Currently have Amex BCE, have had 1.5ish years. Today CLI'd to $25.0K
Very much on the fence about the new'ish BCP card. Amex pestering me to upgrade ...seems that would be painless (less the 95 AF, but I can justify most of that).
Anyway, my question
[X] Can I app for a NEW BCP account? or do I have to "upgrade" my current BCE ? (everything on the site points to upgrade).
[X] My (naive?) thinking is get new BCP card, (hopefully with half respectable CL) then roll my existing BCE CLto the new BCP card (combine both CL's or at least most of both) ....then close the BCE. Pulling this off with no HP with be a nice benefit.
Wondering if that solution is smart, or just too much drama and not worth the effort.
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I thought that if you already have an AMEX card, any additional applications for a new AMEX card will be a SP only.
Doing an upgrade was the only logical thing to do.
[x] No HP, no loss of AAoA or ding for new account. So no effect on credit reports. I even keep the same number. It's really just a different piece of plastic, with modified benefits and 95bucks a year more.
[x] I get a 250buck kicker (after 1K spend 3mos) which may not be quite as good as can be found on a new card offer but it's frosting on the cake. If I factor that 250 toward annual fee, it helps justify the upgrade.
This card won't be my primary card, I don't buy my groceries at supermarkets, nor my gas at gas stations (mostly). But I do enough to cover the AF and a bit extra and I'll keep a relationship with Amex.
Card will arrive in a week or so, but meanwhile anything I do on the current card applies to the new account ...it's all the same now.
I may be the only one that likes the clear plastic/blue square BCE, so not sure if the new BCP design will grow on me, but we'll find out.
@KLEXH25 wrote:
I thought that if you already have an AMEX card, any additional applications for a new AMEX card will be a SP only.
If you're account is too new they'll HP every app. It's best to wait a minimum of 30 days, or better yet, over 61 before trying to apply for another card. Some people have been able to get 2 revolvers or a core and revolver with 1 hp, but they typically app them all on the same day and 2 revolvers are pretty rare as you typically have to wait between applications.
@MachoHombre wrote:Doing an upgrade was the only logical thing to do.
[x] No HP, no loss of AAoA or ding for new account. So no effect on credit reports. I even keep the same number. It's really just a different piece of plastic, with modified benefits and 95bucks a year more.
[x] I get a 250buck kicker (after 1K spend 3mos) which may not be quite as good as can be found on a new card offer but it's frosting on the cake. If I factor that 250 toward annual fee, it helps justify the upgrade.
This card won't be my primary card, I don't buy my groceries at supermarkets, nor my gas at gas stations (mostly). But I do enough to cover the AF and a bit extra and I'll keep a relationship with Amex.
Card will arrive in a week or so, but meanwhile anything I do on the current card applies to the new account ...it's all the same now.
I may be the only one that likes the clear plastic/blue square BCE, so not sure if the new BCP design will grow on me, but we'll find out.
Congrats! Yeah, I went with the BCE-BCP upgrade last week, $250 SUB with no HP, no new account was too good to pass up. I wrestled with it for a day or so, I do buy some groceries at a supermarket, but less than half as Walmart is cheaper on most things in my town. And I do buy gas at gas stations but gas isn't a big spend, and it's currently on Discover for 5% thru end of June and then I have BoA Cash Rewards for 3% gas but I'll change that to another category. So I'll cover the AF.
I'm one of the many who don't like the clear BCE card, it scratches easily and using the card online the numbers are hard to read. But for the few seconds I look at a card it wasn't that big a deal.
You and I think very much the same. I don't have the patience/organization for quarterly offers so I avoid them. BCP, ...using supermarket only, we'll need to to spend $3,200year to match BCE (after AF) ...which I may come close but won't come out ahead (not factoring in SUB). Because I grocery at big box stores I'll have to modify my spend slightly to get near that break-even. But I'll builld relationship with AMEX as I will spend more than I currently do (taking spend from other cards). I need to do the math on gas, but I'm confident it'll only make sense when traveling away from Costco etc ...so a few hundred dollars a year is all. I can move a few bucks in streaming from other cards, but the net $ result isn't really worth the trouble (for me).
@DaveInAZ wrote:Congrats! Yeah, I went with the BCE-BCP upgrade last week, $250 SUB with no HP, no new account was too good to pass up. I wrestled with it for a day or so, I do buy some groceries at a supermarket, but less than half as Walmart is cheaper on most things in my town. And I do buy gas at gas stations but gas isn't a big spend, and it's currently on Discover for 5% thru end of June and then I have BoA Cash Rewards for 3% gas but I'll change that to another category. So I'll cover the AF.
I liked the look of it, on a computer. In reality, it wears out really fast. My card looked ancient after a few months. The silver numbers were never easy to read, but wore off quickly and made it harder. I like the new design better, but I understand that people with a CM are upset that they look so similar.
Can't argue any of those facts!! And reading the BCE is a challenge. But it is unique and that bright blue square on mostly clear plastic is fun. (I'm the only one that things so). Looking forward to new design, we'll see how much I'll miss the old.
OH, and one thing I won't miss is the raised numers/text ...I really don't like that, now down to only one card that has that!!