AMEX PRG Card Product Upgrade to Platinum

[avp99]

Friends,

I just a nice conversation with AMEX CSR and we discussed any option to do a product upgrade from the PRG to the Platinum Card.  He said to be considered for a product upgrade you have to of had your PRG for 13 months. After 13 months, it would be eligible for the upgrade.  Of course he said, we can go ahead and open another account so you can have both...  Yea, not what I was looking for and certainly not looking to pay 2 AFs.  What I really wanted is access to American's Admiral's Club Lounge, so I will go ahead and just pay for the Admiral's Club Access with the PRG as it will still be lower than the AF for the Platinum Card.

Anyway, I just thought I would share this information in case  you were wondering how long it takes to do a product upgrade from the time you open your new card account with AMEX.

[Anonymous]

Another thing to consider is what upgrade bonus you get for upgrading. If you get 25k points for upgrading to the Platinum, you usually won't be able to get the 60k public signup bonus ever again, since that offer is "not available to applicants who have or have had this product".

[avp99]

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@Anonymouswrote:

Another thing to consider is what upgrade bonus you get for upgrading. If you get 25k points for upgrading to the Platinum, you usually won't be able to get the 60k public signup bonus ever again, since that offer is "not available to applicants who have or have had this product".

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Great Point!  so many tricks and things to look out for (makes my head spin). Glad all you guys are here! 

[Anonymous]

For anyone who wants the Platinum card (I'm guessing for centurion lounge access), I think the optimal strategy is to get both the amex platinum and gold at the same time, then after 12 months close the platinum, then after another month upgrade the gold to Platinum. This way you get both sign up bonuses and the upgrade bonus, and technically your annual fee should be slightly lower in year 2 than if you'd just had the Platinum for 2 years, since the gold has no fee for year 1 and for the first month of year 2 you'd actually be paying the fee rate for the gold. I'm not sure though if you can use the $100 gold travel credit in that 1 month then still get the full $400 in credits for the Platinum once you upgrade - if that's the case then it's a nice bonus, but you'd at least get the travel credits from both cards in year 1.

[morgacj2004]

Another option if your main goal is to get free lounge access would be to get the AX Plat Ameriprise which has no AF.

[avp99]

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@morgacj2004wrote:
Another option if your main goal is to get free lounge access would be to get the AX Plat Ameriprise which has no AF.

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Oh, I like that idea  

[Anonymous]

@avp99

Maybe I misread your post about Admiral Club access but to be clear, that doesn't come with the Amex Platinum card.  With that card you get Centurion Lounge access, Delta Sky Club access and Priority Pass.  The only credit card that comes with Admirals Club access is the Citi AA Executive.

[morgacj2004]

Sorry I missed that one as well. No Admirals club access but Centurion, Delta and Priority

[Anonymous]

With the Ameriprise Amex Platinum you should be able to do the same thing: get the Ameriprise Platinum and gold at the same time. Last I checked there's no sign up bonus on the Platinum, but the fee is waived on both cards the first year. The gold has a 25k sign up bonus for $1k spend, and you get the perks offered by that card for the first year (a bit different than the regular PRG, I don't remember if he Ameriprise prg has the $100 travel credit). But get both and that's a bonus 25k MR points, then going into year 2 you can cancel the Platinum and see about an upgrade offer for the gold if you want to go that route, and since the Ameriprise Platinum is considered a different product than the regular amex platinum, after you're done with that, whether you upgrade the Ameriprise gold or not, you can then get the standard amex gold and Platinum and do it all again with both of those cards as I outlined in my last post. After that you may also want to look into doing it again with the Mercedes Benz Platinum for another sign up bonus, and/or the Charles Schwab Platinum for yet another sign up bonus. I'd suggest landing on the schwab Platinum as your permanent Platinum as the cashout rate is 1.25x instead of 0.6x per point like the other platinums. Between these cards, you should end up with 60 - 100k Mr points for the standard platinum, 50k for the prg, 25k for the Ameriprise gold, and 60k each for the Benz and Schwab Platinum, so you'd end up with 255k-295k Mr points over 4 years and you'd be out $1650 in annual fees (numbers change a bit if you take the upgrade offer on one of the golds) - and if all you did with those points was hold them and cash them out on the schwab, you'd get $3187.50 - $3687.50...so basically they're paying you like $1500 - $2000 to have an amex Platinum for 4 years lol.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymouswrote:

@avp99

Maybe I misread your post about Admiral Club access but to be clear, that doesn't come with the Amex Platinum card.  With that card you get Centurion Lounge access, Delta Sky Club access and Priority Pass.  The only credit card that comes with Admirals Club access is the Citi AA Executive.

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You get some other lounges with the Plat, like the Jet Blue lounges AFAIK, but yes, you are correct, I agree.