Amex Delta Gold to Platinum Upgrade Offer

[UncleB]

Hello friends!

This might be old news, but in case anybody is interested there is apparently an upgrade offer once you hit the 12th month with a Amex Delta Gold.  I actually found the offer when I went in to prepare to close the card (I've found an airline card isn't a fit for me) and I did a screencap to share here.

I suspect it would be more lucrative to just app for the Delta Platinum outright if somebody was interested in it anyway, since that's the case with many Amex upgrades.  Again, apologies if this is well-known.

This banner displayed when I was looking at the Delta Gold account summary:

And here is the landing page for the 'Learn More' link:

Since the AF about to be charged is $95 (which I considered paying at least once), basically I could get 25k SkyMiles by just paying $100 more. 

Of course taking this offer would also mean missing out on any future better offer for the Platinum Delta - I think right now the public offer is 35k SkyMiles for $1000 spend if you're willing to take the 'ding' for a new account (and sometimes the bonus can be more).

Again, I don't think this is a good fit for me but it might be for someone else. 

[AverageJoesCredit]

Thanks for sharing UncleB

[Noctilum]

There is also an offer for 50,000 miles but no MQM's going on right now with $1k spend in 3 months. Personally, I would wait for the 70,000mi. 10k MQM offer that seems to come around every 3 months. You only get a sign up bonus once in a life time with Amex so make the most of it!

[UncleB]

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@Noctilum wrote:
There is also an offer for 50,000 miles but no MQM's going on right now with $1k spend in 3 months. Personally, I would wait for the 70,000mi. 10k MQM offer that seems to come around every 3 months. You only get a sign up bonus once in a life time with Amex so make the most of it!

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This I agree with completely.  I didn't dig deep into the language on the upgrade to see if it had the 'once in a lifetime' wording (I know sometimes they don't) so for someone who has already had the Delta Platinum previously the upgrade might (?) be a consideration (assuming they have already received a 'proper' bonus previously and assuming the fine print allows for the upgrade bonus in spite of this). 

However for someone who has never had the Delta Platinum before (like myself) I don't think the upgrade is a good idea at all (again, IMO).  I'll never fly enough for the MQMs to come into play, but the increased SkyMile bonus alone on a fresh approval could be worth getting a new tradeline if the offer was "right", especially once combined with the $100 statement credit for making a Delta purchase on the new Delta Platinum account (which would help offset some of the first year's AF, which is not waived for the Delta Platinum).

[thummel]

Thanks for the helpful information UncleB!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info UncleB. I'm hoping I receive a really good offer to upgrade to the Delta Reserve. Unfortunately I have 4-5 more months b4 I got my 12 month mark with the Delta Gold.

[Noctilum]

The standard offering for a new Reserve is 10k MQM and 10k miles after first purchase. It really isn't much IMO so I'd ask to match it. My guess is they will offer half though. At least it's not as big of a throw away, though, as it would be taking the Platinum with half its highest known offer.

[Anonymous]

This is interesting. It's common knowledge that you can upgrade to the Hilton Surpass like this, but I had never heard about it for the Delta card. I canceled my Delta in April, my 11th month of having it. I may have taken this offer for the extra $100 in the annual fee. I realize you aren't maximizing the sign up bonus that way, but you still get something. I may do the no hard pull/upgrade thing when the 1 year on my Hilton card comes around.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the heads up UncleB.

[grillandwinemaster]

You know UNCLE B is a "heavy hitter" when even AMEX refers to him as "UNCLE B!" 😎