highlander_10

I evaluated my options and the rather small pittance of a retention offer I recieved before cancelling my Morgan Stanley Platinum Card. I'll say I was a little hurt that after 10 years and hundreds of thousdands in spend that my retention was $300 Once I told them I was spending on CSR they pretty much gave up trying.

Has anyone seen any "We'd like you back" offers from Amex? If so, what are you seeing and how long did it take?

Cheers!

zorbachs

There seems to be some good retention offers going around (like 30,000 MR). I don't know what else they can do to "fight" to keep someone. I don't even know if Amex knows what to do

mhdena

You don't seem to be very active here though you signed up years ago.

The last page of this thread discusses how to have your fee waived.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...m-card-10.html

Kagehitokiri

they lost costco...

you can be sure they do deals with businesses spending (tens/hundreds of) millions

mikesyr18

This is the way I look at it...

- Annual fees on both Blue/Gray cards have gone up from $75 to $95.
- Annual fee has gone up on Platinum from $450 to $550.
- Lost JetBlue card.
- Lost Costco card.
- Began to outsource customer service who doesn't bend over backwards.
- Membership rewards program has been dethroned.
- Airline transfers have a tax on them that the company doesn't cover.
- Their cards fail to have trip cancellation insurance.

To me it really looks like they're trying to "milk" profits from the people they have rather than try to do something great. I guess you can count the Platinum benefit increases but it seems like people are more angry than happy about them.

AMEX really needs to re-evaluate their card offerings. The Green card needs to be updated (needs no FTF's, a bonus category or two) and the Regular Gold Charge card needs to go the way of the ghost since they have the Premier Rewards Gold.

Yoshi212

The Amex Platinum's increase in benefits and the 5X MR points for Airfare/Amex Travel booked hotels is a large step forward but a 2x or 3x bonus on dining & grocery would go a long way to keeping or earning members.

Kacee

Also, BA transfers devalued, while Chase stays at 1:1.

And this was one of the two best AMEX transfer partners (IMO).

mikesyr18

Speaking of points I should add that utterly stupid four week plus week lag in point refreshing.

Heck even after the second statement since your purchase hits, a CSR will say, "oh give us a couple of more days."

nyc2cal

Yes, quite obvious that AMEX has made an overt decision to maintain profit margins and not compete blow for blow with Chase.

We'll see if it works. Quite possible it may, but I could see it going either way.

Gig103

I don't get the impression that Amex is trying to retain folks who put the card in a drawer and are really paying the AF to gain lounge access and whatnot. I don't know how Priority Pass, FHR, and all the memberships affect Amex' bottom line, but the raised AF basically dares people who aren't "serious" about Amex to jump ship to CSR.

I understand why after your tenure and spending, you didn't feel like $300 was enough of an incentive, especially if you brought up that you were spending on CSR, but I would say that if they gave me that offer I'd take it.

cbn42

$300 is a pretty solid retention offer. I haven't heard of anything higher for any variety of the platinum card. A $300 retention offer plus $200 airline credit more than covers the $450 annual fee, so Amex would essentially be paying you $50 to let you use centurion lounges, Priority Pass lounges and other card benefits for the year. If that isn't enough, then if I were Amex I wouldn't want your business either.

Much has been said about Amex not keeping up with Chase in the premium credit card market, but I think they are doing the right thing by not engaging in the race to the bottom. The stock market seems to agree.

Grog

+1

There's a point where you let someone walk. You squeezed hard and they reached that point.

The fact that you're still yearning for them now says their decision wasn't too far off the mark. If I were you, I'd be calling them back and apologizing for two-timing them.

mikesyr18

I tend to agree with CBN here. Sure $300 is a solid offer, but the CSR is already the better card in the first place. Some people won't want to pony up $550 come renewal because AMEX decided to give you a $15/month credit towards Uber and a metal card.

The CSR comes at $450 and has $100/year more in airline credit plus all of the other features the Platinum has and primary rental insurance coverage. AMEX was better off offering 300000 points instead.

Jiatong

similar thoughts as op. But waiting for the SPG-Mrt. 2018 card plans.

krazykanuck

Say what you will, but the bolded is simply false. If you're a heavy Delta SkyClub or Centurion Lounge user, you're going to find yourself spending lots of time at the gate if you only have your CSR. If you don't value those perks, then the difference between a Plat and the CSR goes down a lot.

As for the OP, Amex doesn't look at your years of history and give you a cumulative retention offer of like 100k MR points after 5 years or whatever. This is a game we play annually with Amex and frankly all other issuers.