiming at helping you figure out what both of these cards offer and then cross reference the features to your needs and your general lifestyle, so as to make the best ultimate choice.
The Amex Gold card currently offers quite a hefty welcome bonus. Basically, you get 60,000 points after spending $6,000 or more in the six months after getting the card. When you compare Chase Sapphire Preferred vs. Amex Gold bonuses, you may find that they are not that different in terms of points, but they do differ in terms of the spending period. We’ll get to that later when we start exploring the second card in more detail.
The next thing to know about this particular credit card is that it charges a $250 annual fee. While that may seem like a lot, it is not the fee alone that should measure the quality of these financial instruments. Meaning, that you should take other factors into account, precisely the earning potential in this case, so as to figure out if the fee is actually worth it for you.
With Amex Gold, you earn one point per dollar on non-bonus spending. Then, your points will quadruplicate at U.S. supermarkets, as well as at restaurants, and you can also get triple points on certain flights booked through specific websites or directly through airlines.
So, as you can see, this card really does have a great earning potential, which undeniably makes the annual fee worth it. Remember, though, to consider your spending habits to figure out how many points you’ll be able to earn with it.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is no less beneficial than the Amex Gold, though. It offers the same welcome bonus, 60,000 points, but only if you spend $4,000 or more during the first three months, compared to the six months above.
This shouldn’t be a big concern for people who travel a lot, since not spending that much is almost impossible if you are a frequent traveler. That, of course, depends on your specific spending habits, as all of this actually does.
When it comes to the annual fees, this specific card takes the win, so to speak. That’s because it charges $95 on a yearly basis, which is a lot less than the $250 you’ll get charged with Amex Gold. As I’ve already explained already, though, it is not this fee that should dictate your final decision, since the earning potential is much more important.
Doing calculations regarding the earning potential of the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you’ll realize that it could be somewhat different than what you’ve calculated about the Amex Gold.
Once again, you get one point per dollar on the non-bonus spending, but there are other items to consider as well. With this card, you get triple points for restaurants, takeout services, and dining out, as well as for online grocery purchases and streaming services.
Furthermore, you get 5X points for travel purchases that are made through Chase Ultimate Rewards, and 2X for other travel. The bottom line, though, is that what you tend to spend your money on will help you determine which card is right for you.