2nd Amex CC and CRA

[StarkRaven$]

I was approved for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred cc in January but Amex moved some on my credit limit I had on my Everyday Preferred over to the new Blue Cash Preferred. I called customer service and requested all but $1K of my credit line in the Everyday Preferred Card be transferred over to the new Blue Cash Preferred which they did. Eventually I plan on closing the Everyday card so I won't have two AF cards.

 

So far Amex has not reported the new card to any of the CRA's so it appears like I have a CLD. Is this normal? Do two separate cc's from the same issuer report differently. 

[DPB]

11 hours ago, StarkRaven$ said:

I was approved for the Amex Blue Cash Preferred cc in January but Amex moved some on my credit limit I had on my Everyday Preferred over to the new Blue Cash Preferred. I called customer service and requested all but $1K of my credit line in the Everyday Preferred Card be transferred over to the new Blue Cash Preferred which they did. Eventually I plan on closing the Everyday card so I won't have two AF cards.

 

So far Amex has not reported the new card to any of the CRA's so it appears like I have a CLD. Is this normal? Do two separate cc's from the same issuer report differently. 

Amex has been slow to report new cards for the past six months or so. The new card will eventually be reported. 
Also, you can downgrade the Everyday Preferred to the no-AF version if you want to keep the card open. They should even issue a prorated refund of the AF you’ve already paid. 

[StarkRaven$]

17 hours ago, DPB said:

Amex has been slow to report new cards for the past six months or so. The new card will eventually be reported. 
Also, you can downgrade the Everyday Preferred to the no-AF version if you want to keep the card open. They should even issue a prorated refund of the AF you’ve already paid. 

It's starting to report as of today. Thanks for the tip on downgrading the EDC. I had forgotten about that.

[cv91915]

After you downgrade, watch for upgrade offers on the account (they appear in the Amex Offers section). 

 

Often they'll throw a sum of money greater than the AF at you to entice you back.  Just make sure you downgrade again.    I've done the upgrade/downgrade thing with the BCx cards 2-3 times.

[StarkRaven$]

On 4/8/2021 at 12:08 AM, cv91915 said:

After you downgrade, watch for upgrade offers on the account (they appear in the Amex Offers section). 

 

Often they'll throw a sum of money greater than the AF at you to entice you back.  Just make sure you downgrade again.    I've done the upgrade/downgrade thing with the BCx cards 2-3 times.

How soon can I downgrade again before pissing off Amex? Doesn't the AF immediately hit the freshly new account? Thanks!

[cv91915]

3 hours ago, StarkRaven$ said:

How soon can I downgrade again before pissing off Amex? Doesn't the AF immediately hit the freshly new account? Thanks!

 

I haven't found the limit.   

[cv91915]

On 4/9/2021 at 3:25 AM, StarkRaven$ said:

How soon can I downgrade again before pissing off Amex? Doesn't the AF immediately hit the freshly new account? Thanks!

 

I wasn't sure what you meant by your question about the AF; sorry I failed to respond to that.

 

AFs are prorated either way (downgrade = prorated credit,  upgrade = prorate charge).

 

I'm about to take my third (fourth?) upgrade back to BCP.  $150 credit requires $1,000 in spending within 90 days.  Prorated AF will post sometime in the next two statement cycles.

 

[hdporter]

20 hours ago, cv91915 said:

 

I wasn't sure what you meant by your question about the AF; sorry I failed to respond to that.

 

AFs are prorated either way (downgrade = prorated credit,  upgrade = prorate charge).

 

I'm about to take my third (fourth?) upgrade back to BCP.  $150 credit requires $1,000 in spending within 90 days.  Prorated AF will post sometime in the next two statement cycles.

 

 

 

Once again, you're feeding evil thoughts ... I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a BCP so that we can turn around and downgrade Bev's.  Then wait for her upgrade offer, upgrade Bev's and downgrade mine .... profitably rinsing and repeating as many times as Amex wants to fuel the seesaw.  😈

 

Beautiful part of the is we'd never have to sacrifice the BCP 6%!!

Edited April 12 by hdporter

[StarkRaven$]

4 hours ago, hdporter said:

 

 

Once again, you're feeding evil thoughts ... I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a BCP so that we can turn around and downgrade Bev's.  Then wait for her upgrade offer, upgrade Bev's and downgrade mine .... profitably rinsing and repeating as many times as Amex wants to fuel the seesaw.  😈

 

Beautiful part of the is we'd never have to sacrifice the BCP 6%!!

I was just worried it may be perceived by Amex as venturing into the M$ territory that could result in adverse action.

