Chase Ultimate Rewards VS Amex Membership Rewards: Which points system is right for you

Chase or Amex, these points systems are arguably the best two in the credit card field but which one is better, well, the answer to that question is that neither one is better than the other. They both have a lot going for them but they also have some cons that can have a lot of pull in your decision of which points system to start off with. But before we get into the pros and cons of each we first need to recap on points systems and what their purpose is. As you already know, us here at points nomads focus on travel hacks, credit card strategies and free travel, all three of these aspects revolve around these point systems, we help you find travel hacks so you can get your hands on the best offers and deals for traveling, help you assemble credit card strategies that fit your budget and maximize your return as points or cash back on your everyday spend to put towards these systems and that helps you get free luxury travel. These point systems are the foundation for the three aspects that we just mentioned and that is why picking which one to start off with is such an important decision.

To make this decision easier we're going to start off by explaining what the difference between these two systems is. First off, each system has partnerships with different airlines and hotel brands, for example, American Express's major airline partners consist of Delta, British Airways, Alitalia, Air France, among others. On the other hand, Chase's airline partners consist of United Airlines, Air Lingus, Iberia, Emirates, Southwest and the list goes on. Keep in mind that both systems also share some of their travel partners, so not all travel partners are exclusive to one system. Now, moving onto to their hotel partners, this should be, in our opinion, the deciding factor regarding which points system you want to focus on because (and this is just me) I don't actually think too much about what airline I'm going with when I travel but I focus a lot on which hotel I will be staying at, be it the price, location, brand, what has the experience been for me on other properties from the same hotel brand, etc. Right now the main transfer partner for American Express is Hilton, while Chase has Hyatt and both of them share a partnership with Marriot. your decision depends on which one of these fits you more. I for one prefer Hilton properties above Hyatt and Marriot but I have credit card strategies for both point systems mainly because it gives you more options and like I said before, both systems have pros and cons which we'll be touching on shortly, but keep in mind that hotels from these brands aren't the only ones that you have access too, there are a lot of other hotels that you can book through the Chase or Amex portals, so the options you have are boundless.

Getting to the pros and cons of each, let's start by talking about the points that you can rack up with some of the premium travel cards from both of these issuers, both amex and chase have really nice travel cards each with their own different niches, so let's start with the pros, right off the bat I can tell you that  amex cards give you more rewards on their cards compared to their Chase counterparts while still giving you fairly good benefits like purchase protection and different travel insurance benefits but that doesn't mean that it doesn't come without a downside, just as they give you more rewards their annual fees are higher than Chase cards. Chase on the other hand has their travel cards that don't give you as much rewards back but the annual fees are lower and they come with a slew of of premium travel benefits that cover any and every situation that you can imagine while traveling the world. Another point that we can make is that Chase has more accessibility than amex on a worldwide basis because most of the Chase cards are visa, unlike amex cards that are harder to find places that take them outside of the US but that has been changing for a while now, this being due to amex becoming very well known in the past couple of years because of their premium cards.

This is a decision that we do not want you to rush, you should think very carefully about which system is best for you, do you want more rewards with higher annual fees and premium travel perks or do you want less rewards with less annual fees and premium travel benefits, of course these aren't the only factors that go into it but they are arguably the most important when it comes to making a choice, so take your time to evaluate both of them closely.