Beware of downgrading to the non-MR $75 Amex Business Green card

Introduction

A few months ago, I had downgraded my business AMEX Plat cards down to Green cards (to save on the annual fee.)  I had done this for my mom’s card as well.  Fast forward to this past week when I tried to redeem my mom’s MR points.  When I logged onto the Membership Rewards site, I saw this banner:

amexbizgreenmr

 

Two variants of the AMEX Biz Green Card

Notice the bottom right corner doesn’t show a balance and tells me to call to enroll.  Well, I called and it turned out the rep who downgraded my Platinum card put me on a Business Green Rewards variant that doesn’t accumulate MR.  I didn’t even know it existed and even Google couldn’t pull it up.  The one way of finding out is to look at the annual fee.  If you are on the $75 AF, that means you don’t accumulate MR, whereas the $95 AF does.

amexbizgreen

Calling AMEX

I called up AMEX and basically asked “WTF happened to my MR?”  After the rep explained the above, he was able to product change me to the MR variant of the card.  He then forwarded me to an MR rep who then had to escalate a ticket for my 176K MR points to be reinstated.  After 2 business days, the points were reinstated.

 

Lessons Learned

When calling to downgrade to the Business Green Rewards card, make sure you tell the rep to put you on the product that earns MR, so that you don’t have to deal with the hassle of being on the phone for an hour with AMEX to get your MR reinstated.  Of course you won’t have this problem if you have another card that earns MR on your account.

11 comments on “Beware of downgrading to the non-MR $75 Amex Business Green card

  1. You think a rep would be smart enough to see an MR balance and put you into the MR card…higher annual fee means more money for Amex too…their CS has been going down hill!

      1. I am surprised you don’t have an everday or gold card already though that would have kept them alive.

  2. Hiya Vinh! I have a vaguely related question here. I have the personal Platinum since last year and the fee is coming up in a couple months. I want to apply for the Mercedes Benz Platinum so as to score the points bonus with that one. Should I cancel the older Platinum first, THEN apply for the Benz card? Or apply for the Benz first, then dump the other? (I have the Everyday Card, Gold Biz Card (also to get cancelled soon) and the Platinum right now so I have 3 of the Charge cards. had the green personal many years ago (like 20+)

    Could use a tad advice from you or another savvy reader here. Thanks in advance for any help possible.

    1. They are considered separate products so it doesn’t matter. If it was me, I’d cancel first (only a couple of months difference) then apply for the MB. Make sure that when you cancel, you have an MR capable card to keep your points.

      1. OK, thanks! I have an Everyday card and a Gold card also so I am solid on the MR points

    2. I would apply for the benz first then dump the plat…gives a good reason to get rid of the other one when calling in – can say you liked the benz plat perks better etc. Not sure it matters either way though.

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