FT

A couple months after I upgraded from SPG to Brilliant, AMEX credited back a prorated annual fee of the $95 and charged a prorated fee for the $450. It's not tied to when you upgraded or your anniversary date.

MASTERNC

So I have the regular Bonvoy (old SPG) AMEX. I have not received any of the recently publicized upgrade offers (not sure why I never do) but am tempted to upgrade anyway because of the changes to the peak/off-peak redemptions. I assume you can�t call AMEX to ask for offers (if you can and anyone has been successful, please tell me).

My big question is the $300 credit. I can use that easily. In fact, I am heading on vacation next week and have several reservations at Marriott family properties. Do you receive instant access to that credit or do you have to wait for your next anniversary (March in my case)? Is the credit pro-rated along with the remaining AF?

Zorak

You will be charged the prorated amount in November and then the full $450 in January. You'll receive the 50k free night certificate 2-3 months after that.

You'll get the full $300 credit now, and another $300 again after your original anniversary date.

See above (these were also answered in the last 1-2 pages of this thread...)

happychic

Thank you FT and Zorak!

escapefromphl

I upgraded my SPG card to Brilliant in April. I got charged a $150 annual fee in May and then a partial credit of ~$30 and now a $450 annual fee in Sep for a total of ~$570 fees in 2019. Seems like I should get rest of the $150 fee charged in May back at some point?

goldenbear

That sounds nominally correct. You got charged for a partial year of the Brilliant card: May-Sept is 4 months or 1/3 of a year. 1/3rd of $450 is $150. You were refunded for a partial year of your SPG card (1/3 of $95 is ~$30).

Did you use your $300 Marriott stay credit between May and your full renewal date in Sept? Then you'd actually be ahead $150 from May-Sept.

escapefromphl

OK makes sense.

I did.

friedablass

I previously had the 50k upgrade offer but wasn't sure if to accept and I'm glad I didn't because now I got the offer to upgrade and earn 125k points for $5k spend. I for sure want to do it but I'm wondering if anyone can answer the following question. I'm currently signed up for the offer to earn 25k points for every $25k I spend. Will this carry over when I upgrade? If not where can I see when my upgrade offer expires? It doesn't say anywhere in the email and I would try to hit my $25k spend just before the offer expires and upgrade at that point. (If it carries over then I would obviously just upgrade now.)

Nagasaki Joe

I just got the 125,000 upgrade offer today. How long do they usually give you to respond before the offer's withdrawn?
I just passed the anniversary date on my SPG Card in late August, so the FNA will not be deposited in my account for another month or so. If I upgrade to the Brilliant, then I guess I lose the 35K point FNA and then restart the clock to getting a 50K FNA one year from now. I assume that's how it'll work, which seems like a ripoff. Do they time these upgrades so that they'll get you to lose the FNA of your previous card?

joeags

Actually no. You paid $120 for the basic card for Sep 2018 - Sep 2019. You were charged $150-$30 = $120 for the final 4 months to upgrade to the Brilliant (until Sep 2019) . Now you pay $450 for the period until Sep 2020. I don't see anything extra coming back to you.

Nagasaki Joe

I tried to upgrade online from the SPG Card to the Bonvoy Brilliant with the 125K offer, but when I entered my Marriott member number on the screen, I got taken to an Amex page that offered me 50K instead. What's with that? A bait and switch if I ever saw one. Has anyone here upgraded from the SPG Card to the Bonvoy Brilliant and received the 125K points? Perhaps I need to call into Amex directly and talk to a rep.

Zorak

Mostly-positive change mentioned in the AMEX forum, reportedly (TPG) coming to premium AMEX cards including the Bonvoy Brilliant:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ect-cards.html

betterbydesign

I have exactly the same question - my $450 annual fee showed up this month, and I also received the $300 credit on a stay this month.

If I close the card, are clawbacks likely?

Thanks all!

Nagasaki Joe

Just got off the phone with the Amex rep and got the 125K offer for the Bonvoy Brilliant completed. I would have passed on this card with a lower offer, but 125K points are hard to pass up, even if I keep the card for only a year or two. I already have the RC Reward Card, so no real benefit to have two high-end Marriott cards. I suspect that Marriott may at some point eliminate the RC Rewards Card (after all, only Amex is supposed to be offering luxury cards for Marriott), so I may even want to keep this card long term. Does anyone know if there's an upgrade path (actually more of a lateral move than an upgrade) to an Amex Platinum Card or Aspire Card from this card if I choose to cancel it? BTW, the Amex rep was incredible. I've never experienced such professional, personable, friendly, patient, and competent phone service in my life. Wow, really impressive, I thought that kind of service was of a bygone era, if in fact it ever existed.

Nagasaki Joe

1. I have the same Amex offer on my card, so I asked the Amex rep if that and any other offers would be carried over to the new Bonvoy Brillant Card, and she said yes, anything offers on or associated with the old card would automatically carry over to the new card. If you'r still worried about it, you could just download the same offer on your new card when you get it.

2. The Amex rep said I would keep the same number as on the SPG Card.