Vitaforce

I have had this card for over 20 years with never a late payment and the representative wouldn't budge when I asked about waiving the annual fee of $69 that is impending next month. Customer loyalty and excellent payment history meant nothing. The 3,000 annual bonus points doesn't come close to negating the annual fee. Representative also could not guarantee a statement credit would be offered if I called in the future asking for one in the amount of the annual fee. So basically, I would have to gamble to see if the representative would offer a statement credit next month. If not, then I would cancel and then immediately lose $69.

I am disappointed at how the SWA Chase Visa disvalues longtime customers.

toomanybooks

Not sure I have ever heard of Chase waiving the annual fee on the WN cards. Your experience is standard.

It has been observed many times here that unless you are looking for CP-qualifying points in the current calendar year, the Sapphire Preferred or Reserve Card seems superior in most every way.

Nirvana91

This whole thing is a business transaction for Chase. I don't know why you'd have "loyalty" to a specific credit card but if you have the mindset to be loyal to a specific piece of plastic, that's on you. Also, 3000 WN points is generally regarded as being worth about 1.5 cents per point, so $45. I'd argue that "comes close," or is at least better than other similar cards that don't offer much of anything.

You could certainly argue that Chase is making a financial mistake by not offering you an annual fee waiver, but hey, you agreed to pay $69 per year to keep the card, so I don't think it's unreasonable for them to expect you to hold up that end of the bargain. I feel like any time I get an annual fee waiver that's gravy, but it shouldn't be expected. If they don't want to waive the fee and you don't want to pay it, there are plenty of other cards at Chase or offers from other banks to explore. There is no reason to be offended or disappointed in WN or Chase.

garykung

Unfortunately, this time I must side with Chase.

You opened a credit card that has an AF. By keeping the account, you literally agree paying the AF.

As a customer, you can request Chase to waive the AF. But it is also well within Chase's sole discretion to grant or deny the waiver.

AFAICT, even CPC can't get a waiver. Why could you?

How exactly?

Often1

Loyalty is not about rewarding you for the past, it is about incentivizing you to spend money in the future.

Chase makes money from interchange fees and the included perks of the card have to come from somewhere.

As others note, if you find a better deal elsewhere, you should take it.

satman40

Apply for a different WN card and cancel the old one,

Critterlynn

Dont know about an annual fee waver but i do know that chase is know for offering statement credits to at least partially offset the annual fee. I know this because I have had them. $50 for the Premier and $35 for the plus. I've heard of reports of them doubling these amounts for people who i assume actually use these cards. But don't expect them every year.

Vitaforce

I

Chase has made plenty on me for 20 years with interchange fees. It would be a foolish business decision on their part to lose a 20 year customer. I guess being a 20 year cardholder (which in itself is rare) in today's business world is of no value to a company.

sdsearch

Yes, but by asking for a full AF waiver or credit on top of the 3000 points which an above post said it typically valued around $45, you may be making a foolish cardholder decision. I would suggest you ask for any offer, and then if you get some offer that's less than the full AF, evaluate whether that makes sense in view of the value of the 3000 points.

Meanwhile, do you have other cards you've held even longer? If not, a 20-year old card may be a very good thing to have on a credit report (and a poor thing to lose from a credit report 10 years from closing time), so rather than cancel you might want to see if you can get it downgraded to a no-AF card of some sort (Freedom?).

Vitaforce

This is the only credit card I have had for the last 20 years.

rsteinmetz70112

I curious why after 20 years would you request and expect a waiver?

sdsearch

Then, if you can get it downgraded to a non-AF card (assuming you don't decide to keep it as is), you want to keep this card "forever". Otherwise your credit score (which is being held up by the age of this account) will take a dive at some point.

Often1

Presuming that credit rating and credit worthiness are important, $69 to keep a 20-year card open may be worth it even if it comes with not one mile.

Then again, you may never need to finance anything, including a mortgage or other large loan and the rate may be relatively insignificant. All depends on your circumstances now and in the future.

Vitaforce

I do not expect a waiver, but if the representatives had an accounting or financial background, they could easily see that they would still profit off of me in interchange fees based on how much I have charged for 20 years.

I am sure the reps know about the multitude of no annual fee cash back cards in the marketplace.

B747SP

Curious did Chase waive the annual fee for you in each of the past 20 years?