I ended up opening a new Amex Gold the night I found out the revamp was the following day. I grabbed the $250 AF and will reevaluate next year, the pressure whether to apply or not got the best of me haha!
At $195 yeah it was worth it. At $250 barely worth it. I was going to cancel after the increase to 250. AMEX kept giving good retention offers, so I stayed. Most recent offer they gave me 5000 points and no AF for the year. My AF is coming up in Dec. I've never used any of these benefits. I tried to use the Shake Shack one. And it took two months both times to get a statement credit. At $325 it's not worth it for 4x points. Plus most restaurants now charge at least a 3% fee just to use the card to pay.
Right! You really had to use every single credit and even then you wouldn't break even from that alone. Oh wow, that's an interesting retention offer; was there a spend requirement? For sure, if you don't think you'll be able to use the credits naturally, totally not worth keeping. Also that's good points bout the 3% fee; along with the auto tipping screen after you pay with a credit card, haha 🥲
I can't wait to cancel mines in September. I probably do it by instant chat instead of calling. I don't want to hear the long chatter trying to up-sale me or trying to keep the card.
Oh? You don’t want to keep it for another year to take advantage of the extra benefits during the revamp? I think it could be worth keeping until the new annual fee hits. For sure, chat is the way to go; way easier 👍
Yep, tired of the coupon book style of credits on top of the annual fee increase; it's no longer worth it. Canceling mine before the next annual fee renewal.
I let go of mine, it's a food MR earner plain and simple with no travel value etc. Yes you can build MR points for travel redemption quicker because of the 4x categories but there is not travel value attached to the Amex Gold. No status, no lounge (Priority Pass) access, no travel x categories outside flights for now $325 INSANE. The Amex Green makes the Amex Gold look bad with all it's travel value with lounge buddy if you needed to purchase up to $100 in credits for lounge access. C1 Savor One, Citi Strata Premier, Citi Custom Cash, Wells Fargo Autograph/Autograph Journey, among others provide food rewards for far less or a $0 AF. I do hold the Amex Business Gold which is more powerful of a card and includes travel value and utilizes business credit.
Honestly I thought it was so weird to classify the Gold card as a travel card, haha. It does have 3x on direct airline bookings and use to have an airline credit. However I never saw it as a travel card. Yeah the annual fee increases are getting a bit much. For sure, I understand and agree with your sentiments Shawn!
A closed credit card stays on your credit report for 10 years. It doesn’t reduce your average age of credit for at least 10 years. Charge cards also don’t impact utilization.
@@CalbyNg I closed 10 personal cards without affecting my credit score only minimal. Just make sure not to close your longest two cards and you should be good
@@ras2472 Actually that's the best option for your credit report. It won't affect it at all, and you get to build a longer history with that card account. Just make sure you can value the card and you aren't just holding it for your credit score. Because cancelling a card doesn't do too much damage in most cases; from my experience.
I for sure see your point; it can affect your credit score. However I think if a card stops working for you and especially has a high annual fee. I don’t think it’s too bad to cancel them. Also that’s a lot of overlap, haha
For sure take a look at the Savor One (3% back on dining, groceries, streaming, and entertainment). All for $0 annual fee; so you don’t need to worry about breaking even with credits. Plus if you pair the Savor One with a Venture product you can convert your cash back to miles.
With the two new benefits, amex is paying me $99 to keep the card. Even better, my annual fee of $250 just hit, so I avoided the $75 increase until July 2025.
Nice! For sure would have definitely kept the card if I knew about the new changes. My biggest issue was not being able to use the dining credit at the time.
Your video highlights something that, I hate about American Express which, is their use of call centers in India. This past Spring, I applied for the business "Plum" card and asked them to use the same mailing address, I have used for 25-years with another American Express card. It was like "pulling teeth", they took three (3) monthly statements to get my business address almost correct ... yeah go figure (smile ... smile).
