AmEx Begins To Add Family Language: Higher Annual Fees Cards Will Affect The Welcome Offers On Lower Annual Fee Ones In The Same Family Series!​ (Latest Update: Platinum Will Affect Gold!) – US Credit Card Guide

[2023.10 Update] We initially thought that this family language limitation would first be implemented on co-branded cards, especially since it started with the Delta family. However, surprisingly, AmEx has started to apply it to their own MR cards! According to the recently updated AmEx Gold terms, if you’ve had the Platinum Card, you will not be able to get the Gold Card welcome offer. See the detailed discussion below.

AmEx Now Has Family Language To Restrict Welcome Offers

This is definitely bad news. AmEx has recently added a new term limiting welcome offers: cards within the same family will now affect each other’s welcome offers!

Previously, the well-known limitation on welcome offers was: if you are currently holding or have held a card, you will not be able to get the welcome offer for this card again. This limitation only targeted a single card and did not affect other cards in the same family.

However, recently people have found that the limitation on welcome offers has begun to extend to cards within the same family: after holding a card, not only will you be unable to get the welcome offer for this card itself in the future, but you will also not be able to get the welcome offer for cards with lower annual fees within the same family.

It hasn’t expanded to all AmEx cards yet, but it seems to be just a matter of time. This post will continue to be updated to summarize which current AmEx credit cards have been added with this family limitation.

Affected Cards

AmEx Gold & Platinum (2023.10 Latest Update)

AmEx Platinum and Gold cards now also have the same family restrictions; having held the Platinum Card will render you ineligible for the Gold Card welcome offer. The Green Card is not affected yet.

• AmEx Gold ($250 annual fee) latest offer terms clearly state that having had any version of the Platinum will make you ineligible for the Gold Card welcome offer:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Premier Rewards Gold Card, the Platinum Card^®, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

• AmEx Platinum ($695 annual fee) offer terms state that having held one version of the Platinum card will render you ineligible for welcome offers from other Platinum cards. Having held Gold does not affect Platinum:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab, the Platinum Card^® from American Express Exclusively for Morgan Stanley or previous versions of these Cards.

Blue Cash Family (2023.10 Update)

Similar terms have now been applied to the Blue Cash family. Having held the BCP affects BCE, but not vice versa.

You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card, the Cash Magnet^®Card, the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred^® American Express Card or previous versions of this Card.

You may not be eligible to receive the welcome offer, intro APRs, and intro plan fees if you have or have had this Card, the Morgan Stanley Blue Cash Preferred^® American Express Card, or previous versions of these Cards.

Delta Personal Cards Family (2023.9 Upate)

For the AmEx Delta personal card family, if you’ve held a card with a higher annual fee, you will not be able to get the welcome offer for the lower annual fee version. Offer terms:

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Options Credit Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards.

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards.

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card, the Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card or previous versions of these Cards.

You may not be eligible to receive a welcome offer if you have or have had this Card or previous versions of this Card.

Delta business card family is not affected yet.

Some Discussions

It seems like AmEx is gradually implementing these family language restrictions. In the future, if you have held a higher annual fee version, you will not be able to get welcome offers for cards with lower annual fees. For those who want to get a welcome offer for each, the order of card application becomes crucial — before it didn’t matter, but now you must start from the lowest annual fee and apply sequentially to higher fee versions. Moreover, this term is retroactive, not starting with new cards applied for after the update, but counting cards held before the announcement, so everyone should prepare early.

Additionally, it’s worth noting that cards from different channels or links may have different offer terms. Just like some cards do not have the “once per lifetime” language, perhaps links without the “once per lifetime family” language will appear in the future. Make sure to review the terms carefully before applying.

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