American Express (US) Upgrade Offers Explained

Switching an existing credit card, including upgrading or downgrading, can make sense if there is a better card that you would prefer to have in your wallet. Maybe you are interested in a different card for the benefits that it offers, or you just want to pay a lower annual fee.

However, upgrading your existing card is the most interesting avenue as it involves changing your current card into one that has a higher annual fee. This idea of upgrading existing cards becomes even more lucrative when there are welcome bonuses or benefits attached to these upgrades, making them an easy way to drive more value without needing to take another credit hit.

Let’s take a look at American Express (US) upgrade offers and how you can benefit from these offers in your pursuit of miles and points.

What are American Express (US) Upgrade Offers?

American Express (US) offers the ability to upgrade an existing card to a higher-tier card within the same family. These upgrade offers may or may not have an upgrade bonus of points attached, which are usually received after completing a minimum spending requirement in a set period of time.

These upgrade offers can be targeted to certain account holders or can be a generic link that can be used by multiple individuals. There is no way to improve your chances of being targeted, but instead, I recommend trying any links you come across to increase your chances of being able to upgrade your existing cards.

If you click on the offer terms on an upgrade link, you’ll see text like the below example which offers 120,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $10,000 USD in 3 months when upgrading from an American Express Business Gold card (US) to an American Express Business Platinum card (US):

While not an all-inclusive list, some of the upgrade offers available on American Express (US) cards in the past include:

• Amex Gold to Amex Platinum: 75k/100k/125k Membership Rewards
• Amex Green to Amex Gold: 40k/60k/90k Membership Rewards
• Amex Business Gold to Amex Business Platinum: 100k/120k/140k Membership Rewards

The greatest value these upgrade offers provide is that they are another avenue to accrue valuable Membership Rewards points, as opposed to only through welcome bonuses. Since American Express (US) does have rules that can prevent receiving a welcome bonus more than once, plus the ever-famous pop-up jail, it’s nice to have options when it comes to increasing your points balances.

What Restrictions Exist for Upgrade Offers?

As with anything American Express (US), there are rules and restrictions that you need to be aware of before you start upgrading your cards.

Any personal cards issued by American Express (US) can only be upgraded after 1 year of holding them due to the CARD Act. This restriction does not exist for business cards, which can even be upgraded shortly after being approved for one.

If you upgrade a card with a welcome offer, you will need to keep the card open for 12 months from the date of the upgrade (not the date that the card was originally opened). If you downgrade the card or close it, the welcome bonus will be clawed back. With that in mind, make sure you take note of the date that you submitted the upgrade request, else I’m sure you can reach out to Amex via live chat to confirm the date of the upgrade.

If you upgrade a card that does not have a welcome offer attached to the upgrade offer, you do not need to hold it for any specific period of time before you make future changes to it. On the surface, this might not seem overly useful, but if you think of some of the benefits that certain cards offer, there is an angle to be had.

Upgrade offers are only available within the same American Express (US) card family, meaning you can’t upgrade a Hilton Honors co-branded card to a Marriott Bonvoy co-branded card. Logically, this makes sense and shouldn’t be surprising.

As an aside, while upgrading is an automatic process done through a link, if you want to downgrade your card in the future, you can do so via the live chat feature on the American Express website. Their chat reps are more than happy to downgrade your card and ship you a new one.

How Annual Fees Work When Upgrading a Card

Upgrading or downgrading a card results in a bunch of pro-rated charges and refunds. This is good news, as it means you won’t overpay, and it means you can potentially receive a pro-rated refund before you close the card.

As an example, let’s say I signed up for an American Express Business Gold card (US) on July 1st, and I upgraded to an American Express Business Platinum card (US) on January 1st, around 6 months after I opened the card and the upgrade had a welcome offer attached.

When I upgrade, I will receive a pro-rated refund of 6 months of the Business Gold annual fee, but will also be charged a pro-rated Business Platinum annual fee for the remaining 6 months in the calendar year. Around July 1st, I will be charged the full Business Platinum annual fee for the second cardholder year.

Once it is 12 months from the date I upgraded, I can downgrade to a no-fee or low annual fee card, such as the American Express Business Green card (US) which will result in me receiving a pro-rated refund of the remainder of the Business Platinum annual fee I paid at the start of my second cardholder year.

The biggest takeaway is to always downgrade before closing the card if you upgraded mid-year. You can even downgrade and then close the card a few days later with no issue. This will ensure you get a pro-rated refund as if you close the card mid-year, you will not receive any refund.

My Optimal American Express (US) Upgrade Strategy

When I’m looking to upgrade my eligible American Express (US) cards, there are a few things I keep in mind as part of my strategy to maximize my value and points earnings.

First of all, I only tend to upgrade when there is a welcome offer attached to the upgrade and it is worth my time, in addition to paying a fee for holding the card for an additional year. My most common upgrade offer is 120,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $10,000 USD in 3 months when upgrading from the Business Gold to the Business Platinum card. I always think this upgrade is worth it, and take advantage if the timing is right.

Before you upgrade, be prepared to capitalize on the benefits and credits that are offered on the card you are upgrading to. Once you upgrade, typically you will see the upgraded version of the card in your American Express online account the next day. You will then be able to enroll in benefits and start utilizing any credits that you can. This is even more important if you are upgrading around the start of a new quarter or when credits become available, as you don’t want to miss out.

Similarly, once you see the new card in your online account, you can start working towards the minimum spending requirement to earn that bonus. You don’t need to wait until you receive your new card from 24/7 Parcel, but you should still activate the newly upgraded card once you receive it.

I also always try to time the upgrade to be worth it the most where possible. For example, if I sign up for a Business Gold card and can complete the minimum spending requirement within two months after being approved, it would be great to upgrade to the Business Platinum once I receive the bonus, if an upgrade link is available. 

If you were able to do this, you could get both the welcome bonus on the Business Gold and the upgrade offer to the Business Platinum within 13-14 months, which as of current offers could be around 320,000 Membership Rewards points combined.

On the flip side, I don’t tend to bother upgrading cards that are near their renewal dates. I would rather pursue new applications (usually via no lifetime language links) at that point versus upgrading a card that is going to have an annual fee hit in the next month or two. 

That being said, everyone’s spending capacity is different, so you might find it easier to hit the $10,000 USD minimum spending requirement on an upgrade offer versus the $20,000 USD spending requirement on a new card welcome bonus.

Finally, I am always prepared to hold the card for 12 months from the date of the upgrade and always write down the date in my tracking spreadsheet. Once that 12-month period is over, always reach out to Amex live chat to downgrade the card to a lower annual fee or no annual fee card for the pro-rated annual fee refund, and then you can either keep the card open or close it.

Conclusion

Understanding and utilizing American Express (US) upgrade offers are a great way to build your points balances without taking on an additional credit hit. 

While there are some good opportunities to be had with personal cards, the opportunities are more vast with business cards since you don’t need to hold them for a year before upgrading, so you can effectively double dip on a welcome bonus and an upgrade bonus with good timing. If you haven’t already, consider utilizing upgrade offers when they make sense to further increase your points balances and bring your next vacation within reach.