Annual fee retention bonus for Starwood Amex Card (Pre-May, 2019)
 

Not sure if this has been covered recently - but just called for retention bonus against $65 annual fee - gen questions agent couldn't do - so I said cancel and he was unable to cancel and sent me to retention. Retention agent offered a $25 statement credit, so I agreed to keep card. The fact that I have had Amex cards since 1997 with clean pays helped to get this. Good luck to others, the $65 is a bit high.

If you charge a reasonable amount (a few thousand a month), the $65 is a drop in the bucket compared with the value of the points, when wisely used. The value per dollar spent is far ahead of any other reward cards -- I disagree that the fee is high, in fact I think it represents great value compared to the alternatives.

Don't even get me started on the $125 CAD Canadian Amex... And the earning potential is also so much less! (Just 1 pt / $1CAD)
So I'd take that $65 any day...

Or cancel every year and collect a signup bonus too.

Signup bonus is a one-time thing.

"call for retention bonus"?

As in, you call and fake intent to cancel the card in order to get something (anything) for your efforts?

No question about it! I just completed a 5 night stay at a cat 5 property for 48000 points that would have cost me about $2000 had I paid for it. 48000 points is about 18 months spend for me on the Amex, so the roughly $100 in fees that cover those 18 months really is a small price to pay.

Or, you call with the full intent of canceling unless they offer you a better deal.

For me, unless the waive the fee, I think I'm gone soon....

I think you are better off asking for a few thousand bonus points, that is assuming you have signficant spend on the card. I have heard that 3000 points is not uncommon.

I actually just got 5000.

I spent $72k in the past 12 months (the guy told me) on my SPG card and all he offered me was $25 credit, no points at all.

It's a negotiation game... hang up and try again! :)

Of course, if the rep sees your call history tied to your account... ;)
Plus, once you declare your fake intent, there's no way to back out of it (short of looking like a desperate idiot, which is .. well..). :D

"Excuse me, let me double check first with my [spouse] [boss] [dog] [etc.]."

"Excuse me, I'll have to call back to finish this conversation because my kid is [burning down the house] [peeing on the carpet] [watching Glen Beck] [etc.]"

"Okay, I changed my mind. Bye."

Another data point: called recently about my Starwood Business Amex (open just under a year, although I've had one Starwood card or another for several years running). Spending has varied across time, but I'd estimate I've put $9K-$12K aggregate on the card since last summer, and always paid on time. [EDIT: Actual figure is just north of $10K.]

Retention rep began by asking the usual questions about whether the card is a good fit for my business and/or whether I stay at Starwood properties. I allowed as how it's a good fit & I do stay etc., but <standard line about better earning potential on competing card products>. (Although there's clearly an implicit sales pitch in the questions, the answer is also a factor in how hard Amex will try to retain the member. As if going off a script, later on the rep recited my "good fit" statement as a talking point explaining the offers he made.)

The initial offer was a $25 credit. When I asked if there were any other offers, the rep did the car salesman schtick (put me on hold, come back to tell me what a "team leader" had OK'd) and upped the offer to $35. As a final gambit, I inquired if there were any offers involving Starpoints rather than cash, but no soup for me.