Some folks have gotten offers to upgrade from the no-fee Amex HHonors to the surpass and pick up an extra ~50K for additional spend. My understanding is under the Card Act this would have to be after a year of holding the card, as one of the protections in the new law is that banks can't worsen the terms in 12 months, even at the cardholder's request. Under this theory the annual fee for the Surpass would be detrimental, and thus precluded under the law.

I got the no fee card last Feb. I will likely try to upgrade it in 2013. In the alternative Amex seems to say its 12 months from closure to be bonus eligible again for a given product. I like having access to Axon, so I'd probably not close it with so many other ways to get HHonors points.