Chance of being accepted for Amex upgrade to Platinum?

theburningcat

My income is around £28k. My wife's income is around £14k. I have the PRG card and put about an average of about £3k/month through it (much of this is business expense). I've had the PRG for just over a year and had the Green card for about a year before that. Checking my "spending power" on the Amex site suggests that my non-preset limit is about £20k.

My credit file is "nearly perfect" - there may be one or two slightly late payments from just under 6 years ago. I haven't checked recently. My record with Amex and every other company in the last ~5 years has been perfect. No debt apart from my student loan (the rest paid off as of ~3 months ago). MSE Credit Club says there's a 90% chance of being accepted for Amex Platinum Cashback (the credit card - this is the charge card).

I called Amex and they said there is an offer of 10k points to upgrade. It's come at a time when I need to book a lot of travel and I would see a lot of benefit fairly quickly. It's a conversion - but there is still an "application process" involving another credit search. They said they never give a decision instantly for the conversion but the card "should" turn up about a week later.

Has anyone had experience with this process? Is anyone able to give a benchmark for what they're looking for?

Javens

Why not cancel your current charge cards, wait 6 months then apply for the Platinum card? You'll get the full 30-35k membership reward points then. Or apply for the Gold card, 20k points and no fee.

Just apply for another card to make use of for the next 6 months - i.e. the BA AMEX will give you 10k Avios and then 1 Avios for every £1 spent, the same as the Platinum card.

Or Lloyds Avios Duo is great for 6 months, 2.5 Avios for £1 spent, a lot more than the Platinum card.

If you're worried about Lounge Access, get a priority pass through one of the sites like wowcher.

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If you do decide to upgrade, my experience of AMEX is once you're with them, and have used your account without problem, they'll happily accept you for any of their cards going forward. I've had multiple AMEX cards, been accepted for all, and my income was less than 28k.

theburningcat

Thanks. I know there are better deals on paper - not least because of Amex's 2.99% FX fee. Santander have a business CC with no FX fee and 1% cash back (though I hate their customer service). The AMEX BAPP card looks very good and lounge access could be had via BA or Regus's Dragonpass offer (among others).

My wife is about to go into hospital so I will probably spend one night every week in a hotel for 2 months. Late checkout and free breakfast at the nearby Hilton would be extremely helpful.

I also regularly take the Eurostar to see family in Paris - one trip is in 2 weeks. Lounge access would be very helpful given the commute to London can be a bit unpredictable.

And my wife and I both travel for work so shareable travel benefits are good too.

I am also considering BAPP and the Santander business offer (possibly with a view to having the Platinum just for its benefits and having another spending card). A straight upgrade to Platinum would be helpful in the short term though - and easy.

I also dont know if my creditworthiness is good enough to churn - particularly with my income being relatively low in the last tax year (16/17 Self Assessment will be much higher but my accountant has advised me against using anything but 15-16 numbers) and the fact I'm 25yo.

Javens

Looks like you'll make use of the platinum benefits so go for it. If you've already got a charge card in good order, I'm pretty sure they'll give you another.

I constantly switch between BA AMEX and Gold every 6 months, then occasionally throw in the Lloyds AMEX. Great way to collect Avios and get a free upgrade voucher from Lloyds.

I believe Priority Pass is one of the better lounge cards. I've had Lounge Club membership through the gold card and it's not accepted at as many lounges as Priority Pass.

theburningcat

Thanks, Javens. Logically, they could give me the same limit and I wouldn't be any higher risk to them - but I believe most Platinum cardholders have a higher income (and there was a £40k minimum until not long ago).

What's your experience of the number of searches that pattern has on your ability to get credit in general? Do you think you're ruling out the possibility of say, getting a loan in the next 1-2 years if you should ever need one? As a business owner, this bothers me a bit. Recently, for example, I moved away from Paypal and saved about £300/month in doing so - but the merchant account provider that replaced them did a full credit search so excessive churning might have been an obstacle.

Lounge Club is really bad in relative terms although I had a good experience in Dubai. Actually, I've just renewed the PRG card and already used the 2 lounge visits so I'd be very happy for them to refund my PRG fee prorata LOL. Priority Pass is definitely better - but I looked into what is available via BA/Avios (since it includes a lot of partners) and it looks much better. That is one of the reasons I thought the BAPP is such a good deal, although, it takes a bit of time to get there.

Platinum isn't just Priority Pass though - there's also Delta, Centurion and Eurostar lounge access.

Javens

I've got 13 credit searches on my report for the past 12 months, and haven't found it to be a problem. I'm 26, and most of my credit accounts aren't open for very long, all-be-it a Barclaycard Cashback AMEX which I've had for a few years.

I usually open cards/accounts for the bonuses, and close them within a few months, 6 months max typically.

If you apply for the upgrade, please post the process if accepted. Interesting to know... as I've never been offered an upgrade or redemption offer when closing any of my AMEX accounts.

B19JON

I went from a PRG to a Platinum card with no problem at all. There used to be a link which gave 15k reward points to upgrade, i'll see if I can find it.

I earn a little bit less than you, and tbh I didn't think I was going to get it. But got an instant approved decision online.

theburningcat

Thanks Javens and B19JON. Headforpoints.com suggests the 15K runs from time to time at the same link and that link is dead right now.

How long did it take for the card to show up?

B19JON

I got it in 5 or 6 days. I can't remember exactly, but I had to collect mine from the post office, as the card comes in a book!

Javens

I heard AMEX gave some Platinum card holders an Amazon Echo for Christmas. Must have been those high spenders...

theburningcat

I took the plunge and applied over the phone. The rep said I should have been able to do it online but I couldn't find an active link. Despite it being a conversion, it seemed more like a new application in that they did a full search and took income details again. They only asked about my own income this time - didn't consider "household income". The rep confirmed I would get 10k bonus points.

No decision yet as apparently conversion requests all go to the new applications team in the back office. The rep said the card "should" show up within 10 days - it seemed like there was an assumption I'd get it - I'll post back when I get something.

I'm a bit impatient/obsessed. I might call them in 2-3 days to find out if it's been approved.

I think I'll also apply for Santander's Business Cashback Credit Card - the 0% FX fee, 1% cashback and Mastercard network make it much better for business spend. I spoke to someone at Santander today who was completely unable to answer any meaningful questions. I'll speak to my business manager on Monday. It'll be the first time I've spoken to him since the account was opened 3.5 years ago. I specifically want to ask if I can have a named contact for when dealing with their numpty call centres gets too much