hurnik

Currently I have the following Amex cards:
Amex Hilton Aspire
Ames Delta Skymiles Platinum
Amex Delta Skymiles Reserve
Amex Green
Business Green Rewards
Business Gold

I received (in the mail) an offer for upgrading (I'm ASSUMING it's for the Amex Green card, not the business ones) to Gold/Rose Gold for 40k MR points after 2k spend in 3 months.
I looked at the booklet and read the paper additional disclosure sheet and cant' find any Llifetime language in it.

If I recall correctly, I can accept the upgrade and I would still be eligible for the regular Gold/Rose at a later date (new application)?

Is this upgrade offer decent?

mia

In principle, accepting the upgrade would disqualify you from receiving a new account bonus for the same card. In practice, American Express seems to have trouble tracking upgrades, and you might qualify for a bonus later.

brc01

Alternatively, you could double dip by applying for a new Gold first, then accept the Gold upgrade offer for another 40K. Not sure exactly how long the upgrade offer sticks around once you have the card.

hurnik

Yeah I read the DoC article on upgrading to platinum and it sounds like I'm better off (to be able to double-dip) to get the Gold first and THEN upgrade.
My upgrade offer is good to 5/15/21 on the card. I think in a week or so my AF for Delta Reserve hits and I'll get rid of it to open up a slot.

Totoro

I previously did this with the AMEX Hilton card upgrade to AMEX Hilton Surpass card. I even specifically called and was told I definitely could apply for a new Surpass card, then accept the upgrade offer. I followed this advice and received both bonuses as promised.

Gig103

I just sent a friend an Amex referral link and it had a 75000 bonus for a new Gold card, so if you don't want the double like brc01 suggested, I'd sign up for a new one instead.

And keep in mind when upgrading that you need to keep the NEW card > 12 months even if your renewal hits sooner (since the renewal would be based on your Green date). You may not be able to keep the points and downgrade or close it without paying a second AF with an upgrade. li

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exp

Just paid the annual fee on the Green card last billing cycle.

There is an upgrade offer to the Gold, with 40k points for $2k spend.

Would an upgrade mean they apply parts of the annual fee for the Green card to the upgraded Gold card's annual fee for the first year?


The one benefit I'd lose from the Green card is 3X on travel transactions, primarily hotels. I also have the Chase Sapphire Preferred and I use that for rental cars because of better protection.

For overseas though, a lot of hotels and restaurants do not accept Amex. Where the 3X on hotel payments with the Green card comes into play is if you book online and you pay the whole hotel bill upfront. That is through the big booking sites.

If you book a regional or family-run hotel in Europe, you get better rates but the booking engines they use often do not take Amex.

And during the pandemic, I noticed that there's a greater divergence in rates between booking directly and through a third-party booking site. Also, people are booking refundable reservations and that means you give them a card but when you pay at the end of the stay, they often don't take Amex.

So I'm not getting as much benefit from the Green card's 3X travel benefits as I might hope.

But restaurants and grocery transactions don't run up as much as airlines and hotel transactions. If you do find a hotel which takes Amex, one transaction is worth probably several restaurant and grocery transactions.


So the 40k MR points would have to be what would justify the $100 greater annual fee. I've had the Gold card before so they might not even give me the welcome bonus, though I checked while logged into my Amex account so presumably they would.

Probably would have to be more in the 60k MR points range to be worth it?


BTW, they also have a Platinum upgrade, though only offering 20k MR points and some Equinox credit. They must have plenty of Platinum customers paying that $695 annual fee, doesn't look like they want to entice other Amex card holders to upgrade to it, just new customers.

jags86

If you take an upgrade you'll pay the prorated amount of the new annual fee.

For example, if you pay your Green card $150 annual fee in January and upgrade to the Gold card in July you would pay ($250 - $150) / 2 = $50. A little more complicated as AMEX prorates the fee by day, not month, but that's the gist.

What you should consider doing though to get the *most* points, assuming you've never had a Gold card before, is apply for a new Gold card with the 75k SUB and then quickly upgrade your green card to get the upgrade bonus as well. Yes you'll have 2 Gold cards, but you'll get 115k bonus points. If you take the upgrade offer you won't be eligible for the 75k bonus until 7 years after you cancel your Gold card.

exp

Unfortunately I've had the Gold card, as well as the Platinum card.

It might be coming up on 7 years since I've gotten the welcome bonus for either card but they often have lifetime language.

jags86

In that case the upgrade offer sounds great! Since you have a Sapphire Preferred you're really only giving up 1x on non-airfare travel expenses. Probably a good trade off for the 40k points.

Isochronous

Green card has a button under offers suggesting an application to 'upgrade' to the Gold and earn 40k bonus points.

Is this basically guaranteed approval and do I end up with both Green and Gold cards, or do they close the Green account and replace it with Gold?

jags86

The green card becomes a gold card.