When is the last day to avoid the renewal annual fee?
 

for amex platinum opened last Feb.

Not sure but it's a moot point because they generally give you a pro-rated refund if you cancel mid-term.

Like if you just paid 450 USD in February 2012 for the coming 12 months and you cancel in March 2012 you don't lose the 450 USD. You will get a refund of $412.50.

Just check to see when you were 1st changed the $450 annual fee for opening the account and it should be exactly 1 year later. You should be able to review all transactions in 2011.

I got the card and was charged annual fee on 1/12/11 and they told me I would be charged next fee on 1/12/12. But I canceled on 1/11/11!

Now that is a trick! :D
Been following this board for ages, finally decided to join.

I'm not sure that this is accurate. While Amex does provide a prorated refund, I'm fairly sure that cancelling immediately after the fee is charged would result in a complete reversal of the fee. For Chase, I think the period you have to cancel is 30 days, but with Amex it's less clear. I think it's longer than 30 days, and depends on the statement closing date, but I wasn't able to decipher what the customer service rep told me about this.

Does anyone know for certain, if my $450 fee is charged on, say, February 15th, exactly when I must cancel to have the fee fully reversed?

Ultimately it doesn't matter.

They will send you a notice with your statement that you are being charged the next year's renewal. Included with this is a note that you can call anytime before paying your bill and cancel your card without having to pay any part of the fee.

Just wait until you get this notice and call immediately. You won't get billed extra and you don't need to try and figure out anything.

I'm not worried about getting billed extra - I'm trying to keep my Platinum benefits as long as humanly possible without paying an additional, second year fee (and understand when that will be when booking flights now). Are you saying the last day to refund the fee is the day your first statement that includes the fee is due?

That might be the last date, but it might be later. When I cancelled my DL Reserve Amex card (I know it's a different card, but it *may* be the same principal) Amex told me that I had up to two months to cancel and get a full refund of the fees. After that, the fees would be pro-rated.

+1

And this is the same for Blue, Skymiles, Additional Cardholders Etc. In 30+ years of various AMEX cards, never an issue.

You cancelled the day before you got it? That's an amazing trick. Sorry had to point it out.

When will annual fee be due?
 

I applied for my AMEX Platinum Card on July 31, 2011. What is the latest date I can cancel without paying the annual fee of $450?

You may want to call Amex. I think that if you cancel, you get a pro-rated refund of the annual fee.

Moderator action
 

I have added metoo's question a recent discussion of the same question which should prove helpful.

I just cancelled my Business Platinum card. At least for that card it was 60 days after renewal. Received my entire $395 back. Dumped the card when my grandfathering went away, and more importantly the additional card went from $200 to $300. Went to personal card, 3 additional cards for $175 vs 1 for 300. What was AMEX thinking?

I was billed the $450 renewal fee for my personal platinum card in March. I emailed Amex to find out how late I could cancel and still receive a full refund. The response I received was 3 months from the month when the annual fee was billed--in this case the June billing period.