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

[blacksultan]

Refused retention offer on 2 calls . One year old explorer . But 12 yo member . Also refused downgrade to essential . Hinted that because I didn’t spend much . Will try again and then cancel if no luck .

 

[Pele]

Any luck of being offered retention bonus for your Plat Charge?

I did call the next day and they offered 30k points. I took it as I had backed myself into a corner as I had used some of the benefits for the upcoming year in the month since I got charged the annual fee.

Next year I won't be so naive. I will be 100% ready to cancel as soon as they charge my annual fee.

 

[Spacetravel]

Has anyone used the "cancel card account" online? It asks you to select a reason so I am thinking they might try and send a retention offer after submitting?

 

[muppet]

Has anyone used the "cancel card account" online? It asks you to select a reason so I am thinking they might try and send a retention offer after submitting?View attachment 311846

I vote you try it

 

[Spacetravel]

I vote you try it

I'm not really in a position to risk it being completely cancelled right now. In around March I'll be able to try it if no one else has by then.

 

[exceladdict]

Has anyone used the "cancel card account" online? It asks you to select a reason so I am thinking they might try and send a retention offer after submitting?View attachment 311846

I believe there may be credit industry obligations about them initiating retention conversations after you ask to cancel. If you ask them, however...

I'm not really in a position to risk it being completely cancelled right now. In around March I'll be able to try it if no one else has by then.

In the process I went through recently, I understand what you have to do is actually cancel the account and then ask them to offer you a retention bonus to re-activate it. If I had something important, like insurance, hanging on it, I definitely wouldn't risk it myself but just thought I'd add this for reference.

 

[Shinjetter]

I rang the 1800 number on the card
Followed all the prompts to get to the cancellation team
I said I was thinking to cancel this card since there are sign-up bonuses with other cards that are worth considering
They did some calculations on the account and offered 30,000 points to retain my account.

That was a 5 minutes conversation...

 

[Notyourbag]

I rang the 1800 number on the card
Followed all the prompts to get to the cancellation team
I said I was thinking to cancel this card since there are sign-up bonuses with other cards that are worth considering
They did some calculations on the account and offered 30,000 points to retain my account.

That was a 5 minutes conversation...

What AMEX card do you have, how long have you had it for, whats your ave monthly spend?

 

[Shinjetter]

What AMEX card do you have, how long have you had it for, whats your ave monthly spend?

I have AMEX Platinum Charge.
I had it for 11 months.
My monthly spending is around 2k-3k each month. Somehow in December, I spent 12k.....I thought maybe this is the time to call and ask for retention deal

 

[kallinch]

Just called up today and accepted 20K pts retention offer. Said I'm unhappy with benefits and high fee, and looking to cancel my account considering other banks have 120K pts offers, "please direct my call to cancellations/retention team". Pretty straight forward and happy with 6min call! Not a crazy spender only like ~$5k pm.

Edit: plat charge card

 

[Notyourbag]

Just called up today and accepted 20K pts retention offer. Said I'm unhappy with benefits and high fee, and looking to cancel my account considering other banks have 120K pts offers, "please direct my call to cancellations/retention team". Pretty straight forward and happy with 6min call! Not a crazy spender only like ~$5k pm.

What AMEX card do you have?

 

[Steady]

Do I need to transfer my points prior to calling up to cancel and hoping for a retention offer?

if they don’t offer anything I plan to cancel - will they be transferred as part of the cancellation process etc

 

[jbman]

You loose transfer access and you have to do it over the phone once you close the account

 

[Rich]

Do I need to transfer my points prior to calling up to cancel and hoping for a retention offer?

if they don’t offer anything I plan to cancel - will they be transferred as part of the cancellation process etc

I'd suggest if they say no, you tell them you will move all the points yourself and call back. When you call back you might have better luck.

 

[kallinch]

What AMEX card do you have?

Plat charge.

 

[wsthong]

Plat charge.

That was easy for a 20K retention bonus

 

[tlspambait]

I just called to cancel a Qantas ultimate card.

II rarely use it since moving to the Plat Charge and find having to book though amex travel, instead of just being able to book through qantas and getting an account credit like most of their other credits was a hassle, as we wanted to book points flights at the same time so the kids could come along so had to have seperate bookings, one direct through qantas with points, the other paid via amex travel.

I was offered 15K to keep the Qantas ultimate card (or no points and to move it to a no fee lower earning Qantas card). I let them know if they were able to offer more points I might have kept it (around the 50K mark) but with a simple 15K points offer I went ahead and cancelled it.

 

[Ecco]

Just seeking advice here re amex retention bonus.
I'm NZ based. Paying $1250 per year for the platinum charge card. Have had it for 5 years. Spending up to $17k a month on it.

I found out that the NZ travel insurance doesn't cover covid which is not good in these times. Also I've found the Priority Pass is so-so. Some of the lounges are sub-par and it looks better out in the main airport area!! Have to queue up at HNL, min. 15-30mins to even get in, which is a PITA. Also there's hefty fx fee on international transactions and coughpy exchange rates. I've found like others it's coughbersome using that $200 travel credit. If you want to change it you have to ring them up, no way of changing it online.
Haven't really had the chance to use Hilton/Marriott/Accor/Radisson elevated status that much. I got AccorPlus gold via that QF match.

Is it worth it to keep this going? There's an Amex gold card I could downgrade to for $200 a year with the 2:1 earn rate. Or should I just cancel?

My question is, how far in advance should I ring? I tried in December and they said call back Jan (for early Feb rollover). Do I ask straight away for the retentions dept? Do I have to change all those auto payments I have off it first? (NB +1 has the amex plat as well so I'd have to switch them all over to that card).

I realise I have to transfer my MR out in advance. If I decide to cancel do I say I'll call back last week of Jan and do all those a/p cancellations first, or line them up before I call?
Credit card laws have tightened up a lot in NZ. Not sure what scope they have to offer a lot of points like in the past.
Any advice appreciated!!

 

[sudoer]

Plat card avg $7k per month, AF due in a few weeks, no luck

Got handballed the call centre 3 times until I was eventually connected to an onshore cancellations agents who confirmed no offer showing on the account. Took 100k retention bonus on this card last year. Suspect these offers are largely drying up, much like the recent Amex sign up bonuses. I guess they are not hurting for customers!

 

[Fatcat]

Annual fee due in just over a month, called to check on any offers. Haven't had any luck past few years getting anything. Account services were adamant there was nothing they could do and told me there was no one else I could talk to. Hung up and called cancellations, they offered 50k pts, which I took immediately but realised I may have been too eager, cause the agent sounded very surprised - I think they have may gone much higher. So if you're playing chicken, dont blink too quickly.... this is for the Plat Charge.