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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 Jan 7, 2014, 5:49 pm
  #901  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: midwest
Posts: 87
folks, keep trying. It took me 4 calls back to back in order to get 50K offer.
One call was connected to an off-shore call center where the lady said: "Okay, I have processed your cancellation" Lol.. I literally got a cardiac arrest
airplane7 is offline  
Old Jan 7, 2014, 6:16 pm
  #902  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: AA Plat, UA Gold, AS MVP Gold, HH Diamond, SPG Gold, Club Carlson Gold, US
Posts: 956
Called first time and the lady was ready to cancel outright without any offers at all. Told her to hold off till next statement....

Edit: Even called few times and mentioned a competitor as well .. not a single offer. Spent over $15K... closed the card..Amex is doing a great job in retaining accounts

Last edited by iqbalt80; Jan 7, 2014 at 7:08 pm
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Old Jan 7, 2014, 8:52 pm
  #903  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: ORD
Posts: 85
Originally Posted by SquarePeg
Wow that is horrible when considering your spend on the card. Maybe you just got a disinterested rep. I would try again and follow the prompts to cancel so you are sure to get a retention trained person.
i tried twice on the platinum card, then once on the gold. got no offers
thetobster12345 is offline  
Old Jan 7, 2014, 8:57 pm
  #904  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: ORD
Posts: 85
Originally Posted by airplane7
folks, keep trying. It took me 4 calls back to back in order to get 50K offer.
One call was connected to an off-shore call center where the lady said: "Okay, I have processed your cancellation" Lol.. I literally got a cardiac arrest
alright, i'll try a couple more times. let's see what happens.

edit: the retention department closes at 11pm EST and reopens at 8am so I'll call tomorrow

Last edited by thetobster12345; Jan 7, 2014 at 9:05 pm
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Old Jan 8, 2014, 1:25 pm
  #905  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: ORD
Posts: 85
Originally Posted by thetobster12345
alright, i'll try a couple more times. let's see what happens.

edit: the retention department closes at 11pm EST and reopens at 8am so I'll call tomorrow
called back this morning- no offer. i happened to get one of the people i spoke with yesterday and he said " i remember you, nothing has changed"

i really can't believe they dont want to keep me as a customer. they've made almost $1500 off of me from amex merchant fees alone. i have no problem moving my spend to my chase cards instead
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Old Jan 8, 2014, 1:46 pm
  #906  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: DFW
Programs: AA PLT, HH Gold, SPG/Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,091
Called back today and got 20k MR points with no strings attached.

ETA: Spoke with the original retention department later in the day, they offered me another 6k. 26k MR Total.

Last edited by longhorn11; Jan 8, 2014 at 8:28 pm
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Old Jan 8, 2014, 1:49 pm
  #907  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Amex Platinum, SPG Platinum, HHonors Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 151
Just called Amex about offers for Platinum. Some background:

- Got in on the 100K offer in January, annual fee just came due
- Was offered a $200 airline fee reimbursement when the e-mail about the lounge access came out in addition to the $200 airline fee reimbursement we already get.
- I have already taken advantage of the $200 airline fee reimbursement by buying AA gift cards
- About 16K spend on the card this year

Offers: nothing. Might try again, but kind of don't want to push my luck I think. $400 in airline credits in addition to the other benefits means that this is a wash for me this year. I think it would be better off holding onto it another year and trying again next year since there is no chance Amex would offer a retention bonus two years in a row (at least recent experience has taught me that with some other cards).

I would be curious to hear if other people who received the $200/$500 bonus in the e-mail about the lounge access have been getting offers and how they went about it.
Mindray is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2014, 1:58 pm
  #908  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: BOS
Programs: MR, UR, AA, AS, HH Gold, SPG Gold, HGP, RR
Posts: 708
Originally Posted by Mindray
Just called Amex about offers for Platinum. Some background:

- Got in on the 100K offer in January, annual fee just came due
- Was offered a $200 airline fee reimbursement when the e-mail about the lounge access came out in addition to the $200 airline fee reimbursement we already get.
- I have already taken advantage of the $200 airline fee reimbursement by buying AA gift cards
- About 16K spend on the card this year

Offers: nothing. Might try again, but kind of don't want to push my luck I think. $400 in airline credits in addition to the other benefits means that this is a wash for me this year. I think it would be better off holding onto it another year and trying again next year since there is no chance Amex would offer a retention bonus two years in a row (at least recent experience has taught me that with some other cards).

