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Old May 31, 2013, 3:32 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: mia
For discussion of retention bonuses on Starwood Amex cards, see Annual fee retention bonus for Starwood Amex card.

Retention's department:
(800) 452-3945

Everyday Preferred
10/13/15
2.5K points not to cancel, and 5k points for 1K spend within three months, Total 7.5K points, or in the alternate, a $75 statement credit or gift card.
1/15/16 - 16k spend - first renewal - offered $50, no MR offer - accepted
3/14/16 - 98k spend - first renewal - offered $100 or 15k MR - took the 15k.
11/18/16 -50k spend - first renewal - offered $100 or 15k MR - took the 15k.

Platinum OPEN/Business
6/11/15 - 8.5k spend - 2nd renewal - offered $100 or 10k MR - deferred on offer (see post #314)
8/18/2015 - 90k spend - 2nd renewal - first two times I called, no offer. Final time I asked explicitly to cancel, was offered $350 statement credit.
12/18/2015 - 10k spend, first renewal. Offered 10k MR, cancelled.
1/6/2016 - 10K spend, about 8 weeks after account opening - offered $50 credit or 7.5K MRs, took MRs.
4/29/2016 - 15k spend, 3 months after opening. No offer other than downgrade to BGR.
6/16/2016 - 15k spend to get signup bonus (in Jan 2016). Minimal spend after. Took a lot of nudging - including explicit request to cancel card -- but was offered 10k MR to keep open. No spend requirement.
9/29/2016 - offered $100, didn't catch whether there was a spend requirement, i canceled as I have a personal Platinum card and the go-go passes weren't worth having two.

Business Gold Rewards
10/10/15 - Offered 10K MR. declined and closed
12/26/15 - Offered 10K MR or $100 Credit, counter offered $150 or 15K MR. They offered me 15K MR..accepted.
1/26/16 - Offered 15k MR, counter offered $150 and 15k MR, offered either but not both. Accepted 15k MR. $20k annual spend. Opened account 1/2015.
2/2/16 Offered 15k MR. Accepted 15k MR. $40k annual spend. Opened account 3/2015.
2/4/16 Offered 15K MR. Accepted 15K. About a $15K annual spend.
3/5/16 Offered 15K MR or $100 credit. Took the 15K MR. Minimal spend.
5/23/16 Offered $50, then $100, then 15k MR. Accepted 15k MR. Also let me change the 3x category in the middle of the year.
6/9/16 7500 MR offer, even pushed for 10k or 15k. Minimal spend. AF just posted. Left as-is, going to wait till closer to 60 day mark.
6/11/16 7500 MR offer, about 30k spend. AF due in two weeks. Took it.
6/20/16 No offer. ~$10k spend. Wanted to close the card anyway so did it.
9/30/16 Offered $50 statement credit. (<$5K spend) That was all. Didn't take it and cancelled card
10/04/16 Offered $50 statement credit or 7,500 points or pay the annual fee of $175 with 17,000 points instead of 25000 points. (<$9K spend) Didn't take it any of them and cancelled card

Personal Platinum
1/11/16 - 5K points immediately, 15K points for 3K spend within three months. $22K spend in 2015.
1/17/16 - 5K points immediately, 10K points for 2K spend within two months. $560 spend in 2015.
1/26/16 - $200 "loyalty credit" without requirements. $18k spend in 2015 (~50k total Amex spend in 2015). Cardholder for 3 years.
1/27/16 - 5K points immediately + 10K points for 2K spend within 60 days, or $100 credit. Took the points.
1/29/16 - 5K points immediately + 10K points for 2K spend within 60 days, or $100 credit. Took the points. Cardholder 3 years; $17k spend last year.
2/3/16 - 5K points now and 10K points after $2K spend in 60 days. Rep had to "dig deep" into my account to find this "unique and very special" offer (Yeah, right). Accepted.
3/31/16 - Only offer was $100 statement credit. $15k spend last year.
04/19/16 - $200 statement credit for being loyal to amex (cardholder for 2 years $65k spend).
4/29/16 Initial offer $200. HUCA 5k MR immediately, 15k MR after 3k spend in 60 days.
8/12/16 - 40K MR immediately. Card holder for 7 year, $55K spend in 2015 (Post #1015)
8/19/16 - 5K points immediately, 15K points for 3K spend within three months or 200$ statement credit. Card holder only for 1 year but amex customer for 8 years
8/19/16 - called before AF hit, offered $200 credit, accepted, not a ton of spend after hitting minimum spend for signup bonus, Amex customer since 2013 with 3 other cards but generally don't spend that much on Amex (maybe $10k/year)
8/25/16 - $200 Statement credit or 20k points for 3k spend within 3 months. Amex for 6 years, plat for 1 year. 40k spend across all amex.
9/9/16 - $200 Statement credit, $20k spent on this last year
9/9/16 - $200 Statement credit. ~$14K spend this year.
9/10/16 - 25k MR (no spend req). $11k in spend last yr. Tough sell from AX.
9/12/16 - 15k points after $2k spend in 3 months. ~$7k in spend
9/21/16 - 25k points or $200, no spend req. ~5k spend
9/29/16 - 25k points, no spend req. ~$20k in spend during past year
10/6/16 - 40k points, no spend req. ~$35k in spend during past year
10/7/16 - 25k points, no spend req. ~$22k T12 spend
10/8/16 - 25k points or $200, no spend req. ~$10k spend during past year
10/17/16 - 25k points or $200, no spend req. ~$5k spend during past year. took the points.
10/29/16 - 25k points or $200, no spend req. ~$11k spend during past year. took the points.
11/14/16 - 25k points or $200, no spend req. ~$15k spend during past year. took the points.
11/19/16 40k points or $400, no spend req. ~$45k spend during past year.

