American Express Membership Rewards - Did I really find the loophole for getting the Amex Plat for free?

I have been holding an Amex Platinum card for the last 7 months. About a week ago I decided to apply for a Gold Rewards Plus card for a second card holder - which according to the online information that I got through my account was free of any annual fees. I applied for that card with MY name as a "holder".

Yesterday I received a PLATINUM card in the mail. I immediately called Amex and asked why didn't I get the Gold Rewards Plus card, so they claimed this type of card cannot be issued when the main card is a Platinum, and therefore I got a Platinum card instead. They verified that it had no annual fee.

This makes me wonder: What will happen to this card if I decided to downgrade the main Platinum card to Gold Rewards Plus. Will it remain intact? If so (and according to Amex's CS I will get a partial refund for the annual fee that I paid for the main Platinum card), this will make the perfect loophole of getting a free Amex Platinum card.

I expect you will be billed $175 for the card. What did you read that said otherwise?

If you hold the Rewards Plus Gold Card supplementary cards are free (https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=rewardsplusgold&Card_name=RewardsPlusGold&link=CARD_SELCTOR), but if you hold the Platinum Card "$175 for up to 3 Additional Platinum Cards or up to 5 Additional American Express ® Gold Cards" per the Terms, Conditions and Disclosures link on this application (https://www201.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=17/15153/b/10/0/0/0/n&from=2) . In this context "Gold Cards" means this (https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=gold&Card_name=Gold&link=CARD_SELCTOR) specific card, not your choice of any gold product.

I expect you will be billed $175 for the card. What did you read that said otherwise?

If you hold the Rewards Plus Gold Card supplementary cards are free (https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=rewardsplusgold&Card_name=RewardsPlusGold&link=CARD_SELCTOR), but if you hold the Platinum Card "$175 for up to 3 Additional Platinum Cards or up to 5 Additional American Express ® Gold Cards" per the Terms, Conditions and Disclosures link on this application (https://www201.americanexpress.com/cards/Applyfservlet?csi=17/15153/b/10/0/0/0/n&from=2) . In this context "Gold Cards" means this (https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/loyalty.do?page=gold&Card_name=Gold&link=CARD_SELCTOR) specific card, not your choice of any gold product.

I don't think so... I logged in to my account again and went to the link for adding additional card holders, and checked the Rewards Plus Gold Card. This is what I got: "One of the greatest privileges of your Card membership is the ability to share it—with family members, friends, or anyone you choose. You can earn more rewards and share more benefits when you add up to five Additional Cards to your account with no annual fee—and you'll earn the rewards on all those Additional Cards as well!"

Also, I just called Amex again and verified... My additional card has no annual fee.

<<logged in to my account again and went to the link for adding additional card holders, .>>

Free supplementary cards are a feature of Rewards Plus Gold not of the Platinum card. However, Amex has been known to make targetted offers and to test features, so it's possible your account is different. However, when I logon to my Platinum account there is a link which says "Add someone to your Platinum Card® account. Earn more points, faster. Add someone now." If I click this it asks for my name, account number, security code, etc and then I see "For $175 a year (in addition to your Basic Membership fee), you can obtain up to 3 Platinum Additional Cards for qualified applications ages 18 and over."

<<and checked the Rewards Plus Gold Card>>

If you mean a Rewards Plus Gold account appears on the Summary of Accounts page it would appear Amex has created another account. Otherwise I do not understand what you "checked".


dennis

Ok, maybe I wasn't clear enough. I apologize.

When I logged in to my Plat account, I mouse overed "Apply for a card" and chose "Add Cardmembers". I then clicked on "Learn more" near the "American Express® Rewards Plus Gold Card" when it then showed (and still does): "One of the greatest privileges of your Card membership is the ability to share it—with family members, friends, or anyone you choose. You can earn more rewards and share more benefits when you add up to five Additional Cards to your account with no annual fee—and you'll earn the rewards on all those Additional Cards as well!".

I clicked "Apply Now" and got a Platinum card in the mail two days ago. When I received the card I called Amex and inquired as to why I didn't get the card I applied to, so they said that I cannot order this type of card when my basic card is Platinum, and that's why they sent me a Platinum card instead. I then asked - "Am I going to pay an annual fee for it? I wasn't supposed to with the card I applied to...", so they said "No, this card is showing that no annual fee will be charged".

