Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
Update: Some readers are reporting a similar offer but with the chance to earn 100,000 points after $6,000 on purchases in the first six months.
A reader in our Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group has reported on an interesting targeted upgrade offer he received to upgrade his Gold card to a Platinum card that includes both a nice stash of points and 5x in select categories on up to $15K in combined purchases during the first 6 months. This could certainly be an interesting offer for some, though ultimately I think it makes me more hopeful for other creative offers to come than excited about this specific offer (YMMV). Note that there are two different upgrade offers being reported — see both below.
Upgrade Offer #1:
Upgrade Offer #2:
The Offer
- Amex has sent out the following targeted offers to upgrade the Gold card to the Platinum card:
- Offer 1: Earn 75,000 points after spending $6,000 in the first six months plus earn 5x on eligible purchases at US supermarkets, US gas stations, and restaurants worldwide on up to $15K in purchases during the first 6 months.
- Offer 2: Earn 100,000 points after spending $6,000 in the first six months plus earn 5x on eligible purchases at US supermarkets, US gas stations, and restaurants worldwide on up to $15K in purchases during the first 6 months.
Quick Thoughts
The reader who reported this offer previously had the Platinum card and cancelled it in 2020 due to the pandemic. He currently has a Gold card and received the offer above to upgrade to the Platinum card. Keep in mind that upgrade offers typically do not exclude those who have or have had the card before (unlike new card welcome offers, which typically have once-per-lifetime language).
At first glance, this looked pretty exciting to me. I imagine that many people could hit most of the $6,000 spending requirement in the included 5x categories and come out with about 105,000 or 135,000 total points (75K or 100K from the targeted upgrade bonus offer and 30,000 points from $6K spend in the included 5x categories). From that perspective, this is a great upgrade offer. Keep in mind that you’d also get all of the other Platinum card benefits like the $200 annual Fine Hotels & Resorts credit, $200 airline incidental credit, up to $200 in Uber credits ($15 each month and $35 in December), up to $100 in Sak’s credits ($50 Jan-Jun and $50 Jul-Aug, enrollment required), Centurion lounge access, Delta Sky Club access when flying Delta, etc. For more details on Platinum card perks, see our Amex Platinum Card Complete Guide.
On the other hand, the Gold card already earns 4x at US Supermarkets and restaurants, so (apart from the 75K / 100K bonus component of the offer) you’re really only earning 1 additional point in those temporary bonus categories with the upgrade. From that angle, the 5x categories on the upgrade offer may seem less appealing. On the other hand, it is nice that you temporarily don’t lose out on those category bonuses with the upgrade offer and you do pick up the chance to earn a nice number of bonus points and other Platinum card benefits mentioned above. The opportunity cost of the spend required for the upgrade offer is essentially nullified.
Do also keep in mind that if you upgrade you will be on the hook for the Platinum card’s annual fee. When upgrading, Amex gives you a prorated refund on your Gold card annual fee and then charges the full Platinum card fee. As an example, if you are exactly six months into your Gold card year, you would get a refund of $125 (half the Gold card fee) and then you would be charged the full Platinum card fee. The reader who reported this just had his Gold card fee post a couple of weeks ago, so he should get a full refund of the fee and then owe the new Platinum card fee which would post soon thereafter.
Ultimately, I’m glad to see Amex continue to throw out more bonus points and to make spend more rewarding with these first-six-months bonus category offers and happier yet to see that it hasn’t resulted in a reduction in the bonus points typically associated with upgrade offers.
H/T: Reader Jeff
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
I have the 75K points + 5x categories offer on my Gold card. I’ve never had any Plat card. My objective is to take advantage of both the upgrade offer (Gold to Plat) and the welcome offer (new Plat).
Would accepting the upgrade offer preclude me from getting the welcome offer sometime down the road since I would have had the Plat before (from the upgrade) even though I would have never received the welcome offer for the Plat?
I took an offer to upgrade my Gold to Plat back in November for 100k MR points and $150 statement credit after $6k spend, as well as 5X points on restaurant and grocery for 6 months. While I didn’t check prior to taking the upgrade, I’ve been in AMEX pop-up jail for a couple years so this seemed like a good opportunity.
[…] HT: FM […]
Unfortunately I just cancelled my Gold card. A mistake as I should have downgraded it anyway.
I had similar offer available in the app. Upgrade from Gold (or green) to platinum for 75k points plus 10x gas and groceries for 6 months up to 15-25k spend… I can’t recall but it was more than I could spend in 6 months on those categories anyway. Just downgraded my existing platinum to green card and had just completed a retention offer on the gold. Upgrade offer seemed strange when I had just downgraded from the platinum but I’ll take it.
Where in the app was it? I’ve never seen an upgrade offer in the app. Cancelled my Platinum 4 and a half years ago. Still waiting for Amex to “forget” that I ever had a Platinum.
What if you recently accepted a retention offer with spend requirement on gold, and then received this offer? Could you essentially double dip the spends, or would you need to complete the retention spend and receive the points before accepting the upgrade offer?
I believe you can double up there, but I’m not 100% sure.
[…] HT: FM […]
This is a terrible offer… mine was 100k MR after $6k spend plus 5x at restaurants and supermarkets for 6 months up to $25k.
Basically everything was better than this.
You have that offer now? I haven’t seen that. Could you send a screen shot to mailbag at frequent miler dot com?
I was last October. Posted about it on your FaceBook page, many people said they had the same offer. I have the pdf saved, will email now.
I already cashed out long ago 🙂
I took that plus $150 statement credit back in November.
Yes, I got that too! 🙂