If seven or more years has passed, can get an initial spend bonus again?
 

I'm sure the information is here somewhere, but I've searched and come up empty. So...

It's been probably a dozen years or more since I applied for and received an Amex Gold, Business Gold or Business Platinum, and eight or ten since I canceled them. (I've had a Schwab Platinum, which is a personal card, for a number of years.) I'm under the impression that:

1. If it's been long enough (seven years?) since you had a given Amex card, you might drop off of its radar and still qualify for an initial spend bonus if you get the card again.
2. #1 is not official policy, but there have been anecdotal reports to that effect.
3. The way to know for sure is to apply online, and the Amex site will notify you whether you qualify for the bonus before you finalize the application.

Do I have that right? Thanks for any help.

Yes
Yes
Yes

It's happened for me on a number of cards. AMEX is the best game this year in terms of significant credit card bonuses. I've had several cards approved with sign up bonuses that I had some years back. Once you have a card with a signup offer you like, be sure to use your own referral if you have a partner/spouse/child/friend who would like the same card. It's an easy 30K bonus.

Are we talking about seven years since initial signup and bonus, or seven years since you've canceled the card?

Thanks very much, folks.

It appears the previous account scrolls off the card approval database approximately seven years after the account is closed. We do not know if accounts are removed monthly or less often. It would be prodent to wait until the eighth anniversary.

I think AMEX is hungry for business this year. I just checked. I closed my AMEX plat in late 2016. I got a new AMEX plat in Dec 2020.

So the possible lesson here is that cancelling an Amex card rather than "sock-drawering" it allows you to avoid the once per lifetime limit on sign up bonusses and turns it into a 7 year block on bonusses. Did I get that right?

Yes, though why you would sock drawer cards with substantial annual fees is completely puzzling to me (and the bonuses on the no annual fee cards, save for perhaps the AMEX Hilton, are pretty "meh"- 10,000 MR points or DL miles isn't an amazing amount to play a churn game for).

I mean... maybe the AMEX Hilton Surpass if you MUST have Hilton Gold... except the Surpass earns really well for Hilton stays, and if you're not staying at Hiltons/using the card to pay for stays, why do you need the status?

A card with $95 fee and a free medium category night (like Surpass) might be a candidate to keep... or dump. This just adds another calculation if one has the attention span to play it out. The NPV of 130K bonus points 7 years from now is beyond me, but I did cancel my Surpass 3 years ago so maybe if I can hold this thought 4 more years I might remember I can re-up and get sign up points.

And FYI.. I got 100K HH points as a signup for the base (free) HH Amex card in January.

A few years ago I got the personal Marriott bonvoy card, about six years after getting the personal SPG AMEX. This was right before the AMEX personal Marriott bonvoy was phased out. I assume it was considered the same product as SPG, and I just got the same bonus a year earlier..

Also, usually you shouldn’t cancel the Hilton Surpass, just downgrade it to fee free card. Chances are you’ll get a offer to upgrade it back to the surpass with a spend bonus/ no credit pull/ no counting towards 5/24. This has happened to me.

At one point it may have been seven years, but that is no longer the case. I believe it 100% has to do with your relationship status.

I received the Platinum Welcome Bonus this year, 4 years after closing a Platinum card. So have others.

I applied for delta gold Amex. It’s been 7 years since last application bot not 7 years since I closed the account. Got the message saying I was ineligible for sign up bonus.

Doesn't have one though. Surpass's "free night" requires $15,000 spend

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/c...onors-surpass/

The AMEX Bonvoy you can't apply for any more does have one a 35k or below free night (I think you might be able to downgrade the Brilliant to it though) + 15 nights toward elite + Marriott Silver. $95 for that living in a sock drawer is maybe reasonable since I guess you could argue 3x AMEX (Amex Green) or Chase (CSR) or Citi TY (Premier) is better than 6x Marriott if you're a semi-frequent Marriott stayer.

There have been previous reports of a "four year" rather than a "seven year" reapplation period, but we have not had enough reports to see if there is a pattern related to card types, branding, spending or other variables.