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

Another data point - I called to enquire about cancelling my plat charge card as my annual fee came up this month. I explained that I wasn't getting as many points as expected, given the low acceptance rate in Australia and I have thousands stranded on other cards (which is legit). I also told him I was looking at the fee, which is high, that I was disappointed that they removed the Accor hotels status and changed the free flight to a free credit. We discussed next steps (as I wasn't prepared to cancel, was just asking) - transfer points, have to give up the plat reserve card, etc. I then asked if Amex ever discounts their annual fee which he said they didn't (I'm already on a reduced fee through my association) and then said that sometimes they offer people points to stay. I asked if he could check, he asked if I was serious about cancelling - this almost felt a bit contrived...15 seconds later he offered me 30,000 points to stay.

Happy with that.
 
Called to cancel plat edge, was offered 36k pts to keep it which i happily accepted. Maybe I could have gotten 40k if I did a call back as per njba's strategy but it was higher than I had anticipated so I took it right away.

I put about 6-7k a month on it.
 
foggy said:
Called to cancel plat edge, was offered 36k pts to keep it which i happily accepted. Maybe I could have gotten 40k if I did a call back as per njba's strategy but it was higher than I had anticipated so I took it right away.

I put about 6-7k a month on it.
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That's a great offer for the Edge - nice work!! :-)
 
My Amex gold charge annual fee just posted & I called Amex about a fee waiver (they waived it last year). I was told they can't waive it ($130) but they offered me 44,000 points to retain it. Happily accepted. Good value at less than 0.3c/point. I don't use it but have kept it as Edge is my gold charge companion which I use quite a bit. Also have Platinum Charge card. Very happy camper.
 
hummel said:
Just called to cancel my velocity platinum that I've held for 2 years, annual fee due in August.

Have only put say $2k each month on it so very low. Had all intention to cancel it but was offered 27k velocity points which will go through on next cycle in a week or so. Had to say no to that kind of deal.
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My 27k points posted today into my Velocity account, now to call and properly cancel the card! :)
 
foggy said:
Called to cancel plat edge, was offered 36k pts to keep it which i happily accepted. Maybe I could have gotten 40k if I did a call back as per njba's strategy but it was higher than I had anticipated so I took it right away.

I put about 6-7k a month on it.
Click to expand...
How long have you had the card for? Where you calling after the yearly fee posted?
 
andy2015 said:
How long have you had the card for? Where you calling after the yearly fee posted?
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I've had the Edge card for exactly 13months now. Customer since 2013. They were sneaky and posted the annual fee as the very last transaction in my march/april and when I checked online, it didn't show the annual fee in my transactions because it was on the "previous" statement even though it was the middle of the month, so I didn't realise until yesterday (5 days after it was charged).
 
Just got 15k for retaining the edge for another year. Spend yearly around 30-35k, happy with the outcome, didn't have to request was freely offered by the rep.
 
I called last week to cancel my Velocity Platinum, was offered nothing to keep it.
to be fair, I think I've had around 80k in "one off" incentives over the past 12 months.
 
Another data point:

I called through in January to find out about incentives for retaining my AMEX Edge and Reserve cards. My annual fees weren't due and hadn't been recently charged (Edge in November and Reserve in April). Was offered 30k points on each card, so a total of 60k.

Called up again a few days ago as the $295 annual fee on the Reserve is coming up next month. Told them I was unhappy with the changes to the travel credits (much greater value in flights to New Zealand for example) and the inability to pool these credits together. Was offered 36k points on each card, so a total of 72k.

All up, I'm obviously pretty stoked with 132k points. Not sure when I'll be able to do this again, but hopefully I'll have some luck in November before the Edge fee is due. My spend on the Edge is approx $6-10k per month and my spend on the Reserve is approx $20k per year.

Happy days :)
 
I called up early in the morning today, mainly to complain about not being given the 100K Explorer bonus (called on the non-platinum line). They didn't deny the bonus because of the plat account, but for the Velocity Plat I cancelled about 14 months ago (doh!). When I mentioned I was going to cancel the Explorer, they didn't seem to concerned, but when I asked them to cancel my Platinum charge as well, they offered me 36K points each for the Plat Reserve and the Plat Charge. All in all an ok result I think.

I'm actually not too unhappy with the Explorer since I get 2 pts on every spend (linked to my Ascent Premium MR), and they have all of my travel credits merged as well so $1100 in travel credits.
 
IMO an explorer linked to Ascent is a gold mine, as no annual cap on points earnt.

Even your charge has a max points of 300k/yr.

I'm trying to earn as many points I can till June 30 as I fear changes are coming
 
straitman said:
Based on what :?:
Click to expand...

No proof AMEX is doing anything yet, but ANZ and Citi have changed. Others have cut points earning.

I fear Amex is watching on the sidelines to see the fallout for now then make its move.
 
Probably like Citi with Diners - they devalued earn and conversion rates because they saw an opportunity.
Good news with CBA, westpac and NAB yesterday keeping their Amex companion cards, some with respectable earn rate (up to low monthly cap). May hopefully help Amex direct toe the line ... and they have been increasing earn rates on general spend for cards that had bonus categories like their airline cards with 3ppd on dining.
 

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