Is it possible to upgrade from the persona or portrait to the platinum account from Providian Aria? How long should I wait after having opened the account to ask for an upgrade?
Depending on your credit history and the reason you opened your account, it could take anywhere from 3 to 10 years. I base this mostly on my own 9-month experience with the Providian Visa Classic, supplemented by stories from this message board. I simply believe that Providian prefers not to upgrade anyone to platinum. For them, an upgrade (to Gold in my case, perhaps to Portrait in yours) is an opportunity to increase the credit line at the existing interest rate, as well as an excuse to charge another "upgrade fee." I should add that I haven't yet read about either upgrades or upgrade fees for the Aria cards. I simply look at the overall strategy and corporate history of Providian, and draw reasonable conclusions.
