Barclays retention offers (all cards)
 

Haven't seen a thread discussing this, hope I'm not wrong. US Air card is up for renewal, any experiences in calling Barclay's to have the fee waived? Any special number to call?

Thx

They will probably offer you bonus miles for certain category purchases (e.g. one extra mile per dollar for groceries) for a few months.

I called the regular CSR and the supervisor waived the $89 fee.

Had the USAir card for nearly 20 years. You'd think they would want to keep a long time card holder with high spends and great credit, right? So I called to request a retention bonus; they offered 1k. No thanks, I cancelled. Now trying to figure out how long I need to wait to apply for a new one to get the sign up bonus. I have never tried churning a card before, so I'm clueless.:(

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...5k-benies.html

Most people in that thread report being able to get a second card while they still have the first card. And many people in that thread have reported being able to get a new card within months (6 or maybe even 3?) after getting the previous card.

So, like at Citi, I'm not sure that "cancelling" has anything to do with it at Barclays/Juniper. (Note: Things are very fluid recently, and you may only be able to get a 35k rather than 40k bonus with no annual fee. But it may depend on the exact hour you apply. :) ) But anyway, all the latest data points are in that thread.

(Some banks care how long ago you last had the card, but others, like definitely Citi, only care how long ago you got your most recent card of that type, not whether you cancelled it or not.)

Thanks for that sdsearch. It looks like I may be safer putting off that new application for a few months. I recently jumped on the American Advantage card from citi for 50K... so that may be another reason to wait it out and just hope there are still some decent offers out there.

Annual Fee Posted Yesterday
 

I actually had no intention of cancelling this card as I want the 10k bonus miles and am willing to spend $89 to get them. However I decided to call anyway just to see if they would waive the fee (I did not threaten to cancel). The CSR transferred me to a specialist who answered in seconds (Calling on a Saturday is a good thing) and I was told they could not waive the annual fee because it had already posted. She did offer me 2,000 bonus miles for a single purchase within 90 days. I accepted. Next year (if the card is still around) I will be calling before the annual fee posts. Spend in 2012 was about $3750 ($1250/month/3 months for 15k) and I also used it for a 0% balance transfer offer.

Don't think i would have paid $89 for 2000 miles. I believe the rep. didn't tell you the truth about the annual fee. They could, and do, issue credits. Next time hang up and call back.

My ann. fee will be posting in a few days & I'll cancel unless they waive the fee or give me at least 10K miles. The club pass also adds some value but not sure about the companion pass.

Note regarding my previous post above, I requested reinstatement of my account after having second thoughts. Request was granted.

Please post back here with your results. I've tried the "loyal longstanding high spend cardholder route" for a retention bonus and the best they offered was 1000 miles... I didn't even ask for a waiver of the annual fee! Heck, I don't even have the 10k at annual renewal bonus. Original World Elite benefits are hard to give up though.

I got the 2,000 plus the contractual 10k, so 12,000 miles for $89 fee. To me it was worth it.

I called in regarding mine (annual fee hits 3/31), and the CSR transfered me to a specialist. That specialist told me there were no offers to waive or retain, because the annual fee hadn't been charged yet, but encouraged me to call on 4/1, because they give a 60-day grace period in which you can cancel and get the AF refunded. So, I'll call on 4/1 and update what happens!

When I called I received a credit for half the annual fee ($44.50). I did not have a lot of activity on the card, and none for the last six months. Worth it for the 10K annual, and 5K savings on rewards.

10K bonus miles posted and annual fee $89 few days later. I called and was offered additional 2,500 for a single purchase within 90 days to keep account active. Took the offer.

Called to cancel my US Air MC world elite. Got a $90 statement credit and 5000 dm with $1000 spend over the next 90 days. Had no intention of canceling so it was a good deal.

Wow! I tried that route a year ago and they offered nada. Just got a second card with the 35K bonus, so I'd be afraid to try that route with my World Elite this soon. I'll try again in about four months though. Thanks for that data point!