Right! It seems like it has only been a recent change too; I didn't feel it was always like that. Sorry about your experience talking with them, I know how frustrating that can be
Yep, Amex Green (use to) have a lounge buddy credit and will cover one Clear membership. I wonder what they are gonna do about the lounge buddy credit though; it's expired since July 1st.
I just got the card and seeing all this now just started building my credit will it be smart to cancel or just keep it and if I do cancel what card should I get instead
Oh, I heard the revamp is tomorrow 7/25; so in order to lock in that $250 you have to apply before they change it. Is my understanding and if they do what they have previously done.
I'm having gold Amex, chase freedoom and a Citi credit cards right now, but planning to cancel Amex and get chase sapphire! Just paid my Amex annual in June/July, so could you give me an advice..should I try to redeem all of my points and cancel the amex card or just downgrade to no annual fee card and use it every once in a while to keep the account active? Also if I canceled and apply for the sapphire and cancel chase freedoom, will it effect to my credit score a lot?
I’ve never cancelled a CC with an annual fee before so this will be my first time so I have a question: my renewal fee posts in November. If I cancel before that will I still be charged the AF since I used it for the majority of the year? Just curious so that way if I do get charged I’m not surprised by it
So if you cancel before you shouldn't be charged the AF; however, if you applied for the card with a welcome offer and received it during that year; they might claw that back from you. I would recommend to cancel the card after the annual fee hits your account, because there is a 30 day full refund policy law and doing this won't risk your welcome offer being clawed back.
This is the move for now. That Dunkin and Five Guys credit makes the credits easier for some people; plus $100 Resy credit is interesting. Even better if you can get it all for the reduce price of $250.
Better refresh the Green card soon; since Lounge buddy shutdown, haha. It was kind of funny when they refreshed the Delta cards and they got an influx of calls wanting to cancel those cards.
@@Vanjo16 If you applied for a welcome offer during the same year; they might claw it back. Also with Amex if you cancel after the 30 day grace period they won't prorate the annual fee; unless, you downgrade your card instead. So if you didn't have a welcome offer, basically you'll just be losing days you already paid for the card and might be on Amex's radar as a bad customer.
I heard great things about the Sapphire lounges; can’t wait to try them myself. However I wish Chase had a good competitive grocery category; that would be my only issue transferring my spend to Chase. But not a bad plan Brendan!
@@CalbyNg - man that is wack! They should at least make the attempt to keep you, even if the offer would have been terrible. Were you actively using the card?
@@chatanp Right! Maybe it’s because I got one last year? I was putting on average maybe $1k to $2k spend on the card a month. It was definitely a work horse card for me, but not being able to use the dining credits as easily was a killer
@@CalbyNg ok, so it definitely wasn't from lack of use. I've heard anecdotally that you may not receive a retention offer in back to back years, so maybe you fell into that bucket
Keeping old Goldie until they break the 500 annual fee barrier one day. Unless they can truly give credits of value for travel as well; maybe then I would keep above a 500 dollar fee. The Amex Gold card is the official flex card, and the fee is always proportionate to her Majesty's flex appeal when dining out. 😂
What do you mean by moving your history lines? What I can understand is, cancel the gold Amex, but before canceling the card ask if they can move your history to another of their cards that they have, for example the Everyday card and continue with a good history with Amex so that it does not affect your score/credit?
if I want to keep the Amex gold I have until June of next year. Since I already paid for my membership. The $325 I don't know if I want to pay. I love the gold because for example if I want to get a new iPhone instead of spending 1k and get 1x the point I get gift cards for 4x. Love the dining credits. But the new one's no i don't go to dunkin the one in town is ghetto and the rest I don't live in a major city and I'm not going to drive just to use it. Am going to Atlanta in September but none will be near where i'm at. Since it's July the 1 half is already over lol. If Just got the venture end of June would have got the x if this was the case. Might downgrade idk
Nice! Congratz on getting approved before that annual fee hike; decent bonus too. I heard the revamp offer is 60k and 20% back on dining up to $100? I think. Definitely not the best.
