MR earning cards with no annual fee?
Jan 16, 2012, 3:51 pm
#2
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There is no fee-free card which participates in full Membership Rewards. The closest is Blue which is free but participates in Membership Rewards Express. Express points cannot be transferred to any airline or hotel program, and they have half-value for Pay with Points redemption. However, if you still hold a Green, Gold, Platinum or Centurion cards plus a Blue card the points earned with the Blue card will be treated as if they were earned by the more expensive card.
Jan 16, 2012, 4:38 pm
#3
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There is no fee-free card which participates in full Membership Rewards. The closest is Blue which is free but participates in Membership Rewards Express. Express points cannot be transferred to any airline or hotel program, and they have half-value for Pay with Points redemption. However, if you still hold a Green, Gold, Platinum or Centurion cards plus a Blue card the points earned with the Blue card will be treated as if they were earned by the more expensive card.
Jan 16, 2012, 7:01 pm
#4
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Scenic Great Plains USA
Programs: AGR Starwood Whoever I can get points with :D
Posts: 677
There is no fee-free card which participates in full Membership Rewards. The closest is Blue which is free but participates in Membership Rewards Express. Express points cannot be transferred to any airline or hotel program, and they have half-value for Pay with Points redemption. However, if you still hold a Green, Gold, Platinum or Centurion cards plus a Blue card the points earned with the Blue card will be treated as if they were earned by the more expensive card.
1) Downgrade Amex Gold PRG to a Blue card when annual fee is due.
2) Sometime later, open a different, new, true MR earning card (either first year fee waived or paid).
3) Transfer MR points to full MR card opened in #2.
Would the MR points them be available as full-value MR points?
Jan 16, 2012, 9:58 pm
#5
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Disney World
Programs: Fairmont Lifetime Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 321
So, would this strategy work?
1) Downgrade Amex Gold PRG to a Blue card when annual fee is due.
2) Sometime later, open a different, new, true MR earning card (either first year fee waived or paid).
3) Transfer MR points to full MR card opened in #2.
Would the MR points them be available as full-value MR points?
1) Downgrade Amex Gold PRG to a Blue card when annual fee is due.
2) Sometime later, open a different, new, true MR earning card (either first year fee waived or paid).
3) Transfer MR points to full MR card opened in #2.
Would the MR points them be available as full-value MR points?
Jan 17, 2012, 1:07 am
#6
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Houston, TX, USA
Programs: UA 1K, AA Lifetime Platinum, DL Platinum, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 7,969
As a point of order, you don't "transfer" MR points from one card to another. The MR account has its own number and exists independent of any card accounts you have linked to it, although you must have at least one active MR-earning card linked to it in order for it to remain active. If none of the linked cards are eligible for regular MR, then the MR account will degrade to an MR Express account. If at some point in the future a full-value MR card account is linked to the MR account, then the MR account gets promoted back to a regular one that allows transfer to airline or hotel programs, including all existing points. But there is no notion of "transferring" MR points from one account or card to another.
Feb 5, 2012, 11:28 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2012
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Fee-free MR Amex card?
Is there a card that doesn't have a fee that will allow me to keep my MR points? I currently have two Gold cards (Premier and OPEN business card) and I'm planning to close them both when the annual fee becomes due, but I just recently learned that if you close all cards then MR points vanish. Is there a card I can get with no fee that will either earn me MR points and will keep my account active or at least let me freeze or maintain my points?
Thanks for any feedback.
Thanks for any feedback.
Feb 5, 2012, 5:54 pm
#9
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http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...iness-usa.html
...it's important to understand that any of these cards will preserve the points balance, but the points will not be transferable to any airline or hotel program. You will need to hold a Green, Gold, Platinum or Centurion card to have access to transfers, and none of those are free after the first year, although you may be able to negotiate a retention bonus.
Feb 5, 2012, 6:57 pm
#11
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mromero07's question has been merged into identical thread from mid-January. Reviewing previous posts will answer basic questions.
Another thread addresses kyunbit's question:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...last-card.html
Another thread addresses kyunbit's question:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...last-card.html
Feb 18, 2012, 12:36 pm
#15
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flyertea's question has been merged into a previous discussion of this topic. Blue from Amerucan Express is the only fee-free USA personal card linked to Membership Rewards. It will preserve the points earned with the Platinum card, but they will become Express points which cannot be transferred to any airline or hotel program (see preceding posts).
Why do you want to convert rather than apply for another card?
Why do you want to convert rather than apply for another card?