Originally Posted by
bobert24
as far as avoiding paying the fees at all, you've got a few options:
1. Cancel the card.
2. Call, say you're going to cancel, get transferred to the retentions department, and accept their (pretty standard) offer of a $95 statement credit to keep the card open. Sometimes you can even get bonus miles.
3. Convert the card to one without an annual fee.
We've done all 3. Which one you want to do is completely dependent on your situation at the time.
Including
whether the card is going to reset an 18-month clock if options 1 or 3 are taken. Option 2 is the only one of the three guaranteed to not reset an 18-month clock on any card that has one.
Note: Cancelling an AA personal Plat or AA Gold card (option 1)
that was converted to World Elite won't likely reset an 18-month clock
if you cancel it now. There's no guarantee that it won't reset an 18-month clock if you wait to do it when the AF hits (in case the W->WE loophole has really really really disappeared by then).
Btw, is option 3 even available for a business card?