When I recently logged into my American Express account, I received a pop-up box for my Gold Card. AMEX offered me a bonus if I upgraded my Gold Card to the AMEX Platinum card.
I’ve read that several people are seeing this on their accounts and if you’re interested in upgrading to a Platinum card, I’d recommend checking your account. My offer showed up when I was using a desktop so I’m not sure how it would look on mobile or the AMEX app.
The AMEX Platinum is an interesting option because it can be lucrative if you’re able to use a large percentage of the benefits. I was considering the card because the club access it offers will be useful on our upcoming trips. At the time, I decided it wasn’t worth it to sign up just because of that. However, I reconsidered now that AMEX is offering me 75,000 reasons to upgrade.
There are better sign-up offers for new members but I’m not eligible because I previously had a Platinum card which I canceled several years ago. I took the plunge and clicked through the website to upgrade my card.
That’s when things got a bit strange.
AMEX replied that they were reviewing my upgrade request and I’d get more information in the mail. I could continue using my card.
Was I approved for the upgrade? Why would they offer me to upgrade if I wasn’t eligible or if they weren’t going to approve it? Did I do something wrong?
My account still showed my Rose Gold card when I looked at it.
Then at 6 AM, I received an email saying my AMEX Platinum $20 Uber credit had been added to my account. I logged into my account and it now shows that I have a Platinum Card and lists all the benefits.
I guess I was approved but I still haven’t received any official email from AMEX stating that fact.
I’m cautious when dealing with AMEX because I don’t want to run afoul of the RAT team. To meet the spending requirement, I will make sure not to buy any gift cards.
The entire process was not as put together as you’d expect when a bank is asking you to sign up for a card with a $695 annual fee. But I can’t say that I’m surprised. I’m happy that I can continue to use my Rose Gold card until my new Platinum one arrives. I hope it comes before the trip because I don’t want to try to talk my way into a Delta SkyClub with a Gold Card by telling them it’s really a Platinum Card.
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18 comments
I’m done with Platinum next month. Going to product change to Green and never look back.
If you use Uber and go out to restaurants then the gold serves well.
What is the spend requirement?
$6,000 in six months.
@Chris L… the great news is that you can downgrade to the green… take an offer to upgrade to the gold… then take an offer to upgrade to the platinum…
This is actually not true. If you’ve had a specific card before, you will not qualify for another welcome offer for that same card. Even if you apply through an offer, AMEX will place a code on your account that states the bonus offer was declined since you’ve had it before. No way around it. I know because I work for them.
I think Courtney is referring to that you can get upgrade offers if you downgrade your card instead of canceling.
Are you saying that if you took a welcome offer for s brand new platinum card, then cancelled, it, that you are not eligible for a welcome bonus for a targeted offer to upgrade your gold card to platinum?
Hundreds of days points state otherwise.
I received the same invitation over the weekend as well. It made sense as I was thinking of getting the platinum but didn’t have a backup restaurant card at the time to make dropping their gold worth it. I moved forward due to the 100k/$6k spend offer and the lounge perks now that the world is opening it. It was a super sloppy process though, not as streamlined as I would expect.
Yours is showing a 5x on resturants and grocery? Is that real? Is it forever? That’s a huge perk you seemed to miss…
The details were on the next page. “5x points at U.S. Supermarkets, U.S. Gas Stations
and Restaurants Worldwide, on up to $15,000 in combined purchases, during your first 6 months of
Card Membership.”
When I saw an offer to open a Biz Gold with a sign up bonus last year, even though I already have a Biz Gold, I gave the offer a try. To my surprise, I was immediately approved (I expected to see a warning of having a Biz Gold already). I contacted Amex thru chat, and was told that, just like your case, despite the approval, my application would have to be confirmed manually. After a couple days, I received an email stating I was indeed approved and I could earn the sign up bonus. That’s before a bunch of people said that their accounts were closed after they took advantage of similar offers sent to their emails.
Keep in mind the platinum card won’t get you into Delta lounges unless you are on a Delta flight— I learned the hard way 🙁
I know the rule about having to be on a Delta flight. Sorry you found out the hard way.
You don’t have to show your platinum card in Deltas Lounge. When you sign up for the platinum Amex, you name your preferred airline and enter your skymiles #. At that point, every delta ticket is linked to the club. Just scan your delta boarding pass and walk right on in.
This was my exact experience…i couldnt understand if I was approved or not, so I called in and they confirmed it for me. My account updated the next day.
Did you end up getting the upgrade bonus as well? I had the same experience but when I asked in the online chat if the upgrade bonus was attached to my upgrade application, they said I would need to call and confirm if I was still eligible to receive the bonus
Yes. Once I hit the spending requirement, the bonus miles showed up in my account.