Originally Posted by
Sam - DFW
that's probably very sound advice. fwiw - i used a debit card until last year, so this is all relatively new to me. SPG AMEX is a logical choice.
still, i was hoping to get information from someone who had successfully waived the Citi MC fee and maybe even received bonus miles in the process. i don't like the idea of churning my cards however successful others might have been. i have the card stored with my airline, my cell provider and a couple of other primary uses, and i don't want to hassle with updating these numbers if i can avoid it. yes, i realize that goes against what a lot of you practice. i understand your reasoning.
i will try your suggestion to call and threaten to cancel.
thanks,
sam
Do a search on "waive" or "waiver" in this forum, and you will find several threads discussing the Citi AA MC in the past year or two. From reading these, it seems that Citi is inconsistent in their willingness to induce customers to stay. Sometimes they are prepared to negotiate (by offering automatic fee waivers, coupons that effectively amount to fee waivers, or offers of bonus miles) and other times they are not. Since no one is coming forward with any recent success stories regarding an annual fee waiver, there is no way of knowing which mode they are in currently.
When you tell them you are thinking of cancelling the card, ask them if you are eligible for retention. This is the department most likely to be able to offer you inducements to remain as a customer. If they tell you that you are not eligible, I would tell them that you need to think about it some more and hang up. Call back at a later time and see if you get the same response.
If you are spending $90k per year, a properly functioning credit card company would want to keep you as a customer. Good luck, and please post your results. I'm interested in hearing what they will offer you.
P.S. By the way, as a point of reference, are you doing this before or after receiving the credit card bill which has the annual fee on it?