BertG

I'm using Delta Amex Plat less this year, so I called them to see if they would comp or partly comp my annual fee. The answer was no. Change cards was the CSR's suggestion.
Anyone else have any luck?

MilesTalk

Ask to be transfered to the cancellations department. (Don't let them just cancel you if you get a rep that tries). Then tell the retention specialist exactly the truth: you'd like to continue using the card but can't justify the fee given how much you spend.

Believe it or not, their systems will tell that retention specialist exactly what they can credit your account towards the fee. It's not really discretionary and it will never be termed a waiver of the annual fee. It will be an "account credit".

Clearly, the amount they will credit depends heavily on how much you use the card (it may or may not tie into your overall Amex spend beyond that card).

A very low spender will not get anything credited. And yes, Amex does have a "rating" on you as a customer that weighs in heavily. I'm not privy to more detail than that, but they very well know how much you have made them yearly and lifetime....

mrkymark

I tried to get my annual fee waived and threatened to cancel but they only offered to downgrade my card to skymiles options...oh well i guess at least I get to keep my account number,

So just wondering what happens to all the Membership Reward Points when one cancels a card but still has other AMEX cards?

Kagehitokiri

try a search.

2 posters have said it takes 7 figures per year for plat card fee to be refunded.

edit - nevermind i see OP is talking about credit cards...

lessthanzero

I've had my Delta card comped for a few years, until I stopped using it and they downgraded to a free version.

I can also echo the other posters about how comp works, and it does tie in to your overall spend. I recently had my Amex Gold comped, with little or no spend on it.

Brendan

The Starwood Amex has a low $30 annual fee. Even so, my need for *points has decreased so that this Nov. I intend to either cancel Amex totally or switch to the no-fee Hilton HHonors Amex & collect bonus points.

MilesTalk

Keep in mind, Brendan, that if you don't actively earn/burn points in SPG they expire after 1 year - so the SPG card can be a good way to occasional earn and keep them alive.

lessthanzero

Agree with Daveland. Also bear in midn the usefulness of points. SPG points can be used at all starwood properties and most major airlines at an advantageous transfer rate. Hilton points can be used at, well, Hilton. (I'm sure you can transfer to some partners, but am also pretty confident it's not as many as with SPG.)

Still fi you don't earn a ton of points, $30 isn't worth paying to protect their lifespan either.

fuzz

The annual fee increased to $45 last year with the first year free. I have a ton of points that I should use; otherwise I might just go with a cashback card for less hassle, though I like the flexibility of the Starpoints and the fee is pretty reasonable for an affinity card.

fuzz

lessthanzero

Actually, my basic stance on this is that affinity cards should be free, and often they are. However, the SPG points offer such great benefits compared to any other affinity card as to make it worth it.

sdsearch

I have a weirder situation. Amex hasn't charged me a second year fee for my Delta AMEX yet, and it's 15 months that I've had it now. I wonder if it's because I haven't used it at all since a month before I expected the 2nd year annual fee to hit? (The first year annual fee was waived on the promo signup I did.)

But it gets weireder. Last year I cancelled an Amex Gold to avoid the annual fee for the second year (again a card that had first year annual fee waived due to promo app). It was shown as cancelled online. Now, since a couple months ago, it's showing as an open card again, with again no annual fee charges (but I haven't used it either).

Are they waiting for me to use these cards before they charge another annual fee???

lessthanzero

It's getting harder to get comped. Even for non-plat cards. I did, however, recently have my gold card comped, without much spending on it, based on high SPG spending.

hs1

I just received an offer of 1000 points if I keep my SPG card (which I took). Not a big spender here.

super-mileage-fan

Earlier this year, AMEX refused to comp a friend's ordinary card fee of about $50 and he had been a card holder for over 40 years! He threatened to cancel, and they wouldn't budge, so he canceled. He is very old and a low spender.

lessthanzero

Which makes sense. for low spenders, Amex makes their money on the annual fee, which is why they have not lowered it or gotten rid of it, even in the face of stiff CC competition. (Besides which, take the # of amex subscribers and muitiply with a weighted average annual fee for the various cards. That's a pretty big number)