Just got off the phone with "Steve", my account specialist at Alaska Airlines (customer retention). He wanted to know several things before cancelling my PERSONAL CARD, including the 3rd line embossing on my business card and my mileage plan number. He did not immediately cancel my card, keeping me on the phone for about 15 minutes trying to convince me that I could lose my miles by cancelling. He kept saying that he was "fighting" for me not to lose them, but couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't lose them. He then stated that he could see that I open the card, get the benefits then close it a year later, and he thought this practice could make me lose my points too - but he was "fighting" for me, and again he couldn't guarantee I wouldn't lose them - he's seen it happen in the past with people who cancel their cards.. Then he tried reading terms from what sounded like application pages about how if the points aren't used in 2 years, they may expire and mixing in his own words to make it sound like I could lose them by cancelling. After continued trying to get him to tell me exactly how Bank of America would take my points back, he claimed it wasn't bank of america, it was Alaska Airlines that would take them away. He danced around a lot with pretend and amateur sounding legal jargon, I told him he better be careful: "you are walking a fine line of what is legal and illegal", and told him to cancel the card and he finally did - again after about 15 minutes.

Pretty aggressive they are getting!