Credit Card FF Program Retention/Waive Fee
 

Hi, Fodorites!

I have a Citi Aadvantage Visa card that I've had for 20+ years. My annual fee is $50, due in a few months. I no longer want to pay this fee, as I recently signed up for the Amex card which rewards me more easily without a fee. Also, I get my AA miles mainly through other channels (flights, aadvantage shopping, rental cars, mktg. surveys, etc.)

My question is, what do you think my chances are in getting my annual fee waived? I never pay interest (i.e. pay off each month), and I used to charge around $500-800/month 4 months ago, but rerouted my spending to my new Amex card.

Anyone have similar circumstances and experiences? Any advice how to request this fee be waived, as I'm not what would be considered all that "desirable" a card holder (to Citibank).

Thank you in advance for any insights.

Phone and ask. Citi has been known to waive or greatly reduce the fee in cases like yours. Worst case is they say no. It won't hurt your credit rating one bit.

I am guessing you want to retain the card as a back up. That will indeed not make you a 'desirable' customer. Having said that, it never hurts to ask.

Are you banking with Citbank? If so, I would tell them you have been a loyal customer for 20 years but in comparing what they are offering you relative to other cards, you now find it difficult to justify staying with them.

I would go beyond asking them to waive the $50 fee. I would ask them to match what Amex is offering you. Tell them that if they look at your credit card account, they will see you have switched RELUCTANTLY.

With calls like this, I always start by using a well worded phrase that is known as 'the 8 magic words'. 'I have a problem, I need your help.' Those specific words trigger the subconscious of most people. They want to help you.

You aren't calling to complain, you are calling them asking for help to keep dealing with them. See the difference?

Forgot to add, ask if they have a 'loyalty department'. Many large organizations do, I don't know about Citibank. If they do, the loyalty department usually has a lot of discretion in how they respond.

I recently called my phone/internet/tv service provider after an annual price increase showed up on my bill.
I said, 'you make offers to get new customers but what about loyal customers? I'm a retiree on a pretty fixed income and I can't keep accepting increases in my bill. I'm looking at dropping to lower packages for my tv and internet to cut some cost but then I don't really have what I want. 'I have a problem, I need your help.'

Within 5 minutes they dropped my bill from $200 a month to $150.

Citi will waive the fee if they want to keep you. However, if you have already stopped using the card they may well not care whether they keep you.

Thanks for the feedback. @dulciu- will try the "magic words!" Wish me luck. Certainly seemed to help with your cable bill. (I may try that on RCN next.)

I posted the same question on flyertalk as I thought they they were the experts on FF programs. They recommended I review this really long posting on FF offers and gave little advice. I think they are more interested in highlighting FF mile offers/cards and "churning" through cards. Not really something I'm interested in doing. Seems like you'd hurt your credit rating that way.

Thanks again for the feedback. I'll post back with the results.

Ok... so, just called the Citi Retention Dept. (800-444-2568) and got right through to a rep. I was very polite and used the "magic words," and mentioned that 1) I hoped they could waive the fee coming up in the spring, and 2) that my Amex card (w/no fee, and awesome point program) was a card I was using more and more.

The rep initially said she was powerless to waive the fee. So I asked, because I said I do fly American Airlines and have been happy with the program, if she might be able to offer a mileage bonus (if I did some future spending) or increase the miles-per-dollar spent, and again she said she had nothing.

So I sighed and said, "so my only option then is to close the account?" and she put me on hold to "plead my case" to her supervisor. 40 seconds later, she was back to offer a credit (for the amount of my fee) on my account if I made 5 eligible purchases in the next 3 months--which is easily done.

So, I am happy with the result. I am still on the hook for the fee, but as I need to make five purchases in the next 3 months anyway, it'll be a wash, and I'm okay with that.

Call took 7 minutes, and the rep was very nice... though we both knew what was up. Using the C-word was really what she needed to hear. Glad I can keep my card.

Glad it worked out ok.

Amex cards have fees. I am guessing that your new card has the fee waived for the first year only.

The Amex Blue Sky card does not, fortunately. I made sure, before applying, that it wasn't a 1-year-old waive situation.