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Annual fee retention bonus for Starwood Amex Card (Pre-May, 2019)

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Old Sep 12, 2014, 8:20 am
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Last edit by: MDtR-Chicago
Direct Retention number is following.... 1-800-452-3945 (better success in getting a bonus points)

SPG Personal
---------------
9/12 - 3K points offered with no spending-rubu
9/14 - 7k points $110k annual spend
10/3/14 - 7k points $40k spend
10/6 - $50 statement credit (had $27k of YTD spend)
10/8/14 - 3K points or $25 with very little spend. Took points.
10/27/14 no offer except to close.
10/28/14 - 3K points to keep open ($24k spend)
1/15 - 7k points. This in addition to the 7k points I recived in Aug, so 14k points within 5months. Just asked.
1/27/15 - 7k points or $50 statement credit (~$30k spend)
2/8/15 - 7k points or $50 statement credit
2/10/15- 1k points + 500 if I charge $1000 in next month. Canceled.
2/11/15 - 7k points (~$60k spend)
2/15/15 - 3k points ($20k spend)
2/23/15 - 1K points + 500 if I charge $1000 in next month
2/24/15 - 7k points or $50 statement credit (~$90k spend)
3/6/15 - 3k points
3/12/15 - 3k points...yawn. Might cancel
3/16/15- 7k points or $100 statement credit (over $300K spend)
4/3/15 - 1.5k points or $50 statement credit (less than $2k spent YTD)
5/1/15 - no offer
5/2/15 - $100 statement credit or 7K points. ~50K spend.
5/4/15 - 3k points (>100k spend)
5/5/15 - $50 or 100 points with 1K points w/ $1K spend... lol no thx ($65K spent last year)
5/11/15 - $50 or 500 points + 1K points w/ $1K spend (~$90k spend)
5/26/15 - $50 or 500 points + 1K points w/ $1K spend in 90 days (~$30k spend)
5/30/15 - $100 statement credit or 7K points. ~10K spend. Took $100.
6/16/15 - Nada. Was told that an offer is only given every other year. I got 7K last year. (~40k spend)
7/8/15 - $10+K spend last year, offers $25 credit or 500 points + 1K points w/ $1k spend. Will HUCA.
7/13/15 - $9K spend in 1st year; offered and took 7K points, still at $65 AF for the year ahead.
8/20/15 - Offered 10K points or $100...chose the points. 250K annual spend.
9/3/15- Offered 7K points or $50 credit, accepted credit, 30K annual spend
9/26/15 - Offered 10K points took it; 3rd year card member; ~40K spend, 3K retention offers previous years
10/17/15 - Offered 10k points or $100. Chose the points. ~30-40k spend. Have had the card for 3 yrs, first time asking for retention. 15yr amex customer.
1/10/16 - Offered 500 points for $1k spend or $25 credit. Took $25 credit. 12 year amex customer, 1st year of SPG card.
2/1/16 - Offered 10k points to keep the card open, no minimum spending requirements ^ $11000 YTD spending in 2015. Accepted 7k points for retention in Oct 2014.
2/18/16 Offered 10k points to keep the card open, no minimum spending requirements. $100k spending in 2015
3/22/16 - Offered $25. $5k spend last year. Did not accept.
4/3/16 - Offered $25 or 7K points. $25K spend last year. Took points. Same as last year as well
5/25/16 - Offered $25 without any spend, or 1.5k points after $1k spend. Took the $25. About $13k of spend in the last year, but only $900 2016 year to date.
6/14 - offered 500 points now and another 1000 after $1k spend. Took the offer. $5k spend last year.