I hope this clears it more...

I think you went to this page...

http://www201.americanexpress.com/apply/Fmacfservlet?csi=0/15155/s/102/1906321771/190034016774/0/n

...which does allow one to choose the "wrong" account type when requesting additional cards. This would appear to be a defect in the website, but the fact that they sent you a Platinum card indicates the error was detected.

This does not explain why they are not telling you about the $175 fee, but time will tell.

The Gold Rewards Plus offers 5 additional cards fee-free. As far as I know, Platinum does not offer additional Gold/Green cards for free, just Platinum cards. So if you add another user to your account, as a Plat. cardholder, you can't add a Gold card without applying for a new card.

Hopefully that makes sense. It sounds like you just added another Platinum card tied to your existing account. This is very common, and is free on some AMEX charge cards.

The Gold Rewards Plus offers 5 additional cards fee-free. As far as I know, Platinum does not offer additional Gold/Green cards for free, just Platinum cards. So if you add another user to your account, as a Plat. cardholder, you can't add a Gold card without applying for a new card.

Hopefully that makes sense. It sounds like you just added another Platinum card tied to your existing account. This is very common, and is free on some AMEX charge cards.

So you are saying it is possible it is free of annual fees... What will happen if I downgrade my main Platinum card to Gold Rewards Plus - Will Amex let me keep the additional Platinum as is, fee free?

It could be that Amex will not charge a fee for this additional card because it is for your own use, rather than for another person. There is no possibility of holding a supplementary Platinum card on a Gold or Green account.

dennis

Are you saying that Amex will cancel my additional Platinum once I downgrade my main card?

It must be because you have it in your own name that it's free. Like if you wanted to separate your expenses for some reason..

You have 2 Platinums for yourself. Of course they'll cancel both of them if you downgrade...



I'm paying $45 for additional Gold right now..

So $175 gets you 3 additional Plat.. But what's it mean by OR up to 5 Gold?? I guess I'll call account services tomorrow..

The T&C must have changed recently, that's interesting. Maybe USA will eventually get free additional like some other countries. That would be pretty awesome.

USA Platinum card terms changed earlier this year. Previously each supplementary Platinum card was $175 and each supplementary Gold card was $45. Now it's $175 for 1 - 3 supplementary Platinum cards OR 1 - 5 supplementary Gold cards. I do not know what they do if you want to mix Platinum and Gold supplementary cards. I also did not realize they would make a distinction between a supplementary card (for another user) and an additional card (for yourself), if in fact they have done so.

dennis

they do not make a distinction - it is $175 extra whether it is an additional one for yourself or for someone else

So I guess I'll keep paying $45. Oh well, hopefully they'll become free sometime soon.

So you are saying it is possible it is free of annual fees... What will happen if I downgrade my main Platinum card to Gold Rewards Plus - Will Amex let me keep the additional Platinum as is, fee free?

No, you can't mix and match. What it sounds like you've done is simply add an additional card to your account. I don't know how it is with Platinum, but with GRP you can have up to 5 additional cards fee-free. If you downgrade to Gold Rewards+, you'd be closing your Platinum account, so you would be closing that 2nd platinum card.

Most AMEX charge cards charge extra for additional cards, but Gold Rewards Plus does not for the first 5 additional cards. When you read that on the GRP page it was not targetted to Platinum cardholders, it is simply part of the benefits of GRP. When you requested an additional card, it sent you a Platinum card, because that's what account you have.

That's how I understand what happened based on what I think happened. :)

THANK YOU THANK YOU for this thread. This information about the 3 additional Plat cards for the price of 1 offer will be a BIG savings for me. I have had a Plat card for about 15 years. I love the added benefits. My family and I use them which is why I have 3 additional card holders on the account. Now that Platinum has become a card for the common man-- one that anyone can obtain rather than one that is by invitation only, I am more than happy to maintain my current benefits and reduce the cost of membership fees I am paying for a card that is no longer exclusive. Thanks again!