You know that's something I actually touched on in my follow up video (Amex Gold Revamp). I feel like they have been cutting more and more services and they think we haven't noticed.
*Under Review Ref turns mic on, “After further review of the footage, CalbyNg has alotted a cat in the play. Previous ‘No Cat’ statement has been declined!” 😸
@@DCGEMINI202 Oh dang, you too? It reminds me of the time I was going to add authorized users to the Platinum $175 for 3 cards; got lazy waited then it was $175 per card, haha
I cancelled before I knew about the refresh 😅
no more white gold 😂😭
@@justinwlin Right! So sad 😢 I might have to resort to stealing one 🤣
@@CalbyNg$50 and it’s yours.
just ordered mine
You have 30 days to reactivate...then order the white gold
I ended up opening a new Amex Gold the night I found out the revamp was the following day. I grabbed the $250 AF and will reevaluate next year, the pressure whether to apply or not got the best of me haha!
Good to cancel. Plenty of other cards similar to the Gold but with much less fees and NO COUPONING!!
Right! Serious competition; especially with that Savor One. Plus it offers World Elite Mastercard benefits; which have been awesome!
@@CalbyNg True, what card do you recommend to replace the Amex Gold?
@@CalbyNgfunny how few Amex fanboys never talked about the Savor card for that precious 4X
At $195 yeah it was worth it. At $250 barely worth it. I was going to cancel after the increase to 250. AMEX kept giving good retention offers, so I stayed. Most recent offer they gave me 5000 points and no AF for the year. My AF is coming up in Dec. I've never used any of these benefits. I tried to use the Shake Shack one. And it took two months both times to get a statement credit. At $325 it's not worth it for 4x points. Plus most restaurants now charge at least a 3% fee just to use the card to pay.
Right! You really had to use every single credit and even then you wouldn't break even from that alone. Oh wow, that's an interesting retention offer; was there a spend requirement? For sure, if you don't think you'll be able to use the credits naturally, totally not worth keeping. Also that's good points bout the 3% fee; along with the auto tipping screen after you pay with a credit card, haha 🥲
@@CalbyNg $1000 in six months
I can't wait to cancel mines in September. I probably do it by instant chat instead of calling. I don't want to hear the long chatter trying to up-sale me or trying to keep the card.
No s on mine. It's, "I'll probably".
Amex chat is clutch simple quick and painless.
Oh? You don’t want to keep it for another year to take advantage of the extra benefits during the revamp? I think it could be worth keeping until the new annual fee hits.
For sure, chat is the way to go; way easier 👍
@@CalbyNg my annual fee post in September, so for my understanding the new annual fee will occur before.
You will hear the same chatter from the chat system. They tried really hard to make me keep the Amex Platinum, I rejected their 35k retention offer.
Yep, tired of the coupon book style of credits on top of the annual fee increase; it's no longer worth it. Canceling mine before the next annual fee renewal.
I let go of mine, it's a food MR earner plain and simple with no travel value etc. Yes you can build MR points for travel redemption quicker because of the 4x categories but there is not travel value attached to the Amex Gold. No status, no lounge (Priority Pass) access, no travel x categories outside flights for now $325 INSANE. The Amex Green makes the Amex Gold look bad with all it's travel value with lounge buddy if you needed to purchase up to $100 in credits for lounge access. C1 Savor One, Citi Strata Premier, Citi Custom Cash, Wells Fargo Autograph/Autograph Journey, among others provide food rewards for far less or a $0 AF. I do hold the Amex Business Gold which is more powerful of a card and includes travel value and utilizes business credit.
Honestly I thought it was so weird to classify the Gold card as a travel card, haha. It does have 3x on direct airline bookings and use to have an airline credit. However I never saw it as a travel card.
Yeah the annual fee increases are getting a bit much.
For sure, I understand and agree with your sentiments Shawn!