6/14/2016 - Offered $25 or 500 SPG points. Asked for Supervisor - Increased offer to $25 plus 3,000 SPG points with no addl. spend.
6/22/16 - Offered $25 or 1500 points (500 immediate + 1000 additional after spending $1K on the card). Didn't want to deal with supervisor so just took the $25. ~$20K spend on the card in 2015
7/4/16 - Called in January and offered nothing. Called again in July offered 7,000 SPG points on $125k spend
7/7/16- Offered $100 or 10000 points on 140K spend. Took the points.
7/13/16 - Offered $50 or 7,000 SPG points, took the points.
8/3/16 - Offered $50 or 7,000 SPG points on 50K spend, took the points.
8/14/16 - nothing on first call; second call offered 2000 SPG points.
8/16/16 - Offered $50 or 7,000 SPG points, $48K spend, took the points.
8/17/2016- 15 yr customer with typical balances ranging from 20-30K, this year about 7K to date. "Nothing to offer you on yr account" Cancelled
8/25/2016 - No offer. Had card for one year, $3.5k spend.
8/29/16 - 3rd year of the card. $25 credit or 500 Starpoints now and 1000 points after $1k spend in 90 days. Took the points offer and kept the card.
9/7/16 - since 2006, $30-40K spend. $95 annual fee. Offered $100 credit. Took it.
10/17/16 - Roughly $15K annual spend for several years. $95 annual fee. Offered $50 credit or 7K SPG points. Took the points.
10/14/16 - $50k annual spend. $95 fee, offered $100 or 7K SPG points. Took the points
10/27/16 - $10K annual spend. With much difficulty, was eventually offered 1500 pts for spending $1000 in 3 mths. (Had been offered 1000 pts by the Indian call centre a few weeks ago which I was dissatisfied with.)
11/03/16 - $200k spend (MS) - $95 fee. Originally offered $50 but didn't jump on it. Offered $100. Took the money.
12/10/16 - third time calling, offered same deal of either 25 towards fee or 1500 SPG points - 500 now, 1k after spending 1k in 3 months. Took the points option. 20k spend YTD, had retention offer 2 years ago
12/23/2016: ~2.5k spend YTD (mostly AMEX Offers). Offers were $25 or 500 pts now and 1k pts after $1k spend in 3 months. The AF was charged several months ago.
1/22/17- $15K spend. Called retention and offered either $80 statement credit or 7,000 SPG points. Took 2nd option. Amex member since 2012.
4/22/17 - ~60K spend. $100 statement credit or 10K SPG points. Took the points.
4/23/2017 - 10K spend. Called the retention number and they offered 100 or 10K. I took 10K and many thx to all of u here!
5/3/2017 - 53k spend. Offered 10K points and took it
5/11/17 - $100 statement credit or 10k points. Took the points.
5/18/2017 ~30000 spend, offered 100 statement credit or 10000 points
5/18/17 - Nada, $0, zilch for an offer. ~$4k spend in past year and first anniversary.
5/22/17 - ~30k Spend. Offered $100 Statement Credit or 10k Points. Took the Points
6/08/2017 - $15k spend annually and was offered either $100 statement credit or 10k points. Took the points
6/13/2017 - Had card for 14 years. Low spend due to using Chase Reserve. No offers told me pay or cancel. No product change available. UPDATE: Called for past 2 days. Nada. Cancelled. bye bye AmEx, Hello CSR.
6/30/2017 - First anniversary, little spend on the card but a significant portfolio of Amex cards. 10k points.
7/14/17 - spent 20k, got 7k points with $1500 spend in 3 months required. Accepted. Last year got nada but had spent very little.
