Downgrade paths: How to keep your card but break up with your annual fee or find a better fit

Sick of paying the annual fee on your credit card? Before you cancel it, consider whether you may be able to product change to a card that better fits your needs and/or has no annual fee. Downgrading/product-changing your card typically keeps your account history intact, and it can be a smart strategy for maintaining a relationship with the bank. It can also preserve future options to upgrade to a card you want but can not get as a new cardholder for one reason or another.

Readers often ask us about options for specific cards, so we made this post to be a quick-reference resource. This post isn’t meant to be read top to bottom, but rather it is set up so that you can check out the key things to know and then find your current card in the table of contents and skip right to your options from that particular card.

Key things to know

A few key items to know about product changes:

1. Almost all issuers allow some sort of product change (upgrade/downgrade).
2. Typically, requesting a product change can be done by calling the number on the back of your credit card.
3. With rare exception, you will not earn a bonus with a product change. You typically must open a new card to receive an introductory bonus.
4. The flexibility you are allowed in product changing varies tremendously by issuer. In this post, we will list all known downgrade path options.
5. You can not product change from a business card to a consumer card or vice versa.
6. In most cases, you will need to have your account open for at least 12 months before an issuer will allow a product change.
7. Yes, you can (usually) have more than one of the same card. In other words, if you already have No Annual Fee card X and you want to downgrade Big Annual Fee Card Y, it is usually possible to downgrade Big Annual Fee Card Y to No Annual Fee Card X and have two No Annual Fee Card Xs.
8. You may want to first check for a retention offer. The bank may be willing to waive the annual fee or provide a bonus offer that outweighs the cost of the annual fee.
9. If you ultimately decide to cancel instead of downgrading / product changing, make sure you know what happens to your points. Bank points can be kept alive in most instances, but you may need to move them to another card first. Airline miles and hotel points are with the airline or hotel program and are generally unaffected by whether you keep, cancel, or downgrade your card.
10. Note that an issuer can deny a product change request. While very uncommon for issuers that allow product changes, this is why each section below says that you can request a downgrade.

American Express Cards

Amex Platinum (consumer) card

You can downgrade to the Amex Gold Card or the Amex Green Card. Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

You can not product change an Amex Platinum card to any other Amex card other than those listed above. There is no downgrade option that carries no annual fee. If you want to eliminate annual fees entirely, consider getting the Amex Everyday card or the Blue Business Plus card. Those cards have no annual fee, and if you are the primary cardholder on either of them, your Membership Rewards points will stay intact and transferable even if you cancel your Platinum card.

Also note that you can not product change a co-branded Platinum card (like the Schwab or Morgan Stanley) to a Gold or Green card.

Amex Gold card (consumer)

You can downgrade to the Amex Green Card.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

There is no downgrade option that carries no annual fee. If you want to eliminate annual fees entirely, consider getting the Amex Everyday card or the Blue Business Plus card. Those cards have no annual fee, and if you are the primary cardholder on either of them, your Membership Rewards points will stay intact and transferable even if you cancel your Gold card.

Amex Business Platinum card

You can downgrade to the Amex Business Gold Card or the Amex Business Green Card. Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

You can not product change an Amex Business Platinum card to any other Amex card other than those listed above. There is no downgrade option that carries no annual fee. If you want to eliminate annual fees entirely, consider getting the Amex Everyday card or the Blue Business Plus card. Those cards have no annual fee, and if you are the primary cardholder on either of them, your Membership Rewards points will stay intact and transferable even if you cancel your Business Platinum card.

Amex Business Gold card

You can downgrade to the Amex Business Green Card.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

There is no downgrade option that carries no annual fee. If you want to eliminate annual fees entirely, consider getting the Amex Everyday card or the Blue Business Plus card. Those cards have no annual fee, and if you are the primary cardholder on either of them, your Membership Rewards points will stay intact and transferable even if you cancel your Gold card.

Amex Everyday Preferred card

You can downgrade to the Amex Everyday Card.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Blue Cash Preferred Card

You can downgrade to the Blue Cash Everyday Card. You may also be able to downgrade to the Cash Magnet card.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Delta Reserve card (consumer)

You can downgrade to the Amex Delta Platinum, Amex Delta Gold Card, or Amex Delta Blue card (the Delta Blue card has no annual fee). Whether you product change or cancel, your Delta miles remain with Delta and are not lost.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Delta Platinum card (consumer)

You can downgrade to the Amex Delta Gold Card or the Amex Delta Blue card (the Delta Blue card has no annual fee).

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Delta Reserve Business card

You can downgrade to the Amex Delta Platinum Business or Amex Delta Gold Business Card. There is no Delta business card with no annual fee. Whether you product change or cancel, your Delta miles remain with Delta and are not lost.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Delta Platinum Business card

You can downgrade to the Amex Delta Gold Business Card. There is no Delta business card with no annual fee.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. That said, Amex family language may already lock you out of bonuses on these other options.

