Avoiding 2nd-year Gold AF but keeping MR bonus points
Nov 20, 2023, 6:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 38
Avoiding 2nd-year Gold AF but keeping MR bonus points
I signed up for a 90K Gold card offer in January but do not want to pay the $250 AF for a second year. However, the terms indicate that they may claw back the points if the card isn't retained for more than 12 months. Are there reliable approaches to this? What occurs so far is to either transfer the points to an airline program, which would not necc. stop them from trying to claw back the equivalent value, or downgrading the card early into the second year and hoping for a refund on the fees. Are these viable?
Nov 20, 2023, 11:11 am
#2
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
The renewal fee will be due after the anniversary of the account opening. However, if you close the account, and have no other card which earns Membership Rewards, the points will expire.
Nov 20, 2023, 8:18 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 38
Understood. But hopefully downgrading to a fee-free card that's still in the MR system will retain those points.
Nov 20, 2023, 8:49 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,393
There is no fee free downgrade. There are fee free cards you can APPLY for but they are credit cards not charge cards like the AMEX Gold.
Nov 21, 2023, 4:32 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 38
Nov 21, 2023, 11:17 pm
#8
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles, CA; Philadelphia, PA
Programs: OZ Diamond
Posts: 6,139
Nov 22, 2023, 4:49 am
#9
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,296
Could also apply for and open a no annual fee Blue Business Plus card, which earns 2x MR on everything (max $50K) and will keep MR alive as long as the card account is open and will not affect Chase 5/24.
Gold credit card account can be closed up to 30 days after the annual fee posts without adverse consequences. If the annual fee is paid prior to those 30 days, perhaps due to making payment prior to payment due date, the annual fee will be refunded if the account is closed within those 30 days.
Gold credit card account can be closed up to 30 days after the annual fee posts without adverse consequences. If the annual fee is paid prior to those 30 days, perhaps due to making payment prior to payment due date, the annual fee will be refunded if the account is closed within those 30 days.
Nov 27, 2023, 10:13 am
#10
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 2,263
I do see they have joint accounts but I do not see anything addressing this question. My assumption is they thought about this and you need to assign a primary person
Nov 27, 2023, 11:08 am
#11
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Amex Rewards Checking Accounts may be owned in either an individual or joint capacity.
Amex Rewards Checking Accounts may only be opened in an individual capacity, but the
individual who opens an Account (see “How do I open an Amex Rewards Checking Account?”)
may ask us to add a second named Account owner after opening an individual Account.
Amex Rewards Checking Accounts may only be opened in an individual capacity, but the
individual who opens an Account (see “How do I open an Amex Rewards Checking Account?”)
may ask us to add a second named Account owner after opening an individual Account.
.If an Account has more than one named owner, Account Transactions entered into by additional named
Account Owners will earn Membership Rewards® points but only the first named Account owner may redeem them.
Account Owners will earn Membership Rewards® points but only the first named Account owner may redeem them.
Nov 28, 2023, 2:57 am
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 38
My Amex business card (an Amazon co-brand) did show up on my credit report, so I'm not entirely confident it did not affect 5/24. No idea if that would be true of the card you refer to as well.
Nov 28, 2023, 4:15 am
#14
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958
Nov 28, 2023, 8:30 am
#15
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: NYC suburbs
Programs: UA LT Gold (BIS), AA LT Plat (CC SUBs & BD), Hilton Dia (CC), Hyatt Glob (BIB), et. al.
Posts: 3,296
Could also apply for and open a no annual fee Blue Business Plus card, which earns 2x MR on everything (max $50K) and will keep MR alive as long as the card account is open and will not affect Chase 5/24…..
There are very few, if any, reports of an AmEx biz card, including BBP, counting toward 5/24. Other than a hard inquiry, there are few, if any, reports of an AmEx biz card being listed on an individual’s credit report.
There are few reports regarding AmEx Amazon biz card, maybe it’s an exception.