175,000 Amex Platinum vs 150,000 Chase Sapphire Reserve — which welcome offer to take first

2026-05-22 · 8 min read · in this story: The Platinum Card from American Express and the Chase Sapphire Reserve / Preferred

Both cards are running their largest welcome bonuses in roughly two years. Approval rules, credit-bureau timing and total spend requirements mean that for most US readers, you can really only chase one of them at a time. Here is the honest, structural framework for picking.

This piece compares two of the most-applied-for premium US travel cards: The Platinum Card from American Express (currently 175,000 Membership Rewards points on $8,000 in 6 months) and the Chase Sapphire Reserve / Sapphire Preferred (currently 150,000 or 75,000 Ultimate Rewards points on $5,000 in 3 months). Aria Esthetique has referral arrangements with both issuers; if a reader applies through either link and is approved, the issuer pays this publisher a one-time referral bonus. Card terms, welcome offers, and annual fees are identical regardless of how a reader reaches the application.

the side-by-side, by the numbers

the structural difference nobody explains clearly

Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards are both transferable point currencies — meaning they convert 1:1 (mostly) into airline and hotel partners — but they have different partner lists. Picking the right card is partly a question of which partners you actually fly and stay with.

• Amex MR's best partners: Air Canada Aeroplan (good for Star Alliance redemptions including ANA, United, Lufthansa, Air India), Delta SkyMiles, Marriott Bonvoy (1:1), Hilton Honors (1:2), British Airways Avios, Virgin Atlantic.
• Chase UR's best partners: Hyatt (1:1, widely regarded as the most valuable hotel transfer in points-and-miles for off-peak Cat-1 to Cat-4 properties), United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Air Canada Aeroplan (overlaps with Amex), British Airways Avios (overlaps), Singapore KrisFlyer, Virgin Atlantic.

If you actively use Hyatt hotels, Chase UR is meaningfully more valuable per point than Amex MR. If you actively use Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors, Amex MR is meaningfully more valuable. If you mostly want premium-cabin international flights, Aeroplan via either card opens roughly the same award space, but Amex MR has slightly higher transfer bonus frequency historically.

which to take first — the honest framework

For most readers asking this question, the decision tree looks like this:

Take the Chase Sapphire Reserve first if: your under-5/24 slot is open (you've opened fewer than 5 new credit cards in the past 24 months), you stay in Hyatt or boutique hotels more than chain mega-brands, you want a $300 travel credit that triggers on any travel spend (not airline-fee credits that need workarounds), and you can hit $5,000 in 3 months without distorting your routine. The Reserve is the more flexible card; once you have it, you'll always have an excellent 3x travel + dining card on file. Apply for the Sapphire Reserve / Preferred here.

Take the Amex Platinum first if: you have any Marriott Bonvoy or Hilton Honors stays in the next 12 months, you fly often enough to use Centurion Lounge access (Centurion Lounges are the strongest hard-product US-domestic lounge network), you're already over 5/24 (Chase will deny you), and you can hit $8,000 in 6 months on routine spend. The Platinum's annual credit stack ($1,900+ in stated annual credits, of which $700-$1,000 is universally usable) makes the $895 annual fee net out to roughly $0-$200 effective cost for an active traveler. Apply for the Amex Platinum here.

Take the Sapphire Preferred first if: you've never held a premium travel card before, you want to dip into transferable points without a $500+ annual fee, and you're under 5/24. The Preferred at $95/year with 75,000 UR points is, by points-per-dollar, one of the best starter cards in the US market right now. Apply for the Sapphire Preferred via the same Chase referral page.

can you take both? the order question

Yes — many points-and-miles readers eventually hold both cards. The order matters because of Chase's 5/24 rule: Chase counts most new accounts (including Amex cards) against your 5/24 count, but Amex does not have an equivalent rule. So if you're going to take both within a 24-month window, open the Chase card first, hit its $5,000 spend, then open the Amex roughly 3 months later. Reversing the order can push you over 5/24 and lock you out of Chase for years.

If you only want to chase one welcome bonus in 2026 and don't intend to take the other for a couple of years, pick by the decision framework above, not by which bonus has the bigger headline number. 175,000 MR and 150,000 UR are within structural redemption-value parity of each other; the differentiator is which transfer partners and credits actually map to your life.

what we are not saying

We are not saying either of these is "the best card." We are saying that for a specific 6-month window in 2026, both are running unusually large welcome bonuses through targeted referral channels, and that for the right profile, applying for one of them is a high-expected-value action. We are not your financial advisor. We are not encouraging anyone to open credit accounts they don't need or carry balances they can't pay off. The welcome-bonus math only works if you pay your balance in full every month.

the bottom line

Open the Chase Sapphire if you are under 5/24, want maximum flexibility, and value Hyatt transfers. Open the Amex Platinum if you are over 5/24, value Marriott / Hilton transfers and lounge access, and can absorb the $895 annual fee against the credit stack. If you can do both, do Chase first, then Amex.

This post contains referral links to The Platinum Card from American Express and to the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Preferred. If a reader applies through these links and is approved, American Express or Chase may pay Aria Esthetique a one-time referral bonus. The welcome offers, the annual fees, and the card terms are exactly the same as if you applied directly. Aria Esthetique is not a financial advisor; this post is editorial commentary on publicly available card terms. Full disclosure.