CheVive

Hi all,

I have Amex gold cards in both the UK and US (first year for both and got them free-fee for the intro period and offers).

I'm getting married soon, and eyeing a Sangri La resort where having status would be useful for breakfast and potential room upgrade, so am thinking of upgrading my UK Amex Gold to Platinum as I believe that the US card doesn't confer status at Shangri La. Also, see plenty of value in the other features (insurance, hotel programs, etc).

Issue is that I just called UK Amex and was told that there was no way to upgrade the Gold card -- I'd have to create a separate application and be issued a completely new card. This seems to be at odds with practice in the US where upgrades are actively pitched on the website when one's logged in, and I'm being explicitly told that a US upgrade will not result in a new card number, etc.

Does anyone have experience upgrading their gold card in the UK? Does the above ring true, or should I try calling these guys again?

Thanks in advance for your input.

jags86

I don’t know particulars about UK Amex but In the US you wouldn’t want to upgrade since that would disqualify you from getting a new cardmember signup bonus. You would only upgrade if there was an upgrade bonus offer and you’ve already received the new cardmember bonus on the card your upgrading to.

mia

Is your UK-issued card billed in Sterling, Dollars or Euros?

stuart_f

Sounds like you got a bad agent. It's definitely possible to upgrade a UK Gold card to a Platinum.

The link is here: https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/c...harge/upgrade/
and right now they are offering 20,000 MR bonus points when you spend £1,000 on your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership

CheVive

Thanks Stuart. I ended up going through the link for the upgrade, but was asked a bunch of questions that made it look like an application for a new card (Even though it was quoting the 20K for GBP 1K spend throughout). Ended up being told that they couldn't make an instant decision and would be back to me within 10 business days... is this typical? I have excellent credit, no change in job/income, etc. so can't be anything on that end.

highexpectations

Sorry to interfere with the thread, but have a quick Q about this on a similar note.

I currently have the UK Amex Platinum Charge Card. I know I can't get the referral points for being recommended the Gold Charge Card, but if someone were to recommend me for the Gold Charge Card, would they still get the points for recommending me?

Thanks.

mickeyjaw

There isn't any words in the referral T&Cs that I'm aware of that would prevent the referrer getting the bonus.

Lawro

Yes, they should do. The referral points are contingent on you being accepted for the card and are not affected by your eligibility for the sign-up bonus.

britenbsas

netchris

Quick Q,

i have the Gold Rewards card and in mid Jan i purchased flights for travel in April. If i upgrade to platinum will the enhanced insurance on the platinum card cover me and my family for the trip i purchased with the gold rewards card?

wsc

Old thread bump, but did you get accepted? Have you earnt your 20k bonus?

Thomas Pattison

Now that the Amex Rewards Gold is a credit card, Amex have no incentive in place for an upgrade to Platinum. Plus the Platinum bonus cannot be obtained if you have the Gold credit card as both cards are Membership Rewards registered cards. Just had an online chat with Amex to confirm this is the case. Hopefully a new incentive will be put in place, as it's made the Platinum card a lot less attractive if you already hold the Gold credit card.

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk.

It may be different in the UK, but in the USA American Express does not offer upgrades/downgrades between charge and credit cards. They are completely separate categories.

edot8

You posted in Feb so I'm not sure if it's still relevant.
My experience is I simply asked the online customer support if there was a way to upgrade my amex gold to plat and they provided me with a link that sent me to an upgrade offer of 20k points for £1k spend within the first 3(? i think) months.
This happened yesterday just in case you were wondering. I did notice it did pull a hard inquiry on my credit file this morning. I'm debating this with amex as I was advised by the customer support rep that a hard inquiry wouldn't be required for the upgrade.

Geoggy

Recently had the same experience where live chat sent me a link to upgrade my Gold credit card to Platinum for 20k bonus. Completed form, heard nothing, asked again on live chat, was told to call. Did so - agent says that offer is not applicable for credit card only gold charge card.

Somewhat irritating.