American Express Membership Rewards - Long Phone Call with Amex

So I have an SPG card. I wanted to get a Surpass instead. I have been traveling a lot on business lately and out of the past 4 trips none of them had an SPG hotel nearby. So, I was going to call up Amex and see if they would change my Blue Cash to a Surpass so I could keep the SPG for a rainy day. No luck. They told me to apply for a new card or product convert my SPG. However, if I product converted, I was told that I would NOT get any signup bonus points. So I decided to apply.

After applying, I got a message stating to call a phone number. I thought that was odd since I usually just get a message saying approved. So I called the number, a level 1 customer service rep answered, ask me to verify some info on my app. Then transferred me to the credit department. While talking to them, I was told why I was not instantly approved. I already had two credit cards with amex, and I could only have 2.

So they gave me two options. I could cancel the Blue Cash and move all of that limit to the new surpass, or cancel the SPG and move all that to the surpass. My Blue cash has a 25k limit My SPG has a 5k limit. I stupidly chose the SPG because my Blue Cash is my oldest card. I forgot all about the fact that amex keeps your credit history on all cards so it would not have mattered. So, needing the higher limit, and wishing I had done the Blue Cash I called back to change my decision. I was speaking to a supervisor, and they said it was too late, however, she said there are "new rules" and that I could request to move 20k of my Blue Cash limit to the new Hilton. The new department that handles this is the "Executive" department as she put it.

I was told I would be notified in 24-48 hrs with the decision. I will keep you updated to see if it works.

I think your post is more appropriate in Amex forum.

Actually I found this post to be very helpful in the HHonors forum.

I have been receiving a lot of snail mail solicitations about Surpass and I'm happy to have read this. I would not have thought to check the Amex forum.

Ok, so still no word about the transfer of credit limit. I was able to call back in and speak with the lady that offered me the original deal. She basically stated that was a one time deal when opening a new card, and they still do not typically move credit lines. However, she did say if I applied for another card down the road I would most likely be offered the same deal. So remember, if you have 2 cards and you want to change one of them out always apply for the 3rd online and call in.

She said there are a select few products they will reallocate with, but SPG/Surpass are not included in that group. She did say if I would CALL in and request a credit increase in 60 days it would most likely be approved with my credit. However, if you request online it will probably be denied. She said if needing more credit before the first 6 months it is always better to call.

I am still waiting to hear about the reallocation. Reason being is it was her supervisor that told me there are new rules and I possibly qualify. It was also her supervisor that told me there is an executive department that handles it. One other interesting thing she told me to do if it gets denied, is to call in in 60 days and ask to speak to a supervisor to do a credit reallocation review.

Sounds to me like amex needs to get together and lay out all the rules. During this whole process I have talked to about 4 people, and got pretty close to 4 different answers.

I will post back when I get more info.

She did say if I would CALL in and request a credit increase in 60 days it would most likely be approved with my credit. However, if you request online it will probably be denied. She said if needing more credit before the first 6 months it is always better to call.


Did she tell you why is that?

Did she tell you why is that?

Not specifically. I was under the impression based on our conversation that the official policy was 6 month wait. However, they will approve it after 60 days depending on the situation. I was thinking maybe the online request was an automatic denial if the card was less than 6 months old, but I am not sure.

A lot of the "policies" seem to be not universally known. Thats why I was saying amex needs to get everyone together to explain all the rules. Of the few people I talked to, seems like none of them said the exact same things.