Retention Bonuses

mawmaw

Level 2 Member
I just told them that Chase was offering me a bonus to spend more on their card (sweet talk them). The rep came back and said he could offer 7k points since I was such a good customer.....I took it!
i was offered 3-5k from spg but i think amex retention offers are based on the costumer value (100k spend is a valuable costumer) though reps can give you a one time bonus for a nice sweet talk
 

inflightmeal

Level 2 Member
Recent retention --

- Chase Southwest Plus (Personal): 6k to keep it open. AF not even due until July.
- Chase Southwest Premier (Biz): 3k to keep it open. AF not due until August.
- Citi Hilton Visa Signature. Got offered 5k points bonus for spending $1k in each of the next three months. Not worth it IMO.
- Citi AA Exec: Accepted: Spend $3k for 3 straight months for a $250 statement credit.

(For Citi AA Exec was also offered: 15k miles for $5k in purchases over 3 months, and spend $1k/month and get 1k extra miles for each of the next 16 billing cycles.)
 

druiddation

Level 2 Member
One thing to watch out for when downgrading a Citi card:

I had been previously told by a Citi CSR or Retention rep to call back after the annual fee posts on my AA Exec card and they would then be able to downgrade me to the Dividend card, and not to worry about the $450 annual fee because if I cancel or downgrade within 37 days of it posting they would refund that charge. I didn't listen closely enough during the call as it was all rather uninspiring. A few days later I received a message that my account change had been scheduled, but no note of for when.

I got a little concerned that if this scheduled change occurs after the 37 days I would get a $450 charge. I called into clarify and the rep said I would be prorated if that happens. I didn't want to risk that or have to call again so asked just to cancel all together. They then said they would instantly remove the $450 annual fee charge.

Also, they mentioned that the 5% quarterly bonus isn't guaranteed to be there every quarter and that only 1% is guaranteed. I wasn't sure if that was true, or just his interpretation.
 

JJAviator

Level 2 Member
Why did PB not work, all over the world Delta makes such a big deal about priority boarding , they are always announced 1st
This is at LGA - they don't necessarily let PB board with F, I've had it happen. What I've experienced is they call F, then after a few min. call PB. The time we were SOL they called F only and told we cannot board, then they called coach by boarding section which was frustrating.
 

PNW-MSSER

Level 2 Member
Citi AA plat, got offered 15k miles for 3k in purchases or a 95 dollar credit, my AF was out 3 months. Will call again later.
 

mawmaw

Level 2 Member
One thing to watch out for when downgrading a Citi card:

I had been previously told by a Citi CSR or Retention rep to call back after the annual fee posts on my AA Exec card and they would then be able to downgrade me to the Dividend card, and not to worry about the $450 annual fee because if I cancel or downgrade within 37 days of it posting they would refund that charge. I didn't listen closely enough during the call as it was all rather uninspiring. A few days later I received a message that my account change had been scheduled, but no note of for when.

I got a little concerned that if this scheduled change occurs after the 37 days I would get a $450 charge. I called into clarify and the rep said I would be prorated if that happens. I didn't want to risk that or have to call again so asked just to cancel all together. They then said they would instantly remove the $450 annual fee charge.

Also, they mentioned that the 5% quarterly bonus isn't guaranteed to be there every quarter and that only 1% is guaranteed. I wasn't sure if that was true, or just his interpretation.
DROPR= dont relay on phone rep. you should be able to downgrade product change after 12 month that should be before the annual fee is billed to your acc
 

Barb

Level 2 Member
Got an $89 annual fee credit for the Barclay AA Aviator Redcard (formerly the USAirways card with the 10K annual bonus). My 10K points had already posted.
 

milesaway733

Level 2 Member
Called 2 months before Citi AA Exe AF was to hit and was offered 15k miles for 5k spend in XX days (can't remember how many). Hit $5k in 3 weeks and 15k bonus posted. Closed my account within 37 days of AF posting to get the $450 refunded.
 

bondplace

Level 2 Member
I just got the $89 annual fee waived on my Barclayscard Arrival Plus as well. The first customer rep said no. I called again the next day, and the customer rep said she isn't authorized to do so. I then asked whether someone is authorized to do so, and she transferred me to a manager, who agreed to waive it but made it clear that it is an exception and not something they would do regularly.
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
My AA Platinum AF has just posted. I called to see if I could get any retention-- statement credit or AF waiver and I did use the word cancel. Rep said there was nothing he could offer except a DG to City Bronze or Double Cash. I then asked about my Citi Exec-- AF will not hit until August. He said he would transfer me to a retention specialist.

