Two cards but mostly using one of them

[Maples]

I’ve got a Platinum Cashback Everyday card and I’ve recently got the Gold card. I’ll mostly be using the Gold card going forward and I’m not sure on what to do with the cashback card after 6 months or so. Amex said they can reallocate the credit limit from the cashback card to the Gold, so I’m thinking of doing this and using the cashback card every month or two to keep it active in case I decide to ditch the Gold later on. I’ll probably ask for about £2000-£2500 to be left on the cashback card and then move the rest to the Gold card.

Do you guys have an Amex card that barely gets used as well?
Anything I should be aware of?

Amex said they can reallocate the credit limits once every three months.

[John]

I don’t think there’s a formal definition of what keeping a card *active* means but I’m sure you could just use it once a year if you wanted.

Do you plan to keep the Gold card long term (paying the annual fee rather than cancelling in month 13 after getting the 10k MR spend bonus and only incurring 1/12th of the fee)?

Also a good reason to keep multiple Amexes is the offers.

[Not Long Now...]

I’ve just had my plain blue Amex rewards card cancelled “as a security measure” after 12 months of inactivity. I called, and was told nothing could be done, but if I wanted to keep the points alive rather than transferring them, I was welcome to apply for the gold card. Completely my fault, the monthly statement does give a specific warning that unless used within a month, account will be closed, but obviously I missed that, and indeed my diary note reminding me to use it or lose it. I now have 1 month to reapply or transfer, or the points disappear. So just be aware, it will automatically cancel if you just put it away and forget about it.

[Maples]

John wrote:

I don’t think there’s a formal definition of what keeping a card *active* means but I’m sure you could just use it once a year if you wanted.

Do you plan to keep the Gold card long term (paying the annual fee rather than cancelling in month 13 after getting the 10k MR spend bonus and only incurring 1/12th of the fee)?

Also a good reason to keep multiple Amexes is the offers.

Yes, I plan on keeping it long term with how things are going right now. What do you mean by having multiple cards for the offers? Are there card specific offers or the fact that I could use the one-time offers on both cards?

I think it’s best to keep the card and use it every now and then, and to avoid it having any chance of being cancelled.

[Reney]

I usually close cards that I do not use efficiently. So when there is a good referral bonus from one of my players I have lots of space to open a new card. Or that I would requalify for SUB after a 2 year break.

Maples I think what John means are the Amex Offers, you know those that says spend x at y store and get back £z or extra points. All offers are card specific but they often appear on multiple cards. For example shop small, or hotel offers. Many people here will split hotel bills on several cards if they get the same amex offer on more than one card. So having more than one card can be very helpful.

[iamlost]

I have the legacy Gold charge card, and around five years ago Amex offered me a bunch of points to open a Gold credit card (not the replacement PRG, this is another legacy product that’s very similar to the Blue card). I still hold both cards because it lets me double up on most Amex offers, Shop Small etc. and is beneficial in making my credit utilisation % lower.

[Maples]

Thanks for the responses guys, I’ll keep the card open in case I end up doubling up on the offers. I asked Amex to reallocate my credit limit and they did, just waiting for it to go through and update in the app.