Can you downgrade AmEx gold cards?

Amex (American Express) Gold cards are some of the most sought after credit cards in the US. However, with a fairly high annual fee of $250, you may be considering a downgrade. While it is possible to downgrade Amex gold cards, there are a few important factors to consider before taking the plunge. Let us first examine the card’s basic features and benefits.

Amex Gold card features and benefits

• $250 Annual fee - which is quite high; however, Amex justifies this price by stating that you can actually earn annual savings of up to $320 worth of dining, airline, and hotel credit.
• Membership rewards points - 4x membership rewards at restaurants and at American supermarkets on up to $25000. Also enjoy 3x membership rewards on flights booked either directly with airlines or via amextravel.com. 
• No foreign transaction fees 

Should you downgrade your Amex gold card?

If you remain unsatisfied with your gold card, there are still a few aspects to consider before finalizing your downgrade. 

• Duration of card ownership - unlike many other credit card companies, Amex enables you to downgrade a card even if you have held it for less than a year. However, doing so is highly discouraged. Within Amex’s terms and conditions, it clearly states that Amex has the right to freeze your membership rewards points, take away membership rewards points or even cancel your card account if you cancel or downgrade your account within a year after opening it.
• Choice of card to downgrade to - If you decide to downgrade your Amex gold card, you can only do so to a card within the membership rewards family of cards and not to a Delta or Mariott card, for example. Therefore, it is crucial that you look into the membership rewards suite of cards and see if any of them suit your financial needs. 
• Amex’s once-per-lifetime rule - since 2014, Amex has reduced its welcome bonuses on multiple cards to a once per lifetime bonus. This means that you can enjoy Amex’s welcome bonus only once and only on one card. Therefore, it is vital to realize that a card that has a welcome bonus as part of its appeal may not apply to you since you have most likely used your welcome bonus with the card you are downgrading from.