US Bank Altitude Reserve Product Change to Smartly Card

I wanted to share a recent data point regarding a product change from the US Bank Altitude Reserve. My annual fee posted about two weeks ago, and when I initially called and chatted with customer service last week to request a downgrade, I was told that there were absolutely no PC options available for my account.

Shortly after that denial, I went to the US Bank website and used their pre-qualification tool specifically for the Smartly card. It came back saying I was pre-approved, but I decided not to move forward with a new application and closed the page. Fast forward to today exactly one week later and I decided to try the online chat one more time. To my surprise, the representative told me I was now eligible to switch to the Smartly, Altitude Connect, or Shopper Cash Rewards cards. I successfully accepted the product change to the Smartly card. While I can't say for certain if the pre-approval check triggered something in their system to "offer" me the PC, the timing is definitely interesting for anyone else being told they have no downgrade paths.