American Express Membership Rewards - Recent Experiences w/Retention - DL

My AMEX-DL Skymiles Card is up for renewal. I am hopeful that folks would be willing to share any recent experiences regarding retention bonuses. Thanks.

My SO had a fee free 1st year gold amex-DL card.Talked to a "retention CSR" about cancelling and was offered fee free for another year OR annual fee ($85) as normal AND a $100 credit.My choice. Guess which I took?
No guarantee but better than talking to a regular CSR who will cancel you before you hang up

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cspera:
My SO had a fee free 1st year gold amex-DL card.Talked to a "retention CSR" about cancelling and was offered fee free for another year OR annual fee ($85) as normal AND a $100 credit.My choice. Guess which I took?</font>

That's an odd choice... Why would anyone choose the first??

Very odd indeed!

I have a Platinum Delta SkyMiles Card, and the MC (Membership Consultant) tried to save me on benefits! Ended up, hanging up and dialing back. Got a second agent who offered 5,000 SkyMiles + $75 "Goodwill Gesture".

Any more recent retention bonus experiences?

Called a few days ago to cancel Delta Amex card. There was no offer given this year. Last year gave 5K miles. We just changed it to the $1/.5 mile version with no fee as we are concentrating on NW miles now.

I took advantage of the Amex retention and had 4000 miles posted and the fee waived. (regular gold card). However, this took many calls. I'm going to call Delta Amex and see if I can get some miles from them. I'm also going to try to see if this strategy will work with my Mileage Plus card. (it doesn't hurt to try).

"Life's too short to drink bad wine"

how much do you guys think you have to charge before amex will give you ANYTHING from retention? 10k, 20k?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ero2:
how much do you guys think you have to charge before amex will give you ANYTHING from retention? 10k, 20k?</font>

It's probably not just a matter of how much you charge, but how profitable you are to Amex. Do you ever carry a balance and pay interest? Are you ever a bit late such that you pay a late fee but are still generally good at paying your bill? These factors probably contribute as much to profitability as a high spend does.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve M:
It's probably not just a matter of how much you charge, but how profitable you are to Amex. Do you ever carry a balance and pay interest? Are you ever a bit late such that you pay a late fee but are still generally good at paying your bill? These factors probably contribute as much to profitability as a high spend does.</font>


I dont think the balance thing is true. I have never paid any interest to amex in past 6 yrs. Last yr they waived my $85 yearly fee and gave a $100 credit too. Last yr I totalled about $20000.

Any recent experiences with the retention department at AMEX with regards to the skymiles card. My card is due next month and wanted feedback so I can get the best deal possible. Thanks for your input.

Ricky

I called to cancel mine and got offered NOTHING
he just canceled the account which is fine.

now how long do I have to wait to sign up and get a bonus?

peace
billyb

I just cancelled Skymiles Gold card because no miles had transferred for over 2 months. No retention bonus, no benefits, just a "press 1" twice on the phone and voila, it was cancelled. Amex and DL both blamed the other for miles not posting. Oh well, other credit card benefit is their loss.

About a year ago, they offered 5K miles or a $50 credit when I called to cancel (spend about $30K/year with no late fees or interest).
It was actually a real pain to get the miles to post, but after a number of calls, they finally did.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by best:
Any more recent retention bonus experiences?</font>

I wrote them an e-mail asking for bonus miles when I don't cancel the AMEX DELTA Business Card.
Answer was: NO!
When I cancel the card by phone, I'll ask the again...

To update this thread, I just called and got offered $40 dollar credit or 4,000 bonus Skymiles to stay. I took the miles and we will see if they post. Just tell them you will cancel, and they send you to first retention department, and the guy offered me that right off the bat.

Do you just call and ask for the retention department? Or do you bluff hoping that they offer you something to cancel? I like using my card and wouldn't mind another year without a fee or a couple 1000 bonus miles but do not want to risk actually losing the card...

Another question: if I call to cancel today, do they still give me a 20 day grace period to pay off my card? Thanks.

My DL Amex usage pattern is about $500/month, almost all at 2 for 1 merchants. (The rest goes on my AA card). I pay in full every month.

Called today to cancel, got offered a $40 credit, which I accepted.

Do you just call and ask for the retention department? Or do you bluff hoping that they offer you something to cancel?

No, you call to cancel it and they will then decide to put you though to retention who may (or may not) offer you a sweet deal.

If you bluff and they do accept your cancelation then you can always ring back and tell them you have changed your mind. In my experience (threatened to cancel 3 times) they will not let you go without offering you something.

I got stuff from them when I had a card with an annual fee (ie fee waived), but I now have one of the UK Platinum Amex cards with no annual fee and 2% cashback. I doubt they would offer me anything if I wanted to cancel this one. :eek:

It varies according to how good a customer you are - everyone's different.

Good luck!