Select/signature annual fee concession strategies

[albyd]

Hi,

I currently hold a citi platinum visa. I've been paying off a large 4.9% life of balance transfer since 2007 which has been very favorable so haven't been spending on the card for a while. I'm interested in upgradings to select or signature (as fall back position). I called citi this week and they weren't very helpful. I would need to be "approved" although the operator congratulated me on being a citi customer for 10 years now. When I asked for a concession on the annual fees, they said they couldn't do anything but might be able to look at a deal "after" my upgrade was approved. I'm only interested in good KF earn on visa with rest of features a bonus.

I've had a trawl through the forum so apologies if this has already been covered. What strategies have worked in getting an annual fee reduction/remission with citi? I think I'm at a disadvantage given I haven't been spending on the card for so long but would thi my tenure as a customer, my good payment record and my credit limit would carry the day. I'd be interested in any strategies experienced members have as I'd like to combine select/signature with my Westpac altitude Amex to give my KF points a good push.

Albyd.

 

[burmans]

Hi,

I currently hold a citi platinum visa. I've been paying off a large 4.9% life of balance transfer since 2007 which has been very favorable so haven't been spending on the card for a while. I'm interested in upgradings to select or signature (as fall back position). I called citi this week and they weren't very helpful. I would need to be "approved" although the operator congratulated me on being a citi customer for 10 years now. When I asked for a concession on the annual fees, they said they couldn't do anything but might be able to look at a deal "after" my upgrade was approved. I'm only interested in good KF earn on visa with rest of features a bonus.

I've had a trawl through the forum so apologies if this has already been covered. What strategies have worked in getting an annual fee reduction/remission with citi? I think I'm at a disadvantage given I haven't been spending on the card for so long but would thi my tenure as a customer, my good payment record and my credit limit would carry the day. I'd be interested in any strategies experienced members have as I'd like to combine select/signature with my Westpac altitude Amex to give my KF points a good push.

Albyd.

I'm not really sure of strategy but one of the things I would note is that the call staff have almost no authority to do anything. So two options, speak to a relationship manager in branch or send a letter to the right part of the bank. I had this issue with negotiating a home load rate cut recently, eventually got to the retentions dept and they basically said only we can offer these deals. The trick is of course finding out who exactly in any organisation has the correct delegated authority to actually do something, i.e. who exactly is that "right person"!

 

[yohy?!]

+1 you need retentions so basically threaten to cancel and you get put through to the right team, i did this and got the fee waived and an upgrade to the card processed.

 

[ermen]

As mentioned before, you can get $700 Citi Select fee reduced to $350 if you are a Citigold customer (A$100k in savings + investments with Citi / or have some homeloan above the threshold amount with them I think).

Have not really tried the cancelling method - I wonder what the fee wil be reduced to using this method?

 

[albyd]

Hi guys,

thanks very much for the info. I seem to have gotten a bad batch of operators. Last time I threatened to cancel my account, the operator I was speaking to didn't put me thru to retentions but said there was nothing she could do and mistook my threat to cancel for an actual cancellation request. Didn't try to talk me out of it. A week later I got my final statement and notice they'd actually cancelled my card when I'd just said I was going to "think about it". Took a while to get it reinstated and points re credited.

im going to go into local branch & try that. Thanks for the suggestion. I don't currently do any banking with citi whereas used to at the time. Doesn't hurt to ask. Worst thing they'll say is no.


ill report back any success I have .

albyd.

 

[wafliron]

I've had a trawl through the forum so apologies if this has already been covered. What strategies have worked in getting an annual fee reduction/remission with citi? I think I'm at a disadvantage given I haven't been spending on the card for so long but would thi my tenure as a customer, my good payment record and my credit limit would carry the day. I'd be interested in any strategies experienced members have as I'd like to combine select/signature with my Westpac altitude Amex to give my KF points a good push

Except for the CitiGold route (as mentioned in another reply), I don't believe any AFF members have reported being able to get the Select annual fee reduced or waived under any circumstances. I'm saying that with the caveat that I don't believe that many members have had one for more than 12 months though, so we probably don't have enough data to accurately say what is possible at renewal. I'll certainly be giving it a red hot go when my renewal is up in March though, and I'd guess I'd have as good a shot as anyone given I've been with Citibank for 7+ years and a lot of money (tax nom nom nom) has gone through my Select card - will certainly report back any success at that time.

+1 you need retentions so basically threaten to cancel and you get put through to the right team, i did this and got the fee waived and an upgrade to the card processed.

Which card was this on? Select? Or one of the lower cards.

 

[albyd]

I currently have the platinum & have had this very favorable interest rate so unit now, haven't been interested in changing.

