How To Upgrade an Amex Card: A Complete Guide [2023]

American Express tends to offer many different tiers of cards. Over time, your needs may evolve, and you might originally opt for a simple cash-back card with little to no benefits but discover that you can enhance your travels or get more out of your card by upgrading it to a more premium option.

So if you’re thinking about upgrading your Amex card to a higher-tier option, you’ve come to the right place! Today, we’re going to walk you through all the ins and outs of doing just that so you can make the best decision possible.

How To Upgrade Your Amex Card

The way you upgrade your Amex card is dependent on whether or not you see an upgrade offer online.

The first way you can tell if you have an upgrade offer is by logging into your online account at americanexpress.com and looking around on the account dashboard to see if you’ve been targeted for any upgrade offers.

Amex also sends out upgrade offers via email, which can look something like this:

Sometimes, you’ll be allowed to request an upgrade online without an offer, and it’ll look something like this (notice that there are no mentions of any offers for extra bonus rewards or points):

In other cases, you may need to call to upgrade your Amex card. Simply dial the number on the back of your card and speak to an agent about upgrading your Amex card.

You’ll need to have your card open for at least 1 year to be eligible to upgrade, and you must upgrade to a card within the same “family” of cards. For example, you cannot upgrade a Hilton credit card to a Marriott credit card because they are not in the same family.

Also, you can’t upgrade a personal card to a business card and vice-versa.

Reasons To Upgrade Your Amex Card

Although the decision to upgrade your Amex card depends on the individual, there are a few different groups of people for which it makes a lot of sense to upgrade:

You Get a Targeted Upgrade Offer

If you were thinking about upgrading your Amex card at one point but just haven’t pulled the trigger for one reason or another, you might want to do so as soon as you get an upgrade offer delivered to your email inbox or online account.

These targeted upgrade offers are particularly lucrative and could mean thousands of dollars back in your pocket.

Targeted upgrade offers are sent only to specific cardholders, and they’re typically time-sensitive. In some cases, the offers are so time-sensitive that they may be pulled even before the quoted expiration date!

For example, if you receive a targeted upgrade offer that requires your action by June 30, don’t be surprised if you try to accept the upgrade offer by June 27 and the offer is no longer valid!

There’s a Specific Perk You’re Looking For

Usually, when you’re considering upgrading your card, you’re doing so because there’s an attractive benefit or feature offered on the card you’re contemplating upgrading to.

For example, if you have the American Express^® Gold Card and are longing for airport lounge access because you’re a frequent traveler, The Platinum Card^® from American Express is one of the cards you’d likely be considering upgrading to.

Similarly, if you currently have a card like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card that gets you Hilton Honors Gold status just by holding the card, but are looking for top-tier Hilton Honors Diamond status, you’ll need to upgrade to the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card.

If you’re currently holding a Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card and are looking for a credit card that gives you an annual first class domestic companion certificate, you’ll want to upgrade your Delta Gold card to the Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card to access that perk.

The list goes on, but those who benefit most from upgrading their card will be focused on the 1 or 2 specific benefits where they would get the most value.

Your Spending Habits Change

Another great reason to upgrade your Amex card is if your spending habits start changing. For example, let’s say you currently have the American Express^® Green Card and you originally got it because you spend a substantial amount of money every month on eating out as a young professional.

But as time went on, you got married, started a family, and your food expenses skyrocketed — you still eat out from time to time, but most of the spending is now at grocery stores.

This would be a fantastic reason to upgrade your Amex Green card to the Amex Gold card, which not only earns more at restaurants worldwide (4x with the Amex Gold card compared to 3x with the Amex Green card) but also earns 4x points (on the first $25,000 per calendar year, 1x thereafter) at U.S. supermarkets.

This singular move alone could result in earning hundreds of thousands of extra points in just a few years!

Bottom Line:

You should consider upgrading your Amex card if you get a targeted upgrade offer, if you need a specific benefit that your current Amex card doesn’t have, or if your spending habits change and your card strategy needs to be re-evaluated.

Amex Membership Rewards Cards

In each of the following sections, we’ll be walking you through each of the major card families in the Amex portfolio and comparing the benefits that each card has to offer.

We’ll start off with the most popular family: Membership Rewards cards.

As a rule of thumb, these cards constitute Amex’s flagship Membership Rewards family:

• Amex Platinum card
• Amex Gold card
• Amex Green card*

In general, you can upgrade your Amex Green card to the Amex Gold card or Amex Platinum card. Meanwhile, you can also upgrade your Amex Gold card to the Amex Platinum card.

As for business cards, here are the options that are part of the Membership Rewards family:

• The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express
• American Express^® Business Gold Card
• Business Green Rewards Card from American Express*

You can upgrade the Amex Business Green card to either the Amex Business Gold card or the Amex Business Platinum card — you can upgrade your Amex Business Gold card to the Amex Business Platinum card.

