So I called Amex seeing if they would upgrade my gold to platinum without a credit check and get the 50,000 points (didn't happen). However, I was talking to the rep asking if there is anything to replace the huge loss of the Marco Polo benefit. He indicated that there is something big in the works with Aeroplan. He said that is all he has heard. The first thing I thought of was Star Alliance Gold status. Wouldn't that be nice? But who knows what he really knows.

In my opinion, Amex is becoming only good for sign-up bonuses in most cases (although the Plat card benefits can be beneficial), especially now that I don't need it for Costco anymore. Until I need points, I'm changing my spend to money back cards for travel - Capital One my case.