[hdporter]

4 hours ago, StarkRaven$ said:

I was just worried it may be perceived by Amex as venturing into the M$ territory that could result in adverse action.

 

Well, when Amex picks up on this activity, I don't think they're going to smile about it.  However, this isn't nearly as manipulative as M$ and a lot more transparent, so I wouldn't expect more than, "Please don't do this again" ... or simply killing further upgrade offers.

 

On the other hand, Amex is one of the few issuers that I'd shed few tears if they nerfed my accounts entirely in response.  I don't want to particularly go out of my way to invite that outcome, but the whole MR system just hasn't hit a warm spot for me.  Aside from BCP, Amex doesn't get much spend from us.  (And now that we have a no fee Verizon with 4% grocery cashback, we've got a fallback to BCP that's about 95% as strong and I don't believe there's a spend cap on the V.)

[hdporter]

On 4/12/2021 at 7:06 PM, hdporter said:

 

Once again, you're feeding evil thoughts ... I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a BCP so that we can turn around and downgrade Bev's.  Then wait for her upgrade offer, upgrade Bev's and downgrade mine .... profitably rinsing and repeating as many times as Amex wants to fuel the seesaw.  😈

 

 

I happened upon an earlier post from @DPB who relays advice from others that you shouldn't downgrade within 12 mo of an upgrade bonus, unless you want the bonus clawed back.

 

Quote

 It’s common knowledge that if Amex offers you an upgrade bonus that you don’t PC the card down to a lower AF version until after your 12th statement. The bonus will be clawed back every time.

 

Even if this advice doesn't strictly apply to BCP (though I'm not sure why it wouldn't), it seems prudent to adhere to it anyway.

[StarkRaven$]

20 hours ago, hdporter said:

 

I happened upon an earlier post from @DPB who relays advice from others that you shouldn't downgrade within 12 mo of an upgrade bonus, unless you want the bonus clawed back.

 

 

Even if this advice doesn't strictly apply to BCP (though I'm not sure why it wouldn't), it seems prudent to adhere to it anyway.

Thanks so much HD for digging this up. Come to think of it, when I had upgraded almost two years ago from Everyday Card to Everyday Preferred I vaguely recall being told basically the same thing by Amex. 

[DPB]

On 4/15/2021 at 2:49 PM, hdporter said:

 

I happened upon an earlier post from @DPB who relays advice from others that you shouldn't downgrade within 12 mo of an upgrade bonus, unless you want the bonus clawed back.

 

 

Even if this advice doesn't strictly apply to BCP (though I'm not sure why it wouldn't), it seems prudent to adhere to it anyway.

I’ll revise my previous comment from “every time” to “quite often.” Clearly CV hasn’t had this issue. But it’s a known occurrence, especially in MS and churning circles. Amex is basically offering you a SUB that you wouldn’t otherwise qualify for when they offer an upgrade. The common guidance is to upgrade, then once the next AF hits, downgrade again. The AF is refundable for the first 30 days after it’s charged, then prorated after that. 
I also play it a bit safe on upgrade/downgrade shenanigans. But that’s because the amount I can easily MS far outweighs any AF I may have to pay from an upgrade.

[StarkRaven$]

23 hours ago, DPB said:

I’ll revise my previous comment from “every time” to “quite often.” Clearly CV hasn’t had this issue. But it’s a known occurrence, especially in MS and churning circles. Amex is basically offering you a SUB that you wouldn’t otherwise qualify for when they offer an upgrade. The common guidance is to upgrade, then once the next AF hits, downgrade again. The AF is refundable for the first 30 days after it’s charged, then prorated after that. 
I also play it a bit safe on upgrade/downgrade shenanigans. But that’s because the amount I can easily MS far outweighs any AF I may have to pay from an upgrade.

Amex is definitely an issuer I don't want to get crossways with.

[cv91915]

On 4/11/2021 at 10:28 PM, cv91915 said:

 

I wasn't sure what you meant by your question about the AF; sorry I failed to respond to that.

 

AFs are prorated either way (downgrade = prorated credit,  upgrade = prorate charge).

 

I'm about to take my third (fourth?) upgrade back to BCP.  $150 credit requires $1,000 in spending within 90 days.  Prorated AF will post sometime in the next two statement cycles.

 

 

Since I posted that I've been ignoring this BCP upgrade offer, content with getting 4.5% back (uncapped) on groceries when using Apple Pay/Altitude Reserve (which has a negative $25 AF for this year because of a retention bonus).

 

But then I read the BCP upgrade terms.  

 

This time they're waiving the AF for the entire year, rather than charging a prorated AF shortly after conversion.