Originally Posted by
Jared Ito
Avoiding the annual fee on an American Express business membership rewards gold card — is it true that a need to cancel at least three days prior to the fee posting if I do not want to be obligated to pay the annual fee?
I was under the impression that I could cancel within thirty days of the fee getting posted and either have the fee refunded or not need to pay the fee, depending on the timing and billing cycle. I sent them a pm asking when I needed to cancel and they wrote back that it was best if I did it three business days prior. I would prefer to have extra days to call them and inquire about a retention bonus, I do have some spend on all of my cards. If it makes any difference I won’t be using the card again until after I have decided to keep the card.
That is not true. You only need to cancel three days prior to the statement date to avoid it posting, but I've always been told you have up to 60 days thereafter to cancel for full fee refund. Of course, if you plan to cancel beyond the statement due date then you should pay the statement balance first, and then get a credit on the card balance when you cancel. You can then request a cheque by mail, or have the amount shifted over to another card account.