Author Topic: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed  (Read 2863 times)

MountainTown

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American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« on: June 17, 2017, 02:58:19 PM »
Currently my wife has the American Express Gold delta. We did it last year, about this time, for the signup bonus. Now we are going to have that first $100 fee or have to cancel. There is no downgrade option.

Question is...we have the option to upgrade it to Platinum Express. With platinum you pay $200 this first year and with spend of $2000 in 3 months we will get another 25,000 miles which with our current points...buy us a good $500 flight to visit family. Does this seem worth it? The other thing that tipped the scales for me is:

-Free baggage(already included in delta)
-Some sky club deal. Not huge deal for us but may actually save us in the long run on layovers if we end up traveling a lot
-Free companion fare upon RENEWAL. So my understanding is we will not get a companion fare this year but next year upon renewing and paying 200 we would
-There are some other medallion/mile perks to it too but honestly I don't understand much of that. Kinda new to this.

I am leaning towards upgrade as a ticket home(and we will definitely be going home) will cost $500 to $600. If we spend $200, then that's about $300 off. And as of next year, we will be getting the same yearly savings if we go home. Spend about $200 but get a ticket value roughly of $500 to 700 ever year. We usually go home on these trips together(at least one).

I should mention I don't think cancelling is a great option as this is her only line of credit/debt. It may be damaging to her credit to cancel it. We have also tried calling and asking them to waive the fee again or we might cancel. They didn't budge. The CSR just offered to start the cancellation process. So I don't know how everyone gets their fees waived....

Thanks for help/advise.

MountainTown

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2017, 10:09:48 PM »
Hope to give this one a bump...anyone have any thoughts on this upgrade? I am reluctant to take a $200 hit but in my head, if we are spending at least $1000 a year in delta flights...the savings will make sense.

Thoughts? Am I missing something?

 I should mention that either way we will pay $100 this year or have to cancel. Cancelling may damage credit and also make her lose her current points.

Downgrading is not an option on this card either.

Dave1442397

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2017, 05:46:52 AM »
It sounds like you'll come out ahead with the upgrade.

Why not also get another (free) AMEX card just to keep your credit rating up? If you look around, there are plenty of options: https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/bank-credit-cards/american-express/

Revelry

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2017, 06:02:53 AM »
I don't think it's a great plan.  Do you value the Delta perks that highly?  Would you buy miles at one cent per point (which is what you're doing with the annual fee up-front and opportunity cost vs putting that 2k spend on a 2% card)?  AmEx only allows you to get a signup bonus if you've never had that product before, so by upgrading you forever miss out on the 70,000 mile signup bonus which is currently available.

What is your (not wife's) oldest credit card?  If you add her as an authorized user it will reflect the same age and payment history on her credit report to help her score.  This is a good reason everyone's first credit card should have no annual fee.

I would call AmEx back, ask for the fee waived or a retention offer, and don't be afraid to cancel. 


Adding this:  she won't lose her current Delta miles since they are not tied to AmEx.  They may expire in a year or two if there's no activity, but you can just shop through the Delta portal or buy a magazine subscription or something to keep them alive a while longer.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2017, 06:05:42 AM by Revelry »

hoping2retire35

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2017, 06:52:24 AM »
I vote no.

Not a great deal to begin with, but you say 'with current points' meaning you would have to already use some points you already have just to get the flight. So you spend $2k to get 25000 pts(which =~$250), and that is with a $200 fee. So that is $2000 spend for $50. Cancel.

The other thing is Amex cards have a lifetime ban on the promotional offers per person per card, so once you get the minuscule bonus on the platinum, you can never get it again, no matter how great it is in the future; never.

MountainTown

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2017, 06:55:12 AM »
So I have no credit so I am no help. In fact I just had her add me as an AU on her's...

So she has called and they won't budge on retention. They won't waive fee and when she threatens to cancel they just say ok.

This is her only card. I think she is an AU on her parent's? She hardly uses it so IDK.

I see your point about the signup offer. Do you think it would just be good to cancel this one...then do the signup offer(70k miles)

I suppose if she is AU on her parents card...her credit shouldn't go down super bad should it?

==-=-

Also...now that she added me as an AU would cancelling it negatively impact me or if she just signs up for a new one will that be fine? And if you were wondering, I just haven't borrowed $$ for 7-10 years. Paid off all my debts awhile ago. When I married her, I decided to do the same for her but also decided to help her keep her credit as I saw the negative impacts of that.

MountainTown

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2017, 06:56:46 AM »
thanks hoping...hmm....but how do we use the points if we cancel? Can she transfer them to my delta sky miles account?

thingamabobs

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2017, 09:34:54 AM »
the points should just sit in her Delta FF account even if she cancels her Amex.

Revelry

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Re: American Express upgrade(gold to platinum) advice needed
« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2017, 11:14:17 AM »
Since she is on her parents' account her score should not be hurt too badly, depending on the parents' score of course.  It doesn't matter how SHE uses that AU card, it matters what the account is as a whole.  If they carry a balance that's bad, if they have twenty years of 100% on-time payments that's awesome.

Regardless, you both have close to zero credit history.  What I think you should do is sign up for a Fidelity Visa 2% cash back card and the requisite Cash Management Account to get full point value.  Use that for everything and don't look back.


Alternately, you can go down the churning/travel-hacking rabbit hole.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!