Retention offered me $50 statement credit each month over the next 7 months if I spend $1500 per month for a total of $350 statement credit over 7 months. . Asked if she had anything else and she said she had some mileage offers but I didn't listen to them-- now I think I probably should have but I was too busy thinking about needing to have a card earning AA miles and cancelling my Plat.

Told her I wanted to think about it (can wait until August before AF hits) asked about DG and was told only Plat and Gold were available but couldn't do PC until August.

I then asked her if she could do anything on the Plat, she double checked and said, "nothing on this card."

I don't generally spend much on my Citi cards but obviously want to have a card earning AA miles (closed my Aviator). Advice?

Off to call about Barclay A+ fee waiver...
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
Barclay Arrival Plus. Called and got transferred to retention specialist. She asked, "you want to close your card today? Let me see if there is anything I can do." She then said, "I can waive the $89 fee." I asked if there was anything else she could do and she said, "no, there's nothing else on your card and I'm actually surprised you got the $89 offer, I'm not seeing these right now."
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
SOs Amex PRG-- nothing nada, no offers except downgrade to green card. Did point out a benefit I wasn't aware of-- $100 yearly statement credit for airline incidental charges-- baggage, food, etc. Cancelled card.
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
SOs Amex PRG-- nothing nada, no offers except downgrade to green card. Did point out a benefit I wasn't aware of-- $100 yearly statement credit for airline incidental charges-- baggage, food, etc. Cancelled card.
Should've first taken the $100 credit. Buy a GC for an airline or something via MPX.
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
Should've first taken the $100 credit. Buy a GC for an airline or something via MPX.
I get it but since we're not planning on traveling in the next 6 mos. didn't want to commit to a specific airline. And we're still paying $75 for a PRG we don't need. What's the point?
 

raenye

Lever 2 Membel
I get it but since we're not planning on traveling in the next 6 mos. didn't want to commit to a specific airline. And we're still paying $75 for a PRG we don't need. What's the point?
Do you have a use for $100 at Amazon/Department Stores/Office Stores/Restaurants?
MPX.

I didn't say you can't close it right after getting the credit.
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
Do you have a use for $100 at Amazon/Department Stores/Office Stores/Restaurants?
MPX.

I didn't say you can't close it right after getting the credit.
Thanks for trying to help, I have a million excuses on this one. 1) It's SOs card and he did not want to call in and I put it off too long and payment was due today (didn't call until yesterday) and I would have to pay the $175, wait for the $100 credit, close the card and then get the $175 refund w/in 60 days or go to a pro-rated refund. SO did not let me know about this new benefit which didn't start until 6/1. 3)AFAIK using MPX it codes as MPX-Amazon and so I didn't think it would work for the fee credit. I just saw something on Reddit where a guy got a $5.00 credit on his PRG buying an Amazon GC but his receipt also appears to indicate some flight activity, not sure.


Oh well, none and done...
 

nickelfish1

Level 2 Member
My AA Plat Level card came due and they wouldn't waive the fee either. First time that's ever happened. They offered 7500 miles to spend...I forget what...which I declined. Then they offered if I spent $85 they would give me a statement credit equal to the fee. I took that.

Here's the thing. I was buying $2500 at Simon and my card was declined for fraud. Once the mall declines the card they will not take it for that transaction even if you have it cleared. I called and complained and they gave me 5,000 miles. I didn't even ask. Then, it happened last week again. This time I got a little heated and the lady refused to give me a supervisor. Then hung up on me. I waited until that evening to call in and they gave me 5,000 miles. I didn't ask...I just said it was the second time and I was highly embarrassed and I'm paying $450 for card I can't use. Of course, I'm the AU on the card do hubs was getting pinged with fraud alerts and I get the,"$2,900! What are you doing with my card?" I swear, I don't know why I even list his email on his applications when I apply for him. ;).
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
My AA Plat Level card came due and they wouldn't waive the fee either. First time that's ever happened. They offered 7500 miles to spend...I forget what...which I declined. Then they offered if I spent $85 they would give me a statement credit equal to the fee. I took that.

