I called in yester day to cancel the business gold reward card because of the upcoming $175 annual fee. The CSR offered me 15K MR points which already showed up in my account. Can I just use the points and cancel the card before the annual fee is charged? Will Amex charge me back for the points when I cancel the card? Thanks.

No idea what this has to do with the SPG AMEX, but the answer is yes.

Annual fee retention bonus for Starwood Amex Card
 

Data point. Spent just shy of $30k on the card. Was offered 2k points. Since this is my main card, I didn't bother negotiating.

Received a $40 "loyalty" statement credit. Was told by the rep that Starwood did not give any points for retention so she could not offer me any points.

I didn't want to explain to her that others were getting point offers. At the end of the day, $40 offer was good enough for me to keep it. Add that on top of the $25 small business Saturday credit and I recoup all of my $65 annual fee. Win-Win for everyone.

Shot down
 

Asked for either a statement credit or goodwill points via secure message (wife's card) and was reminded of the benefits of the card... pbbbt!

I'll either downgrade to regular card or just eat the fee this year (have 70k Starwood points in her account). I only see it as a $15 fee anyway as it is good for 2x$25 on Small Business Saturday :D

Wow, it looks like they are cracking down on the lucrative retention bonuses. Last year I received 7K points on about 20K spend, easily worth the $65 fee. My fee is coming due in a couple weeks, my plan was to call next weekend. I will report back.

Just called AMEX. No dice. They said since I was given a retention bonus last year that there was nothing that they could do for me. The woman listed off the benefits of the card. I then asked about what the process is for closing out an account that still has a balance as a last minute indicator that I was serious about canceling. She explained that I would be send an monthly statement and that I could send in a check. Just an FYI, you have 60 days from when the fee is charged to close the card and receive back the full annual fee. I will call in a few weeks and try again. But I will most likely just close the account, that way in 12M I will be eligible for the sign-up bonus again. Also, since I have already been credited the 2 stays/5 nights, they cannot take those back, so not like I am losing a lot here. When I sign up again in 12M, they will give me another 2 stays/5 nights. So the timing actually works out for me to cancel.

What is the small business Saturday credit?

See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...1-24-12-a.html and http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/s-p-m...1-18-12-a.html

Retention bonus, no deal.
 

Called to cancel my Starwood Amex card since I have not been using it much and saw the $65 fee was due. Talked to the agent about the benefits I get from Marriott Card and PC card- free night certs after I pay my annual fee. Gave me the usual this card is great, blah, blah, blah. Asked about points bonus, etc. No dice.

I got 3K points few weeks ago when I called in. My first time calling after 3rd year of SPG AMEX

And so did you cancel?

Regards

Called for retention bonus. First person i spoke with was clueless and wouldn't offer me anything. Transferred to another department, was offered $40. I asked for points, offered 4k points which i took. Had put over 30k of spending on the card over a year.

2nd Retention Bonus in 2Ys
 

Last year, Amex offered me 7K points to stay. I had put around 30K spend on the card.

This year, I called Amex asking for something to help me keep the card. I had called about a week before my fee was supposed to hit. They said they could not offer me anything. I called this past weekend (now a month after my fee hit). Amex offered me 2K points to stay. I had put about 10K on the card in the past year. That was enough for me to keep it in my wallet for another year and extend my average age. Thanks Amex.

I was told since I received a retention offer last year, none was available for me at this time. Damn it!