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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 Apr 8, 2016, 2:48 pm
  #2326  
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 57
I've seen it mentioned one other time in this thread, but is the 13-month limit on retention offers for a card a known rule?

If it is a real limitation, do people find good success at waiting for 14 months and risk just getting a prorated return?
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 4:42 pm
  #2327  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
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Originally Posted by chuuch
I've seen it mentioned one other time in this thread, but is the 13-month limit on retention offers for a card a known rule?

If it is a real limitation, do people find good success at waiting for 14 months and risk just getting a prorated return?


My question too. I'm within days of AF posting.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 5:56 pm
  #2328  
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Originally Posted by slivrflyr
Second call to Amex after a few weeks to see if anything better can be received for the personal SPG card. The original offer was $25 or an option to change to no AF blue cash or ED card

Now the rep is saying there's no offer on the account and no option to change the product. And saying how there are no notes on the account. Huh???

Thinking this needs to be escalated to the EO
Offers change from time to time, and they're not obligated to make you an offer at all. Hang up and call again.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 6:31 pm
  #2329  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Originally Posted by krazykanuck
Offers change from time to time, and they're not obligated to make you an offer at all. Hang up and call again.

I didn't mention that the rep lied about a call made couple of weeks ago. He could have said that offer wasn't available or said the he's sorry that the last rep didn't put anything in the notes. But he clearly lied about the existence of a call made. This is totally the b league team.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 6:43 pm
  #2330  
mia
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It sounds as if the second agent decided that you were fishing for an offer rather than serious about cancelling. That's part of his job. Hang up and call again. Just hope you don't hit one who closes the account the instant she hears the word cancel.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 7:04 pm
  #2331  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
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Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by mia
It sounds as if the second agent decided that you were fishing for an offer rather than serious about cancelling. That's part of his job. Hang up and call again. Just hope you don't hit one who closes the account the instant she hears the word cancel.
Thanks mia. Nah. This was DW calling about her SPG and I've coached her on how to approach the call. She's only got two cards with Amex: SPG personal and a biz. I feel that she should at least have one active personal with Amex. Notwithstanding that it's backdated. So she wasn't going to cancel it but the value isn't there anymore given the merger and various other household cards we have.

I gave her the number to the EO but apparently they aren't staffing those lines without having an extension. I've got a rep I've dealt with before so I will hit him up for my own retention but hopefully DW can reach out to a rep too. Maybe she should call the plat customer line (She's AU on my plat) and then discuss her SPG?

TIA

(I'd b surprised if Amex wouldn't be jumping to switch us to an ED product given the SPG merger and the potential loss of the entire card portfolio to chase)
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 7:16 pm
  #2332  
mia
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Originally Posted by slivrflyr
(I'd b surprised if Amex wouldn't be jumping to switch us to an ED product given the SPG merger and the potential loss of the entire card portfolio to chase)
Too soon. Last year reports were that SPG could only be converted to DL. Recent reports are that SPG cannot be converted to anything. Some people will cancel, but others will decide to keep the SPG card, and I expect they want a high number of cardholders when they sit down with Marriott to negotiate.

This authoritative POST suggests that SPG will continue to exist through the end of 2017 which gives American Express time to assess their chances of keeping some or all of the combined business.
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Old Apr 8, 2016, 7:43 pm
  #2333  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
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@mia. Thank you as always. I appreciate the link. It's good to know that we have a runway still. I've been overly paranoid and cutoff any SPG spend. Worst case scenario I hope they do have a window between announcing the joint program and the ability to transfer out to a miles program as that's my ultimate hedge.

But back to Amex. I'm hoping they can throw us a bone for this card. By this time last two years we've seen cash-like Amex offers that ultimately help defray the AF. so far the offers the offers I've seen were weak (Best Buy 2x mr instead of 20/$200)
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Old Apr 9, 2016, 6:21 pm
  #2334  
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,614
My wife has FO status with DL and also has their AMEX Gold card.

She does not use the card often, so when she called about a fee waiver, she had no luck.

However, she was offered an immediate 2,500 Skymiles and an additional 5,000 within 60 days, if she put $2,000 on the card with 60 days, which she has done, and the points have posted.

Not a great result, but certainly a hedge if she doesn't qualify for FO for '17.
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Old Apr 9, 2016, 8:40 pm
  #2335  
 
Join Date: May 2014
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Don't know of this is the correct forum for this question. If not , my apologies. Both my wife and I have the personal SPG card. I plan on keeping mine, but want to cancel hers as she never uses it and annual fee is due. Even the AMEX offers she has gotten this last year have been lousy and none used at all. She has a few other AMEX cards and plans to keep them. I do not yet want to transfer her SPG points to my SPG account. My question is... if we close her SPG personal card .. will she still be able to retain her SPG membership and keep her points she has earned??.. or does she also loose her SPG membership and risk losing her points, in which case I would transfer them to my account prior to closing. Thanks in advance for any info on this.
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Old Apr 10, 2016, 4:09 am
  #2336  
mia
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Originally Posted by oldmanbob
... if we close her SPG personal card .. will she still be able to retain her SPG membership .
Starwood is a hotel program. The credit card is just one way of earning points. Closing the card will not, in and of itself, cause the SPG account to be closed, but a period of inactivity will. See this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...iscussion.html
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Old Apr 10, 2016, 2:03 pm
  #2337  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 25
Thanks

Mia...
Thanks for your fast reply. I was pretty sure that is the way it was, but for some reason I thought it different than some of the other memberships I have, so I wanted to make sure. I also appreciate the link you attached as that was valuable info I needed to know as well. I will make sure we put a few charges on it before cancelling so the 12 months clock restarts.
Thanks again!
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Old Apr 10, 2016, 5:05 pm
  #2338  
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Originally Posted by oldmanbob
I will make sure we put a few charges on it before cancelling so the 12 months clock restarts.
You may want to closely monitor when the points actually post to your SPG account. Sometimes AmEx awards points at the end of 2nd billing cycle following your charges. And a closed account will award NO points.
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Old Apr 10, 2016, 5:11 pm
  #2339  
mia
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Originally Posted by MaxVO
Sometimes AmEx awards points at the end of 2nd billing cycle following your charges. And a closed account will award NO points.
This would not be usual for partner rewards (Delta, Hilton, Starwood).
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Old Apr 11, 2016, 10:31 am
  #2340  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 34
Business Platinum renewal - fail

My AMEX Business Platinum card is coming up for renewal. I have been with AMEX for 30 years. My Plat Bus card had 35k$ spending in 2015. I also have a personal green card.

I called the main number on the back of the card and told the person that I wanted to talk about the Platinum card renewal terms. I told him that I had 4k$ last year at Costco that would now go to a Visa card. I told him that I have associates who have negotiated a "retention bonus" with AMEX, and that I wanted to explore that possibility. He put me on hold for a few minutes and came back with an offer: $100 credit OR 8,000 points.

I told him that the offer was not high enough - and he told me that it was all he could do. I plan to cancel the AMEX Business Platinum card and I will use a Chase Visa MileagePlus Explorer Business card instead. I want to be certain that my 300k AMEX miles will remain on my green card. The $450 renewal fee is too high for the AMEX benefits that I actually use - and much of what I need is also covered by the Explorer Visa card for $95 per year.

End of story .... I don't feel loved or cherished by AMEX today
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