Amex BCP with no effective AF for 5 years complete.

As each year passes with success using this approach I like to post just as a reminder to everyone that it still works.

I just completed the downgrade to BCE / upgrade back to BCP for the 5th time. Overall I've effectively paid no AF with the upgrade bonuses averaged out over 5 years.

For those that are unaware of the process, when your BCP AF hits you contact Amex via chat and request a downgrade to BCE. They return the AF and send you a BCE. Shortly after, an "upgrade offer" will appear on your account to move from your now BCE back to BCP. The upgrade offer will include a bonus (usually, spend $1k in 6 months) that I've seen be either $75, $100 or $150. Sometimes the AF is waived in addition to this bonus, which sweetens the deal even more. I personally have never received a no AF bonus offer, but plenty have. Once you accept the upgrade offer with 2 clicks they send you a BCP. In a year, you repeat the process.

This most recent time following my downgrade the upgrade offer was waiting for me 2 days later when I logged in. It very well could have been there next day, I just didn't log in that day.

Holding an effective no AF BCP for years is pretty fantastic, and it's possible to even come out in the green with an effective negative AF (Amex pays you to hold the BCP) based on how lucrative your offers are.

These are a few common takes I hear a lot when bringing up this subject, along with my responses to them:

1 – It seems like a lot of work just to avoid the AF.

It's really not. The downgrade takes 3-4 minutes through an online chat session. The upgrade takes under a minute with just a few clicks once the offer appears. You're talking < 5 minutes once a year. We all value our time differently, but IMO this isn't a big investment of time for what it accomplishes.

2 – I'd be worried about Amex shutting you down for taking advantage / gaming the system.

You aren't actually gaming anything though, because you aren't asking for the upgrade. Amex is offering it. All you are doing is accepting what is being offered to you. If Amex truly took issue with this, they wouldn't repeatedly provide the offer to those that downgrade to BCE.

3 – Why go through this trouble when with the credits the BCP offers you can already effectively eliminate the AF?

Because this is a rare case where you can have your cake and eat it too. Additional statement credit simply means a better bottom line in the end with respect to the card overall.

I hope this information is helpful to some. If anyone has any questions about my 5 years with the BCP, definitely let me know.