Trying to figure out how to avoid eating the annual fee on this card for another year. I like the "first bag free" feature of having this card and to a lesser extent, the 10% rewards redemption rebate, but not to the tune of $89.
I signed up for this as the USAirways card back in early 2015 before the AA/USAir merger, knowing that the 50k USAirway miles I earned getting it would be converted to AA miles when the merger was complete. The card was also converted to an AA Aviator Red card. When the first year was up, I called to cancel and was given a retention offer: if I spent $1,500 I'd get 15k bonus miles, which I figured put me in the plus even after paying the annual fee.
This year I called, and all I got was an offer to convert me to the plain Aviator card which doesn't have the first bag benefit (nor any of the other benefits, for that matter). I ended the call.
So now the question is, do I call again and push it and say "the plain card doesn't do anything for me, just cancel the account"? If I do that is it likely they will then give me a retention offer rather than just closing it? Or do I let them close it, then reapply for the card again for another bite of free miles?
Chris.
