jamesteroh

I thought Am Ex didn't give the welcome bonus upgrading from a platinum to a reserve.

I'd look into the 500 bonus miles + 500 bonus MQM's for every $1k in spend and see if that applies to your card.

Zorak

I don't think they do either, in that you don't get whatever the prevailing welcome offer is for new cardmembers.

There are occasionally upgrade offers, but that's not quite the same thing (although perhaps that's what OP meant)

metalblaze

Thanks for all the feedback - yes, I was referring to a 10k MQMs upgrade offer...in the past, I’ve been offered 5k MQMs for the upgrade...I didn’t bite. Having said that, recently a colleague of mine received a higher offer of 10k MQMs which is what I’m hoping for as well.

SUPERTRAVEL

I had the DL Platinum card and applied for the Reserve and got the $3000 spending bonus of 70,000 miles earlier this year. Once I got it, I cancelled the platinum card as it made no sense to have two Amex cards with their own annual fees. Perhaps doing it this way was not upgrading?

SUPERTRAVEL

Duplicate deleted.

jamesteroh

That wouldn't be upgrading since it's a new card, however they would do a hard pull on your credit and if someone had too many am ex cards already they may not qualify.

If you can qualify for another card, pays for the person to apply for a new card and get the bonus and then transfer the credit line on the card they are going to close over to the new card and close the old card. Another reason to get a new card is if you haven't had the existing card for a year yet. With the credit card reform act the issuer can't increase the fee the first twelve months of opening the card even though it means added benefits and is a different card type , so that means no upgrading from a gold to platinum or platinum to reserve until you've had the card for at least 12 months.

ffI

DON'T do it
If you upgrade at 48k you lose a lot - the Reserve spend starts from the day you make it a reserve (been there done that)
First Sign up for bonus offer now on card - it is for card number till Dec and the number does not change with upgrade

3 options
A
your plan above
If you upgrade to Reserve now at 48k, when you hit 60k for the year on card only 12 will count as Reserve spend so bonus is 6 for the 12k spend
Total MQM =16k for bonus spend + 10 for upgrade
You will not get the 15k bonus at 60k send for the year as the counter for Reserve spend starts then (otherwise everybody with Plat will spend 25k then upgrade to Reserve to spend 5k for 15k at 30k spend)

B
Just ​​​​​​spend 2k on Plat and then upgrade and spend 10k
You have to go to 50k to get the 10k boost at 50k on the Platinum
Total MQM = 10 for 50k and 10 for upgrade and 6 for 12k spend = 26k MQM
Extra MQM = 10k - extra cost zero for spend except cost of Reserve card

C
Spend 2k on Plat then upgrade and spend 30k on it instead of 12k as planned now
You have to go to 50k to get the 10k boost at 50k on the Platinum
Then you can start 30k spend with Reserve and get 15k transferable MQM for the Reserve spend and another 16k MQM for the bonus offer (1k Bonus for the 2k spend as Plat and 15k spend for the Reserve spend)
Total = 10+1+15+15 = 41k MQM
Extra MQM 25k for 20k more spend than your current plan = 1.25MQM/$ spend! = 2.5 times usual rate with Reserve

Zorak

There are multiple data points in the other related threads where spend *did* carry over (but also some like yours where it didn't). So it seems it is inconsistent

Upgrading from Amex Delta Platinum to Reserve Mid-Year Companion Ticket Question

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...arry-over.html

Delta Reserve Upgrade Question

Change Amex Reserve to Amex Platinum - middle of year

EDIT: Re-reading your post now...

While this is true, it seems most data points in the other referenced are that spend since the last boost counts towards the new post-upgrade boost but you still have to fulfill the whole 30k -- but you don't start from 0, you start from whatever excess you had already accrued.

Maybe we're saying the same thing?

ffI

Perhaps, Perhaps not.
In My experience with Amex going back and forth, I was told that the spend on Reserve card for the MQM boosts counts from date it was a Reserve card.
You are saying it counts from last boost as any card. It may be possible that spend after the last statement counts; I just do not know and welcome data points
So in general, I would hit a threshold get 10k and then switch and spend the 30k for the 15 MQM - However I always held the spend until after my statement when I got my Plat Boost then changed to Reserve and then started spend again
I do not have a personal experience of hitting a threshold, e.g. 25k on Plat - getting the 10k MQM boost - THEN SPENDING 23K as a DL Plat card - THEN TRYING TO PRODUCT CHANGE - to try to get to 30k (7k spend as Reserve to get the 15k MQM) I am just NOT sure if the extra 7k will trigger the 15k MQM boost - why risk it?
It seems Much easier to spend 2k first - wait till 10k boost hits - upgrade to Reserve get 10k more boost - then continue spend

I am confident however that the 50% bonus RDM/MQM will start with the first 2k spend as Plat AND will carry over till Dec 31 on card whether Plat or Reserve

kuhlguy

I started the year with a DL Amex Platnium. I hit my first 25K in spending and got a boost. Then I upgraded to Amex Reserve. I've spent a total of 119.5K. You get a boost for every 30K spent. But I've only gotten 2 boosts from my reserve card. Shouldn't I have gotten 3 boosts? 25K + 30K + 30K + 30K = 115,000K?

They are saying that the 25K boost from my platnium counts as the 30K boost. That makes no sense to me.

ATLflyer2017

Did you spend a total of 119.5K on the Platinum and Reserve?

Beckles

They provide a running total of how much more you need to spend on the website, and while there is a short lag in that counter, I believe that is the most accurate source available to tell you how much more is needed for the next boost, what did it say?

There have been discussions here that if you switch products they don't reset the counter, but I believe that is a rumored and unpublished feature that you seem to be relying on and I would not rely on that over the counter that is provided right on the website.

MSPeconomist

There's a difference between having both the DL Plat and Reserve cards (you can get boosts from both, 2 X 10,000 MQMs and 4 X 15,000 MQMs with enough spend charged on each card) versus starting with a DL Plat card and upgrading it to a Reserve card. In the latter case, IIRC transfers the spend to the new card.

However, I wonder whether OP is doing MS to an extreme or returning stuff. AmEx doesn't look favorably on such activities.

kuhlguy

Yes, so they say that I need to hit 120K to get the boost.

But what doesn't make sense is that I've only gotten 2 reserve boosts

Essentially, what American Express is saying is that I got a boost at 25K and then upgraded, then my next next boost is after I hit 60K. So essentially it will take 35K spending to hit that boost. Which is super irritating

So I only got boosts at 25K, then 60K, then 90K

They are saying that the 25K basically takes the place of the 30K boost.

The reserve card says I get boosts every 30K. So I'm arguing that I should get a boost at 25K, 55K, 85K, and 115K.

Am I just fighting a lost cause?

Mr. Tickets

You had a Platinum card when you got the first boost. You got what you were promised. Then you upgraded to the Reserve, so the incentive changed. You should get the boosts based on type of card you have at the time you earned the boost. When you earn a boost, it is transferable under the Reserve card rules, so it sits out there for 30 days and then is automatically credited to your account (if you haven't transferred it to someone else). Have to requested this to be transferred to your account yet? That might be why you haven't gotten the last bonus.