Originally Posted by
krazykanuck
Maybe they haven't had the no fee card yet, and downgrading would disqualify them from getting the sign up bonus. Also the upgrade offers to the Aspire seem to have dried up since Covid - I haven't heard of Amex offering them. Either way the retention offers on the Aspire are always pretty pitiful, probably because it can be such an easy card to get value out of.
I received a 150k point for $4k spend upgrade offer from no annual fee Hilton Honors to a second Aspire in August 2021. Called in and told retention I was thinking of closing the no annual fee card. Asked if they had any upgrade offers. First CSR didn't have any offers. Called in a week later with the same script. CSR asked me if I had received any mailers from Amex with an upgrade offer code. I told her I was away from home for a month so I didn't know (true), so she assumed I hadn't been targeted. She then proceeded to offer me the aforementioned upgrade offer, which I accepted.
On a related note, my first Green Card renewal fee is about to hit in mid-January and Amex has sent me a targeted 15k MR for $1k spend upgrade offer to the Gold. Per the T&C, I don't think I'm actually eligible for the bonus since it has lifetime language and I currently hold the Gold. Will consider upgrading after using up my 2022 Green Card credits tomorrow.