*All information about these cards has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

Benefits Comparison

Without further ado, let’s get neck-deep into our benefits comparison for the major Amex cards!

Note: some benefits mentioned below require enrollment through your American Express account.

	The Platinum Card® from American Express	American Express® Gold Card	American Express® Green Card
Rewards	5x points on airfare purchased directly from the airline and through Amex Travel (up to $500,000 per calendar year) 5x points on prepaid hotel stays booked through Amex Travel 1x points on other eligible purchases	4x points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 4x points at U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year) 3x points on airfare purchased directly through the airline or Amex Travel 1x points on other eligible purchases	3x points at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 3x points on transit 3x points on travel 1x points on other eligible purchases
Travel Benefits	Access to 1,400+ lounges as part of the American Express Global Lounge Collection Access to Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status Rental car status and benefits with National, Avis, and Hertz Comprehensive travel insurance	Access to The Hotel Collection
Statement Credits	Up to $200 in airline fee credits Up to $200 in prepaid hotel credits for eligible stays Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit Up to $200 in Uber Cash Up to $189 in CLEAR Plus credit Up to $240 in digital entertainment credits Up to $300 in Equinox credits Up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue credits Up to $300 in SoulCycle credits Up to $155 in Walmart+ credits	Up to $120 in dining credits Up to $120 in Uber Cash	Up to $189 in CLEAR Plus credit Up to $100 in LoungeBuddy credits
Annual Fees	$695 (rates and fees)	$250 (rates and fees)	$150 (rates and fees)
Authorized Users	Add authorized users for $195 per card; No authorized user fee basic Gold cards (not the same as the Amex Gold card) (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee for up to 5 cards, then $35 annually per additional card (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)

And here’s our corresponding table for the best American Express business cards:

	The Business Platinum Card® from American Express	American Express® Business Gold Card	American Express® Green Card
Rewards	5x points on airfare and prepaid hotels purchased through Amex Travel 1.5x points on eligible purchases in key business categories and on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million per calendar year) 1x points on other purchases	4x points on the top 2 business categories where your business spent the most each billing cycle (terms apply) 1x points on other purchases	2x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel 1x points on other purchases
Travel Benefits	Access to 1,400+ lounges as part of the American Express Global Lounge Collection Access to Fine Hotels + Resorts and The Hotel Collection Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status and Hilton Honors Gold status Rental car status and benefits with National, Avis, and Hertz Comprehensive travel insurance 35% airline bonus (up to 1 million points back per calendar year)	Access to The Hotel Collection Basic travel insurance	Basic travel insurance
Statement Credits	Up to $400 in Dell credits per year Up to $360 in Indeed credits per year Up to $150 in Adobe credits per year Up to $120 in wireless credits per year Up to $200 in airline fee credits per year Up to $189 in CLEAR Plus credits per year	None	None
Annual Fees	$695 (rates and fees)	$295 (rates and fees)	$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $95
Authorized Users	$300 annual fee for each additional Business Platinum card, $45 annual fee for each additional Business Gold Rewards card, and no authorized user fee for each additional Business Green card (rates and fees)	$50 annual fee for the first additional Business Gold card and no authorized user fee (up to 99 total additional cards)(rates and fees)	No authorized user fee

Amex Marriott Bonvoy Cards

Another popular family of credit cards that Amex offers is the co-branded Marriott Bonvoy credit cards. Although Chase also shares this portfolio with Marriott Bonvoy, American Express’ territory is with the ultra-premium and business variants of the Marriott Bonvoy cards.

Currently, there are 3 personal Marriott Bonvoy Amex cards and 1 business Marriott Bonvoy Amex card:

• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express^® Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card

You can upgrade from the Marriott Bonvoy card to either the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card or the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. However, there are no upgrade options available to those who have the Marriott Bonvoy Business card.

Now, let’s take a look at a comparison of American Express’ line of Marriott Bonvoy co-branded personal credit cards:

Benefits Comparison

Note: some benefits mentioned below require enrollment through your American Express account.

	Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card	Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
Rewards	6x points for eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy 3x points at restaurants worldwide 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines 2x points on other eligible purchases	6x points for eligible purchases at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy 4x points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets (up to $15,000 in combined purchases per calendar year, 2x thereafter) 2x points on other eligible purchases
Travel Benefits	1 Free Night Award every year after your card renewal month (up to 85,000 points) Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite status Up to $100 Marriott Bonvoy property credit at The Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis when you book direct using a special rate for a 2-night minimum stay Earned Choice Award 25 Elite Night Credits every calendar year Priority Pass Select membership upon enrollment	Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status 15 Elite Night Credits every calendar year 1,000 bonus points per stay booked directly with Marriott Bonvoy
Statement Credits	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit	None
Annual Fees	$650 (rates and fees)	$250 (rates and fees)
Authorized Users	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)

As you can see, the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card offers automatic Platinum Elite status among other benefits, making it an excellent card to upgrade to if you value these types of benefits.

