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Hi, I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this:
I’ve tried to upgrade my Amex gold credit card to the platinum card using the upgrade link given the 100,000 increased bonus point offer. However when I click through the link it defaults to upgrading me from my basic rewards credit card (the clear plastic one). There is no option for me to choose my preferred rewards gold credit card. Amex CS say the link will be fine and they’ll apply the bonus points manually if the wrong card is upgraded and I spend the necessary amount. But there are countless stories on here of being wary of trusting that Amex will follow though on what CS say.
I seem to recall someone having this issue when trying to upgrade from the gold to the platinum last year when the there was an upgrade offer of 40,000 points but I can’t now find that thread.
Has anyone experienced this?
Thanks so much
Are you sure the upgrade offer is 100k bonus points? Thought that was only for new signups?
I would go ahead and upgrade your basic card, assuming you don’t mind doing that and having the Gold alongside it. You can’t rely on anything from CS these days, unless you have it in writing perhaps. But do make sure you are speaking to Brighton rather than the overseas call centre.
I upgraded my basic card last year and got the bonus points in no time. I’ve downgraded that card to Gold and intend to downgrade it to the basic card again before the anniversary is up early in the summer.
@BBetter yes there’s a bonus to upgrade too: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/upgrade/platinum/
@rum did you upgrade from the AARC (the basic card) using the link to upgrade from gold to platinum? My concern is that the T&Cs make clear that you only get the bonus points if you are upgrading from the gold card and I wouldn’t be doing that here (I want to of course but the link defaults to the wrong card). I won’t be able to spend £10,000 easily so it’s a big risk to upgrade, spend the £10,000 and then not be eligible for the bonus!Ok that’s helpful – was there a tracker showing that you were on course for getting the points or did the points just turn up once you’d spent the correct amount?
Ok that’s helpful – was there a tracker showing that you were on course for getting the points or did the points just turn up once you’d spent the correct amount?
No spend tracker for upgrades like this. I just kept a record in a spreadsheet and working out from there how close I was to the target. I was actually surprised by how quickly the bonus points appeared.
@ns I can’t help but it’s definitely a bit weird as I just clicked through on the link in the email I was sent and then clicked upgrade which asked me to login into my Amex account which I did. The first thing it then asked me to do was choose whether I wanted to upgrade ARCC or Gold.
So personally I’d hold off and try again in a day or two or from a different device even.
For 100,000 points you don’t want to get it wrong!
So personally I’d hold off and try again in a day or two or from a different device even.
For 100,000 points you don’t want to get it wrong!
I would tend to agree, especially if the T&Cs specifically mention it’s only for an upgrade from Gold. A few years ago and I’d just say sod it, just upgrade whichever card it lets you, but given the above info, I’d be tempted to play it cautiously.
@ns I can’t help but it’s definitely a bit weird as I just clicked through on the link in the email I was sent and then clicked upgrade which asked me to login into my Amex account which I did. The first thing it then asked me to do was choose whether I wanted to upgrade ARCC or Gold.
So personally I’d hold off and try again in a day or two or from a different device even.
For 100,000 points you don’t want to get it wrong!
I upgraded my ARCC last year to Platinum using that link (or one similar) – I posted my data points here
I mentioned in my post that for me personally, it was a nothing ventured/nothing gained thing, since I seemingly had no other way of upgrading an ARCC, but others might feel differently and might not want to take the risk.
Very interesting. Like @Skywalker, I too previously upgraded an AARC to Platinum and got an upgrade bonus. I am now back on the ARCC, and again, using the upgrade link and signing into my account, it wants to upgrade my AARC to Platinum (I don’t hold the Gold card). The T&C on the initial upgrade offer includes this though:
“You will not receive this bonus if you have ever received an Upgrade bonus before”
Has anyone got any experience – anyone ever got more than one upgrade bonus? I’m just not sure whether they’ll actually check this…
Can I just confirm which link it is to be certain? I too currently have AARC from a previously cancelled Gold (more than 2 years ago), so for me it’s a sort of no gain no loss situation if it doesn’t come through as I don’t have a direct route to Platinum bonus anyway.
Thanks very much all for your helpful responses. It certainly looks like people have had success upgrading to platinum from AARC and getting a bonus (@rum, @Skywalker, @Rome77) despite the link and T&C referring to the gold card. I’ll have to give some thought to whether I want to risk doing this and putting £10k towards a card where there might not end up being any bonus at the end – not least because the T&Cs with this offer seem a little different as has been said elsewhere (it looks like the 75k points will only be awarded at the end of the 6 months). In my situation I also don’t want to upgrade from AARC, I want to upgrade from gold. @Froggee, I’m not sure waiting a day or trying a different browser will help. When the last offer of 40k points ran I thought about upgrading then and tried to link only to have the same thing happen. As I decided not to upgrade I didn’t think anymore of it at the time.
Can I just confirm which link it is to be certain? I too currently have AARC from a previously cancelled Gold (more than 2 years ago), so for me it’s a sort of no gain no loss situation if it doesn’t come through as I don’t have a direct route to Platinum bonus anyway.