7/21/17 - Spouse's card; <$3,000 spend in 3rd year; she called in to cancel, they offered $100 credit (no strings); she is keeping the card
8/24/17 - Little spend, usually on Amex offers only. Most spend goes to Biz version. No offers available. Kept the card since I make up for the AF on Amex offers.
9/16/2017 - $20K per year; $50 credit or 10,000 points for $2K spend in 3 months - took latter
9/16/2017 - $6k/yr. 7 yrs holding card. $100 credit no strings. Accepted. Calendar reminder set to cancel next year.
9/18/2017 30 year Amex history, $34K spend, offered and took $95 credit
10/1/2017 13 years with this card, min annual spend for last 2 years, no offer so moved cl to DL Plat AMEX and closed SPG.
10/3/2017 12 year amex history, probably 6 with SPG card, $15-20K annual spend. Annual fee hit account back in June but forgot to call until today. Offered 7K bonus points for $1000 in spend over 90 days. Accepted
10/10/2017 Offered 10K SPG points for $3k spend over 3 months. Offer accepted!
10/13/2017 Offered 10K SPG points for $3k spend over 3 months. Original offer by SPG and Accepted. Took me less than 5 minutes.
10/26/17 Offered $100 credit for $2500 spend in next three months and declined! Fee isn't until early January so didn't have much leverage. Said if you offer me a point deal I'd commit to the spend, but no dice. Will call back when annual fee hits.
12/22/17 30-year member. $10k spend. Offered $100 credit for $2k spend in 3 months or 10k SPG points for $3k spend in 3 months.
1/17/18: Personal Card. Offered 7000 SPG points for $1,500 spend in 3 months. Took offer.
2/23/2018: 7k points for 1k spend in 90 days. 7.5k annual spend
3/27/2018: 7k points for 1k spend in 90 days. Took offer.
3/30/2018: no retention offer. Got 10k last year, minimal spend since then. Would not allow product change.
4/13/2018: 7k points for $1.5k spend in 3 months
4/20/2018: 7k points for $1k Spend in 1 month. Accepted.
4/26/2018: 7k points for $500 spend in 1 month. Accepted.
4/28/2018: 10k points for $1k spend in 1 month. Accepted.
5/1/2018: 40$ to offset annual fee. Accepted
5/6/2018: 7k points for $500 spend in 1 month. Rejected.
5/9/2018: 7K points for $500 spend in 1 month. Accepted. ($15K spend in 2017)
5/22/2018: 7k points for $500 spend in 1 month. Accepted. First renewal, ~$6k on card over first year, no activity for 4 months.
6/8/2018: 7k points for $500 spend in 1 month. Accepted.
7/25/18: $100 statement credit after $2500 spend in 3 months. Accepted.
7/30/18: $75 statement credit after $2000 spend in 3 months. Accepted.
8/24/18: Offered $100 statement credit after $2500 spend or 30k points after $3000 spend in 3 months. Took the points.
9/4/18: 20k points for $2k in 3mo offer Received and accepted.
9/6/18: $75 statement credit or 20K points after $2K spend, took the points.
9/20/18: $95 fee waived, no other offers - accepted
1/31/19: $75 statement credit or 20K points after $2K spend, took the points.
2/1/19 No offer, not even Af waiver for the first time since I've had the card.
4/3/19: No offer
4/3/19: 20K points after $2K spend. A nice deal. Card remained open after taking the points.
5/1/2019: 20K points after $2K spend. A nice deal. Card remained open after taking the points.
5/18/2019: 20k points after $2k spend in 3 months

