Credit card issuers have application rules<\/a> that determine your eligibility for new credit cards and welcome offers. Some restrict how many cards you can open within a certain period, such as Chase's 5\/24 rule<\/a>. In other cases, issuers will consider which cards you currently hold or have held in the past, like Marriott's application rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n Once you upgrade to a new credit card, you've now held that product. This can affect your ability to earn a welcome offer on the same card later down the road — and not just on the card you're converting to.<\/p>\n American Express also has family restrictions<\/a>\u00a0that can affect your eligibility for other cards within the same family. For example, here's how the rules apply to the Delta American Express cards<\/a>:<\/p>\n So, if you upgrade to a Delta Reserve, you're locking yourself out of getting any other Delta card welcome offers for a “lifetime” — although recent reports suggest\u00a0Amex may be loosening its once-per-lifetime rules<\/a>.<\/p>\n When you apply for a new American Express card, you'll get the full welcome offer (as long as you're eligible). In most cases, the welcome offer on a new card will be higher than any upgrade offer.<\/p>\n Make sure to compare the current new-card offer vs. any upgrade offer before doing anything. That way, you can choose the better offer (usually the higher one). Applying for a new card also lets you keep the existing card if holding both makes sense.<\/p>\n No annual feeRates & Fees<\/a> Excellent, Good<\/p><\/div><\/div> $150 Excellent, Good<\/p><\/div><\/div> $325<\/span><\/p><\/div> Excellent, Good<\/p><\/div><\/div> Here are a few reasons you should consider upgrading your American Express card:<\/p>\n While most upgrade offers are lower than the welcome offers on new cards, it's not unheard of for people to get amazing upgrade offers, especially ones that are targeted and not publicly available. If you get an outstanding upgrade offer, it can make a lot of sense to take it rather than applying for a new card.<\/p>\n Before accepting an upgrade offer, check a few things. First, have you held the card before, and are you eligible for a welcome offer if you apply directly? If you've had the new card before or aren't eligible for any new welcome bonus, an upgrade offer may be the only way to get a bonus on the new card.\u00a0 You'll also want to check if upgrading to a new card could affect your eligibility for other Amex cards.<\/p>\n Next, review the spending requirement to make sure you can comfortably meet it. Finally, check the new card's annual fee and whether you'll pay the full amount upfront or a prorated fee based on your cardmember anniversary.<\/p>\n While Amex upgrade offers come in many forms (on the website, through the mobile app, or in the mail), you'll want to think twice before taking advantage of one. In most cases, it will be more lucrative to apply for the new card rather than upgrading.<\/p>\n Usually (though not always), the welcome offer for applying for the card directly will be higher than an upgrade offer. Make sure you compare the welcome offers, annual fee, benefits, and how upgrading to a new card might affect your eligibility for other American Express cards<\/a> before you take that Amex upgrade offer.<\/p>\n Page Contents<\/p> The upgrade button looks convenient, but accepting it can have a surprisingly expensive consequence. Here are 4 reasons why it usually makes sense to avoid upgrading your Amex card.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":48315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12055],"tags":[12627],"coauthors":[36404],"class_list":["post-277655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-credit-cards","tag-fees-rules-and-policies"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277655"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":281870,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277655\/revisions\/281870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277655"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=277655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Beware of Amex family restrictions<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
Applying for a New Amex Card Is Usually Better<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/CardArt-TheBlueBusinessPlusCreditCardfromAmericanExpress-1.png\")
<\/div><\/div>
(Terms Apply)<\/span><\/p><\/div>![\"Hilton](\"https:\/\/cdn.nextinsure.com\/imaging\/opt\/0fb236dd-aecb-49ed-9f28-94aaf0efd9a2.png\")
<\/div><\/div>
(Terms Apply)<\/span><\/p><\/div>![\"American](\"https:\/\/cdn.nextinsure.com\/imaging\/opt\/4206696d-827e-44e5-bfc0-d0ce86822875.png\")
<\/div><\/div>When You Should Upgrade an Amex Card<\/span><\/h2>\n
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![\"american](\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Amex-Gold-60th-Anniversary-1-900x283.jpg\")
What To Check Before Upgrading<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Bottom Line<\/span><\/h2>\n