February 12, 2020|AMEX, Retention Bonus

by Eric Lipkind

Given the fantastic sign-on bonuses AMEX has been offering which gave upwards of 75,000-100,000 points, many people signed up for new cards last year.  One such card I signed up for was the Gold Delta Amex card.  I received 75,000 Delta Skymiles upon account opening with minimum spend.

The first year, the card had no annual fee.   The card just hit the one year mark and I was charged a $95 annual fee.  A few days after I was charged, the card benefits changed a bit and the new fee would have been $99.

Some of the new benefits include a $100 Delta credit after spending $10,000 in the year and 2X miles at restaurants and supermarkets.  However, some benefits went away like the Medallion Qualifying Dollars waiver and discounted Delta club access.

As I’m not a fan of annual fees, I called the AMEX retention line at (800) 452-3945 and asked what they could offer me to not cancel the card. I was first offered a $100 credit (which would offset the annual fee) if I spent $2,500 on the card in the next 3 months.   I wanted to see if they could do better so I asked what else they could offer.  They came back with 12,500 Delta Skymiles if I spent $2,500 in the next 3 months.  Based on the value of Skymiles, that is worth about $150.  I asked if there were any other offers and was told no, so I gladly accepted the 12,500 mile offer.  If I spend the $2,500 on non-category spend, I will end up earning 15,000 Skymiles (2,500 from purchases + 12,500 from bonus).   If you divide that into the annual fee, it comes out to $.006 cents as the cost per mile, which is a great bargain.

This will work on most AMEX cards, however, I have been told you will only get offers on a particular card every other year.

It never hurts to ask to get free miles!

AMEX Gold Delta Skymiles referral link:

http://refer.amex.us/ERICLVlVa?xl=cp01