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

[bullz74]

Still hold an old gold charge card that i never use anymore with the plat edge as companion ($129 fee to hold both cards which is cheaper than the standard fee for plat esde). Offered 23k a piece and happily took it (did try to ask for more but was told no so it seems that might be the limit for my account at least). The majority of my spend is now on the explorer so it will be an interesting conversation come renewal time. I'm not a heavy spender so the offers seem more than generous to me compared to what some members here are getting.

 

[CJEMNMAC]

Called up today for my annual points gift.. Velocity Plat card.. offered 36000, I said no need 44000 so got the 36000 plus "goodwill" 8000 ( note I did need to follow up with a second call )

soon to call up for my platinum edge and get another 40000 or so

 

[stoozer]

Do you speak to the Australian call centre or overseas?

 

[foggy]

Called up today for my annual points gift.. Velocity Plat card.. offered 36000, I said no need 44000 so got the 36000 plus "goodwill" 8000 ( note I did need to follow up with a second call )

soon to call up for my platinum edge and get another 40000 or so

nice strategy. So you said you needed 44000pts to make it worthwhile to keep the card?

 

[CJEMNMAC]

nice strategy. So you said you needed 44000pts to make it worthwhile to keep the card?

yes correct

If you can get past the " computer says I can only offer 36000 " then you are half way there..

I spend a fair bit of time on the phone "uummmm" not sure, I really like the card blah blah. I will say I have pumped a Sh#$% load of cash through it in the past year so I told them how they had made $$ from me with O/S commissions etc etc..

There is plenty of evidence to suggest this strategy does not always work... it really depends on who you get. I always aim to get the operator to agree with me.. I have had more success with this type of thing by my attitude being " indecisive " instead of being " I will cancel if you don't "..

EDIT : I sometimes also don't agree there and then.. I sometimes say let me think about it. ( when I call back a few days later get a different person and see if I can improve my position )

 

[lang_13]

yes correct

If you can get past the " computer says I can only offer 36000 " then you are half way there..

I spend a fair bit of time on the phone "uummmm" not sure, I really like the card blah blah. I will say I have pumped a Sh#$% load of cash through it in the past year so I told them how they had made $$ from me with O/S commissions etc etc..

There is plenty of evidence to suggest this strategy does not always work... it really depends on who you get. I always aim to get the operator to agree with me.. I have had more success with this type of thing by my attitude being " indecisive " instead of being " I will cancel if you don't "..

wow - gateway fee due next month. will definitely have to give them a call and see what happens. thanks all for the tips!

 

[sloth]

called up today re my business plat card and said suppliers were still charging me ridiculous surcharges. Asked what the best way to cancel the card and offered 36k within 2 minutes!

 

[blueythecat]

Re: Amex "I'm going to cancel my card" bonus given thread.

I was offered 23k points to keep my Velocity Platinum Card. I've barely used the card this year (less than $5k total) as I put almost everything through my preferred AMEX's (Edge and Charge), so I didn't accept the offer and cancelled the card.

 

[rfc4eva]

Re: Amex "I'm going to cancel my card" bonus given thread.

I hold the platinum card and explorer card,called up and said i wanted to cancel the platinum and I had to ask about points to keep me and all they offered was 15k.only problem is I need to use all the features the card has and it expires whilst im over in the u.s. for a month.

 

[albyd]

I'm in a similar position, I've got the Platinum Charge but not used it very much and put all my spend through Explorer for obvious reasons. I think I'll continue holding onto the Platinum Charge as I like many of its features. Come Platinum Charge renewal time, not sure if they're going to look at all my spend or just that on my charge when making a retention points offer.
Might the small retention offer on the charge be a reflection of spend level? Do you spend much on your Explorer?

 

[LittleFokker]

44K points to retain Business Accelerator @ $160 annual fee. I spent $50K on it last year.

 

[ozjuice]

Called to cancel my Platinum Velocity card and was accepted without any offer at all. Even considering i have and do put a lot through this card. I cancelled and will use the wife's card.

 

[rfc4eva]

Whats to stop me getting the 15k points then calling up next week and cancelling the card anyway.Are there rules for this?

 

[calgarychris]

Whats to stop me getting the 15k points then calling up next week and cancelling the card anyway.Are there rules for this?

Just your own moral compass . We called, got bonus points and then a few weeks later enquired about getting the reserve card (we have the plat charge) - since we had two credit cards already, we *had* to cancel the card that gave us the retention bonus. Oh well

 

[Luke B]

20k for the Velocity Escape card, I did spend approximately 20k on it this year though.

 

[jakxon]

My annual travel credit is available at $300 for my Platinum Charge. My annual fee hasn't come in. Can I use the annual credit and cancel my card? Will that work?

 

[Finale]

Did you guys have to threaten to cancel before getting the offer? Wonder if I can just ask. They gave me an offer on Virgin Plat but I intended to cancel. With Amex US, I just rang the retention department and asked directly if there was an offer on my account. Not sure if I can do the same with Amex AU. Thanks!

 

[calgarychris]

Did you guys have to threaten to cancel before getting the offer? Wonder if I can just ask. They gave me an offer on Virgin Plat but I intended to cancel. With Amex US, I just rang the retention department and asked directly if there was an offer on my account. Not sure if I can do the same with Amex AU. Thanks!

I asked whether there might be a discount on the annual fee (knowing there wasn't) - when they said no I suggested/asked if they ever offered points - boom, magic words said, points received.

 

[rfc4eva]

My annual travel credit is available at $300 for my Platinum Charge. My annual fee hasn't come in. Can I use the annual credit and cancel my card? Will that work?

i was wondering the same thing.

 

[zig]

Did you guys have to threaten to cancel before getting the offer? Wonder if I can just ask. They gave me an offer on Virgin Plat but I intended to cancel. With Amex US, I just rang the retention department and asked directly if there was an offer on my account. Not sure if I can do the same with Amex AU. Thanks!

I just asked directly if there was any retention bonus being offered, I didn't mention cancelling the card at all.