topic Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now. in Credit Cards

Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

woodyman100 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 03:47:16 GMT

Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.

Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.

If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

Eagered2succeed — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 03:51:15 GMT

Yea I saw that article too. I wouldn't play with chase at all lol.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 12:34:40 GMT

@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.

Well, the wisdom has always been that you have to prepared for cancellation trying this with any issuer, and there are lots of stories of cancellation when people didn't really want it. But yes, what is new about Chase is that an option can appear during the "real" cancellation procedure. So again, only do this if you don't mind cancelling the card but a good enough offer might change your mind.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

NRB525 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 13:06:34 GMT

For Chase, it's an excellent way to reduce risk: A closed card that was in the hands of a non-spender is that much less open credit risk.

If you aren't really ready to close the card, at any bank, don't go fishing on the retention.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

kdm31091 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 14:10:00 GMT

I'm only surprised it took this long since people have been fishing for offers with no intention of cancelling for years. My guess is they want the "retention" offers to actually be that, and not just bonuses for people who had no intention of closing the card.

Just another avenue of "gaming" that is being shut down.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

CreditCuriosity — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:17:42 GMT

Not really gaming IMO.. When my CSR AF comes up in next two months I will ask if they are going to offer me a 100 credit to bring it down to 450 vs. 550 or I will just ask for a PC to a NO AF CS and once traveling come back to normal whether a few months or sometime next year then I will change back to CSR and get the travel credit, etc and AF will hit a few months later. No sense in paying AF's if you can't use them on on high AF cards.. IHG 49$ card and Marriott card I believe 95$ I won't bother to call as the hotel easily makes up for the AF and certificates have been extended if not mistaken. With that said people got to be smart and not threaten to cancel just downgrade to no AF cards so they can re-up after they can use benefits again. Chase and other banks such as Amex and Citi are getting hit with alot of cancellations of high AF travel cards now, that is a fact. Now if spend say 100-200k a year on CSR/Platinum/etc I would expect a retention offer, but if one only spends say 50k then just do the downgrade route until ready to pay AF again then re-up it.. Just my 2 cents..

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:39:20 GMT

In general sense I can understand them doing this, but during the current crises peoiple are likely not unig these high AF products enough to offset. So people may be interested in some type of retention etc. After all so many other places are allowing defered payments.

Chase though has always been a little more strict compared to others. Heck i've called in twice at Amex to close a couple cards and it never happened, recieved a retention on one last year and then this year I was talked into a downgrade. All for valid reason when expolained to me.

Which TBH I figured they wouldn't mind me closing one considering how many I have with them, and teh one not getting much use as the others. feels like the total opposite of what Chase would do.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

sarge12 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:42:01 GMT

@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.

Wait...what? You mean to tell me people have been calling the CSR threatening to close a card, and getting added bonuses similar to a SUB??? How have I not been aware of this? Would a card issuer possibly bribe me in spite of the fact I have never ever paid them 1 cent in interest, or would that be unlikely? Do thay do a hard pull to determine if you are creditworthy enough to wish to retain you? As long as I have been on these boards how in the heck have I been ignorant of another method of getting more cash from the issuers? I thought I was extracting every possible penny. Would the perhaps do that on my 1% cash back cards that have not had any activity in a year? Is it even a little possible to extract 100 bucks from the TD bank card that I have been expecting AA for non-use? As a strict transactor who always pays every card in full, would it be too risky to rock the boat? Need more info, because I have several cards in the proverbial sock drawer that I have been expecting closure of. This thread has definitely gotten my attention.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

wasCB14 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 16:54:32 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.
Wait...what? You mean to tell me people have been calling the CSR threatening to close a card, and getting added bonuses similar to a SUB??? How have I not been aware of this? Would a card issuer possibly bribe me in spite of the fact I have never ever paid them 1 cent in interest, or would that be unlikely? Do thay do a hard pull to determine if you are creditworthy enough to wish to retain you? As long as I have been on these boards how in the heck have I been ignorant of another method of getting more cash from the issuers? I thought I was extracting every possible penny. Would the perhaps do that on my 1% cash back cards that have not had any activity in a year? Is it even a little possible to extract 100 bucks from the TD bank card that I have been expecting AA for non-use? As a strict transactor who always pays every card in full, would it be too risky to rock the boat? Need more info, because I have several cards in the proverbial sock drawer that I have been expecting closure of. This thread has definitely gotten my attention.

It's less about paying interest and more about high spend on a single AF card. Results are very YMMV. No HP, since you're not trying to open a new account or get new credit. The old classic example was someone spending mid-five figures on an Amex Platinum, much of it earning just 1x, and as a retention offer getting 10k or 20k extra points for a few thousand in spend. But with CSR's broad bonus categories and CFU giving 1.5x, Chase has rarely given offers.

