There is a targeted upgrade offer appearing on some Amex Gold cards this morning. Nick’s wife was targeted with an offer for 25,000 Membership Rewards points after $2,000 in spend along with 6 months of 5x on gas, supermarkets and grocery (up to $15,000). I’m not sure if that’s the standard upgrade offer or if there are other ones out there.
The Deal
- Targeted upgrade offer for American Express Gold Cardholders: Upgrade to Platinum and earn 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $2,000 in first six months. Plus, earn 5x Membership Rewards on eligible purchases on US supermarkets, US gas stations and restaurants worldwide during your first 6 months of card membership (on up to $15,000 in purchases).
Direct Link to Offer (must log-in)
Quick Thoughts
I’ve seen this same offer in several places, I’m assuming it’s the only one currently out there. While neither of our cards were targeted, it seems to be fairly common.
At first glance, this doesn’t seem like much to write home about. You’re on the hook for $450 of additional annual fee, which the 25,000pt upgrade bonus doesn’t cover. The Gold already gets 4x on grocery and restaurants, so it’s really only an additional 1x on each of those categories…and only for six months.
That said, Nick and Greg talked on this week’s podcast about whether or not the Platinum credits were worth the $695 annual fee…and their answer came out as a surprising “probably.” (See Greg’s post on maximizing the Platinum card’s value)
Amex recently made a drastic improvement the $240 entertainment credit, adding Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+ (and indirectly, HBO Max, Showtime and Starz), drastically increasing the utility of the credit. Upgrading in mid-calendar year will also give you two shots at both the $200 Airline credit and the $200 Fine Hotels and Resorts credit before downgrading back down to the Gold…or perhaps getting a retention offer.
While the dining and grocery improvement is only 1x, 5x at gas for 6 months can put a significant dent in currently astronomical gas prices, even for those who can’t/don’t take advantage of gift card purchases at gas stations. But, since the increased spending offer is only good for 6 months, it will cause you to lose out on 6 months of the Gold’s 4x on both grocery and dining before you’re able to downgrade again (it’s usually considered best practice to not downgrade within 12 months of accepting an upgrade offer).
This offer should only be considered if you’ve already had, or currently have, the Platinum card. Otherwise, upgrading will cause you to become ineligible for new enrollment welcome offers on the card, which currently are huge. If you’ve already had the Platinum, you can still get this offer. There is no hard-pull and your card numbers won’t change.
I have two Gold cards, so I’d be tempted to upgrade at least one of them if I were targeted. If I were able to max out the $25,000 grocery bonus on the Gold card for 100,000 points in a year, I would be even with maxing out the $15,000 5x Platinum upgrade offer (75,000pts + 25,000pts). Then it would simply be a question of whether or not I’d pay $450 for the first-year Platinum credits…which I probably would.
For someone who doesn’t max out their Gold card categories, I think it’s even better. Let’s say you spend $1000/month on Grocery and Restaurants with the Gold, earning 48,000 pts/year at 4x. Take six months of that spend, or $6,000, at 5x and add the 25,000 pts from the upgrade, you’re now at 55,000 pts. That’s 7,000 pts better, not counting any additional earnings on gas.
In the end, though, how worthwhile it is for you probably boils down to how much you can utilize the first-year Platinum bennies…and whether or not you want to even mess around with the “coupon book” to begin with.
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Hey Tim! Got the 75k/6k upgrade offer. Have 2 months left before annual fee hits. Can I do the minimum spend to get the 75k points, exhaust all of the annual benefits (airline, hotel, Saks, etc.) in those 2 months and then cancel or downgrade back to Gold, with only paying the prorated annual fee of 2 months? Or any chance that gets clawed back? Thanks!
Can it be done? Yes. Would I do it? No.
After accepting an upgrade offer, it’s a quick way to the ire of the RAT folks to cancel the card before 12 months (similar to a SUB). That said, you absolutely could get the bonus and then try for a retention offer at the card anniversary…I just wouldn’t cancel it before 12 months are up. Remember also, you can still double dip the credits on the first year of membership.
Is keeping the card for 12 months defined as waiting until you’re dinged with the 2nd year’s annual fee or right before it hits? I have many gold cards opened where the offer bonus requires keeping the card for 12 months or the bonus is forfeited.
