Retention Offer: American Express Business Platinum

The$450 annual fee just came due on my American Express Business Platinum Card. While I love all the great benefits that this card provides, I do not love the fact that it costs me $450 per year.

It never hurts to call up a card issuer when an annual fee comes due in order to see what kind of promotions/offers they may be willing to grant you in exchange for your loyalty.

Even at the $450 price point, I think the card’s value outweighs the fee…

But it was worth a shot to see if I could grab some additional value!

I gave Amex a call and was greeted by a very friendly fellow Floridian. I explained my situation, noting that I liked the card benefits, but was really taking a look at my expenses and the annual fee on this card was a big fat one at $450. He took my information and while his computer loaded the retention offers, he chatted me up for a bit on how great the weather is in Florida this time of year… which it just happens to be a very pleasant 77 degrees!

The agent then moved on from the weather report and went on to say that the retention offers are based on a variety of factors, including length of time as a cardholder (just over a year ~13 months) and spending on the card (exactly $25,618.12 to date) and presented me with the following 2 offers:

Offer #1: $50 statement credit

Offer #2: 7,500 Membership Rewards points

I went with offer #2.

I was really hoping for a big offer, say 50,000 points or so, and was willing to put some spending on the card in order to achieve it. Or I was hoping that I would get offered at least what that little monkey received… but he is adorable, so makes sense why I he received a superior offer…

That didn’t happen, but the 7,500 points are better than nothing, especially considering I really didn’t plan to cancel the card in the first place.

So I just look at this as a free 7,500 points – which is never be a bad thing!

Final Thought

Keep your card issuers in check. Don’t let them just run free charging you annual fees left and right. It never hurts to call up your card issuer after each renewal period to see if there might be a promotional offer attached to your account. While you shouldn’t always expect a statement credit or a bonus, I’ve found card issuers to be more generous than in the past given the current competition in the credit card space.

Has anyone else had luck with retention offers lately on their Amex Platinum or Business Platinum cards?

Happy Travels!

DW