Consider your options: 3 reasons to downgrade from the Amex Platinum to the Amex Gold
Editor's Note
While the American Express Platinum Card® offers many travel and lifestyle perks, it's also one of the most expensive cards on the market with an annual fee of $895 (see rates and fees).
Meanwhile, slotted below the Platinum Card is the American Express® Gold Card, a product that carries fewer benefits but a more palatable $325 annual fee (see rates and fees).
Every cardholder has their own reasons for considering a downgrade, but Amex Platinum's value proposition changed with the card's recent refresh. A variety of credits were introduced and improved to lend the card even more potential appeal (enrollment is required for select benefits).
While the benefits are undoubtedly great, there is also a point at which quantity trumps quality, especially when considering an annual fee of nearly $900.
If you're thinking about a downgrade from the Platinum Card, here are three reasons to migrate to the Amex Gold and how to do it to maximize your points potential.
Quick comparison of Platinum Card vs. Amex Gold
Here's how the Platinum Card and Amex Gold cards stack up.
| Card | Amex Platinum | Amex Gold |
|---|---|---|
| Annual fee | $895 | $325 |
| Earning rates |
|
|
| Welcome offer | Find out your offer and see if you are eligible to earn as high as 175,000 bonus points after spending $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary, and you may not be eligible for an offer. | Find out your offer and see if you are eligible to earn as high as 100,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. |
| Statement credits |
Enrollment is required for select benefits. |
Enrollment is required for select benefits. |
| Lounge access | Access to the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which includes Centurion Lounges, Delta Sky Clubs on same-day flights (Limited to 10 visits to SkyClubs per year; unlimited visits can be unlocked by spending $75,000 in a calendar year), Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium and Priority Pass™.
Enrollment is required for select benefits. Access is limited to eligible cardmembers. | None |
| Hotel status | Complimentary Gold status with the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalty programs and Sterling Status with The Leading Hotels of the World's loyalty program
Enrollment is required for select benefits. | None |
*Only available for purchases made at U.S. Lululemon stores (excluding outlets) and online.
**Your Platinum Card or Amex Gold must be added to the Uber account; redeem with any Amex card; only valid on U.S. purchases.
Why you might downgrade to the Amex Gold
You don't want to deal with so many credits
The Platinum Card offers a wide range of annual statement credits, covering everything from shopping to travel (up to $200 airline fee statement credit each calendar year) and much, much more.
Casual Platinum Card users should take a closer look at what these statement credits are. It's clear from the specific nature of several of these perks that many cardmembers will not be able to fully use all of them. With an annual fee of $895, you'll want to be able to use at least several without having to go out of your way.
The Platinum Card has over a dozen statement credits, most of which are given yearly, semi-annually or monthly.
Meanwhile, the Amex Gold Card has five statement credits. That amount is much easier for a cardmember to track.
It is also worth noting that a number of credits for both the Platinum Card and the Amex Gold require enrollment before you can use them.
Related: 4 reasons to hold both the American Express Gold and Platinum
You don't need airport lounge access or hotel elite status
Several other Amex Platinum perks provide significant value that can't be pegged to specific dollar amounts. For infrequent travelers, these perks might not be very useful.
For example, you'll get one of the most comprehensive airport lounge memberships with the Platinum Card.
Specifically, eligible cardmembers enjoy Priority Pass Select (enrollment required), access to Amex's ever-growing collection of Centurion Lounges and to Delta Sky Clubs when flying Delta Air Lines (cardmembers receive 10 visits per year to Delta Sky Clubs or to grab-and-go clubs when traveling on a same-day Delta-operated flight, with the ability to unlock unlimited visits by spending $75,000 in a calendar year).
That makes the Platinum Card one of the best cards for airport lounge access. Platinum cardmembers can also register for Gold elite status with Marriott and Hilton, plus Leaders Club Sterling status.
However, the Amex Gold might be a better fit if you don't travel often and rarely stay with any of the above-mentioned hotel brands.
You care more about earning points for everyday spending
The Platinum Card excels in many ways, but earning on everyday spending is not one of them. Earning 1 point per dollar spent on all purchases outside of its two bonus categories doesn't make it a winning card to carry every day.
Meanwhile, the Amex Gold earns 4 points per dollar spent at restaurants worldwide (on up to $50,000 each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter) and U.S. supermarkets (on up to $25,000 per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent thereafter), where a large portion of the typical household's spending goes each month.
Earning 3 points per dollar spent on airfare obviously isn't the same as the Amex Platinum's 5 points per dollar spent (on airfare booked through Amex Travel or direct, on up to $500,000 each calendar year, then 1 point per dollar spent), but it means you're not entirely missing out on potential rewards when carrying the Amex Gold.
Related: 8 ways to make the most of the Amex Gold Card's benefits
How to 'downgrade' to the Amex Gold
If you've decided to downgrade the Amex Gold, the process is thankfully very simple. With other issuers, this would be the point where we'd advise closing your card instead of downgrading, since you won't earn a welcome bonus by product-changing a card.
With Amex, however, earning a welcome bonus on the Platinum will more than likely make you ineligible for a welcome offer on the Gold. So, you're better off downgrading your Platinum if that's the path you're certain you want to go down.
Call the number on the back of your Amex Platinum to start the process. Before you tell the representative that you want to swap your Platinum for a Gold, however, consider asking them for a retention offer.
Retention offers
Before making a final decision on whether to cancel or downgrade your Platinum Card, it's definitely worthwhile to see if you're able to get a retention offer. These offers are essentially Amex's last-ditch effort to retain you as a cardmember. Ask to be transferred to the Amex retention line when you call and to speak with someone from that department.
In the past, TPG credit cards writer Danyal Ahmed received 50,000 Membership Rewards points for keeping his account open for another year.
If a retention offer isn't available or if the one you receive isn't sufficient to keep you as a Platinum cardmember, hang up and call again. It's worth trying a few times, since offers can differ from call to call. Otherwise, move forward with asking the representative to change your Platinum card to a Gold.
Bottom line
Downgrading from the Platinum Card to the Amex Gold may be a good option for some cardmembers. If you only want to pay one annual fee, you can frame the question as follows: Do you want higher everyday earning rates on a wider variety of categories? Or, do you want valuable travel and lifestyle perks that will add luxury to your upcoming travel?
If the first option sounds like you, then the Amex Gold may be a better fit. But if the second scenario aligns with your needs, you may want to keep the Platinum Card.
However, know that there is room for both of these cards in your wallet. In fact, the Amex Gold and the Platinum Card complement each other very well as part of the Amex Trifecta. Several TPGers, including credit cards editor Olivia Mittak, have both the Gold and Platinum.
To learn more, check out our showdown of the Amex Gold and Amex Platinum.
Apply here: Amex Gold
Apply here: Amex Platinum
For rates and fees of the Platinum Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold, click here.