Amex Hilton Honors Aspire card

You can downgrade to the Amex Hilton Surpass or the Amex Hilton Honors card. The Surpass offers good bonus categories and the chance to spend toward a free night certificate, whereas the Amex Hilton Honors card carries no annual fee.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. Note that Amex family language does not apply to the Hilton cards. You therefore do not want to downgrade to a card you’ve never had. Instead, it would make more sense to open that desired card as a new account while you’re still eligible for the welcome bonus, then consider downgrading your Amex Hilton Aspire.

Amex Hilton Honors Surpass card

You can downgrade to the Amex Hilton Honors card.

Keep Amex lifetime language in mind: if you product change, you may not be eligible to receive a welcome bonus in the future on the card to which you’ve downgraded. Note that Amex family language does not apply to the Hilton cards. You therefore do not want to downgrade to a card you’ve never had. Instead, it would make more sense to open that desired card as a new account while you’re still eligible for the welcome bonus, then consider downgrading your Amex Hilton Aspire.

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card

You can downgrade to the Amex Marriott Bonvoy card. While the Amex Marriott Bonvoy card is not available to new applicants, it is a product change option for Brilliant cardholders. The Amex Marriott Bonvoy card has a $95 annual fee and comes with an annual free night certificate worth up to 35,000 points every anniversary.

Other Amex cards

Most Amex cards can be product changed, but only within the card family (i.e. a Delta card to another Delta card or a Membership Rewards credit card to another Membership Rewards credit card). You can not product change across families (i.e. you can not change from a cash back card to a Membership Rewards card) nor card type (i.e. you can not change from a “Pay Over Time” card, which include the Platinum, Gold, and Green cards, to a “credit card” like the Everyday Preferred).

Bank of America Cards

Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card

You can downgrade to the Bank of America Customized Cash card or the Bank of America Unlimited Cash card. You can not product change to a co-branded card like the Alaska cards.

Bank of America Alaska Airlines Visa Signature

Some cardholders have been able to downgrade to a no-annual-fee Bank of America-branded card like the Customized Cash Rewards, Travel Rewards, or Unlimited Cash Rewards card. However, note that not all cardmembers are eligible. I was able to product change my Alaska card years ago, but data points have always been mixed as to whether an agent sees this as an option. It’s worth a call to ask before deciding whether to cancel.

Barclays Cards

Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Silver or Aviator Red

You can downgrade to a Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard (light grey color), which has no annual fee and only earns 1 mile per $2 spent.

Barclays JetBlue Premier card

You can downgrade to JetBlue Plus or the JetBlue card.

Barclays JetBlue Plus card

You can downgrade to the JetBlue card.

Barclays Wyndham Rewards Earner Plus card

You can downgrade to the Wyndham Rewards Earner card.

Other Barclays cards

Barclays usually allows for a product change, but typically only within a card family.

Capital One Cards

Capital One Venture X Rewards Card

Capital One is an odd bird for product changes. They refer to any product change as an “upgrade,” and the system only allows for targeted “upgrades” / product changes. You will probably be able to change to something else, but which card(s) you have access to will vary from person to person. You’ll just have to call and ask or dig around in your online account under “I Want To…” and find “Offers and Upgrades”.

Note that it may be possible to change from a card that earns miles to a card that earns cash back or vice versa. Usually, your card network will not be changed (i.e. if you have a Mastercard, it is likely that your “upgraded” card will be a Mastercard even if that’s not the network on which new accounts are usually issued).

Capital One Venture Rewards Card

Capital One is an odd bird for product changes. They refer to any product change as an “upgrade” and the system only allows for targeted “upgrades” / product changes. You will probably be able to change to something else, but which card(s) varies from person to person. You’ll just have to call and ask or dig around in your online account under “I Want To…” and find “Offers and Upgrades”.

Note that it may be possible to change from a card that earns miles to a card that earns cash back or vice versa. Usually, your card network will not be changed (i.e. if you have a Mastercard, it is likely that your “upgraded” card will be a Mastercard even if that’s not the network on which new accounts are usually issued).

Capital One Savor Card

Capital One is an odd bird for product changes. They refer to any product change as an “upgrade” and the system only allows for targeted “upgrades” / product changes. You will probably be able to change to something else, but which card(s) varies from person to person. You’ll just have to call and ask or dig around in your online account under “I Want To…” and find “Offers and Upgrades”.

Note that it may be possible to change from a card that earns miles to a card that earns cash back or vice versa. Usually, your card network will not be changed (i.e. if you have a Mastercard, it is likely that your “upgraded” card will be a Mastercard even if that’s not the network on which new accounts are usually issued).

Chase Cards

Chase Ink Business Premier

I do not believe it is possible to product change an Ink Business Premier card.

You can not product change this card to a co-branded card like one from an airline or hotel.

Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business

You can request a downgrade to a Chase Ink Business Preferred, Chase Ink Business Cash, or Chase Ink Business Unlimited card. The Business Preferred has a $95/year annual fee; the other two options don’t have an annual fee at all.

You can’t convert this card to a co-branded card like one from an airline or hotel.

Chase Ink Business Preferred

You can request a downgrade to a Chase Ink Business Cash or Chase Ink Business Unlimited card, either of which has no annual fee.

