gooselee

While I agree the wording from Amex could be clearer, remember that the target audience is largely individuals who hold a single DL Amex and that's it. FTers who have multiple cards over Plat/Reserve and Personal/Biz are probably a very small minority.

My *guess* is that Amex/DL wanted primarily wantes to clarify that you can't earn more than two boosts per a single card. i.e. you don't get another 10k MQM after spending $75k on single Plat card, and you don't get another 15k MQM after spending $90k on a single Reserve card.

To me, that would be the ambiguous part for most cardholders, and is the exact target IMO of that table they included.

The additional language about multiple cards to the same SM account is curious, but reads like an afterthought to discourage people from just opening a second account of the same type and trying for the same results.

At the end of the day, however, I have no actual idea.
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erasmusmrr

Yeah, if the first thing you said was true, that's not what the change in rules said. And again, they are shooting themselves in the foot, it seems, by the annual fee revenue they will lose...

RealHJ

Well, it just makes it more confusing, by not defining what it means by a "card account" (even the very worst lawyer will know to first define the terms they use, unless they intend to create ambiguity on purpose). Is a Plat upgraded to Reserve the same "card account" or a different "card account" due to product change? IMO it just makes it more unclear than it was before this "clarification".

gooselee

Yeah, I don't know. I'm just guessing like all the rest of us.

The only other thing I'll add is a very good point by someone who identified themselves as a lawyer in post #14 of this very thread.

I just looked at a screenshot from the related thread in the Amex forum (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...t-changes.html), and I also just got the May statement for my DL Biz Plat which shows identical language.

It seems key that Amex is touting this as a "clarification" of an existing policy, rather than a "change" to the policy itself.

For reference, here's the relevant text from my application for that card in early 2016: http://i.imgur.com/AYcbQof.png

Granted, this is not the "Supplement to the Agreement" that is being changed. Luckily, though Amex actually still has a cardholder agreement dated 3/31/17 posted so you can see what the text was changed FROM: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/c...03-31-2017.pdf

In case they take that down soon, here's the relevant part of THAT agreement: http://i.imgur.com/zctJTYA.png

Notable in both - the language about more than one card account is unchanged with this May 2017 clarification. However they updated it to identify the two thresholds as two separate MilesBoosts, and then added the table to show that it is 10k+10k at the two thresholds, not 10k+20k (which is how the previous language could be interpreted).

MSPeconomist

To me, it's always been clear that you don't get a third (or fourth, etc.) injection of MQMs if you spend $75,000 on a DL Plat card or $90,000 on a Reserve card. The only reason someone could think otherwise is that a couple years ago, some of the surveys asked whether we'd like this.

OTOH, I would guess that if you upgrade and downgrade your card, flipping between Plat and Reserve to get additional MQMs, but without applying for a "new" card, it would be considered to be the same account Maybe this is what they're trying to stop. In other words, assuming only personal cards, you can get either 20,000 MQMs per year or 30,000 MQMs per year (or in between), but not 50,000 MQMs for less than the annual fee for one Reserve card.

dinanm3atl

Interesting tidbit in an email this morning which seems to contradict previous thought process.

I upgraded to Platinum with offer a couple months ago. My DL Gold AMEX was already just under the MQD Waiver(25K) and shortly after the upgrade I passed the MQD Waiver and thus would pass over 25K.

And just this AM got the 10K MQM and 10K SkyMiles. I assumed would not get that unless it was "Another" 25K" purchases post upgrade?

Obviously not complaining. Is this normal?

gooselee

Yes, this is normal and not a change (and also I think not really a part of the updated language driving this thread).

Basically, when you upgrade/downgrade the same "account" between the various DL Amex colors (where your card # stays the same), any spend you've already made that hasn't been "applied" to a previous MilesBoost carries forward into the counter for your new card color.

So, if you had a Plat and spend $31k, you would have already received a 10k boost. Then you upgrade to Reserve and start at $6k to your next boost, so you only have to spend $24k more to get a 15k Reserve boost. Net is $55k spend for 25k MQMs in that scenario. Data point is this is exactly what I did last spring.

MSPeconomist

So does this mean that under the new rules, if you spend an additional $30,000 for a total of $85,000, you cannot get another 15,000 MQMs?

gooselee

That was/is how it worked previous to this language update by Amex. If you had enough spend in a year and timed it right, you could even spend $50k on a Plat, upgrade to Reserve mid-year, and spend another $60k - resulting in 50k MQM on $110k of spend.

And again, there's no firm evidence that there are actual new rules, or if this is just a language clarification around the same MilesBoost rules that existed before May 2017.

Check out the links in my post just a few posts back. Everyone is getting worked up about the multiple card account language (the very last sentence of the updated section), but that language is actually exactly the same with this update as it was before it.

dinanm3atl

THanks. Maybe I was reading it wrong and thought it didn't transfer. That is nice though.

Yah not the main point of thread but figured a good spot if it was 'new' or 'changed'.

SeaHawg

Keep in mind last year there were targeted offers for some AMEX Skymiles Platinum cardholders for an additional boost level at $75k spend.

SkyMilesTeam

We want to clarify that the Miles Boost benefit and how it is awarded has not changed. The notification that American Express Card Members received was intended to explain how the Miles Boost benefit worked if multiple card accounts were linked to the same SkyMiles account. To clarify:

turkeyRIOO

Thank you for the update, it is most appreciated.

erasmusmrr

So nothing has changed? All that for nothing? Well, I will say this, I called amex several times and was very specific in reading the new rule, she read with me from the bill, and said it had changed. Ok, I guess I stand corrected. I guess up to 100k mqm per year, with the 4 different cards...

gooselee

Thank you for the update clarification.

The best news about this actually is having your voice as a part of FT! Great to get info directly from the source, and we greatly appreciate your contributions here!