Agreed, the timing of the increase makes the marketing manager's job a misery, but they can lose a third of the accounts and break even ... but they won't.
That's not the whole picture.
For each cardholder they lose, not only do they lose the £300 fee, they also lose the commission they get on their annual spend. Assuming a low average of £5k p.a., and a total guess at 3% commission, Amex could be losing £450 per customer lost. I think the break even point is more like 25%.
That doesnt take into account the extra they make on foreign spend, the outlay they have in providing the benefits, or the hard to quantify issue of reducing the overall amex cardholders in the uk and the effect that has in gaining more retailer accounts.
But clearly the bean counters have done their counting and decided £450 is sustainable.
Whoever decided that a free round of golf if you pay for a night or in some places 2- nights accommodation was worthwhile benefit, needs to be shot. Obviously a few in the dept were golfers, brought to the boss, he's a golfer and thought everyone would love it.
By the way, the new CX "benefit" is still only being stated for 1 year, as is Hilton gold. If like me you already got these, then my Hilton status will run out shortly, and my CX will run out in 4-5 months.
So for me thats an expiring cx gold, a pp guest I'll never use (partner has my supp plat), golf I'll never use, some silly air ticket price guarantee, reduced insurance, and £150 extra