I know I commented about this somewhere else...I think there are a couple of "Should I haggle the $30 fee?" threads.

My take is that negotiating the annual fee on a credit card is perfectly fair game. The fact that banks sometimes waive it when asked means that they do too. So I don't believe it's immoral or unethical to pursue the waiver. You will call and ask. They may accept, make a counteroffer, or say no and ask you whether you'd like to keep the account active. Normal business.

That said, I've never called on the SPG Amex. In the grand scheme of things - the incremental annual value I get from the card over the 2nd best credit card on the market - the $30 is a tiny fraction really not worth getting upset about. It is not worth the time and hassle of making phone calls, waiting on hold, getting transferred to the "retention department", playing the game, pretending I'm really chapped and ready to cancel, etc.

If you enjoy this kind of thing - and I know some people consider negotiating for stuff, even little stuff, a bit of a hobby - by all means go for it and don't sweat whether it's "right" or "wrong". If the banks felt it were wrong, they'd shut it down tomorrow and never waive an annual fee again.