--------------
SPG Business
---------------
1/19/2015 - $100 Statement credit (didn't ask if points were available) $14k spend
8/6/2015 - $9K spend in 1st year; offered and accepted $50 statement credit.
8/24/2015 - $30k annual spend. 2nd anniversary. Offered 10k points, statement credit was not an option available to me. Took the points.
9/8/2015 - $51k annual spend. 2nd anniversary. No offers at all. I did get a $50 statement credit last year though.
09/20/2015 - $50 statement credit (on $65 card)
9/22/2015- $100 Statement credit. Didn't ask about points. 6K Spend.
9/25/2015 - $5k spend in the first year. No offers. I cancelled.
10/2/2015 - $35K annual spend. 2nd anniversary. Offered $100 statement credit.
10/6/2015 - $8k spend over last 12 months, much of it at Target for Redcard reloads. Offered and accepted $100 statement credit. More details here.
11/30/2015: $15k spend in past year, offered $100 statement credit. Accepted. My AF was a couple months ago and was told there were no offers when I called initially.
12/14/2015 - $100 Statement Credit. $15k spend since 2014 AF, but $0 spend since 9/14/15 when AF hit (90 days ago). I asked how much prorated fee if I cancelled. He said "$71, or I can just give you $100".
6/10/16: No offer. Less than $2k spend in past year.
7/19/16: No offer on first call but $25 statement credit after HUCA. Only 3k in spend in last 12 months. Accepted offer.
8/14/16: no offer on 2 calls. $3000 spend in the last year.
8/28/16: Offered $25 on first call, bringing fee down to $40. Keeping card.
10/10/16: Offered $25 first call by calling # above. Accepted
10/16/16 - Offered $25 first call, same offer HUCA two weeks later. $20k spend YTD. Accepted. (Received $100 offer in 2015 for $14k spend)
10/3116: seldom use this card-was NOT offered any bonus to keep card
11/3/16 - No offer. $135k spend. I'll wait a couple of weeks and try again.
12/10/16: No offer... $60k spend. $95 annual fee was just posted. said they offered me $100 last year, nothing to offer now. will try again in the near future. called again (03/05/2017), spent 70k in 2017 so far, still no offer
1/19/17: No offer after multiple tries. Approx. $10K spend. Closed card
2/8/17 Had card replaced due to fraud January, $35K spend 2016, Fee due March, called about another matter and offered $95 credit and 6K points.
2/28/17: Called twice after $95 fee posted for SPG Biz card. $120k spend in 2016. After several years of getting offers, none were forthcoming. Card closed.
3/5/17: Called retention no in wiki after 2 unsuccessful attempts on regular no. Offered $25 credit and I took it. Had not charged anything the whole year but used Club lounge access many times with family.
4/13/17: first renewal, fee posted - 6k spend prior 12mo - retention line in wiki called - $25 credit offered, closed
4/22/17 - ~10K spend. Called 3x over a couple of weeks, no offers.
5/22/17 - ~20k Spend. Offered $25 Statement Credit. Closed account.
7/21/17 - ~$10k spend. No offers, keeping card since I have the $65 AF still.
7/21/17 - ~$150k spend. Took $50 credit.
8/23/17 - ~$30k spend. Offered $25 credit off of $65 AF. Accepted.
8/30/17: Virtually no spend. No offers. Kept card because of the lounge access benefit.
10/2/17- ~10k Spend. Offered $25 Statement Credit.
10/14/17 - $30K+ spend. No offers. Rep mentioned $25 credit in 2016 is the reason. Canceled card.
10/23/17: Second annual fee posted October 1; paid first year AF in 2016 without requesting a retention offer; ~$10K spend; received $25 statement credit offer; no points offers available
12/22/17 - ~10k Spend. Offered $25 Statement Credit. Rep mentioned no points offer avail, only the $25 statement credit.
4/13/17 - Basically no spend other than what was needed on card open. Overall AmEx member for 18 years, but this card for only one. Offered 10k points for no spend. Took it.
3/13/2018: Offered 10,000 SPG points & accepted. Pts will be posted in 8-12 weeks. Didn't ask for further offers. Card since 2013. $80k spending in 2017, annual fee was charged in September. Last yr received $95 credit.
4/12/2018: 2nd call. Offered 5K SPG points, no minimum spend. No further offers. Accepted. ~20K spend in 2017. Last year no offers, multiple calls.
4/18/2018: AF posted 4/17. 1st call no offer, ~100K spend in first year.
4/26/2018. AF just posted. Essentially no spend over last year. Offered 10K points with no spending requirement. Accepted.
4/27/2018: AF posted 4/26. $8k spend in past year. No offer on first call 4/27. Plan to call again in 2 and 4 weeks (then cancel); will update wiki with results.
4/28/2018: AF Posted 4/13. Minimal spend beyond what was needed to get new account bonus. No offer, card cancelled.
4/28/2018: AF date in Aug; ~40k annual spend (all SPG hotels); offered 5k starpoints + another 5k after 2k in spend within 30 days (Total 10K for 2k spend); accepted, will re-evaluate in Aug
4/28/20218: AF posted 4/17. just called...no offer, closed the card to free up one Amex slot for applying for other cards.
4/30/2018: 10k no requirements
4/30/2018: AF posted 4/20/18, first renewal. Spent $43K in last 12 months. No offer.
5/4/2018 First renewal, minimum spend, no offer.
8/2/2018: AF posted 7/16, ~$10k spend past year, no offer.
8/3/2018: AF posted in July, offered 20,000 starpoints for $2000 in spend in 3 months.
10/11/18: AF posted 9/16, pays today (10/11). Spent $793 YTD in 2018. No offer. Closed card. Had been open for 5 years.
10/12/18: AF in January, Offered 10k immediately with a further 20k points after spending $6,000. Kept card open.
12/18/18: AF in any day now. Called twice and each time was offered nothing.
1/11/19: AF on Dec 26, called and nothing was offered, closed the card.
5/18/2019: 5k points now plus 10k points after $1k spend in 3 months
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Annual fee retention bonus for Starwood Amex Card (Pre-May, 2019)

