How To Keep Your Amex Points When Cancelling

If you’re looking to cancel your American Express card you might be wondering if you can keep your Amex points when cancelling your card. There is a way to do this if you are looking to avoid an annual fee e.g. on The Amex Gold after the first free year BUT it does have a drawback… read on to find out more!

What normally happens to my Amex Points when I cancel?

When you cancel your card any unused or unredeemed points are forfeited… ouch! You can of course redeem them into Avios, Marriott, or Hilton Honors to name a few partners, or you can use them for ‘cash’ off your card balance. But that takes away from the main reason people collect Membership Points… the flexibility of redeeming when you need them for whatever you want! This helps you avoid any devaluations that Amex’s partners may have in their programs.

If you want to know how to cancel your Amex, see our article here – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/how-do-i-cancel-my-amex-card-and-what-happens-with-the-points-perks-membership-fee/

How to Keep Your Amex Points When Cancelling

If you want to keep your Amex Points when cancelling your Amex Gold or Amex Platinum card you need to take out an American Express Membership Reward earning card with NO ANNUAL FEE. This card is The American Express® Rewards Credit Card. Whilst not particularly exciting in terms of benefits it does allow you to keep your Amex Points alive and continue earning 1 Membership Reward point per £1 spent. You can read about it here – https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/rewards-credit-card/

By holding this card if you cancel your Amex Gold or Amex Platinum card you will KEEP all your Amex Points WITHOUT needing to transfer them to a partner program. As mentioned above it has NO ANNUAL FEE which means you could stick it in a drawer somewhere and just hold it to keep your points alive.

What’s the drawback? By holding another Membership Reward earning card when you cancel your Gold Amex/Platinum Amex you WON’T reset the 24 month counter for another sign-up bonus on a membership reward earning card. To reset this counter you’d need to completely close ALL your membership reward earning cards redeeming any points before cancelling.

You could, however, receive a bonus on the BA Premium Card if you haven’t held an Avios earning card in the last 24 months. Read full details on sign-up bonus eligibility for Amex cards here – https://pointsuncovered.com/american-express/amex-changes-sign-up-bonus-eligibility/

Conclusion

You need to decide whether holding the American Express® Rewards Credit Card to keep your Amex points balance alive is more worthwhile than resetting the 24 month counter for another sign-up bonus. There is no wrong or right answer here just whatever is best for your needs! Do you hold the American Express® Rewards Credit Card to keep your Amex points alive or do you prefer to reset the 24 month counter as soon as possible?