To follow up -- if your annual fee hasn't posted yet, convert now.

I called and my fee had already posted a couple of days ago. They would not waive the fee. Since I have an aversion to paying an annual fee but want to keep my points I asked for an option.

I was told to apply for the no-fee Venture card with 1.25 points/$ then transfer the points on my current card to the new card and cancel the one with the annual fee. They will then refund the annual fee.

Points still work the same way with the no-fee card and I avoid the annual fee. I also get 10,000 points with $1k spend -- not much but makes it sort of worth the hassle. Approval was instant.

They would not let me 'upgrade' to the cashback card to avoid the annual fee.

ymmv
jb