Targeted Offer: Presidential Plus Annual Fee Waived
 

I did a search and didn't see this anywhere- I got an email from Continental yesterday hawking free lounge access. When I opened it, there was a reminder about Continental leaving Amex Membership Rewards in September and then a targeted offer to get the Presidential Plus card with no annual fee ($395) for the first year.

While I personally won't take advantage of this offer because I have sufficient lounge access with Amex Plat/ Delta Diamond, I thought it was a very generous offer. If there were bonus points, I might have actually thought about it, but I'd rather use my Chase credit card apps for more lucrative cards like BA, Hyatt and Sapphire Preferred.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting that they are very aggressively going after Amex customers- to the tune of waiving $395 annual fees, which you rarely see. I have a picture of the offer on my site- if you are thinking about getting a Pres Plus card, you may want to ask if you'd be eligilbe for this offer. I'm sure making up a story that you have an Amex Plat and want to switch to Chase may help your cause :D

i got this email yesterday. But, I am not going for it. I fly international quite a bit, and already get lounge access. And I dont really need another credit card.

I was one of the first to get this card (got one of the original surveys that shaped the program design). The big deal about this card was that it would be exclusive (which I didn't really care that much about) and that it would come with a higher level of service and benefits. Now, they're literally giving the card away and I'm no longer getting the waived fee that I was supposed to as a Presidential Plat.

The other benefits, including flex miles (not useful to me as I'll be >100k EQM anyway), fee free bags, blue carpet access, etc. don't help if you're already Elite (or Platinum in the case of the flex miles). I'm not sure I would use the hotel deals, since there are often better rates through other sources. The bonus miles are useful if you need them. The alternative is pay directly for the PresClub membership and get a cash back card. Depending on your flight and airport patterns, if you're not going to use the Club that often and travel alone, it might be better to pay per use of the Club.

I do use the card overseas, and there are no foreign exchange charges, so that does have value I wouldn't get with other cards that charge 3%, for example.

Well summarized...with your view as a PPLat.
Yes, if you are elite this is almost useless except for NO foreign exchange fees. (or if you need domestic lounge access very frequently).

I've received three of these Pres Plus card offers since December 2010.

My current PClub membership expires in Feb 2014 and my company pays my dues.

No thanks, Chase/CO.

I have received this offer twice in the past 2 months, including yesterday. My credit sucks (or rather my credit is not good enough to get this card). I hardly believe this is a "targeted" offer. I don't have an AMEX card....

I received this offer and took them up on it. i would have bought a pres club membership anyway. Some pretty good benefits IMO. My favorite being the Avis Presidents club membership. Also the bonus pts and no fee for foreign transactions are nice as well. Also get points via mileathon for it.

I just got this offer yesterday. All my travel is domestic this year, and I'm only a lowly Silver elite at that. The Flex EQMs plus the PClub seem pretty useful from where I'm at. Am I missing something?

Now I just have to convince the wife... :D

well, it is useful if you do require the lounge access.

also this card will get you EUA's on reward tickets at some point. ^

club access is great benefit if you are flying domestically a lot. i actually got a gate pass this past weekend to go the Pres club in DCA to wait for my brother to arrive from CLE... and then got my $3 Glenfiddich using the card. don't forget the wine + spirits discount!

Considering getting this card, and would prefer to pay less than the $300 on the main web site link. Any hints on accessing the targeted promotion?

As it turns out, my primary card is currently the moderate-fee AmEx Hilton Surpass card.

Very good summary. The one other plus I would add is that in the case of my spouse and I, you can add spouse PC membership for $150, making the total for the card $5 less than buying a regular spouse membership. The savings are based on being Platinum, so it's ever greater with less levels.

After a number of calls today, I finally managed to get a Chase agent on the telephone who took responsibility for answering questions about the Presidential Plus card. Call 888-795-0576 and just wait until the prompt offers you the option to speak to an agent.

Unfortunately, Chase appears to have this offer locked down extremely tight. Targeted AmEx members received a personal code. If you misplaced your code, you're out of luck. No, they can't check on eligibility for the offer. No, one cannot apply over the phone. Only option is an online application, which currently offers the $95 statement credit. Would you be interested in a bonus mile offer for the One Pass Plus card instead?

Presidents Club customer service at 800-322-2640 stated that they have no idea how Chase targets these offers or what criteria are used. And they seem to have the wrong number on file for Chase to boot.

C'est la vie. Guess I'll just have to cough up the $300 now.

The bonus miles may be useful. I am currently flying >200K BIS so the benefits that I appreciate are (in order):

1) Lounge access when the Amex deal expires (would have waited if not for targeted 1st year free)
2) ~50K bonus miles / year (based on my flying @25%)
3) Flex EQM's that I can bank for the future in case of a down flying year
4) Discounted premium booze
5) Double miles on Hotel / Car rental (minor benefit IMO)
6) Future upgrades on reward tickets (I dont use miles for domestic anyway so of little value)