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So I applied for the amex green and was approved, then I remembered reading that the requirements for the gold isnt much greater than the requirements for the green. I applied for the gold and was approved SAME DAY (yesterday). Today however, I took an uber and said to myself "I wish I did the platinum for the uber credits". I got to work, applied for the platinum and was approved as well. Now I have 3 amex cards out that havent even been mailed to me yet and I do not what to do. I want to try the platinum one but im worried if cancelling the gold or the green card might negatively impact my account with amex in anyway. The platinum has 60k point sign up bonus for 5k spend in 3 months which I believe I can hit. The gold has 25k sign up bonus for 3k spend in 3 months which I can hit but I think I want the platinum. The green has a sign up bonus of 10k for 1k spend. Should I call amex and let them know what happened and have them do something about the other two accounts? Will canceling the other two accounts stop me from receiving my bonus for the platinum card. Should I try to get the sign up bonus for the other two then cancel (My credit isnt outstanding or good enough in anyway to be a card churner)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.
I would call and cancel the two you don't want, no sense paying annual fees for 3 cards that basically do the same thing.
That makes the most sense, my thing is will canceling lets say the gold and the green card ruin my chances of getting the sign up bonus for the platinum. If for whatever reason in the future I wanted to get the gold card or the green card or any other amex card for that matter, will I no longer be eligible for the sign up bonuses? Should I try to do one of the other sign up bonuses too and will I be allowed to keep the bonus points after cancelling? (for example I feel like I definitely want the platinum even though the gold has more points on dining out and I eat out alot, i may be able to do the sign up bonus for the platinum and the green the gold is a little hefty for me, should I try to do both and then maybe transfer the green points to my platinum card and then close it?
Closing the lessor two will not affect the SUB or terms for the platinum, they are all separate entities, other than your "history" with AmEx which I don't believe will make any difference. I'll admit that I am a sucker for CASH sign up bonuses and 0% intro financing, but because I rarely travel by plane any longer, "spend" bonuses for points I have no interest. At one time I spent 5-6 months on the road in hotels and airports, at that time points were important (I had well over a million miles with Delta when I stopped flying).
If you can justify the need for the sign-up bonus points versus the spend requirements and the annual fee I can see having two cards for the first year especially if the AF is waived the first year, after that not so much.
okay yeah I dont travel THAT much but I definitely want to start. Do I not get the sign up bonus if I cancel after the first year. Also I was told that If I cancel my accounts I can never get the sign up bonuses ever again. Spending the 6k for the 3 months for the platinum and green is doable. Spending the 8k for the platinum and the gold im more likely to use the gold throughout the year because it offers more points for restaurants which i feel is silly for the platinum NOT TO OFFER. Also am I able to transfer the points from the sign up bonuses and at what point should I do so. THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP SO FAR THOUGH! I really appreciate it
If/when you call, just explain your situation and that you'd like to keep the platinum only (or Plat/Gold)- I don't think AmEx will hold it against you as far as future sign up bonuses, but just talk to them to see where you stand. As far as points, today's point chasing game is something I don't do and frankly watching the obsession some have, it gives me a headache.
Back when I was traveling I used points converted to miles and miles mainly to upgrade cheap fares to business or first on mainly international flights. Airport lounges were okay (TWA, PanAm and Delta), but not as widespread as today and free nights at hotels really didn't apply for the hotels I used in Europe. There are many "points people" on MF that can give you better info on today's point programs than I can.
OP, if you want the bonus on the Platinum, good! Cancel the green and PRG.
OR
If you want to test the Platinum (like i did), apply for the AMEX Platinum Ameriprise, same benefits, but the AF is waived for the first year. I did the same, applied for the regular Platinum and approved. I called and said that "i applied for the wrong card" and close it. Applied for the Ameriprise after and approved.
If you have already done the application for all three and have been approved, it is likely in the Amex system that you have opened the accounts. Amex restricts you to earning one SUB in your lifetime for each card, because you have opened them already, this will be your only chance. In my experience, once the account has been approved, if you do not call within a few hours to cancel, the card will stick to your lifetime Amex history.
Here is what I would do:
1) Dont cancel any of them, the green and PRG each waive the AF the first year so you only have to pay the Plat.
2) Hit 5k MSR on the Plat first so you can get an easy 60k MR
3) Assess how much spend you have remaining in the 3 month timeline, if you think you can spend another 2k, hit MSR on the PRG to earn the 25k SUB. If you only think you could hit 1k more, then I would focus on the green card instead for the 10k SUB.
4) If you have hit the 5k on the plat, the 2k on the PRG, then work on the 1k for the green.
Do these in the order you are 100% sure you can hit MSR. For example, it doesn't make sense to go for 2k spend on the PRG instead of the 1k spend on the green if you only have 1.5k in spend left in your budget.
If you do hit MSR on all 3, you should still not cancel the green and the PRG until the end of year 1. Amex can and will claw back the MR points you earn if you cancel within the first year. Once the AF posts at the beginning of year 2, you can cancel then but I would first check if there are any retention offers.
Only spend what you know you can pay off each month because these are all charge cards. If you have some savings and you want to hit the SUB on all three, think of some bills that you might be able to prepay before the 3 months are up ie. insurance, cell phone, utilities. If you get desperate you could even buy a few gift cards that you could use in the few months following the 3 month period. Only do these if you have the money to pay off the monthly bills though.
As far as free spend goes, the airline credit from the platinum does count towards MSR. I would look into buying some airline giftcards to easily wipe $200 from the spend. The $550 AF will not however count towards the MSR, so in reality you have to spend $5550 on the Plat to get the SUB.
In the future, before doing Amex apps, ask google or the forum for the best SUB for each card. You will find from other posts that the Plat has 100k SUB offers and the PRG is at 50k with an incognito app. You left 65k MR on the table with the SUBs you got.
Good luck
Edit: It looks like you did an app for the 25k/3k PRG offer. I assumed you had done the 2k spend. I'm too lazy to fix what I said above but you should be able to think it through while you read my post.