No-AF cards can occasionally get offers, but they tend to be smaller ones like 0% for 6-12 months or an extra $25 in rewards. Past spend isn't necessarily required, but without significant spend such offers may dry up. Again, hugely YMMV. The lack of an AF means the customer has little short-term incentive to walk away.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

kdm31091 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:14:07 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
Not really gaming IMO.. When my CSR AF comes up in next two months I will ask if they are going to offer me a 100 credit to bring it down to 450 vs. 550 or I will just ask for a PC to a NO AF CS and once traveling come back to normal whether a few months or sometime next year then I will change back to CSR and get the travel credit, etc and AF will hit a few months later. No sense in paying AF's if you can't use them on on high AF cards.. IHG 49$ card and Marriott card I believe 95$ I won't bother to call as the hotel easily makes up for the AF and certificates have been extended if not mistaken. With that said people got to be smart and not threaten to cancel just downgrade to no AF cards so they can re-up after they can use benefits again. Chase and other banks such as Amex and Citi are getting hit with alot of cancellations of high AF travel cards now, that is a fact. Now if spend say 100-200k a year on CSR/Platinum/etc I would expect a retention offer, but if one only spends say 50k then just do the downgrade route until ready to pay AF again then re-up it.. Just my 2 cents..

If you're honestly calling with the intent to cancel due to the benefits being unused, I don't see an issue. Obviously during COVID things are different.

I'm moreso referring to the people who call with absolutely no intention of cancelling the card and are just looking for free points, especially during pre-COVID times. My guess is that's who Chase is trying to shut out.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

kdm31091 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:15:50 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.
Wait...what? You mean to tell me people have been calling the CSR threatening to close a card, and getting added bonuses similar to a SUB??? How have I not been aware of this? Would a card issuer possibly bribe me in spite of the fact I have never ever paid them 1 cent in interest, or would that be unlikely? Do thay do a hard pull to determine if you are creditworthy enough to wish to retain you? As long as I have been on these boards how in the heck have I been ignorant of another method of getting more cash from the issuers? I thought I was extracting every possible penny. Would the perhaps do that on my 1% cash back cards that have not had any activity in a year? Is it even a little possible to extract 100 bucks from the TD bank card that I have been expecting AA for non-use? As a strict transactor who always pays every card in full, would it be too risky to rock the boat? Need more info, because I have several cards in the proverbial sock drawer that I have been expecting closure of. This thread has definitely gotten my attention.

Some banks are much more likely to give retention offers than others. Generally speaking Citi and Amex are historically the more generous. Chase less so. Many banks rarely if ever offer retention, like BoA. Not to say it never happens but it's not common.

On no annual fee cards your chances are much lower, though not totally unheard of, but as mentioned the bonus tends to be far smaller.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:21:26 GMT

@sarge12 wrote:
@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.
Wait...what? You mean to tell me people have been calling the CSR threatening to close a card, and getting added bonuses similar to a SUB??? How have I not been aware of this? Would a card issuer possibly bribe me in spite of the fact I have never ever paid them 1 cent in interest, or would that be unlikely? Do thay do a hard pull to determine if you are creditworthy enough to wish to retain you? As long as I have been on these boards how in the heck have I been ignorant of another method of getting more cash from the issuers? I thought I was extracting every possible penny. Would the perhaps do that on my 1% cash back cards that have not had any activity in a year? Is it even a little possible to extract 100 bucks from the TD bank card that I have been expecting AA for non-use? As a strict transactor who always pays every card in full, would it be too risky to rock the boat? Need more info, because I have several cards in the proverbial sock drawer that I have been expecting closure of. This thread has definitely gotten my attention.

To answer one of your questions: I don't know how you are not aware of it! (As a side note, anyone who thinks they know all the tricks is probably wrong. Except for me) Flyertalk has subforums dedicated to data points on recent retention offers per card for example.

In general, high spend is the key. But a common example used to be Citi's AA cards, they would nearly always give offers to offset the AF, usually with some spend requirement, spend $100 a month for 6 months and we will give you a bonus 9500 miles or whatever, even on accounts with no spend in the previous year. These things are constantly changing (hence the FT forums!) and what worked for one person might not work for someone with an apparently similar profile.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

wasCB14 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 17:31:11 GMT

@kdm31091 wrote:
Some banks are much more likely to give retention offers than others. Generally speaking Citi and Amex are historically the more generous. Chase less so. Many banks rarely if ever offer retention, like BoA. Not to say it never happens but it's not common.

On no annual fee cards your chances are much lower, though not totally unheard of, but as mentioned the bonus tends to be far smaller.

Maybe BofA sees it as:

Platinum Honors customers don't need retention on core cards, due to the excellent rewards they already get.

Airline loyalists don't need retention, due to perks they already get.

Other customers either aren't very profitable...or are profitable and don't have a ton of alternatives.

I got at least 3 retention offers on Prestige between 2016 and 2018. I never called without being genuinely willing to close the card, though.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

jdbkiang — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:08:19 GMT

The problem is, with Chase, you can reopen cards after 30 days. So unless that rule was also changed, this honestly doesn't do much...

