I agree that they make it too difficult to cancel in person. When I decide to cancel a card I always write a LETTER and include the card cut in half.
I don't like to be pressured to stay when I KNOW what I want to do. You can also follow up with a secure message just to verify it was closed.
Originally Posted by
sdsearch
The problem with calling is convincing them to actually cancel! They try to offer you bonus points for sticking with the card, they try to switch you to another card (such as the no-annual-fee Bronze card), they try everything! If your goal, however, is to cancel to clear the way for re-applying for the card (so as to get you another 25k bonus points ASAP, which is the one thing they never offer you over the phone), you just have to wade through all that and reject every offer they throw at you (and maybe even get asked why you're cancelling), until they give up.
Online, there's no such issues; they just go ahead and cancel it (if you do it per the procedure I noted step-by-step above), and you can (and should) confirm it with the red message that Happy explained all about.
And, by the way, the one time I had a problem in the past with a card I tried cancelling not get cancelled (and not getting notified of a problem my cancellation attempt either), it was on a phone call! So you can have that problem with either a phone call or online. With that in mind, what does the phone call really gain you (unless you don't mind keeping the card another month or two and so want to see what bait they'll dangle in front of you for keeping it another month)?