Only worth if ur getting 75-90 sub as its value with travel partners can be worth 3 time that of AF
What do you use for your groceries for the year? How do you acquire points that is of value?
A closed credit card stays on your credit report for 10 years. It doesn’t reduce your average age of credit for at least 10 years. Charge cards also don’t impact utilization.
Yep, that is true. So canceling a bunch of cards can be bad
@@CalbyNg I closed 10 personal cards without affecting my credit score only minimal. Just make sure not to close your longest two cards and you should be good
@@callmeNeno For sure, only really matters to beginners.
Does downgrading it to green also affect your credit?
@@ras2472 Actually that's the best option for your credit report. It won't affect it at all, and you get to build a longer history with that card account. Just make sure you can value the card and you aren't just holding it for your credit score. Because cancelling a card doesn't do too much damage in most cases; from my experience.
$50 and a replica Anthony Venture White Gold card is yours! You pay the shipping though.
For real, I was gonna ask you to order me an extra one 🤣
@@AnthonyVentureWhite gold will look nice I still prefer classic gold just fits the Amex Gold card perfectly!
@@shawn.credit I dunnoooooo; might hate it in person though, haha
@@CalbyNgI have a white gold Business Gold on the way will compare soon!
@@shawn.credit Nice! Can't wait!
Mine renews right around late-Sept / early-Oct and if the fee is still $250 I'll keep it another year. If it goes to $325 I won't.
Oh you should be able to get that lower fee; I believe it'll raise, if your renewal is after October 10th.
Great video. I will also be cancelling my gold due to the recent update. Doesnt make sense for me to pay more for things i wont use.
Oh for sure, those credits make it or break it; a very fine line. Excellent if the credits works with your lifestyle, silly to have if it doesn't.
Why doesn't Amex give you a choice to keep the old Gold price and plan or move to new plan
Ohhh like phone carriers! That would be interesting 🤔 Being grandfathered in. I would support this 👍
Canceled my gold card yesterday. Was offered 25,000 points on $2,000 spend
Oof, that's kind of low. Did you not want to keep it even after the refresh?
I never cancel any card that I get approved for…including gold or platinum or C1VX or CSR 😊
I for sure see your point; it can affect your credit score. However I think if a card stops working for you and especially has a high annual fee. I don’t think it’s too bad to cancel them. Also that’s a lot of overlap, haha
What’s a good card that’s the same as an AMEX Gold ?
For sure take a look at the Savor One (3% back on dining, groceries, streaming, and entertainment). All for $0 annual fee; so you don’t need to worry about breaking even with credits. Plus if you pair the Savor One with a Venture product you can convert your cash back to miles.
Thanks for the info + video!
Anytime Jimmy! Thanks for being here!
With the two new benefits, amex is paying me $99 to keep the card. Even better, my annual fee of $250 just hit, so I avoided the $75 increase until July 2025.
Nice! For sure would have definitely kept the card if I knew about the new changes. My biggest issue was not being able to use the dining credit at the time.
Thankfully my AF doesn’t renew until next year. I have some time before I need to make this decision.
Nice! Lock it in and take advantage of the extra credits 😎
Your video highlights something that, I hate about American Express which, is their use of call centers in India. This past Spring, I applied for the business "Plum" card and asked them to use the same mailing address, I have used for 25-years with another American Express card. It was like "pulling teeth", they took three (3) monthly statements to get my business address almost correct ... yeah go figure (smile ... smile).
Right! It seems like it has only been a recent change too; I didn't feel it was always like that. Sorry about your experience talking with them, I know how frustrating that can be
Did she just say that the green amex card give lounge access and clear membership? 3:46
Yep, Amex Green (use to) have a lounge buddy credit and will cover one Clear membership. I wonder what they are gonna do about the lounge buddy credit though; it's expired since July 1st.
@@CalbyNg is the lounge buddy credit the same as the platinum express lounge credit?
I just got the card and seeing all this now just started building my credit will it be smart to cancel or just keep it and if I do cancel what card should I get instead
When do you think it will end $250 AF ? Like within 30 days ? So apply soon if I wanted to lock at $250 AF for a full year ?
