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Get 15,000 Amex points for upgrading your Gold to Platinum – worth it?

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American Express has sent an offer to some Preferred Rewards Gold cardholders offering them 15,000 Membership Rewards points if they upgrade to American Express Platinum.

Even if you did not receive this offer, it still seems that you can still take part – you are directed to this generic Amex website which appears open to any Amex Gold customer.

Is this a good deal?

Ordinarily, I would say ‘No’.  If you are interested in the Platinum card and already have an Amex Gold, the most effective thing to do would be to cancel your Gold card, wait 6 months and then make a fresh application for Platinum.

Because of the 6 month gap, you will qualify for the full sign-up bonus, which is currently 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This is obviously better than just 15,000 points.

However …..

At the moment, there is a good reason to consider Amex’s 15,000 point offer.

As I wrote here, the Cathay Pacific Gold card will cease to be an Amex Platinum benefit from 15th February.  As this card gives you almost all of the benefits of a British Airways Executive Club Silver card, including British Airways lounge access, it is well worth having.

If you currently have an Amex Gold, cancelling and waiting 6 months to apply for Platinum will be too late – the Cathay deal will have disappeared.

If you are an Amex Gold cardholder and are interested getting a Cathay Pacific Gold, this is a pretty good offer.

Remember that, whilst Platinum has a £450 annual fee, it is refunded pro-rata when you cancel.  You only need to spend £1,000 to trigger the 15,000 bonus points for upgrading, and you can order your Cathay card as soon as your Amex Platinum arrives.

If you found that the Platinum benefits didn’t work for you after 2-3 months, you could cancel for a fee refund – you would only be £75 – £110 out of pocket.  You would still have the extra 15,000 Membership Rewards points and the Cathay Pacific Gold card would remain valid for the full year.

The upgrade link is here if you are interested.  The Comments below suggest that your existing Gold card is immediately upgraded, so you will not have a separate Gold and Platinum card going forward.

The general American Express Platinum website, with more details on the card, is here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – April 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

1% cashback uncapped* on all your business spending (T&C apply) Read our full review

Category

American Express Gold card, American Express Membership Rewards, American Express Platinum card

Comments (104)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Mike says:
    19 Dec19 December 09:05

    Will this actually ‘upgrade’ the gold card account, or will it open a new account (with new card number) and close the old account?

    Also, what happens to the gold credit card? Is that also upgraded/closed or left alone?

    Cheers for the heads up, perfect timing for me!

    • colm says:
      19 Dec19 December 09:46

      It’s actually an upgrade. I just did it, then logged into my account, and my gold card has become a platinum card, and my the platinum card appears with my gold card balance.

    • Alan says:
      19 Dec19 December 10:55

      I did this recently (without the bonus 🙁 ) because I needed the CX gold.
      This is what happened with my gold card: the account was immediately (after approval) upgraded to platinum. They then send you the welcome pack, with a platinum card etc. Meanwhile your old gold still works like a platinum. A couple of months later, they charged the annual fee and cancelled the gold card. But yes, although it’s very well smoothed over, you card number changes. They send you a text message every time someone tries to charge your old card, so that you can keep track of all those websites where you stored it too.

      • CV says:
        19 Dec19 December 11:08

        How long after application did it take to receive the CX Gold card? Do CX email prior to this with membership details?

        I could make good use of the CX card in 5 weeks time……

        • Rob says:
          19 Dec19 December 13:58

          Cards take 10-20 days to arrive, from Hong Kong.

          Within 4 to 5 days, though, you can do a ‘Forgot username’ and then a ‘Forgot password’ using your Amex email address on the Cathay website to see if it has been done.

  • KilburnFlyer says:
    19 Dec19 December 09:44

    Have they given any indication as to when this offer is valid until?

    Secondly what dictates the expiry date of Marco Polo Gold, the date you got your Amex Plat or the date you applied for it when logged-in to your Amex Plat account page (12months on)?

    Basically I’d ideally like to have MP Gold that is valid for the month of Jan 2015 if possible as I have a trip planned then.

    Thoughts…

    • Ralph says:
      19 Dec19 December 12:14

      It is Pro-Rata the remainder of the year, I spoke with a customer service agent who confirmed

  • Dev says:
    19 Dec19 December 11:11

    I think I will give this a miss. Just got the gold card and I am still working towards the bonus 22K MR. Wife already has platinum (CX gold till dec 2014). I would rather get double MR for supermarket and fuel for 1 year than another CX gold.

  • sandgrounder says:
    19 Dec19 December 11:16

    Given Amex’s policy of using household income, referring your partner is always the best bet. However, if they already have (or recently had) an MR account, or don’t exist, this is a good choice to secure the CX Gold with a bonus.

  • Graham says:
    19 Dec19 December 11:24

    I just upgraded, and on the confirmation page it said “Card Membership Fee – £300”

    • Will says:
      19 Dec19 December 11:38

      must be a typo from the old rate. take a screenshot. you will still be charged £450 no doubt

    • thesaver79 says:
      19 Dec19 December 11:42

      That sounds great.. Have you paid for Gold this year already?

    • TimS says:
      19 Dec19 December 11:44

      Unless it is pro-rata for the remainder of your year?

      • Ralph says:
        19 Dec19 December 12:15

        Sorry, posted in the wrong spot, it is pro rata for the remainder of the year, a Customer Service Agent just confirmed this to me.

        • M says:
          19 Dec19 December 12:30

          Is that because you’ve paid the £150 gold card fee?

          • Ralph says:
            19 Dec19 December 13:42

            No, as Raffles says, the first year fee of £150 is waived, but since it is an upgrade and there is only 11 months of my membership left, AmEx are only charging 11/12’s for this years fees.

          • Josh says:
            19 Dec19 December 16:17

            11/12ths would be £412…

            Interesting if customer agent confirmed this though, as my membership resets in mid-jan. If i could upgrade, rush in and get the benefits and then cancel, i could be looking at <£100 for the perks 🙂

  • Gary says:
    19 Dec19 December 11:41

    Hi Raffles

    Do you have the link to apply for the GOLD CX club card link?

    I don’t know where it is ?

    Cheers

  • Rob says:
    19 Dec19 December 11:47

    Is the 6 months rule actually enforced? I ask because I know of people who applied for the Gold card while still holding a platinum card, and they got it and the signup bonus and they now hold both cards.

  • Mark says:
    19 Dec19 December 12:23

    Raffles, do you think there is any likelihood of a 50k Platinum signing up bonus returning anytime soon as there was earlier this year?

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