So I applied for the Hilton Aspire Card in July and was approved. I did it due to the fact that the Marriott Bonvoy didn't hit enough marks with me to make it worth my while.
Now they have revamped it and it is much more appealing to me, so much so that I no longer really want the Hilton Card. I know I have to keep it for at least a year. At that point am I free to apply for the Marriott Card, then in turn cancel my Hilton card?
I basically don't want to set off any red flags with Amex, but at the same time I don't want 2 high AF cards for competing hotels. My goal is to make that card my daily driver to maximize my points.
Would Amex transfer me to the Marriott Card and give me the SUB?
What would be the best approach to get onboard with the Marriott Card?
Unfortunately I think you'd have to have both cards open at the same time, at least for a while.
@coldfusion wrote:You would not be able to product change between the 2 cards because they are associated with different product families. AMEX only considers allowing product changes within product families - Delta cards, Hilton cards, Marriott cards are each different product families.
You can of course apply for the Marriott card whenever you choose as long as you didn't already have 5* AMEX credit cards. As per current AMEX standard practice you would have the opportunity to abandon the application before final submission if they determined you would not be eligible to be extended a SUB if approved for the Marriott card. .
* AMEX has a fairly hard limit of 5 credit cards per cardholder, which they will waive if a client is considered of high-enough value.
Oh, didn't know I couldn't product change to another hotel card.
I currently have BCP and Hilton Aspire, and AU on Magnet
So I don't know if that counts as 2 or 3 but either way I'm good.
Any suggestions? Keep the Hilton for 2 years then dump, and apply for the Marriott in a year? Eat 1 year of AF from the Hilton card to not look like a sub chaser?
AU does not count toward the total. My suggestion would be that you consider doing something like:
a) continue to put some minimal spend on the Hilton card, don't sockdrawer it.
b) Go ahead and apply for the Marriott card in a few months.
c) When you are billed for the AF next year on the Aspire downgrade it immediately to the basic $0 AF Hilton card
d) (assuming you've picked up the Brilliant) transfer all but $1000 of the Hilton card's CL over to the Marriott card.
e) hold onto the Hilton card for at least another year, after that close it if/whenever it's convenient for you
When an AF has been posted as a transaction you need to downgrade the card within 30 days of the posting for them to reverse the annual fee.
A variation of the theme would be to wait until right after you're billed for next year's AF on the Aspire and then apply for the Marriott card, if approved then downgrade the Aspire.
What you could do for example is after 1 year, when the next year's AF has been posted, immediately downgrade the Aspire to the basic Hilton card
That is a phenomenal plan. Thank you for the insight. This is what I will end up doing.
If you have the credit file to support another card amex won't have an issue giving you another card. You can't PC between co-brands. SUBs have a limited time so you may have to have both cards at the same time if you want to lock in this particular SUB. High AF cards are tricky and you really need to do the math to make sure you aren't taking a loss in the long run. I was looking at the Marriott card and at first it looked appealing, but after breaking down the benefits and looking at the numbers and my past experiences I'm not so sure the card is worth it. I'd be careful about shelling out such a high AF even with the dining offset.
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@red259 wrote:If you have the credit file to support another cardamexx won't have an issue giving you another card. You can't PC between co-brands. SUBs have a limited time so you may have to have both cards at the same time if you want to lock in this particular SUB. High AF cards are tricky and you really need to do the math to make sure you aren't taking a loss in the long run. I was looking at the Marriott card and at first it looked appealing, but after breaking down the benefits and looking at the numbers and my past experiences I'm not so sure the card is worth it. I'd be careful about shelling out such a high AF even with the dining offset.
I jumped in on the Hilton Card for $450 AF, cause the benefits seemed good, and the SUB was great. But I have honestly felt that Marriott has the better hotels IMO. But the old card didn't give very many benefits. Now the AF is a bit crazy $650, but as you mentioned the dining credit puts it at $350, I eat at restaurantss often enough to cover $25 / month. But they finally upgraded the Bonvoy from gold to platinum, with the additional points received as a platinum member, it's a better bang for the buck IMO.
But I digress, I'm going to have to risk losing the SUB, cause I'm not getting into $1100 AF. I've taken a liking to coldfusionn 's strategy and I'm looking forward to trying it out.