Originally Posted by
sethMCOflyer
This is all to say, the gold card only seems to be a decent deal if you spend a lot and really value the MR transfer partners.
This has always been so for all Amex Membership Rewards cards. The exception is the Platinum, which gives you a lot of perks that have little to do with spending.
It seems like you are interested in cashback more than anything else - if so, Chase's travel portal is a good deal. I almost never book through travel portals of any kind, so personally I find the Chase structure less appealing (though transferring to United, Hyatt, Southwest, Jetblue, Flying Blue are attractive)
EDIT - One final thing to note is that the Charles Schwab Platinum allows all Membership Rewards points to be redeemed for cash at 1.25 cents per point.