Oh, I heard the revamp is tomorrow 7/25; so in order to lock in that $250 you have to apply before they change it. Is my understanding and if they do what they have previously done.
@@CalbyNgI'm looking forward to tomorrow to hear about this revamp!
@@shawn.credit Right! I’m hoping for a surprise benefit the rumors haven’t covered. However it does seem like everything has released
I'm having gold Amex, chase freedoom and a Citi credit cards right now, but planning to cancel Amex and get chase sapphire! Just paid my Amex annual in June/July, so could you give me an advice..should I try to redeem all of my points and cancel the amex card or just downgrade to no annual fee card and use it every once in a while to keep the account active? Also if I canceled and apply for the sapphire and cancel chase freedoom, will it effect to my credit score a lot?
That sucks. I’m on the way to Dunkin, you want anything?
Frozen hot chocolate, if you would 🥺
@@CalbyNg I got you my boy 😂
@@carlosleshawn You're a G!!
Looking forward to cancelling mine too. Just gonna use the Chat option though
For sure the easiest option 👍
I’ve never cancelled a CC with an annual fee before so this will be my first time so I have a question: my renewal fee posts in November. If I cancel before that will I still be charged the AF since I used it for the majority of the year? Just curious so that way if I do get charged I’m not surprised by it
So if you cancel before you shouldn't be charged the AF; however, if you applied for the card with a welcome offer and received it during that year; they might claw that back from you. I would recommend to cancel the card after the annual fee hits your account, because there is a 30 day full refund policy law and doing this won't risk your welcome offer being clawed back.
I figure i'll keep mine another year at the $250 fee to see what the $325 benefits will be.
This is the move for now. That Dunkin and Five Guys credit makes the credits easier for some people; plus $100 Resy credit is interesting. Even better if you can get it all for the reduce price of $250.
I think I they’re going to receive many of these cancellation in the next few months. I will unless the green card refresh is worth it.
Better refresh the Green card soon; since Lounge buddy shutdown, haha. It was kind of funny when they refreshed the Delta cards and they got an influx of calls wanting to cancel those cards.
@@CalbyNg oh, didn’t know lounge buddy was shutting down
Did u cancel before or after the annual fee hit the card?
Right after, usually it can cause more problems to cancel before; especially if you picked up a welcome bonus the same year.
@@CalbyNg oh really, what would happen if u canceled it right before the annual fee hit the card?
@@Vanjo16 If you applied for a welcome offer during the same year; they might claw it back. Also with Amex if you cancel after the 30 day grace period they won't prorate the annual fee; unless, you downgrade your card instead. So if you didn't have a welcome offer, basically you'll just be losing days you already paid for the card and might be on Amex's radar as a bad customer.
@CalbyNg good to know, thanks for the info 👍 🙌🙌🙌
@@Vanjo16 Of course!
I might cancel mines next year and product change my csp into a csr
I heard great things about the Sapphire lounges; can’t wait to try them myself. However I wish Chase had a good competitive grocery category; that would be my only issue transferring my spend to Chase. But not a bad plan Brendan!
@@CalbyNg the only place I shop for groceries is Costco so the amex eco system just doesn’t make sense for me in my daily spend
No retention offer!?!?
Not that they offered me unfortunately
@@CalbyNg - man that is wack! They should at least make the attempt to keep you, even if the offer would have been terrible.
Were you actively using the card?
@@chatanp Right! Maybe it’s because I got one last year? I was putting on average maybe $1k to $2k spend on the card a month. It was definitely a work horse card for me, but not being able to use the dining credits as easily was a killer
@@CalbyNg ok, so it definitely wasn't from lack of use. I've heard anecdotally that you may not receive a retention offer in back to back years, so maybe you fell into that bucket
@@chatanp That's what I'm thinking
Keeping old Goldie until they break the 500 annual fee barrier one day. Unless they can truly give credits of value for travel as well; maybe then I would keep above a 500 dollar fee. The Amex Gold card is the official flex card, and the fee is always proportionate to her Majesty's flex appeal when dining out. 😂
😂
Sounds like you're looking for the Amex Platinum card, haha.