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Old Mar 23, 2016, 8:19 am
  #886  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Offered $25 to keep open or to convert to Everyday or Cashback no fee cards. Will call back. $5k spend last year
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2016, 10:54 am
  #887  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by Antonio8069
Ditto here. I don't spend $40K per annum as I have two add'l Plat cards. So I consider the 7K a good deal (annual renewal fee = $120 CAD).

What kind of spend did you have last year ? Thanks
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2016, 2:26 pm
  #888  
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: MGM
Programs: United Silver, PC Plat/Amb, HH Dmnd
Posts: 805
80K+ last year on personal SPG, offered $25. Probably will close and pick up a SB SPG.
andyandy is offline  
Old Mar 23, 2016, 3:14 pm
  #889  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: MCO
Posts: 92
SPG Personal AMEX
16K spend last year
Never asked for retention offer before
Have card for 5 years.

Offered $25 credit. HUCA later that day.
Offered $25 credit again.
Didn't really want to cancel card so I took the $25.
Joe758 is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2016, 10:33 am
  #890  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: UA 1P; HH Diamond; MR Gold
Posts: 83
SPG Personal AMEX
$35k+ spend last year
Never asked for retention
11 years card holder

Immediately offer 10k point to keep account open. No spend requirements.
adrocky is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2016, 4:01 pm
  #891  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Tennessee
Programs: Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, Southwest AL CP, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 223
145K Personal
81K Business

I had previously called and received points for the Personal card. I have had the Business card about 9 months. Was told to call back later on the Personal card and was given $150 credit on the Business card. Of note- they cannot issue points for the Business card, only monetary credit.

Last edited by pageboy; Mar 26, 2016 at 8:18 am
pageboy is offline  
Old Mar 25, 2016, 9:43 pm
  #892  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by andyandy
80K+ last year on personal SPG, offered $25. Probably will close and pick up a SB SPG.

What an insult. Meanwhile you've got competing hotel cards they give annual hotel stays as a standard practice.
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Mar 26, 2016, 9:27 am
  #893  
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 302
$65 annual fee posted for SPG business card after first year (just meeting the minimum spend), and called to ask for retention bonus. It was a relatively long call as the agent as about my business, my travel patterns, etc. I argued that I have multiple business cards. At the end, she offered $100 statement credit to keep the card open and to use it as the primary business card. Happy and took it.

Last edited by shihyin; Mar 26, 2016 at 9:34 am
shihyin is offline  
Old Mar 26, 2016, 7:27 pm
  #894  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Platinum Elite, Hyatt Gold, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 47
Offered 10k points to keep the card open, no minimum spending requirements. $37k spending in last 10 months.

called the regular number on back of the card and voice prompted to cancel the card, guess thats what took me straight to retention.

