Nothing prevents us from getting the Citi/AA bonus, and then using SPG as primary card for its 25% bonus.

True! It's been a while since I applied for a new card, it's difficult to say no to 100k AA miles.

A friend told me that he just called last week to moan about the SPG Amex annual fee (paid $45 this year) and was offered a choice of 5,000 SPG points or $50. Clearly, the points were the more valuable option! I called and was offered the same, and in turn, my partner called, but was only offered $40 or 4,000 SPG points. (He doesn't spend as much, so maybe wasn't considered as valuable?)

The key is being transfered to the "cancellation" department. At first, they tell you they can't do anything about the fee, and when you persist, they transfer you. The cancellation desk goes on and on about the benefits and then coughs up the offer for the credit or points.

Good luck!

I took the opposite approach, called and told them that I don't want to cancel the card, but that I'm unhappy about the fact that new account holders are getting first year free and a great deal of points. The rep told me that they can give me 5,000 points but I should talk to a supervisor to see if they can give me more. The supervisor took a few min to look at my account and game me 10,000 points :D.

When we called to cancel, they offered nothing and cancelled the card immediately after asking what the reason for cancelling was. When told it was the annual fee,the rep said he understood and proceeded to take care of it.

WOW - very well done. I'll try that on other cards. ^

I like this approach since as a loyal SPG card user for many years, I NEVER qualify for any promos or bonuses, yet new cardmembers are getting a lot of good stuff thrown at them. Calling in to moan about a charge that I knew was coming all along, since I read the fine print, isn't my style.
Even if I get nothing out of the call, maybe if enough people call it will prompt SPG to throw a bone at the old-timers.

Have you tried telling Amex that? At the SPG desk, they seem generally amenable and receptive to helping out.

"I'm a long time customer, and I don't intend to cancel my card or even threaten to, but it seems that new cardmembers get lots of promo points, and I, as a long time loyal member, don't qualify. Is there anything you can do?"

Any current promotions?
 

Hi, I've looked through this forum and it seems to me that there are no current amex spg promotions. Is there a consolidated (or not) list of them and I am just missing it?

Do you mean for a new card? There is a link right on the first page of spg.com

Right now, it's just the standard 10K for first purchase plus 15K for spending $15K in 6 months. If something better comes up, you can be sure it will be on the front page of this forum and MilesBuzz! for a while.

spg amex forums
 

I just took at look at the end user feedback on the Amex site where you can apply for a SPG card.

Out of curiousity I looked at the 1 star ratings... most were up at 4.5 stars out of 5.

The biggest complaint i saw was that the card limits were low. What is considered low? $1000? $5000? Has anyone had a problem extending their card limit? Has anyone had a very low limit?

I got a $500 limit cause my other limits were too high. I moved a few grand over from another card.

+ 1 started with $20K on the personal card and $1,500 on the business card. She asked them to drop the limit on the personal card and transfer it to the business card. The wizards at Amex dropped the limit on the personal card to $3K, but wouldn't raise the limit on the business card, resulting in two basically useless cards.

Both Citi and Chase have been sticklers about not moving credit lines between personal and business cards. You used to be able to move between products on either the personal or business side, but even that's harder these days.