LWT3

I upgraded in April, and my annual fee just came due. Are you required to keep the upgraded (Surpass) card for a year before you can downgrade to the no fee card, or is downgrading now an option?

delta_newb

Got a link for the 100k offer today, applied, accepted. In the last 60 days we've gotten the amex platinum, chase sapphire preferred, chase sapphire reserve and now this one. Waiting until December to apply for the Delta reserve card and start earning MQM's for 2017.

chix

Talk about what points nerd is Crazy!

I am thinking about getting a 2nd card within a couple months but concerned about what will happen when I really want to take advantage of a great offer but I can't due to number of apps/credit line recently opened.

Be careful!

Moorea

Is there a minimum amount of time you must keep the Surpass before downgrading to no fee to keep the upgrade bonus?

LWT3

I have the same question (post 301). Hopefully, someone can answer.

frank_10b

so if you never had the surpass and have the current blue- fee card does the advice still stand to apply for the surpass 100K offer first anew before you start to upgrade existing cards?

jn in ca

I'm now seeing that offer online when I log into my HHonors account. Good to Nov. 30th. (I'm a diamond.)

mpeterson78

Where do you see the upgrade offer within your hilton.com account?

explorer84

Im seeing the "bonus is not available if you had this product before" language on the upgrade page...are people still upgrading and receiving the bonus -even though you've had the Surpass before?

Duke787

Curious about this too. I upgraded 2 years ago and downgraded when the AF came due. Seeing a 50k upgrade offer again but it includes the:

Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product

Won't waste spend on going after the upgrade bonus if they won't give it to me when spend could be put to use in other places

Dr Jabadski

Good afternoon. I’m familiar with churning and I’ve read through this thread as well as the “The Hilton Honors® Surpass(SM) Card from American Express ...” thread but some aspects remain unclear. Each of the questions in the quotes below has also gone unanswered. Seems that a few of us would appreciate the thoughts of those who are knowledgeable on this subject. The following post was very helpful but also somewhat nonspecific. Sure would like to learn the answers to:

- What is the minimum amount of time after Surpass account opening which one can successfully request downgrade to the no fee card? (Understanding that certain benefits (more points, status) may be lost with the downgrade.)

- Does the account number change and is a new card issued with such a downgrade?

- Can only a no fee Hilton AmEx card be upgraded to Surpass? Could an Ameriprise AmEx card or a Gold AmEx card or a Platinum AmEx card be upgraded to an AmEx Hilton Surpass card?

- Is an offer to upgrade to a Surpass card something one can request? Is it something that appears at AmEx’s discretion in one’s AmEx account?

- What is the usual amount of time after downgrading that one could expect to successfully request or be offered an upgrade (back) to the Surpass card?

Thanks very much.

Moorea

I don't think there's any time limit you must keep Surpass after you have the points. The T&Cs don't say anything about that. I only kept Surpass for ~6 months if I recall.

CC # has stayed the same from upgrade to downgrade. New cards are issued, though.

Carl Christensen

On my wife's account we cycle between two different Hilton cards. We started with a Hilton surpass card, and then six months later got the no fee Hilton card. Every six months we downgrade the current surpass card, and then upgrade the current No fee card.

hurnik

Why upgrade/downgrade? Amex has a lifetime limit on the offers, and I believe you only get 30 days now to cancel the card to avoid the $95 (I think it's $95) annual fee for the Surpass card.

Dr Jabadski

Thank you Moorea and Carl Christensen. Please, if you wouldn’t mind, when upgrading and downgrading, do you contact AmEx and ask them for such action? Do you have to wait for AmEx to offer?

I believe the entire reason for this discussion and the answer to your question is: in order to get repeat sign-up bonuses. Reports here indicate that with each upgrade TO Surpass, the account holder gets (another) 50,000 point sign-up bonus. Some people consider the repeat sign-up bonus to be worth the $95 annual fee. With each downgrade to the no annual fee card, one sets oneself up to upgrade (and get another sign-up bonus) in the future. It’s essentially churning (which AmEx has effectively ended) without repeat applications. Apparently AmEx has no limits on the number of times or frequency with which one can upgrade and downgrade these cards.