Upgrade BCE to BCP?

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

Hi I currently have an offer on my account to upgrade my BCE to the BCP with a $250 bonus with $2,000 spend. I dont want the BCP because it doesnt fit my spending to warrant the $95 AF, but a $250 bonus (effectively a $155 bonus minus the AF) would be nice. If I upgrade will I take any HP? Will the account information be reported the same to the credit bureaus? and more importantly, can I reuqest to switch back to BCE before anniversary to not have to pay the AF?

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

Someone will have all the answers to your questions. I would look into the retention offers on that card as well might make it worth keeping for another year if they offer you something good around your first anniversary.

. If the bonus is available for new applications you could apply then maybe combine after a year. Might be worth it if your aaoa is solid and you'll take on anyways. If higher limits are a goal of yours.

MrDisco99 · ‎10-10-2017

If you've never had the card before, it may be advantageous to get it new first. If you take the upgrade you will not be eligible for a signup bonus in the future. If you get a new one then upgrade the BCE you can get the bonus twice.

As to your questions, Amex will not do a HP on an upgrade. Your credit report will remain unchanged, i.e. the same account will continue aging as before. And you always have the option to downgrade, though they will typically try to throw you retention offers to get you to keep it. Sometimes they are worth it and sometimes not.

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Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

@MrDisco99 wrote:
If you've never had the card before, it may be advantageous to get it new first. If you take the upgrade you will not be eligible for a signup bonus in the future. If you get a new one then upgrade the BCE you can get the bonus twice.

As to your questions, Amex will not do a HP on an upgrade. Your credit report will remain unchanged, i.e. the same account will continue aging as before. And you always have the option to downgrade, though they will typically try to throw you retention offers to get you to keep it. Sometimes they are worth it and sometimes not.

excellent information thank you so much!

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi I currently have an offer on my account to upgrade my BCE to the BCP with a $250 bonus with $2,000 spend. I dont want the BCP because it doesnt fit my spending to warrant the $95 AF, but a $250 bonus (effectively a $155 bonus minus the AF) would be nice. If I upgrade will I take any HP? Will the account information be reported the same to the credit bureaus? and more importantly, can I reuqest to switch back to BCE before anniversary to not have to pay the AF?

So the upgrade to BCP will not create a HP. Its a product change, so there is no HP.

The card # and pretty much everything else will stay the same. I did this back in 2013 (I think) and it havent looked back. its one of my daily drivers. We love it.

You will need to ask, but you will probably get a year of the AF waived which means you will get a year of its use for free, or if they do charge you, it will be prorated based on your account date.

Secondly, I think downgrading it right before could be frowned upon, but I am not sure. Other can probably speak to that. However, downgrading would also net you a prorated refund (unless that has changed, I think it did on charge cards, but not revolvers).

FWIW, we easily justify the card's AF each year. We spend about 3,500 in groceries, and about $2500 in gas which nets us about $200 in rewards. We also buy Gift Cards at the grocery store for a lot of other things that bump us above the net I just mentioned.

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

Has anyone heard of Amex taking any sort of AA against someone that does this upgrade to get the bonus and then downgrades it back before the AF hits?

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

@Anonymous wrote:

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi I currently have an offer on my account to upgrade my BCE to the BCP with a $250 bonus with $2,000 spend. I dont want the BCP because it doesnt fit my spending to warrant the $95 AF, but a $250 bonus (effectively a $155 bonus minus the AF) would be nice. If I upgrade will I take any HP? Will the account information be reported the same to the credit bureaus? and more importantly, can I reuqest to switch back to BCE before anniversary to not have to pay the AF?
So the upgrade to BCP will not create a HP. Its a product change, so there is no HP.

The card # and pretty much everything else will stay the same. I did this back in 2013 (I think) and it havent looked back. its one of my daily drivers. We love it.

You will need to ask, but you will probably get a year of the AF waived which means you will get a year of its use for free, or if they do charge you, it will be prorated based on your account date.

Secondly, I think downgrading it right before could be frowned upon, but I am not sure. Other can probably speak to that. However, downgrading would also net you a prorated refund (unless that has changed, I think it did on charge cards, but not revolvers).

FWIW, we easily justify the card's AF each year. We spend about 3,500 in groceries, and about $2500 in gas which nets us about $200 in rewards. We also buy Gift Cards at the grocery store for a lot of other things that bump us above the net I just mentioned.

How would I go about asking for the first year fee to be waived? I definitely wouldnt keep it as a BCP, we have a target employee discount paired with the red card is essentially 15% off of groceries, and my wife is very coupon happy lol. I very rarely use the BCE but if I could get that bonus it would be worth upgrading to for a short bit

wasCB14 · ‎10-10-2017

Wouldn't the AF be billed on the first statement after you PC? Or the idea is to avoid the second year's AF? I've gotten upgrade offers and they've required payment of an AF. No waiver.

I've passed on them, as my traditional grocery spend has fallen. My BCE use has fallen, but rather than play PC games I just use it for offers.

Personal spend: Amex Gold, Amex Schwab Plat., BofA PR+CCR(x2), Costco
Business use: Amex Bus. Plat., BBP, Lowes Amex AU, CFU AU
Perks: Delta Plat., United Explorer, IHG49, Hyatt, "Old SPG"
Mostly SD: Freedom Flex, Freedom, Arrival
Upgrade/Downgrade games: ED, BCE
SUB chasing: AA Platinum Select

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

OP,

The annual fee will kick in on the annyversary date. Yes, AMEX is starting to crack down on people who upgrade/apply for bonuses then downgrades/clsoes card.

My wife got an offer in the mail to apply for AMEX Platinum, and on the fine print it stated that: "any suspicion of attempting to get bonuses, offers etc and then closing/downgradting blah blah blah, will cause THAT CARD and/ or ALL your AMEX CARD in your account to be frozen". My wife flies Delta so she does want to keep the card for as long as she can.

Point being, AMEX knows how people take advantage of this.

If i were you, i would upgrade, meet the spending and get the bonus since there will be no HP BUT be ready to keep the card a least until after you pay the second annual fee. If it doesnt make sense, then dont upgrade.

Anonymous · ‎10-10-2017

I saw on my wifes account 200 dollar bonus with no fee the first year for a new card. Perhaps you should go for the new card.