Amex Delta SkyMiles Cards

Amex offers consumer and business co-branded Delta SkyMiles cards. Here are your options for the family of personal cards:

• Delta Reserve card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card
• Delta Gold card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Blue American Express Card

You can upgrade any of these Delta co-branded cards to any of the personal cards within the same Delta SkyMiles family.

And here are your options for business cards:

• Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles^® Gold Business American Express Card

You can upgrade any of these Delta co-branded business cards to any of the other choices within the same Delta SkyMiles business credit card family.

Benefits Comparison

Here is a table comparing the personal Delta SkyMiles credit cards.

Note: some benefits mentioned below require enrollment through your American Express account.

	Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card	Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card	Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card	Delta SkyMiles® Blue American Express Card
Rewards	3x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 1x miles on other eligible purchases	3x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 3x miles on purchases made directly with hotels 2x miles at restaurants including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 2x miles at U.S. supermarkets 1x miles on other eligible purchases	2x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 2x miles at restaurants including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 2x miles at U.S. supermarkets 1x miles on other eligible purchases	2x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 2x miles at restaurants including takeout and delivery in the U.S. 1x miles on other eligible purchases
Travel Benefits	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app Earn 15,000 MQMs after you spend $30,000 on your card per calendar year, up to 4 times per year through Status Boost* MQD waiver Complimentary Delta Sky Club access when you fly on Delta on the same day** 2 Delta Sky Club 1-time guest passes per year** Complimentary access to The Centurion Lounge when you booked your Delta flight with your card Delta Reserve annual companion certificate First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app Earn 10,000 MQMs after you spend $25,000 on your card per calendar year, up to 2 times per year through Status Boost* Domestic Main-Cabin domestic round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation
Statement Credits	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases	$100 Delta Flight Credit after you spend $10,000 in purchases on your card in a calendar year 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases	20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases
Annual Fee	$550 (rates and fees)	$250 (rates and fees)	$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99 (rates and fees)	$0 (rates and fees)
Authorized Users	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)

*Effective 1/1/24, this benefit will no longer be available.

**Effective 2/1/25, Reserve Card Members will receive 10 Visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of Visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter.

Here is the card comparison table for the Delta SkyMiles business credit cards:

	Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card	Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card	Delta SkyMiles® Gold Business American Express Card
Rewards	3x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 1.5x miles after you spend $150,000 on your card in a calendar year 1x miles on other purchases	3x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta and hotels 1.5x miles on purchases of $5,000 or more, up to 50,000 additional miles per calendar year 1x miles on other eligible purchases	2x miles on Delta purchases made directly with Delta 2x miles at U.S. restaurants 2x miles on U.S. shipping purchases 2x miles on U.S. advertising purchases in select media 1x miles on other eligible purchases
Travel Benefits	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app Earn 15,000 MQMs after you spend $30,000 on your card per calendar year, up to 4 times per year through Status Boost* Complimentary Delta Sky Club access when you fly on Delta on the same day** Complimentary access to The Centurion Lounge when you booked your Delta flight with your card Delta Reserve annual companion certificate First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app Earn 10,000 MQMs after you spend $25,000 on your card per calendar year, up to 2 times per year through Status Boost* Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation	Take 15% off any time you book Award Travel with miles on Delta flights when using Delta.com and the Fly Delta app First checked bag for free and priority boarding for yourself and up to 8 others on your reservation
Statement Credits	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases	TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fee credit 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases	$100 Delta flight toward future travel after you spend $10,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year 20% statement credit on Delta inflight purchases
Annual Fee	$550 (rates and fees)	$250 (rates and fees)	$0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $99. (rates and fees)
Authorized Users	No additional annual fees for authorized users (rates and fees)	No additional annual fees for authorized users (rates and fees)	No additional annual fees for authorized users (rates and fees)

*Effective 1/1/24, this benefit will no longer be available.

**Effective 2/1/25, Reserve Card Members will receive 10 Visits per year to the Delta Sky Club; to earn an unlimited number of Visits each year starting on 2/1/25, the total eligible purchases on the Card must equal $75,000 or more between 1/1/24 and 12/31/24, and each calendar year thereafter.

Amex Hilton Honors Cards

Are you a fan of the Hilton family of hotels? Amex issues 3 Hilton Honors co-branded personal credit card options:

• Hilton Aspire card
• Hilton Surpass card*
• Hilton Honors American Express Card*

*All information about these cards has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

You can upgrade your Hilton Honors card to the Hilton Surpass card or the Hilton Aspire card. And you can also upgrade the Hilton Surpass card to the Hilton Aspire card.

