Lose Miles for cancelling cards?
 

We have multiple Citi Aadvantage, United Chase and Virgin Atlantic Cards in our family. I want to start cancelling these cards as all of these cards have an annual fee after the first year. Will I lose the bonus miles upon canceling the cards if I haven't used them yet.

I believe that I have read here that they must be active for at least six months to keep the miles.

Yes, the miles are safe after six months. Less on the Citi cards. But wait the six months anyway.

If you want to be absolutely safe, just wait the whole year... if you have no fee until then, there's not much benefit to canceling early.

Have never had a problem with Citi. Last year closed many Citi cards after a couple of months and never had a problem (remember churning Citi cards every month????).

Chase is a different story. People have been known to loose miles if their accounts are closed in less than 6 months.

They can do that? How so? Wouldn't it have to come from the airline? I always figured once deposited into your account it would be impossible to take away unless the airline wanted so. What happens if you default on your card do they retroactively deduct miles that were posted to your FF account?

You will see your airline account balance being reduced by the bonus miles (you do not lose the spending miles, only the sign up bonus if Chase decides to enforce the 6 month clause) and at the same time you will receive a letter from Chase informing you the action and the reason for it.

And if you dont have enough balance in your FF account, the airline (UA in known cases) will cover the shortage and bill you the cost of the miles as if you purchase them from UA.

It has happened in the past though not on every cancellation before 6 months.

I would love to see someone volunteer to test it if Chase still enforces this.

for the Citi AAdvantage cards, I'd suggest trying to cancel them about 6 months after you opened them and they'll most likely offer you either a one-time bonus or a larger point/dollar earning option to keep you from canceling.

When I called to cancel mine, they offered me 3k miles to not cancel or an additional 2pts/dollar on purchases (up to 10k bonus miles) over the next 6 months. So, if I put $5k on the card in the next 6 months I can max out the promotion and I'll get 15k points (5k base + 10k bonus). I was much happier to go with the bonus points/dollar rather than the one-time payment of 3k

Just an idea.

Wow, I had no idea they could do that. Puts my 2005-2008 churning into perspective. Looking back I used cancel citi cards after 3-6 months all the time to make space for new cards. I am surprised they have not pulled that trick with me (thankful) but maybe its because I do have a healthy relationship with them (spending-wise).

To my knowledge, no one has reported CITI pulling back the bonus miles. It has only happened with Chase.

If that was the general attitude to money, no wonder Citi went almost under while Chase did not.

Citi does not do that. At least no one reports such bad experience.

Regarding Chase, what I told you are facts.

If you have Used the card allot, just call them and ask if you can have the annual fee waived for the year, I have done that with my AmEx cards, no problem because I use them extensively. I have tried it with other cards and it has been hit or miss, but if you get a 2nd year free isn't it worth asking.

Just make sure you tell them you are ready to Cancel the card when you ask, and be ready to follow up with the cancel when they say No (and that will be their first answer), also always ask for a supervisor, work your way all the way to the top if you can.

It may not always work, but its always worth a shot.

I cancelled 4 Chase Cards (Bristish and United for the each the Wife and I) all within 60 days of getting them, hitting the spending requirements and miles posting to the respective accounts. Both were earlier this year and never heard a peep from Chase... Your mileage may vary (pun intended)

As I said, it did not happen on every cancellation before 6 months were up. Also we do not know whether Chase still vigorously enforces the clause of 6 months like it used to.

FYI, when it did in the past, the removal of bonus miles happened MONTHS after the account closure.

Count me in the group of people who do not want to take an unnecessary chance especially having had actual experience in the past and know others who have had same experiences on the topic.

Further more, if one wants to stay on the good side of Chase, i.e. be able to take advantage of good offers as they come along in the future, it is advisable not to flip their cards as quickly as one prefers.