AMEX Zync or AMEX Blue

I will need to cancel my AMEX Plat by this Friday as the annual fee will become due. Can I downgrade to either Zync or Blue to keep my MR points alive?

Also, can anyone confirm that with the Blue Sky Card (no annual fee card) you can receive free breakfast at any JW Marriott hotel? I have a Marriot free certificate coming up upon renewal and would like to use it for Malaysia.

If I downgrade, will there be a hard inquiry?

Do I need to call AMEX or can I downgrade by SM?

Thanks in advance

Blue is a credit card. You "probably" will not be able to downgrade to a credit card. You can ask, but you likely will need to submit an application. Zync is a charge card, you should be able to downgrade, but you will be assessed the annual fee.

Bear in mind that both of these cards participate in Membership Rewards Express. Express points cannot be transferred to any airline or hoel program.

You can downgrade to the Zync but it has a small annual fee. You can not downgrade to Blue as it is a credit card, not a charge card as Mia pointed out (I've tried). A Blue would require a new application, and would be a different line of credit, so not a downgrade at all. If you downgrade to the Zync and don't have any other MR earning cards, your MR points will become MR Express points. If you keep those alive and later sign up for another MR earning card like the gold or plat, they will become full MR points again.

Downgrade should not involve any inquiry. But I think you will need to call rather than SM.

I do not know if you can downgrade to a Zync, but I do know that Amex does not allow you to upgrade a Zync to any other charge card, and I suspect that the same applies in reverse so I doubt you can downgrade.

If you want to do a new application just for a cheap MR card to keep your points alive, I would suggest the Blue. As stated by the poster above, the points will be kept alive, but won't transferable until you get another full fledged MR card.

Why I would suggest a new application for the blue, Amex Zync is lumped together with all the charge cards when it comes to Sign up bonuses. So if you look at the new application for Blue (you may need to clear your cookies or else you may not see any offer) they will offer 10K points to new Blue applicants. Zync will offer 10K, but will not grant it if you had any prior charge card (Green, Gold, Plat) within the last 90 days or the Zync within a year.

So for a fresh application, with the blue you'll in the very least get a bonus 10K, if you did decide to go with Zync, the limitation I stated above also counts the other way around, so if you wanted to apply for say a gold card later, by the current rules you'll be ineligible for the sign up bonuses because you have a Zync, unless you canceled it within 90 days of application, which would cause you to lose points anyway...... so yea, keep it simple and go with blue.

Is it worth a hard inquiry to apply for the Blue sky No annual fee or the Zync for $25?

I only have 25,800 points left and transferred 25k to Delta airlines so only 800 points left. I meant to purchase enough for 26k MR points but i guess I can add too good.

Blue Sky will not preserve your Membership Rewards balance, only Blue from American Express. If that is no longer an issue I would just close the account and be done with it.