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Hi All,
I have an amex skymiles gold card which has been open for 7 months. Had I realized the $99 companion ticket on the gold was not nearly as great as the free one on the platinum, I would have applied for the platinum... since the annual fee pays for itself. I'd love to start my year with the platinum card and have read on the forums that I cannot upgrade until this account reaches 13 months. So my question is, should I go ahead and app for the platinum card as well? Is that frowned upon? Will I get the initial mileage boost or will amex not take a liking to that?
Background: I've been an amex member since 2001 but did not have a card for years. I opened a zync account a year ago, then skymiles gold 7 months ago, then blue cash 2 months ago. I honestly just wanted the specific benefits that each card individually offers. However, I realized that the zync card really wasn't that useful for me, so when I got my blue cash, I went ahead and cancelled the zync. So now I only have 2 amex cards. If approved for the platinum (and thoughts on the likelihood of that are welcome), I would likely close my gold skymiles card unless folks think that's a horrible idea. But maybe that would help me if I applied on the phone so they don't think I'm just trying to gain a ton of credit? Also, I PIF every month on all cards.
Suggestions on what I should do? Should I go for it? Is there any way around the 13 month rule especially given that I was not required to pay an annual fee for my first year with the gold skymiles card? In this case, I find the 13 month rule odd since I'm not actually doubling-up my annual fees.
Thanks in advance!
@drock wrote:Hi All,
I have an amex skymiles gold card which has been open for 7 months. Had I realized the $99 companion ticket on the gold was not nearly as great as the free one on the platinum, I would have applied for the platinum... since the annual fee pays for itself. I'd love to start my year with the platinum card and have read on the forums that I cannot upgrade until this account reaches 13 months. So my question is, should I go ahead and app for the platinum card as well? Is that frowned upon? Will I get the initial mileage boost or will amex not take a liking to that?
Background: I've been an amex member since 2001 but did not have a card for years. I opened a zync account a year ago, then skymiles gold 7 months ago, then blue cash 2 months ago. I honestly just wanted the specific benefits that each card individually offers. However, I realized that the zync card really wasn't that useful for me, so when I got my blue cash, I went ahead and cancelled the zync. So now I only have 2 amex cards. If approved for the platinum (and thoughts on the likelihood of that are welcome), I would likely close my gold skymiles card unless folks think that's a horrible idea. But maybe that would help me if I applied on the phone so they don't think I'm just trying to gain a ton of credit? Also, I PIF every month on all cards.
Suggestions on what I should do? Should I go for it? Is there any way around the 13 month rule especially given that I was not required to pay an annual fee for my first year with the gold skymiles card? In this case, I find the 13 month rule odd since I'm not actually doubling-up my annual fees.
Thanks in advance!
The question of the 13 month rule, no annual fee, and upgrading is an interesting one I'd like to find the answer to as I too have a Gold Delta I'd like to upgrade that's six months old. I wouldn't apply for a new Platinum Delta as that requires a new inquiry on EX and a whole new account that's basically redundant. Unless you have an absolute need to use the companion ticket, I don't really see the benefit especially since you can upgrade with no extra hoops to jump through in six months.
I agree that it's probably not the best idea, but definitely wanted to hear other folks' experiences with this. As for the 13 month rule applying even when the first year requires no annual fee, definitely let me know if you find anything as you're searching. I understand that the idea of the law is to try and prevent early upgrading that causes consumers to be double charged, but in this case, it seems like it's preventing me from being charged even once. I'll keep searching for an answer on that as well and will post if I find something.
Thanks for your response.
If you don't currently have either card which would you recommend to apply for? I really only travel a few times per year, but that companion ticket alone would pay for the annual fee.
If I had to do it over, I would have gone for the platinum to start with because you're right, the $150 covers a free round-trip companion ticket. I think they both provide the same number of bonus miles for signing up and they both throw in the free checked bag perk. The main difference is the companion ticket and it also looks like the platinum provides the opportunity to score a bunch of medallion qualification miles, but those are really only helpful if you fly a bunch and spend a bunch (others might disagree or have a different understanding).
Oh and it looks like the gold waives the first year's annual fee and the platinum does not. So actually, the 99 dollar ticket might be great after year one (maybe even saves you $51) and then you can be in the same boat I'm in and upgrade! I do fly a lot and live in a delta hub, so this card sees a lot of use for my travel.
I don't know if I am overlooking something, but I feel less concerned with closing an account and apping for a new account with Amex because of the backdating policy. That may not apply if your Amex accounts are young, but mine backdate to 1998. So, if I wanted a different card and couldn't upgrade, so long as I wasn't too bad on inquiries, I'd just apply. It's not going to hurt your AAoA.
That's a good point. Since I closed my zync card, maybe the even better option for me is to keep the skymiles gold and blue cash and app for the gold premier rewards, since the AF is similar to the skymiles platinum and the perk is that I can transfer points to more than just delta. Plus, I've heard they're less stringent on acceptance with the charge cards since their risk is lower... and they get an AF from me. Mine are backdated to 2001, so it won't hurt AAoA. I also don't want to get denied though and then have Amex looking into my accounts (even though they're in perfect standing). Thoughts on that idea?
Also, I'm not sure about how many inquiries in the last 2 months would be a red flag for them, but I'm trying to get all of my inquiries out of the way in a short period of time so that they will all disappear at the same time. As far as cards go, other than apping for this one, I'm right where I want to be.
Good point. I actually went ahead and applied for the gold premier card, which I had to do a new app for since I cancelled my zync a month ago. Once I realized I was really more interested in gaining points that are transferable to multiple airlines, this one made even more sense than the platinum skymiles. At first I thought closing the zync was stupid since I could have just upgraded to the gold premier 2 months from now thus only getting a soft pull, but then I learned that with the upgrade, the 1st year's annual fee is NOT waived and you aren't able to take advantage of the sign-up bonus points (10,000). So maybe the hard inq was worth it!
In the end, I'm right where I want to be! My gold skymiles reaches a year (this october) and I'll have to decide whether it's wise to keep it and the gold premier since the two combined carry super hefty AFs. But, for now, definitely no more apps or cancellations!