Benefits Comparison

Note: some benefits mentioned below require enrollment through your American Express account.

	Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card	The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card	Hilton Honors American Express Card
Rewards	14x points on eligible purchases at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio 7x points on flights booked directly with airlines or Amex Travel 7x points on car rentals booked directly with select car rental companies 7x points at U.S. restaurants 3x points on other eligible purchases	12x points on eligible purchases at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio 6x points at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. restaurants, and U.S. gas stations 3x points on other eligible purchases	7x points on eligible purchases at hotels and resorts in the Hilton portfolio 5x points at U.S. supermarkets, U.S. restaurants, and U.S. gas stations 3x points on other eligible purchases
Travel Benefits	Complimentary Hilton Honors Diamond status Annual Free Night Reward  An additional Free Night Reward after you spend $60,000 on purchases in a calendar year Priority Pass Select membership upon activation	Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold status Earn Hilton Honors Diamond status after spending $40,000 on purchases in a calendar year Earn a Weekend Night Reward after you spend $15,000 on purchases in a calendar year 10 complimentary Priority Pass Select airport lounge visits per year	Complimentary Hilton Honors Silver status Earn Hilton Honors Diamond status after spending $20,000 on purchases in a calendar year
Statement Credits	Up to $250 Hilton resort credit Up to $100 property credit at participating Waldorf Astoria and Conrad properties when you book a 2-night stay or longer (restrictions apply)
Annual Fee	$450 (rates and fees)	$95 (rates and fees)	$0 (rates and fees)
Authorized Users	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)

There’s also a Hilton Honors co-branded card that’s issued to business owners — The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card. However, you can’t upgrade or downgrade to this card since there are no other co-branded Hilton Honors business credit cards available.

Amex Cash-back Cards

The last set of cards we’ll discuss is the family of cash-back cards under the Amex umbrella. Currently, there are 3 cards within the Amex cash-back card family on the consumer side:

• Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express
• Amex Blue Cash Everyday card
• American Express Cash Magnet^® Card*

*All information about these cards has been collected independently by Upgraded Points.

You can upgrade both the Amex Cash Magnet card and the Amex Blue Cash Everyday card to the Amex Blue Cash Preferred card.

Benefits Comparison

Note: some benefits mentioned below require enrollment through your American Express account.

Benefit	Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express	Blue Cash Everyday® Card from American Express	American Express Cash Magnet® Card
Rewards	6% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year) 6% cash-back on select U.S. streaming subscriptions  3% cash-back on transit and at U.S. gas stations 1% cash-back on other eligible purchases	3% cash-back at U.S. supermarkets (up to $6,000 per year) 3% cash-back on U.S. online retail purchases (up to $6,000 per year) 3% cash-back at U.S. gas stations (up to $6,000 per year) 1% cash-back on other purchases	1.5% cash-back on all purchases
Statement Credits	Upon enrollment, get up to $7 per month in statement credits when you spend $12.99 per month on a subscription to The Disney Bundle Up to $120 in Equinox+ statement credits	Upon enrollment, get up to $7 per month in statement credits when you spend $12.99 per month on a subscription to The Disney Bundle Up to $180 in Home Chef credits	None
Annual Fee	$0 intro annual fee for the first year, then $95 (rates and fees)	$0 (rates and fees)	$0
Authorized Users	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee (rates and fees)	No authorized user fee

Final Thoughts

All in all, you should only upgrade your Amex card if it makes sense to do so. In general, it makes sense to upgrade your Amex card if you have an attractive welcome offer, if you want to elevate the benefits you enjoy from your card, or if you’re interested in earning rewards more effectively due to changes in spending habits.

Amex has a few different families of cards, and you can only upgrade to cards within the same family. For this reason, you can’t upgrade a Delta SkyMiles credit card to a Marriott Bonvoy credit card, for example.

Your card needs to have been open for at least 1 year in order to qualify for an upgrade, too. For this reason, you can’t upgrade a new card you just opened a few months ago.

Remember to bookmark this page to refer back to it if you’re considering upgrading one or more of your Amex cards!

The information regarding The Hilton Honors American Express Surpass^® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. 
The information regarding the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express^® Green Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the Marriott Bonvoy American Express^® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
The information regarding the American Express Cash Magnet^® Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Everyday^® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express^® Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles^® Gold American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the American Express^® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant^® American Express^® card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express^® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Business^® American Express^® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles^® Blue American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles^® Reserve Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles^® Platinum Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Delta SkyMiles^® Gold Business American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Hilton Honors American Express Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Hilton Honors American Express Business Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Blue Cash Preferred^® Card from American Express, click here.