Amex Points vs Chase Points for Beginners (2026): Which Should You Earn First?

By The Award Hacker Team · Published October 6, 2026 · 7 min read

You have one premium travel card, a growing points balance, and a decision that actually matters: which bank’s currency do you build your strategy around? This is not a vibe comparison — it is a decision procedure. The two programs differ in partners, fees, portal values, and one hard constraint (Chase’s 5/24 rule) that dictates the order you open cards whether you like it or not.

Here is the short version for a 2–3-trip-per-year traveler: earn Chase first, add Amex second, and hold both within two years. The rest of this article is the math and the mechanism behind that sentence — and the exceptions that would flip it for you.

The two currencies at a glance

• Transfer partners: Amex has 16 airline partners plus 4 hotel partners; Chase has a dozen-plus partners, nearly all at 1:1.
• Exclusives that matter: Amex is the only major US bank currency that transfers to Delta, plus ANA. Chase is the only one that reaches United, Southwest, and Hyatt.
• Transfer fees: Amex charges an excise-tax offset fee ($0.0006 per point, capped at $99) on transfers to Delta and JetBlue. Chase charges no transfer fees.
• Portal floor: Amex Travel values points at about 1 cent each on flights. Chase Travel values them at 1 cent base, with Points Boost pushing select flights and hotels to about 1.5 cents.
• Third-party valuations (June 2026): Amex points at 2.0 cents, Chase points at 2.05 cents — effectively tied. Your usage decides, not the sticker.

Where Amex wins

Delta access is the headline. If Delta is your airline — the nonstop carrier from your home airport, the one your family flies — Amex is not the better choice, it is the only transferable-points choice. No other US bank currency reaches SkyMiles. That single fact settles the debate for a large share of domestic travelers.

Beyond Delta: Amex has the deepest partner bench (16 airlines), including ANA Mileage Club with its famously cheap round-trip awards, and it runs transfer bonuses more often than Chase — periodic +20–30% bonuses to partners like Flying Blue and Hilton Honors. On the earning side, the Amex Gold’s 4x on restaurants and US supermarkets is the highest food earn rate among mainstream cards, which matters because food is where most of a software engineer’s non-rent spending goes. Our beginner ranking of Amex transfer partners orders all sixteen by ease of use.

The costs of the Amex side: the excise fee on Delta/JetBlue transfers, dynamic SkyMiles pricing that moves under your feet, and a $325 annual fee on the Gold that demands real food spending to justify.

Where Chase wins

Hyatt is the headline. World of Hyatt is the most valuable hotel transfer in the game — standard rooms routinely redeem at 2–3 cents per point — and only Chase reaches it. (One 2026 caveat: new Sapphire cardholders now transfer to Hyatt at 4:3 instead of 1:1. Still good, no longer the steal it was.)

Beyond Hyatt: Chase reaches United and Southwest, the two domestic workhorses Amex cannot touch. Transfers are free — no excise fee, no fine print — and the portal floor is higher thanks to Points Boost. The Sapphire Preferred’s $95 fee is also simply easier to justify: one $100 hotel credit booked through Chase Travel covers it before you earn a single point. Our step-by-step Amex transfer guide covers the mechanics if you end up holding both.

The costs of the Chase side: fewer partners overall, no Delta access, and the 5/24 rule — which brings us to the section that actually decides your order.

The 5/24 clock decides your order

Here is the constraint most comparisons bury: Chase will generally not approve you for its cards if you have opened five or more personal cards in the last 24 months — the 5/24 rule. Amex has no equivalent rule. That asymmetry makes the sequencing obvious:

Open Chase cards first, while you are eligible. Amex can wait — it always can. Every month you spend under 5/24 without the Chase cards you want is optionality expiring. Amex cards, with their once-per-lifetime welcome bonuses, will still be there in year two, and the bonuses do not get worse for waiting.

The exception: if you are already at or over 5/24 — say you opened several cards in the last two years — the Chase door is closed for now and Amex becomes your best available move. Check your count before you apply for anything.

Head-to-head break-even: Amex Gold vs. Sapphire Preferred

The two natural starter cards: the Amex Gold ($325/year) and the Chase Sapphire Preferred ($95/year). Here is the math on your pattern — $500/month on dining, $300/month on groceries, 2–3 trips a year:

Amex Gold: $9,600 a year in 4x categories earns 38,400 points. At a conservative 2 cents per point in airline transfers, that is $768 in travel value. Net of the fee: $768 − $325 = $443. The $424 in annual credits (dining, Uber, Resy, Dunkin’) is upside on top — real, but fiddly with monthly enrollment hoops.

Sapphire Preferred: $6,000 of dining at 3x earns 18,000 points; $3,600 of in-store groceries at 1x adds 3,600. That is 21,600 points, worth about $443 at 2.05 cents each. Net of the fee: $443 − $95 = $348 — plus the $100 annual hotel credit, which single-handedly covers the fee if you book even one hotel night a year through Chase Travel.

The honest result: it is nearly a tie. The Gold wins on raw earning if your food spending is heavy and you use the credits; the Preferred wins on simplicity and the hotel credit. Neither card justifies itself on vibes — both justify themselves on this exact arithmetic, run against your actual spending.

So the tiebreaker is not the fee math. It is the 5/24 clock: get the Chase card while the window is open, add the Gold second for your food spend and Delta access. Within two years, hold both — Chase for United, Southwest, and Hyatt; Amex for Delta, Aeroplan, and 4x food earning. Two currencies, each covering the other’s blind spots.

The decision procedure

Run this in order:

1. Count your 5/24 status. Under five personal cards in 24 months? Your next application should be Chase. At or over? Amex is your move for now.
2. Name your airline. Delta loyalist → Amex. United or Southwest flyer → Chase. No loyalty yet → Chase first (5/24), Amex second.
3. Name your hotel habit. If you stay in hotels 5+ nights a year and like Hyatt, that is a strong Chase vote.
4. Audit your food spend. Over ~$700/month on dining and groceries? The Gold’s 4x starts pulling real weight — run the break-even above with your numbers.
5. Plan the end state. One currency is a starter kit; two is a strategy. Chase first, Amex second, both within two years.