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In response to my posts detailing the Marriott Bonvoy credit cards, several readers asked if it would be possible to downgrade from the Bonvoy Brilliant Amex (originally SPG Lux) to the Bonvoy Amex (originally SPG). There are two key reasons this question is important:
- The SPG card (soon to be Bonvoy Amex) will no longer be available to new applicants after February 12, 2019, so the downgrade path may be the only way to get this card in the future.
- The Bonvoy Brilliant ($450 per year) is much more expensive than the Bonvoy Amex ($95 per year). Many have said that they would like to downgrade after one year with the SPG Lux / Bonvoy Brilliant so that they don’t have to pay another big annual fee.
As stated in the title of this post, the answer is Yes: It will be possible to product change from Bonvoy Brilliant to Bonvoy Amex even after February 12th when the latter is no longer available to new applicants.
Specifically, this information comes from Heather Norton, Director of Public Affairs and Communications at Amex consumer division. She emailed me the following: “Yes, Card Members can continue transfer from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card to the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Card even after the latter is no longer available to new applicants.”
See also:
- Bonvoy Opportunities
- Marriott Bonvoy credit card changes announced
- Which Marriott Bonvoy card is best?
- Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide
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If I never had the spg card, could I downgrade to it after a year? Thanks.
The SPG card no longer exists but yes you can downgrade to the Marriott Bonvoy equivalent.
Hi Greg The Frequent Miler,
I upgrade my AMEX SPG to SPG Luxury last year October and received the upgrade bonus of 100,000 Marriott points. And I also payed for the partial annual fee for the SPG Luxury because my card anniversary in on March. That mean my new annual fee is going to hit soon. My question is is it ok for me to downgrade back to Marriott Bonvoy Amex (aka the old SPG Amex) to avoid the $450 annual fee? I already used the card perks like $300 in statement credits, Priority pass and Global Entry. If I downgrade the card would it affect the Priority pass? or should I wait another year to downgrade the card?
Thank you
Mark
Good question! First, I’m not sure whether or not your Priority Pass would be invalidated right away. I’d guess that it will remain good until its expiration date, but I’m not 100% sure.
The main question, though, I think is more about whether it will harm your relationship with Amex to downgrade in less than a year of having upgraded the card. I think it’s unlikely Amex would retaliate (by clawing back your upgrade bonus, for example), but you never know. A safer approach is to pay the annual fee and wait until you’ve had the upgraded card for a year, then downgrade. They should then give you a pro-rated refund.
[…] Brilliant (for the bonus, maybe to spend $75k to get my 10th lifetime Marriott Platinum year, downgrade to the legacy Amex Marriott […]
Thank you so much for covering this, Greg.
Getting the Amex SPG was on my bucket list, but I’m currently under 5/24. My focus is on Chase at the moment. I want to get all three Amex SPG/Marriott cards. I value the anniversary night benefit each card provides. I was worried I would not have an option to get the third card after the deadline. I’m a little disappointed that I won’t get a third welcome bonus, though. I’ll get plenty of value out of an additional anniversary night each year.
If I already have the SPG card can I still downgrade the SPG Luxury card after I receive my 50k free night cert? In other words, can I hold two of the same SPG cards?
Good question. I’m not sure.
how confusing…Bonvoy Brilliant (As u noted elsewhere), Boundless, whatever……why can’t we just do like Stone – Copper – Bronze – Silver – Gold – Platinum – Titanium! How about Amethyst no-fee version? And no, I do not want to eat any food with Titanium dioxide in it, thank you. Nor do I want to eat food cooked on titanium ware or Copper for that matter.
When should you downgrade from Lux/Brilliant to SPG Amex? Just after your anniv date on the Lux to get the anniv night from the Lux but avoid the Lux fee? Thanks!
The free night may take up to 8 weeks to be deposited, so if you wait to downgrade, you’ll pay the annual fee and then get most of it back when they prorate the refund. So, yes, that’s a good approach.
[…] 1/24/2019, 7:15 pm Central time – Frequent Miler spoke to the Amex Director of Public Affairs and Communications about downgrades. He learned that downgrades from the Amex SPG Luxury card (Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant) to the […]
Greg, do you know if all the previous Ritz benefits will be offered on the new Ritz card (e.g. yearly anniversary 50,000 point hotel? This may be a better option when Marriott hotels change to peak/off peak rates.
Yes I believe so
[…] one might possibly be able to product change down to this card from a Luxury card. Good news: The Frequent Miler confirms via an Amex spokesperson that it will indeed be possible to downgrade a Luxury card, soon to be the […]
So then it comes down to sign up bonus, unless for some reason I cannotvget sognup bonus on more than one card? I remember there were restrictions announced back in August but how do those play out with the new Bonvoy cards? Which signup bonuses can I earn if I don’t have any of the Marriott/SPG/Bonvoy cards? I am mostly focused on the $95 card options.
To get more than one $95 card and bonus, you can either do personal and biz Chase cards, or personal and biz SPG cards.
Awesome news! Thanks for checking this out.