Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
If you don't earn at least FO during the year you get no rollover at all (and of course lose any previous rollover). The hold back strategy works only if you can hit FO.
I did not mean to advocate a hold back strategy, as I understood/understand there is no rollover unless you hit FO. What I was trying to say (maybe inartfully) is that if OP is going to get a reserve card, one can ask -- is the signup boost best used this year to hit FO for 2019, or next year to help qualify for FO and possibly higher for part of 2019 and through the end of 2020? It would depend on spending and travel patterns, but if you are going to spend $30K on your AMEX Reserve in Q1, for example, you could stack the signup bonus on the first 15K boost and be only 5,000 MQM short of FO by April, with status that extends to end of 2020. What's not clear is whether the OP's 2018 travel pattern was low for some reason that will not be repeated in 2020 (his GM status indicates he had higher travel in prior years). Also, his 19,000-ish balance presumably has some rollover already baked in and that means he travelled less than 19,000 this year . . . . which would make me look at why and what that means for 2019.