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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 Nov 10, 2013, 5:05 am
  #796  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LAX,BUD
Programs: AA EXP,SPG G
Posts: 249
Originally Posted by exmike
how did you even get the spending bonus??? isnt it 5k?
nope...it used to be 1k in 3 month for 50k MR.now its 3k in 3 months
olgsr is offline  
Old Nov 10, 2013, 9:16 am
  #797  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
Originally Posted by olgsr
To my biggest surprise:
Called Amex to cancel Plat MB.
Was offered either $450 credit or 50k points.
Spent was $1200 in one year!!!!!!
Originally Posted by olgsr
I had my first amex about 2 years ago(PRG)...cancelled after 11 month,no retention offered.
1,5 years ago got the SPG.cancelled about 10 month later(was offered $35 or 3k starpoints)
So no cards,no big spend.
Last week I was chatting with Amex and shared my thoughts of canceling and they gave me 3k points to rethink and change my mind.i wasn't disappointed since i wasn't really expecting anything.today I called in and told them the usuals story of "travel schedule changed and won't be using it for the next 6 month but even that i love the card I just can't justify the annual fee".she asked if she could do something to balance it out would I consider to keep the card.That's when i received the offer.it really surprised me that she offered to basically waive the annual fee since that doesn't really happen with platinums but then the 50k was literally socking

really i just can't see too much logic in it what matters is that now I'm 53k points happier
Looking at the curve, if its not worth keeping the card, Amex must know that the cancellation would certainly happen.

I'm glad you contacted Amex multiple times and addressed the situation. Goes to show that Amex has some discretion doling out the goodies.
Ancien Maestro is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 8:06 am
  #798  
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 4,784
CANADIAN - I have AMEX Platinum, and Gold linked to same AMEX MR account

Called to cancel and she thanked me for 8 years with AMEX, asked why, I said I have *A Gold and dulicate benefits with Platinum, so don't need it at $699/year. She verified my AMEX MR account is linked to Gold card and won't lose my BIG balance, and cancelled my card without any offer

Oh well, I think I sent < $5000 on it in 2013, since I put most on my GOLD card

She did say
- PP will get cancelled immidately
- Other hotel/airline status, may eventually get updated
- She says to re-apply after 6 months if I need it again
jerryhung is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 6:04 pm
  #799  
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Tampa, Florida USA
Programs: Marriott, SW, United
Posts: 193
SPG AMX Retention

$65 annual fee
$80,000-100,00 annually, ten year SPG cardholder
Called, able to get to "cancel card" department talking to the bot
Rep initially says no way, notes that I had called last year. Then offered to take a look at some options
Returned and said she was able to see one good option of 7000 points
Took it and ran....
Bud Florida is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 6:16 pm
  #800  
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Programs: DL BA Amex
Posts: 916
I was offered a retention bonus of 7500 points for keeping my Gold card. The agent said it would take 6-8 weeks to post... is this typical? I seem to remember then posting almost immediately a few years ago.
bajrbajr is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 6:20 pm
  #801  
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 347
I have a Canadian Platinum. My plan is to call in and ask what happens to my MR points if I cancel (I already know the answer) right before the fee hits, and then (unless offered something to my satisfaction) transfer MR points out to Aeropesos and then call to cancel after fee hits. My plan really is to cancel unless they give me at least 20,000 MR points as I won't need the benefits much next year... my strategy gives them two opportunities to offer something
claurianta2 is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 6:37 pm
  #802  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 668
Originally Posted by jerryhung
CANADIAN - I have AMEX Platinum, and Gold linked to same AMEX MR account

Called to cancel and she thanked me for 8 years with AMEX, asked why, I said I have *A Gold and dulicate benefits with Platinum, so don't need it at $699/year. She verified my AMEX MR account is linked to Gold card and won't lose my BIG balance, and cancelled my card without any offer

Oh well, I think I sent < $5000 on it in 2013, since I put most on my GOLD card

She did say
- PP will get cancelled immidately
- Other hotel/airline status, may eventually get updated
- She says to re-apply after 6 months if I need it again
Doesn't look good for me... anyway, I'll post in January if I get something out of Amex for my Plat card; otherwise, I don't see myself paying 699$ again without any incentive for keeping the card.
erik19283 is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2013, 7:55 pm
  #803  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Programs: Hyatt Diamond, Fairmont Platinum, Aeroplan Diamond, HHonors Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 18,686
Originally Posted by erik19283
Doesn't look good for me... anyway, I'll post in January if I get something out of Amex for my Plat card; otherwise, I don't see myself paying 699$ again without any incentive for keeping the card.
Just cancel and get the Amex Business Plat. $399 per year and 40K bonus points.. Unless you need MRC CX status, or lounge access, which would skew the value. Just go back to the Regular Amex when and if you need it, or go to the Aeroplat.
Ancien Maestro is offline  
Old Nov 16, 2013, 9:22 am
  #804  
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
Spoke to retentions and got 20k miles for keeping the card.

I told them I was not putting spending on the Amex but it meant a lot to me. I have held the card for 5+ years. This year probably spent under $10k, last year ~$100k.

I was initially advised that they can reduce the number of MR points I can use to pay for the fee (instead of 90k, pay 75k MR for the fee). I turned the question around and said will you just give me some MR if I pay the fee? Agent obliged.
sj22 is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2013, 12:58 pm
  #805  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: ORD
Posts: 269
Annual fee on Business Gold came, haven't used card since finished minimum spend. Was offered $100 statement credit or 7500 MR. Will probably cancel card after small business Saturday credit shows up as I have SPG Business and Personal Premier Rewards Gold.
sound48 is offline  
Old Nov 21, 2013, 5:34 pm
  #806  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 12
Called the number on the back of my Platinum card. Selected option 7 to cancel my card. Was offered $450 statement credit with very little fuss. I've only charged about $5k this year. Hope this is helpful for others.
coffeeguy2010 is offline  
Old Nov 22, 2013, 2:40 pm
  #807  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: California
Programs: *A Gold, SPG Gold, PC Plat, HH Gold, Hyatt Plat, Avis PC, Hertz PC, EC Elite, Starbucks Gold :D
Posts: 133
I called to cancel the MB Plat. Was offered 15k MR points or $100 statement credit. Called back after a couple of hours hoping for better offer. Zilch. Cancelled the card.
anilyst is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2013, 11:02 am
  #808  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: AA PLT
Posts: 223
Are people still getting 17,500 MR points for the PRG retention bonus? It's the offer posted at top of the wiki but most posts for the last few pages are for less generous offers. If offered a lesser bonus, what's the odds of just flat out asking for the 17,500 offer?
thewhitezone is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2013, 1:31 pm
  #809  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SEA, YVR
Programs: Alaska MVPG, Flying Blue Gold, BA Silver, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 568
Canadian Gold Rewards card (annual fee $150) - called in the day after annual fee posted, and was offered $100 or 10,000 MR.
lily23 is offline  
Old Nov 24, 2013, 3:08 pm
  #810  
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: New York City
Programs: UA: 1K, Hyatt: Explorist and Marriott: LF Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,268
UK SPG: Called yesterday to say I was thinking of canceling and they offered £25 credit... seems kinda weak to be honest with you
LDNConsultant is offline  


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