American Express frequently send out offers to upgrade your credit/charge card to another card with a higher annual fee. These targeted offers are typically an upgrade to American Express’ highest tier card (e.g Platinum) and show up on both personal and business cards. People always have a lot of questions about these offers, so I thought I’d answer those common questions in this post.
Contents
- 1 Is A Hard Pull/Credit Check Done?
- 2 Am I Eligible For The Bonus If I’ve Already Received The Bonus On The Card I’m Upgrading To?
- 3 If I Receive A Bonus From An Upgrade Offer, But Haven’t Had That Card Before – Can I Get The Sign Up Bonus Again?
- 4 What Happens To The Annual Fee On The Card I Currently Hold?
- 5 Can I Cancel The Card I Am Upgrading To And Get A Prorated Annual Fee Refund?
- 6 Can I Downgrade The Card I Upgrade To & Receive A Prorated Annual Fee Refund?
- 7 Our Verdict
Is A Hard Pull/Credit Check Done?
No, the offers specifically state no hard pull is done.
Am I Eligible For The Bonus If I’ve Already Received The Bonus On The Card I’m Upgrading To?
Yes, if you’ve received a sign up bonus for a card previously and receive an upgrade offer to that same card you’re still eligible for that upgrade offer. For example, let’s say I received an upgrade offer of 50,000 points when I spend $10,000 within three months if I upgrade to the Business Platinum card – I can still get that bonus even if I’ve previously received a sign up bonus on the Business Platinum Card.
If I Receive A Bonus From An Upgrade Offer, But Haven’t Had That Card Before – Can I Get The Sign Up Bonus Again?
According to the fine print, this wouldn’t be allowed (Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product). But according to the following data points you can actually get the sign up bonus again:
These datapoints suggest otherwise:
- 1,
What Happens To The Annual Fee On The Card I Currently Hold?
You’ll receive a prorated annual fee refund on the card you currently hold and be charged the new annual fee on the card you upgrade to.
Can I Cancel The Card I Am Upgrading To And Get A Prorated Annual Fee Refund?
Once you’ve upgraded to the new card, the normal rules apply to prorated annual fees for that card. That means you have 30 days to cancel the card to receive a refund. I wouldn’t recommend doing this as it’s a good way to get a financial review or your posts frozen with American Express.
Can I Downgrade The Card I Upgrade To & Receive A Prorated Annual Fee Refund?
As mentioned above, normal rules apply to the card after you’ve completed the upgrade meaning this is possible. More information here.
Our Verdict
Upgrade offers are fantastic if you’ve received the sign up bonus on the card you’re upgrading to before, if you haven’t then you’re usually better waiting for a higher sign up bonus on those cards as you won’t be able to get that bonus again and American Express Platinum cards frequently have targeted offers of 100,000-150,000 points, this is much better than the standard 50,000 upgrade offer.
If you have any additional questions then please ask them in the comments.
Ah crap, not sure if I messed up my steps.
I opened my first EDP and then upgraded an existing ED to EDP. I just met the spend for my UPGRADED EDP and got the 40K bonus already. Should I have met spend for my newly opened EDP first? I’m working on that spend right now.
(cross posted)
Spouse got an upgrade offer green to gold. He had PRG 3 years ago. While terms did say you’re not eligible if you’ve had Gold or PRG, when I clicked through the offer it did say he was pre-approved. Submitted the app and got the popup box that he’s had PRG and is not eligible.
Embarrassed to say that I’d never taken advantage to upgrade my Blue Cash to BC Preferred (and I have a bunch of AMEX cards and did not want to apply for a new one) but after reading posts here (and being upset that there were no 5% supermarket categories this quarter, although I do get 3.5% from BofA) I noticed I had a $150 upgrade offer in my AMEX Offers. I know it’s not $200 or 250, but I took it. I had the $10/15 off e-coupons for Mastercards at Acme so I bought them on four J4U accounts and have already hit my $1000 spend requirement. Even better, I have a $0 fee Plan-It offer on that card, so I’ll get to pay for my gift cards over a few months. I’ve never been much into MS except to get bonuses, but with the 6% back on gift cards and frequent deals at Stop & Shop and Acme, it pays to buy cards and just use them for other stuff, even categories where I’m getting 5% back.
Do these upgrades count as new accounts on your credit score / count under 5/24? Or is it just a continuation of the account that you are upgrading from?
I have a offer to upgrade from every day blue cash to the blue cash preferred. Will my credit line go up?
How long do upgrade offers typically last when they are posted on your account home, not emailed.
I have an upgrade offer from Ascend to Aspire for 150,000 points. I would like for my anniversary date to be around mid to late January so I can book a year out and use the free annual night over Christmas Break every year.
What is the likelihood it will be available to me in 6 months? How about 3 months at the end of summer break?
Have you had the aspire already? I’d get that first so you can get that SUB.
I upgraded to Blue Cash Preferred from Blue Cash with an upgrade bonus. I did it about 10 months ago. Will it be Ok, if I downgrade back to Blue Cash ? I rather cancel my card then pay $95/year .
Yes, that should be fine. May get another upgrade offer in the future too.
Thanks
My Aspire upgrade offer shows this: “Welcome bonus offer not available to applicants who have or have had this product”.
Trying to see if anyone else has experienced this or if it’s still valid information. I had the Hilton Surpass card and product changed down to the basic Hilton Amex card this summer (july/early August). Today I got an upgrade offer for the Hilton Ascend card with a 150k bonus. As I’ve gotten the welcome bonus on the surpass before, would I still get this Ascend upgrade bonus. Thanks.
I upgraded my Green to PRG about four weeks ago and just got charged $95 annual fee just now when the statement closed. It looks like this is the Green annual fee. I’m supposed to get charged prorated annual fee if $195 45 days after upgrade also. Is this how annual fees when upgrading works? You end up getting charged two annual fees if both cards have annual fees? I’ve only upgraded cards without annual fees in the past.
I just received this offer but it didn’t say anything about any bonus points. They advertised the dining credit and airline reimbursement.
Try going into your Amex account and go to all charge and credit cards section. You should see if there’s any offer there. Also try to go to that section several times a week. You just never know when an offer will come up. Is your green card more than a year old? My Green was less than a year old when I upgraded but I did get a 10k offer to sign up for pay over time.
I got an upgrade offer from “Blue cash everyday” to ‘Blue cash preferred’. $250 bonus on charges of $2,000 in 90 days. No annual fee waiver. I never had Blue cash preferred and not intend to apply for it. Is it a good idea to opt for an upgrade.