Over the last few years, American Express has made multiple changes to many of their card products. Amex card offerings have changed quite a lot indeed, many of which I consider as net negatives. However, in spite of the Amex card changes, they still continue to offer record high welcome bonuses. I saw a small change to one of my Amex cards and asked customer service to find out.
Amex card changes coming soon?
It seems like Amex is rolling out these changes slowly and gradually, with no clear communication yet. I logged into my account and saw something different on the Amex Everyday Preferred card.
I was aware that there was a change in design. However, I saw that there was a change made to referrals. Prior to the change, this was the offer:
- Earn 15,000 Membership Rewards points for each successful referral, up to 100,000 Membership Rewards points per calendar year
As per the new offer, you’ll now earn statement credits instead of points.
- Earn $100 for each successful referral, up to $1,000 per calendar year
My first reaction to that was whether this card is going to be eventually converted into a cash back card. Why? American Express cash back cards offer statement credits instead of points for referrals.
Therefore, I decided to reach out to customer service and find out if there are any specific changes on the horizon. If yes, when do the changes come into effect?
Amex Customer Support
I asked the question via chat and got a canned response. It seems like there is still no clarity and the new design and referral change is bound to be there until we hear something formal from Amex.
The Pundit’s Mantra
For the moment, the Amex Everyday Preferred card will continue as a card that earns Membership Rewards points. Other than the initial clarification, I found the rep’s response to be pretty canned.
My gut feeling is that there are changes coming down the pike pretty soon but we could well see them show up in early 2025. Bear in mind that Amex’s CFO on a recent earnings call was very clear about their ambitious goals to refresh many of their card offerings.
So the product refreshes will go out through the year. We don’t really talk about exactly when they’re going to be released. But you can rest assured all 40 will or approximately 40 will be done. It’s a little early to tell on the refreshes as it’s still in the early stages here.
If your annual fee is due, I’d suggest that you stay on. When banks make changes or increase fees, you still get a year to try the product with the new changes before you can think about canceling the next year when the new annual fee is billed again.
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It seems to get worse and worse with credit cards and airline status..They keep moving the carrot further and further away and at a higher cost!!!
That’s been the strategy off late, unfortunately.
I never understand these published articles that think their individual offers apply to the masses. Amex is currently offering me 20k MRs per referral, and that varies for each card I hold. These articles are only good for knowing what is available to the author.