Which credit card trifecta is better and has more benefits? The American Express® AMEX Trifecta vs Chase Trifecta in 2022 and 2023
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A credit card trifecta is a planned combination of credit cards, often from the same rewards program, that increases your possibility of earning points. In the credit card rewards market, it is used to maximize your everyday spending.
American Express® Membership Benefits and Chase Ultimate Rewards both include trifectas that can be used to optimize your rewards.
The AMEX Trifecta comprises the American Express® Platinum Card, the American Express® Gold Card, and the American Express® Blue BusinessPlus Credit Card. This combination of two personal credit cards and one business credit card earns Membership Rewards Points.
The Chase Trifecta comprises two Ultimate Rewards credit cards, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, and one cash back credit card, the Chase Freedom Unlimited®. If you have at least one Ultimate Rewards credit card, cash back earned with Chase is presented in Ultimate Rewards Points, which can be redeemed for high value (e.g., the Chase Sapphire Reserve®).
The American Express AMEX Trifecta
The American Express® Platinum Card, American Express® Gold Card, and American Express® Blue BusinessPlus Credit Card comprise the Amex Trifecta.
These cards provide complementary incentives that can be combined to maximize nearly every purchase. We recommend utilizing the Platinum card for travel expenditures, the Gold Card for restaurant and grocery purchases in the United States, and the Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express® for all other expenses.
The Chase Trifecta Credit Cards
The Chase Trio, like Amex, allows you to earn points and cashback on various expenditures, including travel, dining, everyday shopping, and business purchases. When you combine the cards, your rewards can be redeemed for travel at a higher redemption value.
To get the most out of your benefits, use the Sapphire Reserve for travel, the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card for business costs and services like internet and phone, and the Freedom Unlimited for everything else.
When it comes to Amex vs. Chase, there is no clear winner. Your travel and spending patterns will determine the best rewards program for you.
On average, Chase points are worth more than Amex points. Its travel portal has more redemption choices, and its perks and advantages — from the annual trip credit to travel protections — are generally simpler to use. Chase points are also substantially easier to accumulate than Amex points, making Chase a good choice for novice and advanced rewards junkies.
However, many seasoned credit card point collectors may find Amex points more valuable, particularly those who like luxury foreign travel. Amex’s extensive list of transfer partners is especially appealing if you’re conversant with the intricacies of more obscure rewards schemes. Its cards can also provide some exciting luxury benefits, such as access to Centurion and American Express® lounges.
Finally, these are two of the best reward schemes available. Both provide high-value points that are incredibly adaptable. Regardless of which package you choose, you will undoubtedly save a lot of money on travel. If you want numerous credit cards, you can diversify and maximize your earnings by enrolling in the Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards programs.
What’s the difference between Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards?
The American Express® and Chase rewards programs differ significantly in terms of redemption possibilities, point value, cards, and travel advantages.
The Amex and Chase rewards schemes may appear nearly identical at first glance. Both programs provide the following:
- Points that can be acquired and redeemed for a wide range of things, with a concentration on travel, through their individual rewards credit cards.
- You can transfer your points to a variety of transfer partners.
- Travel cards that provide additional travel privileges and protections and the potential to earn rewards faster: American Express® Platinum Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve®. Using their premium travel cards, you can get airport lounge access, travel credits, and insurance.
However, regarding redemption possibilities, point value, or credit cards that generate points, American Express® and Chase have a few key features that set them apart. Choosing between these rewards programs determines which program’s specific advantages best satisfy your travel requirements.
How much are Amex points and Chase points worth?
Amex and Chase points are precious and versatile, delivering the highest value when transferred to third-party loyalty schemes. Each program, though, has a distinct benefit. For cardholders who wish to redeem their points through the travel portal, Chase points offer an advantage over Amex points. Amex points, on the other hand, shine in transfer redemptions. Chase and Amex have a massive list of transfer partners, but Amex has a longer list and promotions that give you extra on transfers to specific partners.
The value of Amex and Chase points varies greatly depending on how they are redeemed. If you need to use your issues quickly and don’t have any trip plans, you can get 1.0 cents per point from Chase by saving for gift cards, cash back, or paying with online checkout, whereas you’ll frequently only get 0.5 cents to 0.7 cents per point from Amex.
The American Express Platinum Card
- Welcome offer: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases with your new Card in the first six months of Card Membership.
- Earning rate: 5X Membership Rewards points on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express® Travel on purchases of up to $500,000 per calendar year, and 5X Membership Rewards points on prepaid hotels booked through American Express® Travel. Terms and conditions apply.
- The annual charge is $695.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Offers
- Welcome offer: Earn 80,000 extra points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. When you redeem with Chase Ultimate Rewards, you’ll receive $1,200 toward travel.
- Earning rate: Chase Ultimate Rewards offers 5x points on flights and 10x points on hotels and auto rentals.
- The annual charge is $550.
Credit Card Points Redemption options
You’ll get redemption options with the American Express® membership reward points that you earn from your Amex trifecta setup now compared to the chase ultimate rewards points. Honestly, chase points are better because they’re more flexible and easier to understand for most people, but if you know what you’re doing. If you do the research, you can still get a lot of excellent value for your membership rewards points.
If you redeem them for first-class business class or longer international flights, but we’ll get into that right here now, so the first redemption option that you get with American Express® is going to be for a statement credit where you get 0.6 cents per point which is not a good value at all anything below 1 cent per point you want to stay away from unless you’re entirely out of cash. You need to redeem for those purposes.
At that point, you probably should not be using credit cards in the first place, so 0.6 cents point for a statement credit do not ever do that. You can also redeem them for Amazon purchases. A lot of the time, if you log into Amazon and you go to make a purchase. You check out, you’ll see the option if you’re paying with an Amex card to redeem membership rewards points for that purchase, but you’re getting 0.7 cents per point for those purchases to do so again below the 1 cent per point mark terrible value there for this point redemptions next you can redeem for travel through the Amex travel portal where usually you get 0.7 cents per point for most hotels ebook through that portal again.
This is not the best value there, so you don’t want to do that with those points. Still, you can get one cent per point for most flights on the annex travel portal, so that’s not an awful one-center point, but to get the most value from those points, you will want to transfer them out to different travel partners.
American Express® has many great travel partners that you can choose from a lot of the time, they have different deals going on where you transfer your points to certain partners and get extra value or extra redemption from those options, so you always want to be on the lookout for those deals if you’re planning a trip especially if you’re planning to travel to Europe or somewhere else across the world that’s where you get the most value for those long international flights and first class and business class flights as well.
Chase and American Express Transfer Partners
Chase and Amex offer an average transfer rate of 1:1 for most of their partners, while Amex’s promos increase the value of several transfers.
Both Amex and Chase rewards allow you to transfer your points to airline and hotel loyalty programs. There is some overlap, but the list of transfer partners and the transfer rate differs significantly between the two schemes.
Amex has a slightly longer list, which includes several of Chase’s airline partners. Both American Express® and Chase have three hotel partners. On the other hand, transferring to hotel partners provides less benefit than moving to airline partners.
Now please visit both Chase.com and AmericanExpress.com for the latest benefits and offers.
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