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American Express has cards that earn cash back, and others that earn Membership Rewards. Before you apply for a card, there are a few limitations to product changes to keep in mind.
Rule #1: Cash Back ≠ Membership Rewards
The first one is that you cannot product change a cash back card to one that earns Membership Reward points. For example, you can't product change a Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express to an Amex EveryDay® Credit Card.
Rule #2: Charge Cards and Credit Cards
The second rule is you can't product change a charge card to a credit card. This means that you can't product change the Centurion Card from American Express to an Amex EveryDay Credit Card. However, you can downgrade an American Express® Gold Card or The Platinum Card® from American Express to the American Express® Green Card.
Rule #3: Business Cards and Personal Cards
You also can't product change a business card to a personal card. For example, you can't product change The Business Platinum Card® from American Express to a personal Platinum Card. Not being able to product change between business and personal cards is standard practice.
For co-branded cards, you can only product change within their respective group. For example, the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card can be product changed to any Amex Delta card.
American Express often gives you promotions to upgrade from one card to a higher tier card. It may seem like a good offer, but once you upgrade, you will never qualify to get the welcome bonus for the higher tier card. Amex has a once in a lifetime rule for welcome bonuses, meaning you can't receive a welcome bonus for a card you previously or already have.
When does it make sense to upgrade or downgrade?
With a card like The Platinum card, there's not a free downgrade option. The American Express Gold Card and the American Express Green both have annual fees.
Regarding upgrades, the main reason to do it is if there's an offer attached and if it gives you increased value. For example, if you have the Amex Gold and you get an upgrade offer for the Amex Platinum, upgrading would save you a hard inquiry. I recommend this if you're inquiry sensitive and are applying for a mortgage or buying a car in the near future.
The other potential reason to upgrade is if the welcome bonus for the card itself isn't worthwhile.
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Editorial Note:
Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, vendors or companies, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