Platinum Mercedes Benz
9/30/15 - 5K points immediately, in addition to 15K points for 3K spend within three months. 20K points Total to retain card.

Platinum Ameriprise
7/21/16 Offered $200 or 20k MR. Accepted $200 statement credit to offset the $450 AF for all 4 cards in the account. 35K spent

SPG Personal
12/4/15 - $25 loyalty statement credit
2/3/16 - $25 loyalty statement credit but did allude to a potential bonus when the SPG card goes away; referenced the $200-300 bonus offered to Costco Amex holders being asked to convert to Sams Club Amex products
3/1/16 - $25 loyalty statement credit
6/14/2016 - $25 plus 3,000 SPG points - Had to ask Supv for the addl. 3,000 pts.
7/6/2016 - $25 or 1500 points after $1000 spend. Canceled card. $25k spend last year.
7/15/2016 - $25 loyalty statement credit. HUCA, HUCA, declined, cancelled card. $10K spend last year, less recently.
8/10/2016 - Paltry $25 or 500 points + additional 1000 points after $1000 spend (total of 1500) in 3 months. I have another ~60 days for af to lock in, so will call again in ~30 days. $35k spend last year, but less than $1000 / month this year.
8/16/16 - Offered $50 or 7,000 SPG points, $48K spend, took the points.
8/24/16 - Offered $50 or 7,000 SPG points, $13K spend YTD, took the points.
8/25/16 - $25 loyalty statement credit, $5K YTD spend. HUACA resulted in the same offer (even with a symethic agent that noted my 15 years of membership).
9/13/16 $95 credit with +- $40K spend. Fast & easy
9/17/16 $25 or 1500 SPG points after $1K spend. Cancelled the card
9/17/16 Called after renewal fee posted. Offered 5,000 SPG points - $40K spent on this card.
9/18/16 $50 or 7k. ~$80k spend.
10/1/16 $25 offer ~$15k spend. Cancelled card.
10/7/16 $50 or 7k. ~$76k T12 spend.
10/27/16 ($7K spend in last 12 months, first renewal) $25 statement credit OR 500 Starpoints + 1,000 Starpoints for $1,000 spend in next 3 months
11/11/16 ($4k spend this year) We respect your decision. Goodbye.
12/16/16 Member since 1995, spent $25k in 12 months, was offered 7k points. Love SPG points so didn't enquire about any of the other credits.

SPG OPEN/Business
8/3/15 - called with intent to cancel, $18k spend last year, offered $100 one-time statement credit - accepted.
8/12/15 - called with intent to cancel, $15k spend last year, offered only $50 one-time statement credit - accepted
12/14/15 - called with intent to cancel, $15k spend last year, AF hit 90 days ago with $0 spend since then. Offered $100 one-time statement credit.
1/14/16 - called with intent to cancel or product change to no fee Simply Cash card, $10-12k spend last year, $65 AF hit 30 days ago with $0 spend since then. Offered $100 one-time credit to keep card.
8/29/16 - called to cancel & they didn't offer any retention bonus so we canceled it. Only had min. spend last year.
10/1/16 - retention offered 5K SPG pts.
10/19/16 - offered $25 credit. Spend last year ~$15k.

