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We’ve been hearing a lot about retention offers, but it seems the offers may be fluid. A couple of weeks ago I phoned Amex after a chat with an online rep regarding a potential retention offer on the account. At the time, my $550 annual hadn’t hit, and they offered me 30k points after $4k spend in 3 months. I didn’t take the offer at the time because, honestly, I wasn’t convinced I wanted to keep the card and rumors had been circulating that new benefits were coming. I wanted to see what those were, and make a more informed decision after announcement. Well, we learned, at least for the time being, that I could earn up to $320 statement credit by putting streaming and wireless services on the card. Great, that certainly helps. So I phoned Amex to see if the retention offer was still on the table. I learned a couple of things…
A little history on the account. I acquired this Amex Platinum in 2018 as an Amex Platinum Mercedes and it converted to a regular Amex Platinum in 2019. However, I was told that my account actually extended back to 2012. Interesting…I did have an Amex Platinum that I had acquired in 2012, but cancelled two years later because I didn’t think it was worth paying the fee. It seems, anecdotally, that the records somehow merged? This would be an interesting development into the lifetime rule…anyways back to the retention offer
When I asked the phone rep about any retention offers on my account he went into a fairly long explanation of benefits and the newly announced statement credits. I inquired about my chat session specifically indicating retention offers…he said that there wasn’t anything to do, aside from downgrading, to lower my annual fee. I said that I valued points a lot. Nothing.
At that point, I thought…well this is a sign I shouldn’t keep the card and maybe down the road I’ll receive an upgrade offer on my green or gold, but for the time being…I’ll just cancel my Amex Platinum. So I told him I think it’d be best to cancel
Put on hold
Came back…new offer: Spend $2k in 90 days and get 30k Membership Rewards.
Done deal, and even better than my first offer. I suspect I’ll be able to take advantage of some of the statement credits, but I push my mobile phone bill to my Ink Business Preferred, so I’d really be looking to get the statement credits off of streaming services I use.
The main point of the story is, I was prepared to cancel, and only then was I given the offer to keep. If they hadn’t given another safety net, I was fully prepared to allow it to fade off my credit card portfolio. Keep that in mind.
Note…as of this morning – the bonus had already appeared and I haven’t spent the $2k yet
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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