pgary

The Military Frequent Flyer has an excellent post on Credit Card Benefits for servicemembers. It list companies that waive annual fees, even for cards that offer excellent bonuses.

srodr

Great info to share with all active duty and reservists. I had over $2k in annual fees waived by Amex, Chase, and Citi during my 3 years as a mobilized reservist. Never had to send my orders to any if them as they seem to have some way of verifying active duty status.

Blind and Green

A quick update as it doesn't appear that the military frequent flyer kept their annual fee waivers updated The following is based on my experience:

Amex continues to be great, waiving the annual fee for all their cards, not just when the active duty servicemember is the primary cardholder, but also when the member is an authorized user.

Barclay no longer waives annual fees for the military.

Chase is waiving annual fees for active duty military for cards issued after September of 2017 (pursuant to their interpretation of the military lending act).

The other big issuers do not appear to waive annual fees, though I've not applied for any of their cards after Sept of 17

Please feel free to correct me if you've had a different experience.

Blind and Green

Annual fee was coming up on my Capital One Venture card so I submitted an SCRA form today.... will update the thread when I learn whether or not Cap One will waive the annual fee.

mikesyr18

Another reason why everyone should drop their cards with them and go with a different company. That bank shows zero respect for anybody.

It's one thing to not offer the benefits... It's another to have it and then take them away. Zero respect for our military members.

krazykanuck

Yeah, they changed their policy to line up with what SCRA requires, as opposed to going above and beyond. I think the abuse of the Gold Card and Black Card helped lead to this, since Barclays waived all fees, people were using it as a virtual ATM card, and all sorts of things they didn't intend. Personally I don't really understand why people feel entitled to benefits that are super generous and go beyond SCRA like Amex does, but that's more of a discussion for OMNI/PR.

To the point of the thread, Doctor of Credit maintains a pretty good page summarizing the different banks approach to military cardmembers; https://www.doctorofcredit.com/credi...n-active-duty/

mikesyr18

So because Barclays shows shear stupidity, their military customers lose benefits?

The solution was simple... Don't waive the annual fee on a $900/year card. They could've waived the annual fees on their Arrival+ and their co-brand cards instead.

I think entitled is the wrong word to use.. I think military personnel expect the same level of service that a bank like USAA or Navy Federal would give them. The problem with this "thought" is that the for profit businesses can't get out of their own way to make a buck, no matter who it is. If I were a service member, I wouldn't even think about using Barclays because their products and level of service suck compared to USAA/Navy Federal.

Blind and Green

Thank you for the link. That looks like it's mostly been updated, though it doesn't yet include the Chase information about their implementation of the Military Lending Act. Prior to Sep of 17, Chase never waived the fees for me because I joined prior to applying for the card.

I was thankful Barclay waived the annual fees as long as they did. I still have an Arrival+ and would use them again if/when they put something intriguing out.

Danieller12

Good evening!

Has anyone had luck getting Chase to waive the Ritz Carlton $450 annual fee for your active duty military status? I inquired with Chase about the MLA benefits they started to implement last fall, but they couldn't give me a straight answer:/

Thanks!

woodcmfr

They do waive the fee because of MLA (Military Lending Act). You had to have gotten the card after Sep 2017 or you can be eligible for SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) if you opened the account prior to Active Duty.

Danieller12

Thank you. I tried inquiring directly with Chase before applying for it but they told me no guarantees, even after all documentation was sent over. I guess I'll just have to give it a try.

funlux

I got the same response when I called before applying but felt reassured from what I had read online. I received my card this week along with a separate letter that they had waived all fees.

Danieller12

oh great to hear, thank you for letting us know!

Blind and Green

That was a big negative on Capital One. They charged me the annual fee last month and I canceled.

Blind and Green

Thanks for the data point. I'm going to hold off on applying until later this year with the hope that the signup bonus changes from two free nights to a boatload of Marriott points.