 

[burmans]

Except for the CitiGold route (as mentioned in another reply), I don't believe any AFF members have reported being able to get the Select annual fee reduced or waived under any circumstances. I'm saying that with the caveat that I don't believe that many members have had one for more than 12 months though, so we probably don't have enough data to accurately say what is possible at renewal. I'll certainly be giving it a red hot go when my renewal is up in March though, and I'd guess I'd have as good a shot as anyone given I've been with Citibank for 7+ years and a lot of money (tax nom nom nom) has gone through my Select card - will certainly report back any success at that time.



Which card was this on? Select? Or one of the lower cards.

I had the fee waived for 1 year and halved on platinum. Not sure it's the card as such, my experience is that 80% of the time they will negotiate,the trouble is that it seems to be largely unpredictable and you do run the risk they will just close. Of course with bonuses you can frequently reapply and get some benefit

 

[albyd]

I went into the Hunter St Sydney branch today and I spoke with someone whose title was a "universal banker" and he said I'd need to deal with the call center as the branch has no sway over these matters. Having said that, he offered to make some representations on my behalf and get back to me. Guess I'll give it a couple of days then make a decision on next step. Sounds like it is variable but I think if I had more activity on the card (and other products with funds invested), would be an easier sell. I think that's they key to leveraging benefits but I also think doesn't hurt to ask - don't get if you don't ask.

Albyd.

 

[wafliron]

I had the fee waived for 1 year and halved on platinum. Not sure it's the card as such, my experience is that 80% of the time they will negotiate,the trouble is that it seems to be largely unpredictable and you do run the risk they will just close. Of course with bonuses you can frequently reapply and get some benefit

It's definitely possible - in fact pretty easy - on the lower-end cards. I had the annual fee waived on my CBG this year. But I don't think it's nearly as easy (caveat not a lot of data, as per above) for Signature or Select.

 

[wafliron]

And as soon as I post that no one has yet reported getting Select annual fee waived in the first year, someone does!

See: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....oints-cap-platinum-card-44895.html#post717383

 

[Sera]

yeeha! so i took encouragement from the context of this thread and rang Citi requesting that they waive the annual fee on my Signature card in the light of the longevity of my account with them and its pristine character - to which after a short period on hold they agreed - so long as i understood it was for this year only!

thank you albyd for your cunning plan!

 

[burmans]

And as soon as I post that no one has yet reported getting Select annual fee waived in the first year, someone does!

See: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....oints-cap-platinum-card-44895.html#post717383

In the context of getting my platinum fee waived I must admit I never really thought most people would get their Select/Signature fee waived as some of those benefits would genuinely cost them a bit of money but they would be able to negotiate them back a bit. so worth giving a go. Unsure about Sera but the OP in other thread seemed to have a large throughput so easier to negotiate.

Still seems very variable to me, am keen to know who Sera and perthtraveller actually talked to and the wording they used to open the majic box as I'm not particularly happy with the general call centre service, e.g. have had a call from the call centre, I ring back and they don't know anything about it, I ring about a promo I have received, they claim to know nothing about it... Have had this sort of experience a number of times (though has had it's benefits, have had comped points just to keep me happy twice on bonuses where I haven't received points).

 

[perthtraveller]

In the context of getting my platinum fee waived I must admit I never really thought most people would get their Select/Signature fee waived as some of those benefits would genuinely cost them a bit of money but they would be able to negotiate them back a bit. so worth giving a go. Unsure about Sera but the OP in other thread seemed to have a large throughput so easier to negotiate.

Still seems very variable to me, am keen to know who Sera and perthtraveller actually talked to and the wording they used to open the majic box as I'm not particularly happy with the general call centre service, e.g. have had a call from the call centre, I ring back and they don't know anything about it, I ring about a promo I have received, they claim to know nothing about it... Have had this sort of experience a number of times (though has had it's benefits, have had comped points just to keep me happy twice on bonuses where I haven't received points).

The person who picks up your call is useless. They won't put you through to the relevant person until you go through your story. I ask for a customer relationship manager or the retentions team (usually threaten cancellation). Apparently they're the same team. On my last call, the customer relationship manager wasn't telling me what I wanted to hear (a lot of "no's") so I asked to speak to their supervisor. The supervisor then offered me something much better than the prior two reps but as I was still unhappy with the offer, they are escalating the matter to someone even further up the chain and will be calling me back. Will keep you all posted.

 

[perthtraveller]

The person who picks up your call is useless. They won't put you through to the relevant person until you go through your story. I ask for a customer relationship manager or the retentions team (usually threaten cancellation). Apparently they're the same team. On my last call, the customer relationship manager wasn't telling me what I wanted to hear (a lot of "no's") so I asked to speak to their supervisor. The supervisor then offered me something much better than the prior two reps but as I was still unhappy with the offer, they are escalating the matter to someone even further up the chain and will be calling me back. Will keep you all posted.

Select - 1st year waived, 50% off subsequent years. See here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....nts-cap-platinum-card-44895-2.html#post718674