Qantas American Express Ultimate Card - got annual feee waived

[cove]

Select is the answer but the barriers to entry are high if you read the funny thread on "never give up "
I use both as I like having flexibility.

 

[cove]

I received an audit/fraud check on one of our Ultimate cards. All ok,but our spending this month is through the roof.
We don't bother about an annual fee waiver as the card benefits we receive are so big and if I need a favour often I can get help.

 

[travla]

The original poster inspired me to give Amex a call, and it did work. Like many others, I am probably delaying the inevitable, due to the diminished value of my Amex card (I have the Rewards Advantage card, and it really has fallen behind the competition). Anyway, I'll take 1 year for free and assess again next year.

 

[TonyHancock]

These are delicate times!

The $450 yearly fee appeared on my statement today, so I made the annual call to get the fee waived. This year I am very conscious about Amex the plat charge card and this card. The Ultimate is a good earner for me. 2.5 points per $ with QF and 1.5 points per $ on everything else. It has not been subject to the changes. I actually want to keep this card.

My line with Amex is an honest one. I like the card, but already hold the plat charge card and I can't justify the $450 on top of the $900....particularly when many of the benefits and features of the plat charge card are being eroded away. Interestingly the immediate response back was "oh you mean the travel insurance", so I get the feeling the customer service reps may have been hearing this a bit.

I was, as usual offered the discovery card, which I declined and reminded about the free flight which I never take.

The next step in the process is to be put through to the cancellation dept. I went through a similar conversation and was offered the card for $250 per year and this would be ongoing as long as I kept the plat charge card. It's not ideal but I took the offer. (With the Ultimate card disappearing from the website and the "enhancements" of the plat charge card I suspect that this will be my only Amex card when my travel, booked on points prior to the insurance changes, is completed. (May 2013) At the moment I don't want to lose the Ultimate Card.

I had a pretty good chat with the customer service rep explaining that I was disappointed with the changes, and it had really forced me to think about the CitiBank Select card as well as other options. I reconfirmed that I saw the insurance benefit as something that was valuable to me. I explained that I had over 1.5 million points of reward travel pending but had transferred only 300,000 points from my Amex account, thus would not be eligible for Amex insurance. he confirmed this.

My other concern is losing 1.5 points per $ earn on utility bills etc. He made notes and thanked me for my feedback.

Overall it was a reasonable call he did a good job of listening, knew his stuff, and I guess had a little win for Amex.