American Express Membership Rewards - Canceled My Amex Gold Business

I decided to pull the plug on my Amex Business Gold. I wasn't using it much, and the current statement with $125 for membership being the only thing to generate a statement in months made it an easy decision. Silly of me to think I'd go through a retention hard sell, or them lunging at the feet for me to maintain the card (I still have three other biz, and two personal Amex cards). Agent just asked if I was sure, told me the 125 would be credited back (hadn't paid it yet, anyway), then said okay it's done. Destroy the card if you haven't already done so, and a final statement will come in the mail. I was delighted at the quickness and ease; then again, I wonder if I should have been miffed. Naw...

I have about two months to decide. I used the card a lot a few years ago during double point promos, but not since. I also have the Starwood and Hilton Amex and a few Visa/MC for my business so I have more credit than I currently use. Still, with what's going on with others' lines of credit, I wonder if if I should keep the card open.

I'm in the same quandary. Don't feel like paying the $150 renewal for my personal Preferred Rewards Gold (have Gold Business, and SPG Personal and Business), but with Amex slashing people's credit I'm wondering if I should just hold on to it. And I wonder if it would negatively affect my credit score or general borrower profile if I give it up?

I'm in the same quandary. Don't feel like paying the $150 renewal for my personal Preferred Rewards Gold (have Gold Business, and SPG Personal and Business), but with Amex slashing people's credit I'm wondering if I should just hold on to it. And I wonder if it would negatively affect my credit score or general borrower profile if I give it up?

Ask if they offer a lower tier no-fee version of the Gold card. If so, simply downgrade the card to that one. That way it won't increase your debt to credit ratio, which could lower your credit score.

That's what we did with the SkyMiles gold card.

Ask if they offer a lower tier no-fee version of the Gold card. If so, simply downgrade the card to that one. That way it won't increase your debt to credit ratio, which could lower your credit score.

That's what we did with the SkyMiles gold card.

i am pretty sure there isnt a fee-free version of the charge card..sometimes it can be waived but not free..the green one is the lowest af card

When I called to cancel they didnt blink an eye. Cancelled my rewards account, green card and delta skymiles. No negotiation on their part. No have Capital One with double points and a $39 fee. Already have posted credit to that account. A much better deal.

No{w} I have Capital One with double points and a $39 fee. Already have posted credit to that account. A much better deal.


AGL,

Bragging about have a Capital One (Crap One) card is like bragging about your Yugo. Cap One is about the worst card to obtain travel rewards. Do a quick search on Capital One in FT. Double points, you need them, since their redemption requirements are so high.

AX is not great, but, you can get a a fair amount of points for almost free. i.e. Since April 2006, I have gotten 200,000 AX MR points and about 100,000 DL Skymiles for opening AX accounts with no or some spend requirements. ~300,000 points for no fees is a good deal, Cap One is not a deal.

Dont want to get into a one on one discussion, but I disagree. Not bragging about the card, but one does get double miles, and they allow redemption for many travel expenses. Redeemed 15,000 points for a $150 hotel bill, that works out to 2 cents/point. Better than anything AMEX ever offered me and the card is $39 compared with minimum of $55 plus $40 for the amex rewards plan.

Dont want to get into a one on one discussion, but I disagree. Not bragging about the card, but one does get double miles, and they allow redemption for many travel expenses. Redeemed 15,000 points for a $150 hotel bill, that works out to 2 cents/point. Better than anything AMEX ever offered me and the card is $39 compared with minimum of $55 plus $40 for the amex rewards plan.

You were paying for your AX card??? Why?? AX will give you all the no first year free AX cards you want. Why would you pay a fee? I got 300,000 AX MR and DL SM for free, how many free miles/points did Cap One give you?

Up to you about Cap One, it is widely considered a bad card for travel points. BTW, I love their marketing, those David Spade commercials are hilarious!! AX commercials are not funny. Oh...I am picking the card for travel points not funny commercials.

You were paying for your AX card??? Why?? AX will give you all the no first year free AX cards you want.

Not anymore. They're actually limiting them to 3 or 4, depending on which FT thread you read.

Not anymore. They're actually limiting them to 3 or 4, depending on which FT thread you read.

