I currently have an AMEX green that I pay $150/year for, and basically never use. I only held it to keep 300K MR points alive. I am now looking to switch my spend away from my CITI AA Executive card to AMEX, but am looking for upgrade/new card advice.
I am a frequent traveler, so many of the Platinum benefits would be useful to me. I am specifically looking to earn MR to transfer to BA or QR as Avios points due to forecasted travel needs.

1) I paid $150 Green Card renewal fee in June
2) I can "Upgrade" the Green care to Gold ($325 annual fee) and get 40K MR points for 2K spend in 6 months
3) I can "Upgrade" to Platinum ($695 annual fee) and get 125K MR points when I spend 6K in 6 months
4) Every once in a while when I go to the AMEX website, I see an offer for a new platinum card and get 175K MR points when I spend 8K in 6 months (Would this be an issue, considering I already have a Green card? Will the offer still be valid?)

Did I read correctly that I could do the upgrade AND the get a new card? If this is true, my guess is this would result in 2 annual fees (695 each). Would I be able to cancel one of the cards at renewal time (or even the 11 month mark) without penalty?

At this point I am leaning toward just getting new Platinum card for the 175K sign-up bonus, and cancelling the Green card.

Any advice would be appreciated.