Here's the thing. I was buying $2500 at Simon and my card was declined for fraud. Once the mall declines the card they will not take it for that transaction even if you have it cleared. I called and complained and they gave me 5,000 miles. I didn't even ask. Then, it happened last week again. This time I got a little heated and the lady refused to give me a supervisor. Then hung up on me. I waited until that evening to call in and they gave me 5,000 miles. I didn't ask...I just said it was the second time and I was highly embarrassed and I'm paying $450 for card I can't use. Of course, I'm the AU on the card do hubs was getting pinged with fraud alerts and I get the,"$2,900! What are you doing with my card?" I swear, I don't know why I even list his email on his applications when I apply for him. ;).
So it was your Exec that you had the fraud problems with at Simon and not the Plat? I'd take $85 credit for my Plat in a heart beat but there were no offers on the card prolly because I hardly use it at all and mostly use Exec.

Aren't SO/hubs fun to do MS with?:eek: I still can't figure out whether to try to talk him into letting me apply for a CSP and then having him get made if he gets turned down or...
 

nickelfish1

Level 2 Member
It was the Exec, yes.

I usually just apply and when it comes I hand it to him. Then I get the,"Another one?" Or,"Don't I have this one already? WTH?"
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
Barclays promised an $89 AF credit on Thursday. Still don't see it, even in pending. How long does this usually take?
 

InstinctX

Level 2 Member
For a while, it seemed like BA+ wasn't waiving the $89 AF ... tried HUCA; no luck. One phone representative even recommended that I redeem against travel credit. Unfortunately I already redeemed travel credit for the AF :(
 

MileHighYuppie

Level 2 Member
For a while, it seemed like BA+ wasn't waiving the $89 AF ... tried HUCA; no luck. One phone representative even recommended that I redeem against travel credit. Unfortunately I already redeemed travel credit for the AF :(
Depending on your level of spend you should be able to get it waived. I got my fee waived the first year easy as cake by speaking to a front-line CSR. This year I called in after having spent $170k+ on my Arrival and none of the CSRs were willing to waive it. I escalated to a supervisor who said "few people spend that much, let alone payoff that much in a year, I'll be glad to waive your fee".

Now its time to really make them happy with my level of spend this year...;)
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
For a while, it seemed like BA+ wasn't waiving the $89 AF ... tried HUCA; no luck. One phone representative even recommended that I redeem against travel credit. Unfortunately I already redeemed travel credit for the AF :(
Yes, it sounds like they are waiving it now. I also redeemed travel credit for the AF.
 

phantasmic

Level 2 Member
i called to check offers for a Barclays US Airways/Red Aviator card I have had for 2 years. They gave no offers. I wanted to declutter a bit and I have another Red Aviator from 12/2014 on which I'm waiting for the 1.5 spend bonus to hit, so I decided the old one could get the ax. This one had the 10k anniversary points, but they told me that was going away and I wouldn't get it next year, so i went ahead and closed the card. I also transferred the CL over to my Arrival. After it was closed I noticed that it was actually reduced to $500, and they of course had refunded the AF.

however then I sort of regretted choosing the 2 year old card to close instead of the newer one, since I do plan on keeping at least one. I do still have to consider AAOA since my credit history is not incredibly long. After that I also saw in a few places that if you had a card with the 10k anniversary bonus you would continue to get it. That had been the main factor for picking that card to close. I called Barclays back within a couple of days and asked them if I could reopen. They agreed. It kept the $500 CL and no AF has been added back to the card.

So kind of an unintentional retention bonus? after the 1.5 promo is over and I get that bonus, i will then close the newer account and transfer the CL from it.
 

InstinctX

Level 2 Member
Confused... did you reopen the BA+ or is your Arrival the fee-free version? BA+ is MC World (equivalent of Visa Signature) - where the CL cannot be less than $5K...
 

sound48

Level 2 Member
I have the Citi AA executive card. Was offered $250 statement credit, $100 credit and 5k miles, or 15k miles for varying degrees of spend. As I don't want to keep the card, I picked the 15k miles so I could ms before the fee hits and get an extra bonus before cancelling.
I should have until the end of August before the 37 days after the fee hits to cancel. I can try and push it to finish spend before the next statement closes to give myself a little more room if I have to, but I'd prefer not to. It would take a lot of finagling to get everything in place. Do people have experience how long it takes for retention bonuses to post from Citi?
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
I have the Citi AA executive card. Was offered $250 statement credit, $100 credit and 5k miles, or 15k miles for varying degrees of spend. As I don't want to keep the card, I picked the 15k miles so I could ms before the fee hits and get an extra bonus before cancelling.
I should have until the end of August before the 37 days after the fee hits to cancel. I can try and push it to finish spend before the next statement closes to give myself a little more room if I have to, but I'd prefer not to. It would take a lot of finagling to get everything in place. Do people have experience how long it takes for retention bonuses to post from Citi?
Thanks for posting this. Today was day 37 for me. I called and accepted an offer for 15K bonus miles after 5K spend in 3 months. Piece of cake. This Executive Platinum flyer wants to be able to do some spending for some EQMs next year if need be. So far have never needed it, but one never knows!
 