I would be curious to hear if other people who received the $200/$500 bonus in the e-mail about the lounge access have been getting offers and how they went about it.
I'm in a similar situation having also gotten the card last Jan. Mind if I ask what benefits you expect to get from the card that will equal or surpass the fee? I too got the 2X $200 airline credits (last year and last week). Wondering what other benefits I would use this year that would justify keeping the card. I don't usually fly Delta and LAS and DFW are not on my itinerary for this year so probably won't use the lounge access. Any hotel status upgrade could likely be bought for much less than $450. I'm of a mind to cancel regardless of the offer just to reset the clock on my next bonus.
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Old Jan 8, 2014, 3:45 pm
  #909  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 42
I called yesterday to cancel my Amex Plat and was not offered anything. The rep didn't even ask why. Called again today and was offered $100 for AA/US fees and 50,000 points after I told the rep I couldn't justify the $450 fee when the benefits don't appeal to me anymore. The Amex Plat is my only card issued by Amex and I spent less than $5,000 on this card in the past year. Seems like it really depends on the rep that you get.
sleepyinboston is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2014, 3:52 pm
  #910  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: UA Silver/Marriott Gold/Hilton Gold
Posts: 540
Originally Posted by sleepyinboston
I called yesterday to cancel my Amex Plat and was not offered anything. The rep didn't even ask why. Called again today and was offered $100 for AA/US fees and 50,000 points after I told the rep I couldn't justify the $450 fee when the benefits don't appeal to me anymore. The Amex Plat is my only card issued by Amex and I spent less than $5,000 on this card in the past year. Seems like it really depends on the rep that you get.
That's encouraging.

I called today (got 100k Plat last year, $6.5k spend) and got offered nothing besides an extra $100 for American Airlines because of losing the lounge benefit (which had already been promised to be over chat and on a previous phone call not about a retention).

Looks like it's a HUCA situation.
Majikow is offline  
Old Jan 8, 2014, 5:17 pm
  #911  
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Amex Platinum, SPG Platinum, HHonors Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 151
Originally Posted by SquarePeg
I'm in a similar situation having also gotten the card last Jan. Mind if I ask what benefits you expect to get from the card that will equal or surpass the fee? I too got the 2X $200 airline credits (last year and last week). Wondering what other benefits I would use this year that would justify keeping the card. I don't usually fly Delta and LAS and DFW are not on my itinerary for this year so probably won't use the lounge access. Any hotel status upgrade could likely be bought for much less than $450. I'm of a mind to cancel regardless of the offer just to reset the clock on my next bonus.
I fly Delta, but not regularly. The rep did say, and it has been reported, that Amex plans to open more Centurion lounges in 2014 at LGA and SFO, with even more planned for 2015. I travel to NYC a lot, so that will certainly come in handy. Last year, my newly purchased Macbook Air got lost. Amex reimbursed me for it within 2 days. Amazing benefit. I've also taken advantage of other purchase protection claims this year, has saved me a few hundred bucks.

But I agree. I am almost tempted to cancel and just reopen the card in early 2015...get the new sign up bonus and go from there. However, I could just always wait for a good Business Platinum offer, get that, and then cancel my personal Platinum...that way I can still take advantage of the benefits it offers this year.

I am torn, but I guess I should not expect them to give me a retention when they already offered me an additional $200 airline credit...although getting that $500 credit would have been SWEET.
Mindray is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2014, 9:04 am
  #912  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: Marriott PLT, SPG GLD, DL PM, National EE
Posts: 347
So I cancelled my card yesterday and I was offered no retention bonus. I even asked as last year I was going to cancel and they offered me 30K points and hence I kept it. I told the rep that if she gave me some bonus I would keep it as I would offset the cost with it. I spend about 45-50K on the card and have been with Amex 12 years. I was surprised she told me that she could not give me anything.

Question... will the Delta Skyclub know the card is cancelled when they scan it? Or can I keep using it to get in?
AFONTANEZ is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2014, 2:48 pm
  #913  
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Called yesterday re: my Platinum card and followed a similar scripted conversation that others have gone through. I got the card last January as part of the 100k bonus bonanza, and probably put about $10k on the card over the course of the year.

I was offered a $150 statement credit or 15,000 MR points. No mention of any bonus credit to make up for the loss of lounge benefits. I didn't press for a better offer - although in hindsight I should have, as others have reported retention bonuses as high as 50k.

I did consider taking the 15,000 MR, but after nearly 2 years off from getting any new cards due to mortgage/re-financing, I'm ready for a full-on AOR and am happy to clean house. Planning to get the PRG 90 days from now which will hopefully have a 50k signup bonus floating around at that time.
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Old Jan 9, 2014, 3:28 pm
  #914  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 165
Called AMEX about my Business Gold Card. Had some minimal spend on it after meeting the signup bonus.

The CSR grilled me about my business for almost 10 minutes before offering me the Business Blue(?) card. I rejected that and then offered a $100 statement credit. I passed on that as well and closed the account.
AnthonyGT is offline  
Old Jan 9, 2014, 5:26 pm
  #915  
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SEA
Posts: 62
Today I called to see about retention offer for my Amex Hilton Surpass card. Annual fee due this month. No offering except to downgrade to no fee cards. I closed the card. In three months, I will apply again for the no fee Amex Hilton card that I had and upgraded to the Surpass. I already have Gold status thru Milepoint Premier. I screwed up though. I had about a 24K credit line. I should have transferred most of it to my SPG card before closing the card. The loss of 24K overall credit card capacity will drop my credit score for a little while but no big deal. I spent $7400 in the first nine months of 2013 and then stopped using the card.
cparrish is offline  


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