ncaahockeyfan

I received an AMEX Skymiles Gold --> Platinum upgrade offer (50k + $200 stmt credit with $3k spend). My credit report has been quiet during the pandemic, so I am angling to get a couple of Chase cards next November. I have been over 5/24 for years! I have two questions.

1) does an upgrade count towards Chase 5/24?

2) anyone had Skymiles clawed back after a downgrade? my wife upgraded her everyday card a little over a year ago. she downgraded when the AF hit and unexpectedly had a clawback of the 30k points she received at upgrade.

many thanks to the FT community!

Daitheflu84

I would like to upgrade from Gold to Plat as well. I've only had the AMEX Skymiles Gold card for a few months though and this is my first AMEX. Do you typically need to wait for an invite to upgrade or can I somehow initiate this on my end? Would it be better to ask for the upgrade after I've had the card for 6-12 months?

kavok

There are two ways to “upgrade” from a Gold DL Amex, to a Plat DL Amex.

The first (and less advantageous way) is to simply call Amex, and request the upgrade. Often, if your credit is good and you have no outstanding balance, they will do it then and there for you. There is typically always some upgrade from gold to plat offer, so be sure to ask the agent what the offer is to upgrade should you go this route. You will keep the same Amex credit card number as your existing card, which saves the hassle of having to change any auto-bill-pay setups you may have. The big downside is you will miss out on the (usually much bigger) welcome offer that is given to new DL Plat Amex holders, and for which you are also eligible.

The other method to getting the DL Amex Plat is to request it online by simply signing up for a new card, regardless of the fact you already have the DL Amex gold. You can then choose to keep both cards (Plat and Gold), or cancel the DL Gold Amex card separately. As this is effectively just getting a new card, you will then have a new credit card number and will have to go through a credit check to get it. The big advantage though is cashing in on the larger new-user DL Plat Amex welcome offer. (Currently 50k miles and 5k MQMs as of May 2021).

Be very careful as the “big” welcome bonus can only be claimed if you never have had the DL Amex Plat card before, and thus upgrading via the first method will eliminate the chance of getting the big welcome bonus ever in the future. It is a one-in-a-lifetime thing, so use it strategically. I also put the “ “ around big, because the current offer truthfully isn’t that great. In April 2021 it was 90k miles and 10k mqm. So if you are able to hold off, there may be a better sign up offered for the DL Amex Plat at some point in the future... but it likely may be a while as unfortunately the bigger promo offer just ended a few weeks ago. Again, you can only cash in once on the sign-up offer, so think long term if now is the time to do it in your situation.

Regardless, good luck and choose wisely on what works best for you.

Daitheflu84

Great advice, thank you. I'll probably hold off until end of year, or until the offer gets a little better. I'm mostly wanting it for the $25K Platinum Medallion waiver, so it makes sense to wait until a year when the qualification requirements aren't (effectively) reduced like they have been this year.