The guy on the phone was simply awesome. heard me out, kept me on hold for a while. came back with an offer I simply could not refuse.

My experience with amex has always been top notch!
yatindalvi is offline  
Old Mar 30, 2016, 5:37 pm
  #895  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 161
Received $100 offer to keep the SPG card open (older $65 fee one). Took it since it exceeds the fee. It was not to be posted for 6-8 weeks (but it has already been posted).

This was generous. While she referred to I being a regular user of the card, the heavy spending was soon after I got it, when I was trying to meet the minimum spending. I chose not to try to meet the spend $5,000 within six months for 15,000 more points, because that converted to only 3 points per dollar on an incremental basis, and I got 2.625% back on a BOA Platinum Honors card.

After I had received the bonus for the initial spending, my spending had been limited to about $1.51 every time I made payments to Verizon, with the goal being to show activity on the SPG account so that after I canceled the card the SPG points would remain and not be lost due to inactivity.

I wonder if she could see how little had been spent on the card recently, or just that it had been regularly used?

A hidden cost to keeping this is that I am up against the limit of 4 credit cards, so keeping this may prevent me from getting another card I may prefer.

In my particular circumstances this may be the Simply Cash Business Card, which can offer 3% on restaurants. Previously this was not very attractive because I had 3 Forward cards that gave 5% back on restaurants, but after June 4th this will not be available.

It is possible that after I have received my $100 I will still cancel this card to get another, or I may choose to cancel a consumer card.

Last edited by ed765; Apr 5, 2016 at 1:00 pm
ed765 is offline  
Old Mar 31, 2016, 10:08 am
  #896  
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: STL
Programs: USair BA DL AA
Posts: 114
I opened my SPG card about 3 months ago with the 25k with $3k spend requirement. Recently they came out with the 35k offer.

Did an online chat late last week asking for the other 10k and got a rude response
http://cliqbait.com/2016/03/25/my-at...nts-from-amex/

So I called in to the regular 800-297-1000 number today and got 10k points to match the current 35k offer. No additional spend required.

I've spent about $4k in past 3 months since I opened card. I also have about the same spend on two other Amex cards (Corporate Green and Costco).
daninstl is offline  
Old Apr 1, 2016, 2:56 pm
  #897  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: AA, Marriott
Posts: 85
SPG Personal AMEX
$40k+ spend last year
Don't remember if I asked for retention bonus last year
Offered 7k points.
phatty is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2016, 2:29 pm
  #898  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
$16k spend last year. AF just hit. Never asked for retention on this card (have had it since 2012).

Just called and was told "we don't waive the fee for anyone" and then I tried asking from another angle (aka, is there some sort of way I can offset the fee by spending a certain amount) and was also told no. Then she told me I could downgrade to the no AF Blue Cash Everyday with a $250 statement credit and 0% APR for 15 months.

I said I'd think about it and hung up - I'll try again in a couple days but I'd rather keep the SPG with some bonus
Duke787 is offline  
Old Apr 15, 2016, 3:54 pm
  #899  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: USA
Posts: 1,084
Originally Posted by Duke787
$16k spend last year. AF just hit. Never asked for retention on this card (have had it since 2012).

Just called and was told "we don't waive the fee for anyone" and then I tried asking from another angle (aka, is there some sort of way I can offset the fee by spending a certain amount) and was also told no. Then she told me I could downgrade to the no AF Blue Cash Everyday with a $250 statement credit and 0% APR for 15 months.

I said I'd think about it and hung up - I'll try again in a couple days but I'd rather keep the SPG with some bonus
Sounds fishy. When has Amex given a credit for PCs. Likely was trying to get you to apply outright.
slivrflyr is offline  
Old Apr 19, 2016, 10:13 am
  #900  
 
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 4
I got my card last April and the annual fee just posted, it was $65. I was expecting it to be the $95. So I'm wondering if you had the card before the annual fee went up, does it stay at $65 for the life of the card?
agilityvision is offline  


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