Amex "I'm going to cancel my card" - bonus points given thread.

In the next 14 months I expect to earn more than 1 million in sign up bonuses. If I had held AMEX cards instead I would have received 0 bonus points.

Where does the “million or nothing” conclusion come from? Churning opportunities still exist even if you hold one or more Amex. Opportunities to earn two or three Krisflyer points outside Amex don’t exist for me.
 
$1200 fee popped up (expected) on my Platinum card statement. I also have the free Platinum Reserve and QF Ultimate. Didn't call to cancel, but did call to ask if there is anything that can be done about the annual free. At first she said it can't be waived but noted I received 23k points last year. Explained I've only had this card 12 months, so she must have been confused with probably the QF card.

Anyway, she said she can see I have a few cards and will look into what can be done and call me back in 24 hours. I expect to hear something by lunch time tomorrow and will report back. Fingers crossed. Mainly interesting as no one else here has reported them "seeing what can be done".

Didn't receive the promised call back. I called back yesterday to follow up. First called dropped out. Second call they needed to consult with the initial person I spoke to so had to call me back, which they did. They said they can't waive or reduce the fee but since I've been such a good customer they can offer me 5k points. They admitted that it was not much. I took it. I didn't call threatening to cancel as I had no intention of doing so. Just wanted to see if anything could be done about the fee.

I was expecting nothing, so a measly 5k points was a bonus.
 
I was expecting nothing, so a measly 5k points was a bonus.

I'd say measly sums up that offer pretty well.

Granted better than the big fat nothing I was offered, but I too didn't say I was calling to cancel, I was calling to inquire about cancelling when fee's became due.....

I'll admit, it is kind of greedy asking for something for nothing, but they created this world. :)
 
Obviously you have stated in the past you don't spend much on the cards and value churning. For person I replied to, he/she would see more benefits keeping the card.

If you spend $100k on amex a year it would net at least 200k FF pts
Spend the same amount on the highest QF earning card and thats 100k qantas pts
Spend the same on the highest earning KF (st george) and thats 84k krisflyer miles

so you would be at least 100k FF pts ahead by keeping the card and also be able to participate in the promotions.
18 months for 100k-120k sign-up is not the best route in his situation.
i believe he has access to his wife/gf/partners supplementary card,

Also for example look at a recent way to manufacture points on a sharetrader (since closed).\
I assumed this might get messy as if you were depositng and then withdrawing it would be classified as money laundering or ther ewould be some T/Cs that said you couldnt withdraw , like those gamlbing accounts, but it seemed to be working for people, so ill give it a try next time

Some, including me, would also think 1 MR > 1QFF point putting you even further in front. I personally would value a KF point at double or more of a QFF point.
I value my points all the roughly the same , some easier to use then others but Amex points are doubly easier to earn than any other program due to 2 ppd and 3ppd

Yes this is just one of the foregone benefits.

Points wise you can also add:
  • Regular 5K pp Sup bonuses ( I remove and add back on others). Normally I earn a number of those each year
  • Regular tops ups gained any time there are mistakes. Gain 1k to 20K out of these every year
  • Point promos- sadly these are only a fraction of what they once were as Amex mainly does cashback promos these days But still gain 10-30K per year
  • some can gain retention points (sadly I have not for a while now but I suspect having a points balance bouncing around a million points in my Amex account does not help).
thats a good idea, i didnt think of that, ive maxed my supps out, I got them all in a rush because I missed out on a cool statement credit when I didnt have any supps

p.s whats this regular top ups gained when mistakes? is it calling up and asking for a problem to be fixed and requesting compensation?
I had a big problem about 6 months ago, and I demanded 30k points, and they were more than happy to give it to me

Of course point earn differs per card. However I think you are missing the point that if you are going to pump $$$ through a card to maximise one's points earn that you do it on the card that will maximise that in terms of the program you want. So if you are going to put $100K through a card why would one do it on a low earning card? It would be foolish to pump through $100K earning at 0.5 points per $ when you could be earning somewhere between 2 and 3.

So one goes out of ones way to have the highest earning AMEX cards, and indeed not just any AMEX card. Just as one would not just use any VISA/MC card.



For many people this statement is simply incorrect and would lead to lower total points gained. (Not to mention the loss of other benefits).

The logic of your statement is flawed. There is nothing to stop many people churning a multitude of cards while retaining other cards. I certainly do this, and based on the posts of many on this forum many, many others do too.

Not having the right Amex Cards also loses points that are there to be had. Having an Amex Explorer/Edge combo does allow a multitude of ways to garner 2/3 MR point earn opportunities including various manufactured spend opportunities that come and go.




Well in your case that may be true. For many of us it is not true as we earn more points by keeping certain cards while still churning CCs that stack up. Plus there are benefits to be had besides points.

Also not all points are the same value. A bit like not all $ are of equal value.

For myself I would value Krisflyer points at say twice that of a QFF point. Lower fuel fines, better value rewards by and large and better availability. Plus I prefer the product and service.

So in my case I would take 500K of Krisflyer points over 1 million QFF points. Not that I do not collect cheap QFF and VA points (and indeed CCs linked to these programs are normally the ones that are for me the ones that I churn the most) but I value them less than the ability to earn MR points (which can also be used on a number of programs besides Krisflyer). But again I collect them all.



