American Express Membership Rewards - Delta AmEx Gold - Cancel or downgrade?

My annual fee is coming due and I am not using the card enough to justify keeping it. My options are (1) cancel the card outright or (2) downgrade the card to a no-annual-fee Blue, Blue Sky, or Blue Cash Everyday card.

This is my only AmEx account and I would sort of like to keep it open, however, I do not want to miss out on a possible future bonus opportunity due to already having the card.

Right now I am leaning towards downgrading to the Blue Cash Everyday card. As far as I can tell, the signup bonus for this card is only $100-$150, so I probably would not waste a hard pull on applying for this card in the future anyway. Is there any other downside to downgrading rather than canceling outright?

My annual fee is coming due and I am not using the card enough to justify keeping it. My options are (1) cancel the card outright or (2) downgrade the card to a no-annual-fee Blue, Blue Sky, or Blue Cash Everyday card.

This is my only AmEx account and I would sort of like to keep it open, however, I do not want to miss out on a possible future bonus opportunity due to already having the card.

Right now I am leaning towards downgrading to the Blue Cash Everyday card. As far as I can tell, the signup bonus for this card is only $100-$150, so I probably would not waste a hard pull on applying for this card in the future anyway. Is there any other downside to downgrading rather than canceling outright?

Isn't Blue Cash much higher than AMEX Gold Skymiles, in terms of credit score qualification...

Isn't Blue Cash much higher than AMEX Gold Skymiles, in terms of credit score qualification...
I'm not sure, but when I called in to cancel, they said I could convert the credit line to any of those three cards rather than canceling the card.

Any thoughts at all on the pros and cons of downgrading versus canceling?

in the same situation last month. called to cancel AmEx Delta Gold card, but be offered a card called Delta Options AX card. no annual fee, but only earn 1 DL mile per $2 dollars spent. it sucks, since it is only AmEx card I have, so decided to keep it until getting a better deal from AmEx.

Any thoughts at all on the pros and cons of downgrading versus canceling?

I have a Blue Cash card and like it quite a bit. Great for buying groceries (3% cashback), and no annual fee. I'd downgrade to that just to keep your relationship with Amex alive. They're a good issuer, but they have come down on people for trying to churn too aggressively in the past. Worth it, I think, to keep.

I have a Blue Cash card and like it quite a bit. Great for buying groceries (3% cashback), and no annual fee. I'd downgrade to that just to keep your relationship with Amex alive. They're a good issuer, but they have come down on people for trying to churn too aggressively in the past. Worth it, I think, to keep.
This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for. Thanks.

Can you downgrade to Blue Cash and still get the signup offer?

We downgraded my husband and kept mine because of the checked bag perk, which more than pays for the $40 annual fee for the Gold SkyMiles AMEX. (It's only $40 because I also have an SPG AMEX, which carries an annual fee.)

This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for. Thanks.

No problemo. Other amexes (and now Visa Signature's too, I suppose) have this benefit, but I also like the warranty doubling up to one year and purchase protection stuff on it. I've gotten several shirts replaced after spilling coffee on them courtesy of Amex :o

I actually upgraded mine to the platinum. It's not really an upgrade because the cards have almost the same benefits but they gave me 15000 bonus points and 5000 MQMs. If you were leaning Towards keeping it anyway the new annual fee is 150 but your existing annual fee on Gold is subtracted and they prorated it since it had been 2 months since i paid my annual fee. so I felt like I was paying about 50 bucks for the miles and MQMs. Also, the companion pass on the platinum is free. I know people here say they are useless but I was able to use my Gold one to save about 200 bucks on memorial day weekend in Vegas. With a little worth on deltas crazy site :) I'm a newbie so I'm sure the pros on here will say it was a terrible upgrade but Delta is my carrier of choice since I'm from Georgia so I was gonna hold on to my Gold no matter what. Also...the gold is basically like being a silver medallion with delta anyway so as long as your're on delta 3-4 times a year it has felt worth it to me to board earlier and such. It's no credit check to upgrade either. Don't know if targeted or just the standard offer once you pay the annual fee.

I actually upgraded mine to the platinum. It's not really an upgrade because the cards have almost the same benefits but they gave me 15000 bonus points and 5000 MQMs. If you were leaning Towards keeping it anyway the new annual fee is 150 but your existing annual fee on Gold is subtracted and they prorated it since it had been 2 months since i paid my annual fee. so I felt like I was paying about 50 bucks for the miles and MQMs. Also, the companion pass on the platinum is free. I know people here say they are useless but I was able to use my Gold one to save about 200 bucks on memorial day weekend in Vegas. With a little worth on deltas crazy site :) I'm a newbie so I'm sure the pros on here will say it was a terrible upgrade but Delta is my carrier of choice since I'm from Georgia so I was gonna hold on to my Gold no matter what. Also...the gold is basically like being a silver medallion with delta anyway so as long as your're on delta 3-4 times a year it has felt worth it to me to board earlier and such. It's no credit check to upgrade either. Don't know if targeted or just the standard offer once you pay the annual fee.
Thanks for this. This is another good idea. Anyone have a link to a bonus offer for upgrading to the Platinum?

