American Express Membership Rewards - Ask for Sign Up Bonus?

I currently have a Amex Blue Card that I've had for a little over a year now. I have been looking at the charge cards, and on there site it says "pre-approved", even though I know that means nothing. But the thing is, their aren't any good sign up bonuses.

I am wondering if their are any hidden sign up offers I can't find. Or if anyone knows of any upcoming offers? Any great sign up offers you would recommend?

Also has anyone ever tried calling amex, saying your interested and asking about a sign up bonus, and negotiating from there?

Thanks.

I currently have a Amex Blue Card that I've had for a little over a year now. I have been looking at the charge cards, and on there site it says "pre-approved", even though I know that means nothing. But the thing is, their aren't any good sign up bonuses.

I am wondering if their are any hidden sign up offers I can't find. Or if anyone knows of any upcoming offers? Any great sign up offers you would recommend?

Also has anyone ever tried calling amex, saying your interested and asking about a sign up bonus, and negotiating from there?

Thanks.

A good place to look is FrugalTravelGuy (http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/credit-cards) and thePointsGuy (http://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/)

Calling won't do you any good. Also- IF you see a good signup offer on any of those sites or here on FT, ask HERE, if the offer is still valid. Search and read the threads.
Calling the CC companies and talking about sign-up bonuses is NOT NOT NOT recommended! Often there is a targeted offer that begins working for everyone. Offers like these would not be publicly visible on the website, and calling and asking about it would probably be the fastest route to getting it shut down.

Cheers.^

Do they ever offer the first year free on the Platinum Amex?

I know they offer it on the Gold premier rewards? Also if you were to get a year free, after the year is over could you decide to downgrade to the gold or even green, if you felt the product wasn't right for you?

I thought I read you have to wait 12/13 months before you can product change a card.

I have never seen a fee waiver on the Plat card.

Considering that one year of Plat card membership can earn up to $500 in cash-back equivalent rewards under some circumstances ($400 in airline fee reimbursement and $100 for Global Entry/Nexus membership) it can still be quite a deal. But probably that's also why they can't give a fee waiver.

Do they ever offer the first year free on the Platinum Amex?

I know they offer it on the Gold premier rewards? Also if you were to get a year free, after the year is over could you decide to downgrade to the gold or even green, if you felt the product wasn't right for you?

I thought I read you have to wait 12/13 months before you can product change a card.

Nope. There's no chance in hell of getting a waiver. Though , I know of someone who got the waiver automatically for the first year, probably just a glitch in the system.

That platinum card (along with the bonus points) would provide you with reimbursement for a lot of other features, and that offsets the fee.

Do they ever offer the first year free on the Platinum Amex?

Read this thread, including other threads linked to it:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/1296666-ymmv-amex-platinum-fee-free-one-year-usa-ameriprise.html?

Do they ever offer the first year free on the Platinum Amex?

I know they offer it on the Gold premier rewards? Also if you were to get a year free, after the year is over could you decide to downgrade to the gold or even green, if you felt the product wasn't right for you?

I thought I read you have to wait 12/13 months before you can product change a card.

I was able to negotiate a $200 statement credit my first year to offset the annual fee. They told me it was a one time courtesy several times. This was in Jan 2010 though so YMMV... Back then Amex wasn't so stingy and they matched any bonus with just the code.

Thanks for the info. I'll prob hold off on the Plat for now. I have been looking at the Gold. But whats crazy is they offer 1st year free + 25K MR for PR Gold, so it just makes send to apply for that then wait for the AF to hit before changing to Gold. But I might hold off on that because I would like to see a higher offer maybe 50K MR, and I am also interested to see when they launch EMV cards.

Is there any chance of an upcoming 50K+ MR offer on the PR Gold? 25K doesn't seem like much for a card with $175 AF.