DL Skymiles Platinum OPEN/Business
5/28/15 - called with intent to cancel, card opened 9 months, initial min spend (1.3k) only - offered simply cash open, declined, closed.
03/10/15- the date is date of miles post, do not remember original request date, no offers until reaching the retention department, 15k miles offered with 50k spend
11/4/15 - called to see what retention offer would be $60K spend offered nothing. sm
12/10/15 - Called again to actually cancel, got 25K skymiles. Kept card open. sm
04/26/16 - Called again, 3k bonus as good will to keep open. Will HUCA for 3rd time.
10/23/16 - called to cancel told me they have nothing to offer as I took advantage of the 25K miles last year. Said also they will remove the companion travel cert in my account if I cancel. I have until mid Nov and will call again

Premier Rewards Gold
6/12/15 - 1st renewal. Called 5 days after fee posted stating not happy about losing 15k bonus. Offered 10k MR now and 10k after $3k spend in 60 days. Accepted. $40k spent last year.
11/2/15 - Offered 20K MR. $130K spend in previous year.
1/14/16 - Offered $50 statement credit + $50 credit if meet $500 spend in 60 days. ~$8k spend previous year.
1/21/16 - Offered 5k MR + 15k MR with $3k spend in 60 days or $75 credit + $75 credit if $1k spend in 60 days. ~$25k in spend last year
2/11/16 - Offered 2.5k MR + 5k MR with $1k spend in 60 days or $50 credit + $50 credit if $500 spend in 60 days. ~$25k in spend last year
2/23/16 - Offered 5k MR + 15k MR with $3k spend in 60 days . ~$33k in spend in my first year
4/12/16 - Offered $50 statement credit + $50 credit if meet $500 spend in 60 days. ~$10k spend previous year.
4/22/16 - 1st offer - $50 statement + $50 credit after $500 spend in 60 days. 2nd offer - 2.5k MR + 5k MR with $1k spend in 60 days (took 2nd offer) ~10k spend previous year.
6/9/16 No offers. Minimal spend. AF just posted. Left as-is, going to wait till closer to 60 day mark.
6/26/16 - Offered $175 or 25k MR. $135k spend.
6/20/2016 Phoned and requested transfer to retention dept. After a brief explanation of benefits, I was offered $50 statement credit and $50 additional statement credit after $500 spend in 60 days. Took the offer.
7/25/2015 1st anniversary, 25k spend. Offered upgrade to platinum with 10k + 50k MR. Lengthy talk with Retention who finally offered only 7.5k MR for $1k spend in 92 days. Very disappointed. Declined. HUCA. 2nd call on the 60th day: offered and took the 50+50 offer.
8/19/2016: Presented with 2 offers: (1) $50 statement credit now and $50 statement credit after spending $500 within 60 days (2) 2,500 MR points now, and 5,000 MR points after spending $1,000 within 90 days.
11/2/2016: $100 credit no spend needed

DL Skymiles Gold
6/2015 - Have had card since 1991 and have never asked for a retention offer. $30k spend annually except for the last year with $1k spend. Flat out denied hard for any retention. Paid AF b/c my oldest card.
1/2016 - Have had card for ten years+, usually around $10,000/year spend. Never asked for retention bonus before. Given two choices: 1) 1000 miles immediately and 2000 more miles for $1000 spend in 60 days or 2) $75 statement credit. Took the $75.
5/2016 - Had card for 3 years, never asked for a retention. Spend is probably only around $2K/year. Was not offered any miles or credit.
6/15/2016 - 15k offer. Have had card since 1995. <1k spend last year. Took 15k

DL Skymiles Gold Business
9/24 - under $1k spend in last 12 months, no offer. They said they don't have a retention department.
4/18/2016 - Had card for 1 year with 2K spend. Asked for the nature of my small business, what expenses and travel requirements I have for my business. Given two choices: 1) 7,500 miles immediately to offset $95 AF or 2) switch to a generic no fee Amex. Took the 7,500 miles.