@@CalbyNg no. No flex in a 5x flight earner card. Because I don't fly that much, but we do eat. 🤣
You deserve more subs! 🙏
You have to ask to move your history lines of credit to another credit card before canceling to keep your score from dropping from same bank
This is a good tip! Thanks Robert!
What do you mean by moving your history lines?
What I can understand is, cancel the gold Amex, but before canceling the card ask if they can move your history to another of their cards that they have, for example the Everyday card and continue with a good history with Amex so that it does not affect your score/credit?
Welcome to the Darkside!! So happy to hear that you cancelled it!
Hahaha, no longer could justify it Joe 🥺 Excited to put $250 back in my pocket though, haha
@@CalbyNg I’m cutting the Gold Business on Friday and the physical card on a live ! 🤣 $375 is just out of pocket for a card I don’t use.
@@Thecreditcardconnection That’ll be a fun live as always! At least you picked up a good welcome offer with that card
Excellent decision Calby
I think I cancelled slightly too early though haha
if I want to keep the Amex gold I have until June of next year. Since I already paid for my membership. The $325 I don't know if I want to pay. I love the gold because for example if I want to get a new iPhone instead of spending 1k and get 1x the point I get gift cards for 4x. Love the dining credits. But the new one's no i don't go to dunkin the one in town is ghetto and the rest I don't live in a major city and I'm not going to drive just to use it. Am going to Atlanta in September but none will be near where i'm at. Since it's July the 1 half is already over lol. If Just got the venture end of June would have got the x if this was the case. Might downgrade idk
I just picked up my gold before the fee increase, I’ll probably get my 90k SUB and part ways after a year or two
Nice! Congratz on getting approved before that annual fee hike; decent bonus too. I heard the revamp offer is 60k and 20% back on dining up to $100? I think. Definitely not the best.
@@CalbyNgI heard the same! But knowing my luck it’ll be like 100k+ 😂😭
@@bradgruver Haha, nahhh; maybe, lol
I can believe Amex has offshore customer service
You know that's something I actually touched on in my follow up video (Amex Gold Revamp). I feel like they have been cutting more and more services and they think we haven't noticed.
Mmk….sooooo… where are the cats Calby?!?! 🐱
She was present! 1:15
*Under Review
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@@Waz90😂
@@Waz90 Yay!!! 😻
If you are relying on couponing it never made sense for you let's be honest
Im just getting all American Express card cause its considered luxury for genz lol
@@d0lpine802 hahaha, I’m actually gonna address this 😬
@@CalbyNg hehe im fine with annual fees just flex American Express lol
@@d0lpine802 Hey bud, it's your money; I ain't your mom,, haha.
Ah you cancelled the Gold card before the fee raise to another 75 bucks.
Ha! Yep, might would have kept it if I knew about the white gold 🥺 Only for another year though, haha. That annual fee is getting insane
@@CalbyNg i know, the inflation.
U should of at least got the new design and then canceled it
That's my one regret, haha. I didn't know about the changes at the time; I cancelled back in May.
@@CalbyNg ahhh makes sense. Thats when i upgraded mine to a platinum. I would of waited a bit if i knew about the changes
@@DCGEMINI202 Oh dang, you too? It reminds me of the time I was going to add authorized users to the Platinum $175 for 3 cards; got lazy waited then it was $175 per card, haha
@@CalbyNg true amex fashion.
@@DCGEMINI202 Always, haha
Yo
Yo yo Kazi!!
Whaaaaa????
No Shack Shakes, Grub Hub prices through the roof in Tennessee 😭
@@CalbyNg so what are you going to replace it with?
@@Ritchie_The_CEO Bilt and Savor One