American Express Membership Rewards - Help Delta Platnium Trade for a Gold Amex?

I have been a Platinum Delta Skymiles AMEX card holder since 2003. This is my only card. I don't like having the pre-set spending limit as i am thinking of making some big purchases to get the rewards and paying it off every month like i always do. The problem, im concerned it will affect my credit as it could appear im maxing out the card even thou im paying it off every month. Soooo. i have been considering moving to a gold or platnium Amex with no pre-set spending limit. It sounds good,but..its about the same annual fee as my delta for the gold. the platnium is $450 and i dont think its worth it. so im looking at the gold.

I dont want to keep both cards( my delta and the new one),,,however since the delta is my only credit card since 2003, if i cancel it, im afraid it will hurt my credit..do you have any advice on how i can move across to another AMEX card without hurting my credit and not having to keep to annual fees by having both cards?

You may be able to keep both cards, pay the annual fee for the Gold and pay a reduced fee for the Delta AMEX. I was offered this deal sometime ago as I am a Gold cardmember, but I don't fly/associate with Delta. Seems like a good deal if you want to have some flexibility with your spending.

This way you avoid the credit issue of canceling one card for another, but only if you are comfortable with paying two annual fees.

They mentioned I could not have a reduced fee for the Delta AMex as its a credit card and the other is a charge card. They seem to be exclusive of one another even thou its under the Amex umbrella. Thanks for the idea..Can anyone provide some other options/suggestions?

I have been a Platinum Delta Skymiles AMEX card holder since 2003. This is my only card. I don't like having the pre-set spending limit as i am thinking of making some big purchases to get the rewards and paying it off every month like i always do. The problem, im concerned it will affect my credit as it could appear im maxing out the card even thou im paying it off every month. Soooo. i have been considering moving to a gold or platnium Amex with no pre-set spending limit. It sounds good,but..its about the same annual fee as my delta for the gold. the platnium is $450 and i dont think its worth it. so im looking at the gold.

I dont want to keep both cards( my delta and the new one),,,however since the delta is my only credit card since 2003, if i cancel it, im afraid it will hurt my credit..do you have any advice on how i can move across to another AMEX card without hurting my credit and not having to keep to annual fees by having both cards?

rxheel,
I had the exact same issue about 4 years ago. I was able to get them to change my delta card (they call it a transfer i think) to a Optima Platinum with no annual fee and then sign up for a new charge card. They should be able to do the same and then they send you a new credit card with the same account number but in a different card type and different rewards. Keep in mind you may want to have them link the optima platinum card to your membership rewards account so you get rewards in the same membership rewards account regardless of which card you use. Hope this helps.

...concerned it will affect my credit as it could appear im maxing out the card even thou im paying it off every month. Soooo. i have been considering moving to a gold or platnium Amex with no pre-set spending limit.

No Preset Spending Limit works both ways. It gives American Express the option to decline charges without regard to the limit that you have today. There are plenty of reports of American Express shutting down cards because of unusual spending, which is exactly what you are planning.

If your only concern is the effect on your credit score you can offset this by paying BEFORE the end of the billing cycle in which the purchases are made. Card issuers typically report the balance on the closing date, not the maximum balance during the cycle.

If you do decide to change to a charge card, why do you want Gold or Platinum rather than Green? The color of the card has no effect on your ability to make purchases.

If you literally have no other credit card I encourage you to obtain cards from other issuers to protect yourself in the event the card is lost, damaged, compromised, or there is a failure of the American Express transaction network.

At a mimimum I would want to have one each American Express, Mastercard and VISA from three unrelated issuers.

thanks Mia for your comments, all good suggestions. The color your right doesnt matter. if i can get an AMEX that yields good rewards for travel( air, hotel, etc) it doesnt matter which the title of the amex might be. i do like the travel insurance the platnium provides, as i have had small buy expensive items taken out of my luggage on 3 occasions this year traveling around the globe.

They mentioned I could not have a reduced fee for the Delta AMex as its a credit card and the other is a charge card. They seem to be exclusive of one another even thou its under the Amex umbrella. Thanks for the idea..Can anyone provide some other options/suggestions?

There is no longer any discount for having the DL AmEx and another AmEx unless you previously had two cards (some were grandfathered).

One thing I've done when my credit limit (including the AmEx) was lower was making payments online before the statement was issued - I made a point of doing so once a week. This behavior ensured I had plenty of available credit and still earned the points/rewards. However, this does decrease the time period when one is floating a balance but may achieve the same goal as in your original post ...