.
this is why I like reading other peoples opinion and hoping to learn more ways to maximise my situation,

I too have thought about cancelling my amex cards, unfortunately, I dont have a partner or family member who has amex cards so I cant use their supp cards, at 2/3ppd If I cancel any of my amexs, I am boned
I consider Plat edge as 2ppd, as even though I get 3ppd, paying the surhcarge for prepaid gift cards reduces my net benefit

as for earning 1million points, I personally can only see a few cards with lower annual fees to jusity the bonus,
so thats maybe 300k max that I could earn

referalls are good too if you are well connected
 
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So far (just 4 months in) this has been a relatively easy experience for me. Gained nearly 300,000 bonus points from sign ups since cancelling my AMEX cards

How did you gain 300,000 points from sign-ups if you no longer hold any AMEX cards? What have I missed?
 
i believe he has access to his wife/gf/partners supplementary card,

Well I do not know he he does or not. But if he does then he would be following the strategy of keeping some cards and churning others just as I and many others do.

Like most, if not all people, who are part of a couple we acquire and churn cards on a schedule to maximise points and various other benefits and have been doing this for two decades now, and with Amex for over a decade.



For example as a couple we always churn CC with good TI to cover any trip.
- As we redeem mainly 11 months out this main mean tag teaming several cards to cover the spend so that we have at least one TI activated at any time.
- we normally do not worry about coverage on the T+C of the flight as it is mainly refundable.
- but once significant spend has occurred we spend enough on a CC to activate the TI. For our current trip we are are probably onto our 4th churned cardfrom one of us to ensure coverage for any trip cancellation if it occurred, ,and will activate a 5th to cover the period that we are away.
 
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So the same 300K (or other amounts totalling up all the various offers that one is eligible for) that one would earn if one kept an Amex or two.
No.

And for the record as I have stated previously I do not currently hold or have access to any AMEX cards. More than a year will pass before this changes.
 
No.

And for the record as I have stated previously I do not currently hold or have access to any AMEX cards. More than a year will pass before this changes.

guess your churning strategy works as you're not apply for any loans anytime soon as it would definitely hurt your credit score.

personally, a stable suite of cards works better for me.
 
No.

And for the record as I have stated previously I do not currently hold or have access to any AMEX cards. More than a year will pass before this changes.
have you stocked up on only1 visas or any other visa/eftpos card?

me keeps on thinking the opportunity cost of using a credit card to use visa/MC at $1ppd as opposed to 2-3$ppd

I am willing to cancel my amex cards if I had acccess to another one, but since im putting in 20k+ per month on plat edge, the loss would be too great
 
Well I do not know he he does or not. But if he does then he would be following the strategy of keeping some cards and churning others just as I and many others dodo.

Like most, if not all people, who are part of a couple we acquire and churn cards on a schedule to maximise points and various other benefits and have been doing this for two decades now, and with Amex for over a decade.
.
I cancel my cards once the promo has been credited,

ive kept my NAB one because it give s me 1ppd which is quite good, as a back up,
and since ive paid the fee, I might as well keep it for a while,

at present I cant see any deals that have decent sign up bonuses without a hefty fee

so i am unable to churn cards , and since citi, st george and virign all seem to reject me
 
personally, a stable suite of cards works better for me.

Likewise.

And with the Edge and Explorer each having a minimum credit limit of $3,000 and the Charge card not a credit card (obviously), it's difficult to see how holding even all three of them could mean the difference between zero and a million points.
 
guess your churning strategy works as you're not apply for any loans anytime soon as it would definitely hurt your credit score.

It has and does hurt my credit score. But as I've discussed extensively before your score is just a number. Income and ability to repay are crucial factors. So I could care less about my score. I'll happily talk to any lender about why they should provide me with credit and indicate to them my income, assests and ability to repay history. I've not been rejected for any card since my score dropped by more than 200 points since the new system started. I expect the devaluation of my score to have zero impact on how many credit cards I'm approved for and/or churn.
 
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I used to think it was just a number too, till I got rejected for my first ever credit card in Jan, the st George amplify.

Never a late payment, all cards always paid in full, up to date with all my investment loans. Never had a personal or car loan either.

Plenty of savings etc but still rejected without a reason.

Luckily the Mrs qualified for the card so I still won.
 
I used to think it was just a number too, till I got rejected for my first ever credit card in Jan, the st George amplify.

Never a late payment, all cards always paid in full, up to date with all my investment loans. Never had a personal or car loan either.

Plenty of savings etc but still rejected without a reason.

Luckily the Mrs qualified for the card so I still won.

I used to think that the credit score mattered, but I have since realised that the total of my credit limits was the issue that was causing my rejections. Since cancelling a couple of cards I am back in the good books with the various providers.
 
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I used to think that the credit score mattered, but I have since realised that the total of my credit limits was the issue that was causing my rejections. Since cancelling a couple of cards I am back inthe good books with the various providers.
What was the limit that saw you rejected and what range did you bring it back to?
 
I used to think that the credit score mattered, but I have since realised that the total of my credit limits was the issue that was causing my rejections. Since cancelling a couple of cards I am back in the good books with the various providers.

With the new rules I have just had a major clean out last month including my free for life Citibank. (Over $120K in credit limit now gone). I have just repaid the $40K I have had for 18 months at 0% (and no initial 1-2% fee either) on my Westpac. So it is about to go too now.

One new card already added though ;)
 

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