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 price (see charges and costs). These adjustments immediately problem the Sapphire Reserve’s personal overhaul, which came about earlier this yr in June.
With each playing cards present process large adjustments 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 supply | Discover out your supply 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 gives differ, and also you might not be eligible for a suggestion. | Earn 125,000 bonus factors after spending $6,000 on purchases throughout the first three months of account opening. |
| Annual price | $895 | $795 |
| Incomes charges |
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| Notable advantages |
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*Enrollment is required.
Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve welcome supply
When contemplating a brand new premium card with a excessive annual price, a big welcome supply will assist to recoup a few of that value. With the Amex Platinum, the present welcome supply is value as much as $3,500 based mostly on TPG’s September 2025 valuations.
In the meantime, the Sapphire Reserve‘s welcome supply 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.
Maintain bonus eligibility for each playing cards in thoughts.
Amex solely permits you to earn a welcome supply on a card as soon as per lifetime, so should you aren’t focused for the very best supply, it could be value holding off till you might be.
The Sapphire Reserve’s eligibility additionally modified — should you’ve beforehand obtained a welcome supply, no matter how a lot time has handed because you had been final accepted, you might be now 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 not less than 125,000 bonus factors; in any other case, the Sapphire Reserve is a more sensible choice.
Associated: The perfect 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 accessible beginning Oct. 26, 2025.
Current Platinum holders have already got entry to the brand new advantages introduced.
Regardless of such excessive annual charges, every card offers advantages that make it easier to recoup greater than you are paying. This is how every card’s advantages examine.
Journey advantages
Each playing cards present comparable journey perks, together with resort 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 provided by each playing cards.
Eligible Amex Platinum cardmembers have entry to the American Categorical International 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 yr.
The Sapphire Reserve offers entry to Precedence Move lounges and Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Membership places, and allows you to usher in as much as two visitors for no further price 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 visitors, whereas I would like to succeed in 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 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 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 just legitimate at OpenTable eating places situated in 26 U.S. cities.
On a optimistic be aware, 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 accessible 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 shops), 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 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 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 companies 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 way of life assertion credit, however many of those credit do not imply a lot to each cardmember, and other people merely use them or exit of their means to make use of them as a result of the cardboard gives them. In any other case, these advantages are usually 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 gives higher total protection throughout all kinds of safety.
Associated: The best way to determine if a bank card’s annual price is value paying
Incomes factors on the Amex Platinum vs. Sapphire Reserve
Though the welcome bonus is an effective option to begin your factors stability, you need a card that’ll make it easier to shortly earn helpful transferable factors.
The Amex Platinum earns:
- 5 factors per greenback spent on airfare bought immediately 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 resorts booked with Amex Journey
- 1 level per greenback spent on all different purchases
The Sapphire Reserve gives a broader vary of bonus classes and earns:
- 10 factors per greenback spent on Peloton gear 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 resort 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 vital 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 not less than a 16% (based mostly on TPG’s September 2025 valuations) return on Chase Journey purchases. It additionally gives extra bonus classes for incomes, equivalent to resorts and eating.
Winner: Sapphire Reserve. This card gives the perfect bonus factors throughout a number of bonus classes.
Associated: Finest 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 keeping with TPG’s September 2025 valuations.
Chase offers assured worth by providing a 50% bonus when redeeming factors for journey immediately by 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 resorts by Chase Journey, because of Factors Increase.
Add this to Chase’s checklist of its 14 airline and resort switch companions (13 as of Oct. 16 with the lack of Emirates Skywards).
In the meantime, the Amex Platinum gives extra methods to make use of your factors because of 17 airline and three resort switch companions. Sadly, in comparison with Chase, American Categorical Journey redemptions are just one cent per level for flight bookings and 0.7 cents per level for resort reservations.
Factors earned from the Amex Platinum and the Sapphire Reserve might be redeemed for nontravel redemptions equivalent to money again, assertion credit and present playing cards, however these redemptions usually 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 may nearly at all times get higher worth each time transferring your factors to airline and resort loyalty applications. All Chase accomplice transfers are at a 1:1 ratio, and most of them are immediate. A helpful switch accomplice is World of Hyatt, the place you possibly can ebook an award night time for as little as 3,500 factors per night time.
On the airline facet, widespread switch companions embody Air France-KLM Flying Blue, Southwest Speedy 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 some switch occasions are longer, which might be dangerous by way of award area disappearing when you wait.
As somebody who has each the Amex Platinum and the Sapphire Reserve, I want 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. Resulting from greater 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 supply stellar worth should you use most of their perks, however they differ in key areas.
Selecting the one which most accurately fits you boils right down to what particular assertion credit and advantages finest align together with your way of life, journey habits and spending patterns. It is also value enthusiastic about the $100 annual price distinction between the 2 merchandise, that are already expensive.
And keep in mind that it does not must be one or the opposite — some TPG staffers have each playing cards as a result of they get outsize worth from each. It merely relies on 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 ebook” to me than the Amex Platinum. The Reserve gives complete incomes charges for airfare, eating and resorts, 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 rapid entry to new advantages, one thing Reserve cardholders needed to wait a number of months for.
With each choices, the playing cards are solely as helpful as the advantages you maximize.
To be taught extra, learn our full opinions 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.