The link is here: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/upgrade/platinum/
Can I just confirm which link it is to be certain? I too currently have AARC from a previously cancelled Gold (more than 2 years ago), so for me it’s a sort of no gain no loss situation if it doesn’t come through as I don’t have a direct route to Platinum bonus anyway.
The link is here: https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/benefits/upgrade/platinum/
Thank you!
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Isn’t that a fair quid pro quo for offering the full SUB to those who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible? This was also mentioned on the announcement a couple of days ago.
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Even though the terms say they will post after 6 months, I have a feeling they will post immediately like they usually do (just my opinion). Same with referrals, I think the terms say 8-12 weeks, but I always get them within a day or so.
I’m still debating whether to go for the upgrade or not. I’m basically looking at it as £650 for 75k MR. I don’t ascribe much value to the other benefits, and certainly would not renew for the additional 25k.
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Even though the terms say they will post after 6 months, I have a feeling they will post immediately like they usually do (just my opinion). Same with referrals, I think the terms say 8-12 weeks, but I always get them within a day or so.
I’m still debating whether to go for the upgrade or not. I’m basically looking at it as £650 for 75k MR. I don’t ascribe much value to the other benefits, and certainly would not renew for the additional 25k.
The terms re 6 months on upgrading are different to the SUB terms for new customers so there is an implication that they may keep you on the hook until after you can’t cancel for a pro-rata refund and you wouldn’t have any comeback.
With all the talk previously around upgrading from AARC and still getting the bonus as if it was upgraded from Gold, I wonder if getting the gold card now and then trying to upgrade the gold card instead, before the end of the year would be a safer route? Wonder what thoughts people have.
With all the talk previously around upgrading from AARC and still getting the bonus as if it was upgraded from Gold, I wonder if getting the gold card now and then trying to upgrade the gold card instead, before the end of the year would be a safer route? Wonder what thoughts people have.
If you ask me, there’s a lot of “ifs” in the equation. Too risky in other words. You may not get accepted for another card. Or you’re not allowed to upgrade from a new Gold to Platinum.
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Even though the terms say they will post after 6 months, I have a feeling they will post immediately like they usually do (just my opinion). Same with referrals, I think the terms say 8-12 weeks, but I always get them within a day or so.
I’m still debating whether to go for the upgrade or not. I’m basically looking at it as £650 for 75k MR. I don’t ascribe much value to the other benefits, and certainly would not renew for the additional 25k.
The terms re 6 months on upgrading are different to the SUB terms for new customers so there is an implication that they may keep you on the hook until after you can’t cancel for a pro-rata refund and you wouldn’t have any comeback.
I’m certainly not planning to cancel for a pro-rata refund, even if the points were awarded, just I think we all can agree that what Amex says in its terms, and what is reality are often two different things. But, I fully appreciate that this may be an occasion that they are going to do it, seeing as they did alter the terms for upgrades, so you are on the hook for the full £650, which again is fair, as that’s how I’m considering the offer.
I’m still unsure if the pro-rata refund terms have been changed again, or if its still only being communicated through HFP!
Thanks very much all for your helpful responses. It certainly looks like people have had success upgrading to platinum from AARC and getting a bonus (@rum, @Skywalker, @Rome77) despite the link and T&C referring to the gold card. I’ll have to give some thought to whether I want to risk doing this and putting £10k towards a card where there might not end up being any bonus at the end – not least because the T&Cs with this offer seem a little different as has been said elsewhere (it looks like the 75k points will only be awarded at the end of the 6 months). In my situation I also don’t want to upgrade from AARC, I want to upgrade from gold. @Froggee, I’m not sure waiting a day or trying a different browser will help. When the last offer of 40k points ran I thought about upgrading then and tried to link only to have the same thing happen. As I decided not to upgrade I didn’t think anymore of it at the time.
If the system is not letting you upgrade the gold card, then maybe consider upgrading the ARCC to Platinum and then downgrading the gold to ARCC?
I don’t know how well this method would work and others may have a different ideas – just suggesting a way around the dilemma 🙂
Too early for any real world experiences – but would be interested to know if the 75,000 points for Gold to Plat upgrades actually pay out on hitting the 10k spend (as per previous sign up bonuses), or after six months have passed (as per the T&Cs)
“75,000 bonus Membership Rewards® points will be awarded shortly after the end of the six months”.
If the latter than it’s a firm commitment to the £650 fee.
Even though the terms say they will post after 6 months, I have a feeling they will post immediately like they usually do (just my opinion). Same with referrals, I think the terms say 8-12 weeks, but I always get them within a day or so.
I’m still debating whether to go for the upgrade or not. I’m basically looking at it as £650 for 75k MR. I don’t ascribe much value to the other benefits, and certainly would not renew for the additional 25k.
I keep nearly been seduced by the idea of 75k/100k MR as well but then I wake up and remember I would end up with a card I don’t want and worse, give up my Gold card which is really the best travel card. I don’t see the Plat benefits as having any value for me. I pay for my wife to have one she doesn’t value but children do like the benefits of the insurance and lounges! I’m not sure they will continue to enjoy the free ride when the higher price kicks in – September for her.
Do you need to have received the email qualify for this? Or can I just go through the link posted above?
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