The whole goal of the points and miles hobby is to get the maximum benefit at the lowest out of pocket cost. Many of the best cards have annual fees and it always makes sense to call your credit card companies at least once a year to see if you can get any retention offers. The Points With a Crew “Complete Guide to Credit Card Retention Offers” walks you through the process with some tips that can improve your odds of success.
How Long Before the Annual Fee Should I Call?
I typically call one to two months BEFORE the annual fee posts to my account. I believe you have more leverage by doing this. If you are successful, you can pocket the bonus and still have time to decide if you really want the card before the annual fee posts. If you are not successful, you can still try again right before or after the annual fee posts. I used this strategy last year with the Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier card. I called once and was offered a $99 retention payout. After a few weeks I decided to cancel the card anyways and when I called to do so I was actually given a second $99 retention offer which was enough to convince me to keep the card for another year. Sadly, this year my first retention offer request for the Southwest Premier card was unsuccessful, but I’ll be trying again in a few weeks.
Here’s Another Great Opportunity to Ask for Retention Bonuses!
Another great time to try for retention offers is when a bank changes the benefits that a card provides. The banks are extremely competitive and when a customer balks at a product change they will often do what they can to retain your business. Citi recently slashed numerous benefits from their credit card lineup. While I didn’t need most of the benefits that were removed from my CitiBusiness /AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard, I figured this could be an opportunity to try to get a retention offer. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is my main go to card and covers most of the benefits that the AAdvantage Platinum card lost anyways.
The removal of benefits makes most Citi cards less compelling.
The only advantages that I would miss would be the access to earlier boarding and a free first checked bag for me and up to four travelers on my reservation. However, since I recently signed up for Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Business Card which provides these same benefits and offers 65k miles bonus miles after $1,000 in purchases plus an additional 10k miles after adding an authorized user who makes one purchase, cancelling this Citi card would have no disadvantage. (The only downside with the Aviator offer is that the $95 annual fee is not waived for the first year). This is the ideal situation because there was no downside from a benefits perspective if I did decide to cancel the card.
The increased welcome offer makes the Barclays Aviator Business card a great option.
The Call
The morning I decided to call Citi, I was driving and had twenty minutes until I would reach my destination which I hoped would provide enough time. I navigated through the IVR in a few minutes. and had a rep on the phone in no time. I jumped right into it.
Me: Hi! I hope you’re doing well. I’m thinking about closing my card as the change in benefits has me pretty frustrated right now.
Kelly: I completely understand Mr. Loehr. However, the card does still provide many other benefits.
Me: I understand Kelly, but I can’t justify the annual fee. Given the change you have had in the offering is Citi willing to provide any goodwill adjustments.
Kelly: You have been such a great Citi customer and we value your business. Would you be willing to accept a $100 credit with a purchase of at least $100 as a goodwill offer?
Me: I appreciate you working with me Kelly and I will accept this offer. Thanks!
Kelly: Thanks for your continued business Mr. Loehr. This credit will show on your next statement. Thanks for being a Citi customer.
Success!!
We said our goodbyes and I looked at my phone when hanging up. Four minutes and forty-six seconds. I still had fifteen minutes to listen to a podcast and had made $100 with a quick phone call. My annual fee is not due to post until September, so I still have a few months to decide whether to keep this card open and to pay the $99 annual fee. Maybe I will call again in August and see if I anything else is available.
Have you had any luck with retention offers recently? Tell me about it in the comments below!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
How do you deal with a card that was cancelled (informed in a letter) by the issuer with no warning and for no apparent reason (other than lack of use). Lost my line of credit & miles that were meant to be used for travel redemption. It was my Barclays World Mastercard
That is a tough one. I would give them a call and explain the situation and ask for them to reinstate the miles. You could HUCA or escalate to a manager to see if they have any additional pull. It may be beneficial to tell them you really wanted to keep the card and would like it to be reopen AND your miles reinstated. It doesn’t hurt to try. Good luck and let us know how it ends up!
How much are you spending on the card annually? I called two months ago, told them I was upset about them removing the benefit, asked if there were any incentives to keep the card. Was offered nothing so cancelled on the spot. I have not put any spending on the card since I opened it last year
I’m coming up on my one year anniversary in September. I have spent $3500 on it since last September but 3k of that was in the first 3 months for the welcome bonus. I do about one to two purchases a month max. I have had luck in the past with spending for a month on a card before calling to ask about any offers. The banks generally like to see some type of spend before extending an offer. That could be worth a try. Good luck and let us know how it goes!
My annual fee is due later this month so I called and tried using similar language to what you had in the article. The rep said there were no offers available but made it sound like there could be some offer once the annual fee becomes due. I will try again at that time.
Any luck David?
Hi Ross – thanks for the insight.
My first annual fee is coming up next month, so like David, I tried using a similar script and was told there were no retention offers.
The rep refused to transfer me to another person or the retention department, and told me all the could do at this point is cancel my card.
I thanked her, said I’d think about it, will try again in a few days.
Chris, it’s always worth a shot. I wish I had a better understanding of what it takes to trigger the retention offers. My wife and I will often get the same cards and sometimes one of us will have a retention offer and the other will not. I hope you have better luck on the next try!
I would just try HUCA (Hang up, call again). It’s possible that there are no offers on the account, but personally I’d feel better if I heard it from 2-3 agents instead of just counting on one