You don’t have to cancel the card before the annual fee hits to avoid paying it. You have until 30 days from the closing date of the statement that the annual fee appears on to cancel and get a full refund. It’s always advisable to cancel after the annual fee hits, not before…and sometimes you won’t see retention offers until after the annual fee posts as well.
Does AMEX automatically refund the annual fee that shows on the last statement or would that need to be requested after cancelling?
They will do it automatically, it’s standard. It’s fine to tell them that you’re cancelling because of the annual fee. In my opinion, it’s always worth asking the phone or chat rep if there’s a retention offer that might make it worth keeping the card a 2nd year. There’s often going to be one or more one your account after the 2nd annual fee posts.
I had a Green card that I upgraded to Gold last month with a 40k bonus. Now, that same card has an upgrade offer for 75k to Platinum (I’ve had both the Gold and Platinum before). I’m thinking of finishing the spend for the Gold upgrade bonus then going for the Platinum once the Gold bonus posts. Any RAT issues with upgrading the same card twice in 2 months?
I got 100K offer for 6K spend.
That’s a terrible offer. I got 100k, $100 statement credit, and 5X on grocery and restaurants for 6 months to upgrade from Gold to Plat about 4 months back. I don’t remember if it was $4k or $6k spend.
Last month I received an offer to spend $6000 and get 100000 points when upgrading my gold to platinum. I’ve only had my gold for a year and received a 100000 signup for that as well. Didn’t make sense but I’ll take it!
Absolutely!
I received the same offer last month and jumped on it
Maybe I’m missing something, but this doesn’t seem as good as best current plat offer of 150k MRM plus the 10x at restaurants for 6 months.
It isn’t. You should never accept an upgrade offer if you’re eligible for a new sign-up bonus as it will wipe out your eligibility. All of these upgrade offers should only be considered by folks who already have had or do have the Plat.
Wow. How did you get 100K signup on the gold last year? I got 75K through CardMatch.
I received an offer last week to upgrade to Platinum for 75,000 Membership points when you spend $6,000 in 6 months. I’ve checked again today and now it’s 25,000 Membership points when you spend $2,000. Just my luck.
Yeah, that’s not as fun. 🙂
It does depend a little bit on how much you can maximize those 5x categories. If you do that same $6K spend within the catagories, you’re up to 55,000 points, better than a kick in the pants…but I’d rather have the 75/$6k for sure,
Wife was eligible but terms say you cannot get this offer if you’ve had the Plat before. Does that mean just the 25k or the 5x as well? I don’t think it’s a great offer as like you say, it’s only 1x more and we already have 4 plats (going to close 2 this year at renewal without a good retention offer).
Oh, that’s strange…those terms weren’t there on the one I saw. It would refer to both, so stay clear of it.
Amex failed to award the points from their previous offer to me despite meeting the qualifications. As a result, I have transitioned personal and corporate spending to a more honorable financial institution and deprecated use of our Amex cards.
What a terrible offer… consult a mental health professional before you click accept (and then still don’t click it).
Got a 100k offer last week to upgrade Gold to Plat. Spend is 6k in 6 months. Almost broke the mouse clicking “Accept” so fast.
I checked and an offer for 75,000 points to upgrade to Platinum popped up.
That terrific! What’s the required spend? Any bonus categories?
This is a really subpar offer but has been around for quite some time. I had this offer first show up on my Gold card sometime in mid-October 2021. My renewal date was end of November and I wasn’t interested in this offer, so I kept lurking for a better offer with the back-up option of applying fresh for Platinum card and cancel gold. In early November, the offer improved to 100k points for the same spend (6k) and 5x on restaurant and small shop, along with $150 statement credit. Needless to say, I took it. I was even earning +4 points at that time since I had earned a referral offer.
Last month, my brother’s Gold was up for renewal and he was getting upgrade offer for 75k points and 5x small shop/restaurant. He was also offered for 150k points (same min. spend) through cardmatch. His offer didn’t improve, so he had his wife refer him from her gold card and applied for new Platinum, getting 180k points (150k for Platinum + 30k for referral) for the same minimum spend.
Why did I write this? Just to provide a couple of data points on these upgrade offers that seem highly targeted and dynamic.
I downgraded my Vanilla Platinum to the Gold last week and see this upgrade offer. Interesting.