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AMEX Conversion?

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Joeychgo
Established Member

AMEX Conversion?

I have an AMEX green and a Gold.

 

I have a few questions.   Do they let me convert those cards to others like the blue cash everyday or a hilton honors?

 

Second question -- if they do, would it show up as a new account and closed account or would it just pick up where the old card left off?    I am concerned about my credit age as these are 2 of my oldest cards.

Message 1 of 11
10 REPLIES 10
wasCB14
Super Contributor

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@Joeychgo wrote:

I have an AMEX green and a Gold.

 

I have a few questions.   Do they let me convert those cards to others like the blue cash everyday or a hilton honors?

 

Second question -- if they do, would it show up as a new account and closed account or would it just pick up where the old card left off?    I am concerned about my credit age as these are 2 of my oldest cards.


Cards in a "family" can only be PCed within that family.

 

With Green and Gold your only other option is Platinum.

 

Blue Cash Everyday can become BCP or Cash Magnet.

 

Hilton cards can only become other Hilton cards, Delta cards can only become other Delta cards.

 

etc.

 

Product changes keep cards open with the original opening date (or original backdated opening date).

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
Message 2 of 11
Joeychgo
Established Member

Re: AMEX Conversion?

Got it.   So my choices are keep paying $400 a year for cards I dont really use or lose time on my average credit age

Message 3 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@Joeychgo wrote:

I have an AMEX green and a Gold.

 

I have a few questions.   Do they let me convert those cards to others like the blue cash everyday or a hilton honors?

 

Second question -- if they do, would it show up as a new account and closed account or would it just pick up where the old card left off?    I am concerned about my credit age as these are 2 of my oldest cards.


Short answer - no.  Charge cards cannot be PC'd to revolvers, like BCE or Hilton Honors or viceversa.

 

Charge cards like Platinum can be downgraded to Gold, and Gold to Green and viceversa after having them for at least the 1st year.  I would evaluate what your ultimate goal is depending on whether you are looking to stay in the MR ecosystem or consider whether cashback or other travel rewards are of importance.

Message 4 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@Joeychgo wrote:

Got it.   So my choices are keep paying $400 a year for cards I dont really use or lose time on my average credit age


You'd have to evaluate whether a downgrade makes sense or your desire is to simplify things.

Message 5 of 11
Joeychgo
Established Member

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@FinStar wrote:

@Joeychgo wrote:

Got it.   So my choices are keep paying $400 a year for cards I dont really use or lose time on my average credit age


You'd have to evaluate whether a downgrade makes sense or your desire is to simplify things.


 

Thats what I am trying to do.  I'm paying $400 a year for 2 cards I rarely use and dont really need.   But, they are both cards that are among my oldest cards so canceling them would affect my average credit age.

Message 6 of 11
FinStar
Moderator Emeritus

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@Joeychgo wrote:

@FinStar wrote:

@Joeychgo wrote:

Got it.   So my choices are keep paying $400 a year for cards I dont really use or lose time on my average credit age


You'd have to evaluate whether a downgrade makes sense or your desire is to simplify things.


 

Thats what I am trying to do.  I'm paying $400 a year for 2 cards I rarely use and dont really need.   But, they are both cards that are among my oldest cards so canceling them would affect my average credit age.


Canceling these should not have an effect on your credit age (AAoA), from a FICO scoring perspective, for up to ~10 years.  They will still be factored in your AAoA until they go *poof*.  Once they fall of your CRs, potentially yes, but it largely depends on what your overall profile will look like at that point.

Message 7 of 11
KJinNC
Valued Contributor

Re: AMEX Conversion?

Canceling them would not affect your credit age any time soon.

 

Positive accounts stay on your credit reports and continue to count for age for ~10 years after being closed. So, closing them would not affect your account age until approximately 2031, by which time it probably won't matter, though that's difficult to predict.

 

However, if you got new cards to make up for closing these, that would reduce your account ages due to the new accounts being added.



FICO Resilience Index: 64. Cards: 5/24, 2/12, 2/6. Accounts including loans: 8/24, 4/12, 3/6. Card CLs total $213,900, or $240,400 including the AU card. Cards (oldest to newest)

Authorized user / Corporate / Auto loans / Personal loan
Message 8 of 11
Trikoret
Contributor

Re: AMEX Conversion?


@Joeychgo wrote:

Got it.   So my choices are keep paying $400 a year for cards I dont really use or lose time on my average credit age


Ask for a retention on either both cards or only one. I would just close one and keep the other open if they give your a good retention to keep card. I'd take gold over green since it's going to have 240 worth of credits between GrubHub and Uber. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Message 9 of 11
K-in-Boston
Credit Mentor

Re: AMEX Conversion?

If you've had these for a while, why did Membership Rewards charge cards make sense for you previously but don't today and going forward?  

 

If these oldest cards are actually fairly new, in about 10 years when they fell off of your reports it's unlikely to really matter whatsoever if you're measuring oldest cards by months rather than a number of years.

Message 10 of 11
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