Hilton HHonors Surpass
1/2016 - spend > $40k, 2nd year had card, offered $50 statement credit or 5000 points
4/2016 - Offered $75 statement credit or 10k points. Took the credit.
6/2016 - Offered 500 HH points now and another 1K after spending 1K or $25. Took the $25.
9/2016 - spend > $40k, 2nd year had card, offered $50 statement credit or 5000 points. Took the credit.
11/2016 - Spend $5k on this card, $55k in last year across all Amex accounts. 1st anniversary, offered $25 statement credit or 1,000 points. Cancelled.
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American Express retention offers [2008 - 2016]

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Old Feb 3, 2016, 2:00 pm
  #2161  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: UA GS, AA EXP, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 83
Platinum Card

Platinum card first renewal coming up, <$6,000 spend with 3 additional cardholders to share benefits. Rep offered $200 statement credit after listing several of the card benefits, accepted.
justpetehere is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:28 pm
  #2162  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 9
Datapoint:

Called 2 months before first AF due for DL Gold.

No spending other than the initial 2k and some amex offer.

Called with intention to close, offered 3,000 miles with no requirements, accepted.
vicjang is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2016, 3:50 pm
  #2163  
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Bay area, CA
Programs: SW, AS, UA, AA, Delta, Hilton, Hyatt, Club Carlson, SPG, IHG, Choice
Posts: 183
I have AF coming in couple of months on Benz platinum card. I don't want to lose membership points..
Which card is better to downgrade to from platinum and retain points? Does it do HP?
desikid is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2016, 5:05 pm
  #2164  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 114
Originally Posted by justpetehere
Platinum card first renewal coming up, <$6,000 spend with 3 additional cardholders to share benefits. Rep offered $200 statement credit after listing several of the card benefits, accepted.
been a few days now since I took this offer, the credit still didn't show up for me
averind is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2016, 5:22 pm
  #2165  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,989
Originally Posted by vicjang
Datapoint:

Called 2 months before first AF due for DL Gold.

No spending other than the initial 2k and some amex offer.

Called with intention to close, offered 3,000 miles with no requirements, accepted.
You're lucky. Delta Amex is my oldest current card. Had it since 1991. I called last year for retention FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER and was flat out denied. I kept the card b/c it's my oldest. I need to be more forceful.
Stgermainparis is offline  
Old Feb 3, 2016, 6:44 pm
  #2166  
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,103
Originally Posted by Stgermainparis
You're lucky. Delta Amex is my oldest current card. Had it since 1991. I called last year for retention FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER and was flat out denied. I kept the card b/c it's my oldest. I need to be more forceful.
Or you need to realize that for the very reasons that you outline above, Amex may not see you as a "flight risk" and therefore doesn't see a need to burn marketing dollars when you likely won't close your account. Turns out it was a pretty smart bet on their part, no? You bluffed, they called you, game over.

It's rather perplexing to me how we have created an environment where somehow everyone is convinced they are "owed" something for keeping a credit card that they willingly applied for and hopefully understood the terms and conditions that the product was offered under.

Nonetheless, the only way bluffing works is if you are indeed prepared to walk, oldest card or not.

Regards
scubadu is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 8:06 am
  #2167  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 5,989
Originally Posted by scubadu
Or you need to realize that for the very reasons that you outline above, Amex may not see you as a "flight risk" and therefore doesn't see a need to burn marketing dollars when you likely won't close your account. Turns out it was a pretty smart bet on their part, no? You bluffed, they called you, game over.

It's rather perplexing to me how we have created an environment where somehow everyone is convinced they are "owed" something for keeping a credit card that they willingly applied for and hopefully understood the terms and conditions that the product was offered under.

Nonetheless, the only way bluffing works is if you are indeed prepared to walk, oldest card or not.

Regards
I don't think I'm owed anything. And I did indeed keep the card. It's a cat and mouse game.
Stgermainparis is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 8:15 am
  #2168  
 
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 583
No love for my PRG. Apparently my 50k signup bonus was a promotion and I can't have a promotion on top of a promotion.

Bye Felicia.
CrownRoyalForever is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 8:48 am
  #2169  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by justpetehere
Platinum card first renewal coming up, <$6,000 spend with 3 additional cardholders to share benefits. Rep offered $200 statement credit after listing several of the card benefits, accepted.
WOW. I had $40k+ Plat spend and got the goose from Amex. Though I will wait until the 13th month is up since my offer from a year ago (5k MR + 10k after $2k spend, based on $15-16k prior year spend).

