2nd Year Fee for AA Citibank Amex
 

I have the AA Citibank Amex, which was fee free the first year. In addition to getting a sign-up bonus of 20K, I got a 10K bonus for spending $10K. When I recently got my statement, there was an $85 fee for the 2nd year.

I don't like annual fees....so does anybody know if they ever waive the fee or offer you miles to keep the card? Should I just cancel the card? Or is there a fee-free card that they could covert it to?

Call Citi to cancel. With that kind of spend, I'd be shock if they didn't offer to waive the fee or throw miles at you. In fact, Citi's retention department is down-right aggressive (at least they have been in the past).

Many threads here regarding this topic.

Supposedly they will waive the fee for most people if you add a second cardholder to the account although the two cards will split the maximum mileage earning if you are not elite.

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Apply for a 2nd Citi AAdvantage Amex (or Citi AAdvantage MC -- take your pick), and then cancel your existing card. The 2nd card will come with an annual fee waiver for the first year, AND you'll get an additional 25,000 bonus miles if you charge at least $750.00 to the new card within the first four months!

The best way to cancel your current card is to access your account online, and then send a message to Citibank to close the account. That way, you won't have to deal with Citi's phone reps, who I am told can be pretty aggressive in trying to dissuade you from cancelling an account.

Ah, the beauties of card churning in the current economic environment. Probably not the best advice one could give :)

Cheers.

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I suppose it really depends on how good the OP's credit is, wouldn't you agree? If the OP is worried about ending up without any AA-earning credit card, I suppose he could wait a week from the time he applies for a second card, before making the decision to cancel the first one. Citi AAdvantage cards applied for online tend to arrive about a week later, if the application is approved.

get a citigold account - no fees on the AAdvantage CC

My wife got one for the bonus and rarely used it. When her yearly fee posted, she called up to cancel and was offered 3000 mile to think about it. Called back a week later to cancel it. About six weeks later the miles posted.

To some degree. Churning will lower it in just about all cases, but maybe it doesn't matter to some people. For others, it might.

Cheers.

I find the idea of "that kind of spend" referring to a whopping $10,000 in a year as being pretty inconsequential. Citibank must not expect a lot.

I received a $50 credit toward the $85 fee plus 2 miles per dollar for every dollar for the first 3 months up to 5,000. Since I knew I was spening $5,000 anyway, I signed up, got the credit 2 statements later, got the miles right away, and since I'll be getting 10,000 miles after $10,000 spent per a promo when I signed up for the card, it was def worth it. The first 2 times we called up they didnt offer us this so we just kep calling up till they did.

Yeah that was my thought. That is not even two months of flights, hotels, and rental cars for me.

Just an FYI on C.C. churning...
This is from the Frugal Travel Guy...

"...Many of you ask me about credit inquiries on your credit reports when you are considering applying for more credit cards for sign up bonuses. I gave you my current credit scores 708, 769 and 722. My corresponding number of inquiries still showing on my credit report and thereby negatively effecting my credit are 23, 9 and 18.

Inquiries are a negative, but not that severe. I guesstimate it is about 2 points per inquiry. If you pay your bills on time, keep your outstanding balances low in relation to your credit limit and have a decent mix of installment and revolving credit, you are capable of generating sign up bonuses. The number one reason people screw up their credit is LATE PAYMENTS and over extending themselves. If you can't make your current payments on time and have to carry balances, credit card sign ups are probably not for you."

Here is a link to his WEB site. http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com/

Do a search for "churn". He has some really good info on churning and how it might effect you.

I say that b/c my Citi AA card is my 3rd or 4th card of choice and and usually accumulates much less than $10k in charges. Yet, Citi retention drives a hard sell when I call to cancel.

My 1st and 2nd cards (Corp AMEX and personal SPG AMEX) rack up $30k-$40k a year each. But I'm sure that is also inconsequential to you since it is well known that you purchase only F/J flights and one would presume that your accommodations, meals, etc. follow a similar pattern.

Late payments definitely are the prime factor. For those that never do that, however, and have high scores, other factors do come into play. Length of credit history, for example, accounts for about 15% of the FICO score. If one is already hit with late payments and down in the 600 or 700 range, this may not matter. Those with good credit scores, though, may see more of an effect.

This thread has some good discussion on the topic, including links. Is is a sure thing that it will hurt everyone in all cases in a noticeable way? Not at all. But it certainly won't increase the score :)

Cheers.