Hello, I (22 F) have the American Express Gold Card currently (had it since 2024 I believe).
Here is info dump for context. I travel a lot considering I'm still in school. I have three trips planned this year: China in a few days, Las Vegas this summer and London for Christmas. I'm trying to plan what would be the most responsible in terms of flights. I use my card regular and I currently have 34,000 miles. I traveled to Japan and Scotland last year so used to have more. I also have two major trips that I am planning next year 2027 (Iceland in April/May and Italy in October for honeymoon).
I noticed that Amex is showing me a upgrade offer (that I'm sure everyone "gets") that I can ear 50,000 miles after spending 3,000 in 6 months which is doable for me since life is expensive lol. It does come with an increased annual fee is the only downside that seems notable for me.
Would this upgrade be worth it? Should I consider obtaining a new travel credit card that is more beneficial? I only have one other CC and that's Discover Student card. If needed my FICO credit Score is 752.
Upgrade from Amex Gold to Platinum?
byu/Frequent_Cook_7058 inCreditCards
Posted by Frequent_Cook_7058
3 Comments
Usually the best route is to apply for the Platinum and get the higher bonus (assuming you will make the spending in the allotted time), rather than upgrading. It is also a soft-pull since you already have the gold card. And then you can cancel gold (or ask for retention offer).
The current public bonus for signing up for the Platinum outright is (up to) 175k points. Seems like an easy choice if you’d be approved for it.
SUB aside, a $900 card seems foolish to me for a student, but go for whatever works best for you. It’s also an *entirely* different card that would not suit a student as an everyday card at all compared to the Gold.
The best thing I ever did was upgrade to a platinum due to all the travel I was taking this past year. So many points due to 5x on flights! Not to mention the car rental status (National is the best), Amex travel portal for extra points on hotels, the lounge access, global entry credit, and clear credit!
The worst thing I ever did was upgrade away from Gold. Losing the 4x on dining and groceries lost me just as many as I got from flights.
My point. Try and apply for a platinum separately if you can afford it… worst case is downgrade the Gold to a Green (criminally underrated: 3x on dining and all travel and transit booked direct)
Just make sure you have a Visa card for the places that don’t accept Amex.
Also if they accept JCB they will accept Amex, they have a relationship.
Have you looked at the Chinese airlines transfer partner deals? I think it’s China Eastern and Cathay. And going to England, British airways has excellent point deals!
Good luck and have fun!