Originally Posted by GetawaysRus

My experience with Citi has been that if I call too far in advance (about a month or so) of the expiration date, sometimes the CSR is not very willing to make a retention offer. I've found it easier if I call shortly after the expiration date. But this is Citi, and YMMV.

Remember that you do have a window of 30+ days to cancel an account and get the annual fee credited back to you even after the fee posts.