You can’t convert this card to a co-branded card like one from an airline or hotel.

Chase Sapphire Reserve

You can downgrade to a Chase Sapphire Preferred, a Chase Sapphire Card (which has no annual fee and only earns 1 point per $2 spent – note that this card is not available for new applicants, but rather is only a product change option), or one of the Freedom cards. It doesn’t matter if you already have the card to which you downgrade. For instance, if you already have a Freedom Flex card and you want to downgrade your Sapphire Reserve card, you can still product change your Sapphire Reserve and simply have a second Freedom Flex card.

You can not product change this card to a co-branded card like one from an airline or hotel.

Chase Sapphire Preferred

You can downgrade to a Chase Sapphire Card (which has no annual fee and only earns 1 point per $2 spent – note that this card is not available for new applicants, but rather is only a product change option), or one of the Freedom cards. It doesn’t matter if you already have the card to which you downgrade. For instance, if you already have a Freedom Flex card and you want to downgrade your Sapphire Reserve card, you can still product change your Sapphire Reserve and simply have a second Freedom Flex card.

You can not product change this card to a co-branded card like one from an airline or hotel.

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bountiful

You can product change to another Chase Marriott card, like the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless or the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card. The Bold card has no annual fee.

Note that you may also be able to upgrade to the Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa, an excellent card which is no longer available for new applicants but typically is available for product changes.

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the Marriott family.

Chase Marriott Bonvoy Boundless

You can product change to another Chase Marriott card like the Chase Marriott Bonvoy Bold card, which has no annual fee.

Note that you may also be able to upgrade to the Chase Ritz-Carlton Visa, an excellent card which is no longer available for new applicants but typically is available for product changes.

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the Marriott family.

Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Priority Card

You can downgrade to the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card or the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card. Note that all of the Southwest cards have an annual fee.

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the Southwest family.

Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Card

You can downgrade to the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus card. Note that all of the Southwest cards have an annual fee.

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the Southwest family.

Chase United Club Infinite

You can downgrade to the Chase United Quest card, the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card, or the Chase United Gateway card (note that the Gateway card has no annual fee).

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the United family.

Chase United Quest

You can downgrade to the Chase United MileagePlus Explorer card or the Chase United Gateway card (note that the Gateway card has no annual fee).

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the United family.

Chase United MileagePlus Explorer

You can downgrade to the Chase United Gateway card (note that the Gateway card has no annual fee).

You can’t convert this card to a card outside of the United family.

Other Chase cards

Chase typically allows for product changes within a card family (i.e. a card that airline miles can only be product changed to another card that earns the same type of airline miles). They sometimes have a minimum credit line for a particular type of card (i.e. Visa Signature vs Visa Infinite). If you have more than one card, you can ask to reallocate limits if necessary (only personal to personal or business to business).

Citibank Cards

Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Card

Citi typically allows for a product change to any other currently available Citi product. In other words, you could product change your American Airlines card to a Citi Double Cash or Custom Cash card — or just about any other Citi card.

Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Platinum Select

Citi typically allows for a product change to any other currently available Citi product. In other words, you could product change your American Airlines card to a Citi Double Cash or Custom Cash card — or just about any other Citi card.

Citi Strata Premier

Citi typically allows for a product change to any other currently available Citi product. Typical downgrade options for a Premier are to a Citi Double Cash or Custom Cash card, though be sure to read about how to keep your Citi points alive.

U.S. Bank Cards

U.S. Bank Altitude Power card

U.S. Bank will typically allow for a product change to any of their other bank-branded cards, but not to a co-branded card (which is to say that you can not product change one of their Altitude or Cash back cards to a Korean Airways card, but you can change between Altitude and Cash back products). U.S. Bank offers several cards with no annual fee that may be of interest depending on your spending patterns, including the U.S. Bank Cash+ and the U.S. Bank Altitude Go.

U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve

U.S. Bank will typically allow for a product change to any of their other bank-branded cards, but not to a co-branded card (which is to say that you can not product change one of their Altitude or Cash back cards to a Korean Airways card, but you can change between Altitude and Cash back products). U.S. Bank offers several cards with no annual fee that may be of interest depending on your spending patterns, including the U.S. Bank Cash+ and the U.S. Bank Altitude Go.

U.S. Bank Shopper Rewards

U.S. Bank will typically allow for a product change to any of their other bank-branded cards, but not to a co-branded card (which is to say that you can not product change one of their Altitude or Cash back cards to a Korean Airways card, but you can change between Altitude and Cash back products). U.S. Bank offers several cards with no annual fee that may be of interest depending on your spending patterns, including the U.S. Bank Cash+ and the U.S. Bank Altitude Go.

Wells Fargo Cards

Wells Fargo Autograph Journey

Wells Fargo allows for product changes within the Wells Fargo app or web interface (under the option to manage your account, look for an option to “switch my card”). Best product change options would include the Wells Fargo Autograph, Wells Fargo Active Cash, or Wells Fargo Attune card. Keep in mind that your account likely must be open for at least 1 year before you can product change.

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