Thanks for this. This is another good idea. Anyone have a link to a bonus offer for upgrading to the Platinum?

I've seen them appear when I log onto my AMEX account.

Yeah...the offer was always just sitting above my account statement. It's pre-approved though so you might have a link to it in the "apply for other cards" section of your account. It was also there on mine.

Yeah, I found it there. But at 15,000 miles for $150, I'm not sure it's even worth it. If I upgrade to the Platinum, then use the card for a couple of months, can I cancel and be reimbursed for the prorated portion of the annual fee?

Hmmm...the miles/MQMs posted really quickly but I have no idea how long you would need to hold on to the upgraded card to avoid them being clawed back. I'm not even sure they would take them back but who knows. I still haven't even been charged the prorated fee on the 150 yet so it was be interesting if I just called to close it now :)

Yeah...the offer was always just sitting above my account statement. It's pre-approved though so you might have a link to it in the "apply for other cards" section of your account. It was also there on mine.

I've had the Delta Gold Amex card since December. I noticed the upgrade offer in my account online, but when I tried to upgrade (need those 5k MQMs this year to hit silver) it told me my card wasn't eligible for the upgrade. I called Amex and they told me there is a new law that says you can't upgrade a new card to a higher fee card within 12 months of opening the account. They tried to manually upgrade to the Platinum card, but they couldn't get around the law so they gave me 20k miles for the inconvenience. I'll probably upgrade at the end of the year if I still need the MQMs or apply for the business version and close my personal account instead.

Yeah, I found it there. But at 15,000 miles for $150, I'm not sure it's even worth it. If I upgrade to the Platinum, then use the card for a couple of months, can I cancel and be reimbursed for the prorated portion of the annual fee?


Yeah, I'm in the same boat. Upgraded from Gold to Plat with 15000 miles and 5000 MQMs. Thinking about downgrading it to Delta Option some time later down the road.

Do you have to downgrade to some form of Amex blue card?

Why not consider downgrading your Skymiles Gold to a Delta Skymiles Options card? No annual fee, no 1st bag checked privileges, 1% Delta skymiles back on Delta purchases, and 0.5% skymiles back on non-Delta purchases.

You won't find this card online nor can you apply for it directly (that I know of). By downgrading to this card, you are sure that you won't interfere with any future possible signing bonuses on the Blue cards.

My Amex Options card was also theoretically good back when Delta skymiles required activity every 18 months to sustain. I was planning on just spending $2+ on the card every 16 or 17 months. Now that Skymiles don't expire, this fact is irrelevant.

Interestingly enough, another reason to downgrade rather than cancel is to take advantage of promos such as Small Business Saturday (free $25 gift card to a local restaurant anyone?) and the Amex Sync deals (notably, $10 off $20 at Whole Foods, $5 off 25 at Gulf Oil, $3 off 25 at Shell, $10 off $50 at Staples, $10 off 10 to Lower Manhattan merchants such as Adorama.com, and $10 off 10 at Panera Bread).

We downgraded my husband and kept mine because of the checked bag perk, which more than pays for the $40 annual fee for the Gold SkyMiles AMEX. (It's only $40 because I also have an SPG AMEX, which carries an annual fee.)

I hadn't heard of the reduced AF if you carry another AF card before. Totally believe you, but do you have a link to somewhere describing this?

I'm carrying an unbranded Platinum and DL Gold right now, and it'd be great if there was an AF reduction for the DL card.

Lot's of good info so let me ask this, thinking in terms of credit rating: Is this your oldest cc tradeline?

If it is then definitely stay with Amex (vs cancelling), whatever card it may be.

About two years ago I downgraded to the Options card. Today I called over to switch to something else, since the language on the new Delta signup offers claims you must not have had any card of that family within 90 days.

The rep offered to switch to a Blue card but could not guarantee there would be no credit pull. The language she used made it sound like she would cancel it and then submit an application for the Blue.

Any actual experiences with this? The Options is my only AMEX card at this point and I'd hate to lose that history.

(Doesn't have to be the Blue, anything without an annual fee and no hard pull is fine with me.)

I converted from Amex Options to BCP without any issues or hassles. Not sure about the normal MR based Blue - should be the same since Amex Options and Blue are both credit products (rather than charge products).