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What’s the policy?
AMEX has long had several excellent options in the premium credit card space, including the AMEX Platinum and its co-branded versions, the AMEX Hilton Aspire, and the AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant. If you have not applied yet, or if you have an upgrade offer but have been hesitating to use it, AMEX recently introduced several policies tailored to these premium cards, so now is a great time to take a serious look.
- Apply for an AMEX card by May 31 and you will get an extra 3 months to meet the welcome bonus spending requirement, for a total of 6 months!
- From May through December, AMEX added various statement credits on some annual-fee cards, including wireless, streaming, hotel credit, dining reimbursement, and more.
- From June through August, hotel credits can also be used for dining: AMEX Hilton Aspire [$250 credit] and AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant [$300 credit].
For details on these benefits, see the article below:
Normally, some people may feel these cards have annual fees that are too expensive and welcome bonuses with spending requirements that are too high. But taking the AMEX Platinum as an example, spending $5,000 in 6 months is no longer difficult. Add in the included $160 wireless credit and $160 streaming credit, and the value of the welcome bonus becomes extremely strong. For premium hotel cards, the credits can be used through dining and food delivery, and there are also bonus rewards at supermarkets, so they are quite practical right now. I especially recommend the AMEX Platinum and the Hilton Aspire. The current AMEX Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant welcome bonus is simply too low right now at only 75,000, so it is not a good time to apply. Here are the quick application links and guides to the various credits:
- AMEX Platinum quick application link: up to 75,000 MR points, $200 Uber credit (actually $215), $200 Saks credit ($50*4, with 4 cards as the max play), $160 wireless credit, $160 streaming credit, $400 airline incidental credit ($200*2)
- AMEX Hilton Aspire quick application link: current all-time-high 150,000 Hilton points bonus, complimentary top-tier Hilton Diamond status, 12X at supermarkets for a limited time, $500 airline incidental credit ($250*2), $500 Resort credit (the first $250 can be used for dining, the second-year $250 for stays), and a weekend night certificate upon opening the card
- AMEX Green quick application link: up to 45,000 MR points, $80 wireless credit (this is not a premium card, but right now is a good time to apply if you want to maximize the $80 wireless credit)
Now is the best time, because if you cannot view your card number immediately after applying, you may still receive the card before the end of the month and use this month’s related credits. For the Hilton Aspire, once you receive it, you can start using the dining and food delivery credits the following month.
Which situations qualify for the extra 3 months?
Another point worth mentioning: upgrade bonuses also count as welcome offers in this context. Thanks to HighFive for the reminder; I had initially missed upgrade offers. Additional card offers, retention offers, and other spending offers do not count.
AMEX has already explained this in its Coronavirus Support page. If you do not want to open the card right away, applications or upgrades submitted by May 31 still qualify, though in that case it may be hard to guarantee getting the card number in time to use the May wireless and streaming credits.
- What offers does this extension apply to?
This 3-month extension only applies to welcome offers to earn a bonus after making eligible purchases as part of welcoming you to Card Membership upon opening or upgrading a Card account.
This extension does not apply to any other offer, such as offers related to adding Additional Card Members or offers related to promotional APRs, balance transfers, or other pricing terms.
Welcome offers for non-US Cards or with respect to American Express Cards issued by other financial institutions are not eligible. - If I apply by May 31, 2020, but my application isn’t approved immediately and is approved on or after June 1, 2020, will I be still be eligible?
Yes, you will be eligible for a 3-month extension if you apply by May 31, 2020 and are subsequently approved.
How to find upgrade offers
Upgrade offers generally appear in:
- the AMEX Offer interface
- emails sent by AMEX
- after logging into your online account, under View All Cards while browsing cards
You may see upgrade offers in any of those three places. Usually, you need to have held the lower-tier card for more than a year and not already have the higher-tier card. As long as you are not considered high risk in AMEX’s system, you will often see one, though YMMV.
If you are definitely going to upgrade, it is best if you have already earned the bonus on the higher-tier card first; otherwise you would waste the once-per-lifetime bonus opportunity. If you have an upgrade offer available, remember to save the upgrade link. If you have never had that premium card before, first apply for the premium card and earn the once-per-lifetime welcome bonus. After approval, then upgrade. That way, you can potentially get both the welcome bonus and the upgrade bonus. Doing it in the reverse order will not work. The sequence is very important.
If you have an LD, AMEX recently increased referral bonuses on many cards (Platinum 15,000-20,000 / Gold 20,000 / Green 10,000 / Biz Gold 25,000). If the two of you refer each other, the total return can be very attractive. If not, do not self-refer...