My point was/is, no need to pay AX an annual fee as they provide one or more first year no fee cards and by opening a new account and then closing your old account, you never pay an annual fee.

BTW, I have 4 AX Gold Cards, 1 AX Gold Business Cards, 2+ AX Delta SM Cards, 1 Delta SM Business Card, 2 AX Delta SM Open cards. I believe what others are writing about AX limiting the number of cards, but I am so far (as of last weeks most recent application approval) unaffected. And, I am just a normal person with regular credit and little actual spending. AX has provided me with over 100,000 points in the last 15 months with no fees (minimum spending only). AX works for me.

Did you get an account opening bonus for all 4 of your AX gold cards? It was my understanding that they track that sorta thing, and only award you one bonus per type of card....

I have an AmEx Gold Card I'm cancelling for the same $$$ reasons outlined here. With only 3,300 MR points, I'm trying to choose between Hilton and Starwood. (I'm keeping the new Hilton AmEx.)

I did an adjusted conversation: what a Westin O'Hare would cost versus the Hilton O'Hare, for example, to make sure the classes of hotels matched up. Based on that, and the conversation ratio of MR points to Hilton/Starwood points, it seemed to me that Starwood was the much better deal.

Anyone have any thoughts?

I have very little experience traveling in hotels compared to most of the folks here. However, I have never been upgraded in a Starwood hotel and I'm a Starwood gold. As a HiltonHHonors silver I was upgraded to a corner ocean FRONT room in the Rainbow tower of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Oahu. It remains the best upgrade I've ever received.

So I'm biased towards Hilton.

I have an AmEx Gold Card I'm cancelling for the same $$$ reasons outlined here. With only 3,300 MR points, I'm trying to choose between Hilton and Starwood. (I'm keeping the new Hilton AmEx.)

I did an adjusted conversation: what a Westin O'Hare would cost versus the Hilton O'Hare, for example, to make sure the classes of hotels matched up. Based on that, and the conversation ratio of MR points to Hilton/Starwood points, it seemed to me that Starwood was the much better deal.

Anyone have any thoughts?

The Starwood Amex is generally acknowledged on FlyerTalk to be, for most people, the best rewards card available in the US.

For those who think American Express is such a good deal, just read a few of the posts at this link and see how American Express is treating their loyal customers:

http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?criteria=American+Express

As for travel benefits, American Express is useless traveling to Europe

For those who think American Express is such a good deal, just read a few of the posts at this link and see how American Express is treating their loyal customers:

http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?criteria=American+Express

As for travel benefits, American Express is useless traveling to Europe

I have not seen any of the effects that others complain about in those fora and I am a loyal enough customer. And I am not sure what benefits you are looking for in Europe but I do well enough traveling there.

I travel to Europe on a regular basis and found Visa and Master Card accepted in more places then American Express. I got tired of having to pull out a back up card when the business I was at did not accept American Express. The final straw was at Dublin's airport when they would not refund VAT tax on purchases made on American Express but there was no problem with Visa. I closed my American Express account and never looked back. I will admit I was tempted to open a Delta American Express this year when there was a 35,000 mile offer but after reading how the company is treating loyal customers, I am not going to bother. I will stick with Visa and Master Card.

The Starwood Amex is generally acknowledged on FlyerTalk to be, for most people, the best rewards card available in the US.

I have Amex Plat, Diners and Starwood... SW is by far my favorite in terms of points value. That is particularly true for SW hotels.

Dont want to get into a one on one discussion, but I disagree. Not bragging about the card, but one does get double miles, and they allow redemption for many travel expenses. Redeemed 15,000 points for a $150 hotel bill, that works out to 2 cents/point. Better than anything AMEX ever offered me and the card is $39 compared with minimum of $55 plus $40 for the amex rewards plan.

15k points from an SPG card will get you a lot more than a $150 hotel room.

I just called to cancel my biz gold to avoid the annual fee, which they offered to waive. When I got the card a year ago I put about $10k on it in the first month or two and it has been dormant ever since, so it's not like I'm a prime customer they need to retain, though I do have and use both SPG cards. Hopefully my offers to upgrade to plat will start going up from the now-boring 25k points.