Community
Wiki Posts
Search
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.
Print Wikipost

American Express retention offers [2008 - 2016]

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 17, 2016, 8:20 am
  #2896  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 29
Delta Reserve Offer

This is in reference to my Delta Reserve.

I called in about a month ago when my AF hit and asked about retention offers. I was told very simply that nothing was available. I waited a couple days and called again and was told the same thing. At this point I had spent about $15k on the card in 2016.

In the past month I have put another $15k on my card so that I could hit the $30k MQM bonus. I called in today and spoke to 4 different agents. The first one apparently interpreted me asking for a retention offer as me saying that I have had some "financial hardship" and they transferred me to someone who wanted to help by lowering my interest rate. No thanks, retention offer please. Anyway, after a few more wrong connections I reached someone who understood what I was asking about. He took a few minutes to review the account and offered me either 25k miles or a $400 credit. I happily jumped on the $400 credit.
Quinnjamin is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2016, 8:20 am
  #2897  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 80
EDP, 60k spend, first anniversary, 15k MRs with no spend req.
ifish110 is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2016, 5:35 pm
  #2898  
She
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
I canceled my personal Plat today. The rep didn't offer me any retention bonuses but tried to sell me on the card benefits after I told him my Chase Sapphire Reserve offered better benefits. He cited Centurion lounge access (very few and not one in my home airport), Airspace lounge access (even fewer), Delta lounge access (I don't fly Delta), airline fee credit (Chase's is higher), SPG/Hilton program, rental car privileges, cruise privileges, etc.
She is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2016, 7:36 pm
  #2899  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 53
PRG opened November 2015, only about 4k annual spend on the card. Called in and was offered two options.

$75 statement credit with no spending requirement or
2,500 MR instantly and an additional 5,000 for spending $1,000 within 92 days
formiles is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2016, 7:38 pm
  #2900  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,275
Hilton HHonors Surpass... 1st anniversary. $5k spend on this card, ~$55k this year across all Amex accounts. Offered $25 statement credit or 1k points. Cancelled.
javabytes is online now  
Old Nov 17, 2016, 8:16 pm
  #2901  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: FL
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,299
Originally Posted by javabytes
Hilton HHonors Surpass... 1st anniversary. $5k spend on this card, ~$55k this year across all Amex accounts. Offered $25 statement credit or 1k points. Cancelled.
1k hilton points? thats like giving you a $1 bill
lotrbfme is offline  
Old Nov 18, 2016, 1:11 pm
  #2902  
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: NJ
Programs: United Silver, Hyatt, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Amex Plat, Global Entry
Posts: 751
Amex EveryDay Preferred Card - Opened October 2015
50K spend since opening
Offered 15K points or $100 statement credit. Took the points.
elg26 is offline  
Old Nov 18, 2016, 2:56 pm
  #2903  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,762
Originally Posted by formiles
PRG opened November 2015, only about 4k annual spend on the card. Called in and was offered two options.

$75 statement credit with no spending requirement or
2,500 MR instantly and an additional 5,000 for spending $1,000 within 92 days
That is a generous offer on the $75 statement credit without string, considering you also get $100 airline credit...

Did you call before or after AF posted?
Happy is offline  
Old Nov 18, 2016, 8:18 pm
  #2904  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ORD
Programs: status free since 2017
Posts: 2,188
3yrs with AMEX PRG. AF hit 10/28 and I called up retention line tonite. CSR said they gave me an offer last year so they can't do it again. :-( Is that a real thing?

Also how long do I have to keep or cancel the card?
carsnoceans is offline  
Old Nov 19, 2016, 7:27 am
  #2905  
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Programs: Milege+, SkyMiles, AAdvantage, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,685
Originally Posted by carsnoceans
3yrs with AMEX PRG. AF hit 10/28 and I called up retention line tonite. CSR said they gave me an offer last year so they can't do it again. :-( Is that a real thing?
Several posters have reported that you can't get a retention bonus 2 years in a row. Others have reported getting a retention offer every other year with American Express.
eajusa is offline  
Old Nov 19, 2016, 9:02 am
  #2906  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: FL
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,299
Originally Posted by eajusa
Several posters have reported that you can't get a retention bonus 2 years in a row. Others have reported getting a retention offer every other year with American Express.
I was explicitly told every 13 months and told to wait 1 more month. The thing is that the AF would be non refundable at that point. But anyways as always keep the card that you were planning to keep anyways and get the retention as a bonus.
lotrbfme is offline  
Old Nov 19, 2016, 3:42 pm
  #2907  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ORD
Programs: status free since 2017
Posts: 2,188
Originally Posted by lotrbfme
I was explicitly told every 13 months and told to wait 1 more month. The thing is that the AF would be non refundable at that point. But anyways as always keep the card that you were planning to keep anyways and get the retention as a bonus.
Originally Posted by eajusa
Several posters have reported that you can't get a retention bonus 2 years in a row. Others have reported getting a retention offer every other year with American Express.

Good to know these datapoints.

This brings up another question. My 30 day end period (13th month) ends on Nov 27 after which I would only get prorated AF back. Given it's almost end of year, if I cancel in January after getting the airline credit, how would they prorate the fee? Would it be prorated as $195/12 or $95/12?

Btw, I tried Citi TYP after the period when I can get AF refunded and they basically said no to any retention offers. So calling after 13th month may not be the best strategy.
carsnoceans is offline  
Old Nov 19, 2016, 6:35 pm
  #2908  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 83
Called into retention this week:

AmEx Platinum Personal
$45K spend last year
Offered $400 or 40K points, no spend requirement. Took the cash.
jon0 is offline  
Old Nov 19, 2016, 8:40 pm
  #2909  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: FL
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Diamond, SPG Plat, IC Plat Amb, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 1,299
Originally Posted by carsnoceans
Good to know these datapoints.

This brings up another question. My 30 day end period (13th month) ends on Nov 27 after which I would only get prorated AF back. Given it's almost end of year, if I cancel in January after getting the airline credit, how would they prorate the fee? Would it be prorated as $195/12 or $95/12?

Btw, I tried Citi TYP after the period when I can get AF refunded and they basically said no to any retention offers. So calling after 13th month may not be the best strategy.
I dont know if amex prorates annual fees but it would be based on the $195.
lotrbfme is offline  
Old Nov 20, 2016, 12:34 pm
  #2910  
formerly sahiljain22
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: BOS;NYC;YVR;YYZ;DEL;BOM
Programs: Amex Plat; HH Diamond; SPG Plat; Hyatt Diamond; United 1K; National EE; HSBC Premier
Posts: 532
Platinum for 6 years, nothing offered, cancelled over the phone! Kept arguing that the card isn't worth if you don't use it, and I kept mentioning the fact that if it just earns the least amount of MR compared to other premium cards and doesnt have any additional benefits, why use it, but the guy never got it. Maybe because they offered me $100 or something last year.
sj22 is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.