I've read the flyertalk forums for a while now but have never posted...this is my first one! I'm glad it could be good news...
I wanted to get the 75K deal but if I wasn't able to get a guarantee then I didn't want the ding to my credit nor did I want to get it when I could potentially qualify for another deal with Amex Gold down the line.
I have the Amex Blue card and never used it because it's on the Membership Rewards EXPRESS program which sucks. Here are my steps to success:
- I emailed a secure message from my Blue account inquiring if I could qualify for he deal as I hated the MR Express program and was looking to upgrade. The response was English-as-a-second-language and the CSR said Blue cards could not be upgraded because Blue is a credit card while Gold is a charge card...which I understood but perhaps I wasn't clear that I wanted the offer in order to get the Gold and ditch the Blue to upgrade my MR Express points to the regular MR program.
- So, then, I decided to just call the customer service line and spoke with a representative. I gave her the bonus ID# of 5894. She then told me the offer ID# and told me that the bonus offer expires July 1, 2011 and would be valid until then. I asked if I'd be able to apply online and she encouraged me to try...Lo and behold, you can't unless you have the RSVP code.
- I called back and spoke with an apply-by-phone rep and she looked up my address to see if the offer was ever sent to me. Since it wasn't, she said she couldn't do anything for me because their system doesn't allow them to bypass the RSVP code. I even tried throwing in that Chase Sapphire offers 50K so why would I want to go with Gold at 10K when I can get the Chase Sapphire at 50K. But she wouldn't budget.
- Not to be deterred, I hung up and decided to email again. This time, I gave them both the offer ID# and the bonus ID#; I told them I wanted to apply for the Premier Gold. I also mentioned my excellent credit record and Chase Sapphire's current bonus offer.
And, voila!
We understand your interest in this regard.
Please note that these offers are sent on solicitation basis by our Marketing team. If you didn't receive an invitation to apply under this offer, you will not be able to find it online.
In order to assist you appropriately, I can take one time exception for you. You go ahead and apply for the Premier Rewards Gold Card via regular link.
Once your account is opened, write to us and I will manually apply the offer id 5894 on your account.
I have also made a note on your Blue Card account so that when you contact us later, the offer can be applied to your new Gold Card account without any delay.
I hope this helps. Have an excellent day!
So, the lesson of my experience is that if you do want to know whether or not you can get the bonus before applying for the Gold card, then, you can...it just might take a few tries.