In the mean time i've drastically reduced Amex spend and funneled most of it to Citi/Chase (initially to meet the signup bonuses then to work towards the $10k on my ritz before i SD it for the year)

My thinking is that if Amex sees that I've gotten new cards and that i've reduced my spending on Amex they maybe more incentivized to produce an offer, as i am no longer captive.
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 12:23 pm
  #2170  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 118
Originally Posted by slivrflyr
WOW. I had $40k+ Plat spend and got the goose from Amex.
I wonder if AMEX is in such a state of panic now that the left foot doesn't know what the right foot is doing. Their treatment of you is insulting.There are scattered reports of Costco AMEX holders being offered generous bonuses to convert to other AMEX products with no spend requirement. Yet at the same time there are people like you who have already showed many $1000's in spending but have to struggle to even get 5 cents from them. If I were you I would make a couple of more attempts. If nothing arises which respects your solid account history, then cancel and never come back.
npf125 is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 12:47 pm
  #2171  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,484
My SPG Biz is up for renewal, and I called the direct retention line. No offers for me at all though (I got $100 last year). The rep vaguely hinted that in the future or when the transition time comes, there may be offers to move members to another (no fee) product. But he could offer no incentives at all at the moment.
MaxVO is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 3:27 pm
  #2172  
 
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 177
Personal Platinum

16yr AMEX cardholder, 3rd year of Platinum ($25k spend last year).

I said cancel and was transferred to retention. He listed the benefits, asked have you used this or that, etc etc. Told him I can't justify the AF for the benefits I'm using. He finally pulls out the $200 statement credit offer. Accepted

Another data point for my Skymiles GOLD:

Signed up for the card to get a 50K bonus last year (I think it was), and AF hit in Dec 2015. Just called to cancel as I didn't want the AF for a card I barely used. Agent didn't flinch or even transfer to another department - closed immediately. AF to be fully refunded.

Last edited by Retale_88; Feb 6, 2016 at 7:40 pm
Retale_88 is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 5:06 pm
  #2173  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by npf125
I wonder if AMEX is in such a state of panic now that the left foot doesn't know what the right foot is doing. Their treatment of you is insulting.There are scattered reports of Costco AMEX holders being offered generous bonuses to convert to other AMEX products with no spend requirement. Yet at the same time there are people like you who have already showed many $1000's in spending but have to struggle to even get 5 cents from them. If I were you I would make a couple of more attempts. If nothing arises which respects your solid account history, then cancel and never come back.
Trust me, i would cancel in a heartbeat. the only benefit that i value out of the platinum is the purchase protection and its coverage of lost items. no other card provides that coverage (although PRG i heard does cover lost items now).

the main reason I am keeping the account is i have family members who travel regularly out of the centurion hubs and use the lounges heavily. I don't use the lounges as much and could live without them, especially given my other elite cards (Ritz, United Club, Prestige).

If we add up all the household Amex accounts (with me as primary on majority) we've easily hit close to $70k on Amex in 2015. That kind of spend on the Ritz would get me close to Marriott Plat, or United Silver, which is something i wasn't able to hit with flying.

Putting $70k on the United Club would have been even better.

I've cut the plat card down to barely $1k a month lately, which is what i will maintain until renewal in a couple of months.

with the other amex cards in my portfolio (Green Senior, Everyday Pref, and a handful of SPG cards) i scored $25-$50 offers here and there and with the generous Amex offers these cards were accretive last year.

But yes, $450 flat out for the privilege to earn 1x MR is awful. Having just picked up the Citi prestige I've been quite impressed by the card, benefits and the overall value. Not to mention the more favorable FX spread that comes with mastercard, even accounting for transaction vs posting date difference.

Forget about the total loss of UA, AA, and the loss of Delta guest privileges, this card has taken such a beating, as has the MR program.

BA Avios conversion devaluation?

One cent redemption for revenue tix via Amex Travel? I can get that with my Freedom.

"Tax" when transferring points to domestic airlines?
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2016, 6:32 pm
  #2174  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Boston
Programs: HHonors Diamond, Marriott Platinum, United 1K,
Posts: 209
Amex Platinum Business. Offered $100 statement credit. Spent 7.1k on card last year during first year of membership.
DAS02135 is offline  
Old Feb 7, 2016, 10:15 am
  #2175  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Posts: 8
I've on DoC that people try for (and successfully obtain) multiple offers a year, specifically around the 90/180/360 day mark? Even during their first year when their AF is waived?

Should I try this with my DL Gold opened 12/15? The fee doesn't kick in until 12/16 so I'm not sure what to say... Threatening to cancel makes little sense since I'm still fee-free, right? Should I ask for some goodwill/courtesy points...? Can someone with more experience give me an example of what I should say in this scenario (if I should even try at all).
Billy Chen is offline  


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