milesaway733

Level 2 Member
I have the Citi AA executive card. Was offered $250 statement credit, $100 credit and 5k miles, or 15k miles for varying degrees of spend. As I don't want to keep the card, I picked the 15k miles so I could ms before the fee hits and get an extra bonus before cancelling.
I should have until the end of August before the 37 days after the fee hits to cancel. I can try and push it to finish spend before the next statement closes to give myself a little more room if I have to, but I'd prefer not to. It would take a lot of finagling to get everything in place. Do people have experience how long it takes for retention bonuses to post from Citi?
I had the 15K bonus post the same cycle I hit the $5k spend. Closed out the card 6-8 weeks later without an issue.
 

Annie H.

Egalatarian
I get so tired of whining but I get more tired of nothing going right w/regard to MS and CCs. Last week I called Barclays, spoke w/retention and was told they would waive the AF on my Arrival +. Credit did not appear and because I'm having so many problems getting my $100 credit w/BofA AS cards, I decided not to wait and just called.
Oh, no, they weren't going to waive the annual fee, they "thought I wanted to downgrade to a NO AF card." Give me a fricking break, I know that's not what happened. I was so angry I had to excuse myself from the phone call before I lost it.
 

Barb

Level 2 Member
Called in today for Ink Bold.

Me: I really love my Ink Bold card but I feel the AF is a little too high and I wondered if you could do anything about it.

CSR: Let me see what offers I have available for you. (pause) I cannot waive the fee for you.

Me: Could I get a statement credit?

CSR: I have no offers for that unless you are thinking of closing the card because of the AF. And if that is the case, I can access those offers.

Me: Um, well, yes I would close the card because of the AF. (jumping through hoops)

CSR: Well in that case, I can offer you a statement credit for the annual fee in order to retain your business.

Me: Thank you.
 

nickelfish1

Level 2 Member
Told hubs to cancel his second exec tonight. Said you'll probably get a offer to spend 1k for bonus miles a month for 16 months or something like that. Just say no and cancel.
I went downstairs...he was on the phone for..I'm not kidding...for 15 mint's. His offer was spend $1500 a month and get a $50 statement credit up to $350.
He canceled. I was all....Wait. What? You didn't ask me when they said that! He said, "Are you kidding me? You said to cancel if they offered!" OMG. I literally want to call back to see if they will reopen with the offer. I wanted to get GE and we no longer lounge access without it.
Hubs said, "The guy was confused because I said I don't even recognize this card so I don't think I'm getting use out of it." and the guy said the card gets a lot of use and he didn't understand...was it a Citi service issue? I said, "You don't recognize it because I never gave it to you. I use the crap out of it!"
 

pstravels

Level 2 Member
Lmao.

1st step get account opened again
2nd step play the recon game again

Call back immediately and just pretend to be your husband. Works like a charm. Or have him let you talk for him. Just tell him to tell the rep that you will take over the phone call since you deal with the finances.
 

Matt S NYC

Level 2 Member
Citi TY Premier opened 6/15

Offered:

1. 5K TYP for $1K spend in 3 months
2. 500 TYP each month for $300 spend for next 16 billing cycles
3. 1 extra TYP for all purchases for the next 6 months up to 50K points

Accepted option 1 because it is quick and easy.

Citi Hilton Honors Reserve opened 3/15

Offered:

1. 750 Hilton points for $750 spend for next 16 billing cycles
2. 3 extra Hilton points at restaurants for 6 months with no max
3. 1K Hilton points after 5 eligible purchases of at least $5 in the next 3 months.
4. 5K Hilton points after $1.5K spend in 3 months
5. 1K Hilton points for $1K spend for next 16 billing cycles

Accepted offer 4, again because it's quick an easy.
 
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nrdk

Level 2 Member
Personal SPG:

Offered 500 points + 1500 after 1k spend, accepted because AmEx Offers > AF. Next year may reconsider since it was a weak retention offer.
 
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