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

CreditCuriosity — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:41:46 GMT

@jdbkiang wrote:
The problem is, with Chase, you can reopen cards after 30 days. So unless that rule was also changed, this honestly doesn't do much...

huge impact dues to ppl over 5/24 and believe unless recently changed if not eligable for bonus they auto decline a card as well so a double whammy

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

jdbkiang — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 19:47:47 GMT

@CreditCuriosity wrote:
@jdbkiang wrote:
The problem is, with Chase, you can reopen cards after 30 days. So unless that rule was also changed, this honestly doesn't do much...
huge impact dues to ppl over 5/24 and believe unless recently changed if not eligable for bonus they auto decline a card as well so a double whammy

Sorry, confused. What do you mean?

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

TSlop — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:11:45 GMT

I did this last year, but mine was more of a partial bluff; I had fully intended to downgrade my CSP if they didn't offer a retention. I simply asked for a retention offer after my first AF hit, and when they said there is currently not one available, I played "dumb" and said I either want to close it, or downgrade it and get a refund if that was a possibility. They of course immediately gave me the options of the CS and CFU (I had a CF). While this route didn't get me through the cancelling process to see if something would actually pop up, I knew they could, and probably would, call my bluff. I was not willing to let it cancel.

On a side note, I also upgraded back to the CSP on 1/26 and I still haven't been charged the AF....

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

wasCB14 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:16:06 GMT

@jdbkiang wrote:
@CreditCuriosity wrote:
@jdbkiang wrote:
The problem is, with Chase, you can reopen cards after 30 days. So unless that rule was also changed, this honestly doesn't do much...
huge impact dues to ppl over 5/24 and believe unless recently changed if not eligable for bonus they auto decline a card as well so a double whammy
Sorry, confused. What do you mean?

Chase has a 48-month rule with some cards.

"The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months."

That plus 5/24 means that it's not easy for many people on MF to get a new account after closing...especially if, as CC says, Chase declines applications from people who are ineligible for the SUB.

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

CreditCuriosity — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:40:38 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@jdbkiang wrote:
@CreditCuriosity wrote:
@jdbkiang wrote:
The problem is, with Chase, you can reopen cards after 30 days. So unless that rule was also changed, this honestly doesn't do much...
huge impact dues to ppl over 5/24 and believe unless recently changed if not eligable for bonus they auto decline a card as well so a double whammy
Sorry, confused. What do you mean?
Chase has a 48-month rule with some cards.

"The product is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of any Sapphire credit card who received a new cardmember bonus within the last 48 months."

That plus 5/24 means that it's not easy for many people on MF to get a new account after closing...especially if, as CC says, Chase declines applications from people who are ineligible for the SUB.

What @wasCB14 said.. was on a work meeting call while typing so not very clear. 5/24 will eliminate alot of people as mentioned and at least a year or two ago unless it has changed if you aren't eligible for the sub Chase will decline you for that reason as well.. So say you are under 5/24 and had the CSP and got the sub and 1.5 years later closed it, you can't re-open until sub is/was available again. This is last I heard how they did business, unless that has changed which it could of. So two reasons not to shut a card then re-apply if they "call you out"

Re: Chase calling your retention bonus Bluff now.

sarge12 — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 20:58:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@sarge12 wrote:
@woodyman100 wrote:
Just read a story about Chase calling your bluff when fishing for retention bonuses.
Basically you can no longer hint at a retention offer.
If you say you might want to cancel then the CSR initiates the action.
If during that process a retention offer pops up then you have the option to accept and keep the card.
Otherwise you are now minus a card.
Wait...what? You mean to tell me people have been calling the CSR threatening to close a card, and getting added bonuses similar to a SUB??? How have I not been aware of this? Would a card issuer possibly bribe me in spite of the fact I have never ever paid them 1 cent in interest, or would that be unlikely? Do thay do a hard pull to determine if you are creditworthy enough to wish to retain you? As long as I have been on these boards how in the heck have I been ignorant of another method of getting more cash from the issuers? I thought I was extracting every possible penny. Would the perhaps do that on my 1% cash back cards that have not had any activity in a year? Is it even a little possible to extract 100 bucks from the TD bank card that I have been expecting AA for non-use? As a strict transactor who always pays every card in full, would it be too risky to rock the boat? Need more info, because I have several cards in the proverbial sock drawer that I have been expecting closure of. This thread has definitely gotten my attention.
To answer one of your questions: I don't know how you are not aware of it! (As a side note, anyone who thinks they know all the tricks is probably wrong. Except for me) Flyertalk has subforums dedicated to data points on recent retention offers per card for example.

In general, high spend is the key. But a common example used to be Citi's AA cards, they would nearly always give offers to offset the AF, usually with some spend requirement, spend $100 a month for 6 months and we will give you a bonus 9500 miles or whatever, even on accounts with no spend in the previous year. These things are constantly changing (hence the FT forums!) and what worked for one person might not work for someone with an apparently similar profile.

Perhaps I had heard it before but knew my profile would not qualify. I don't have but 1 card with an AF, the blue cash preferred that AMEX bribed me to upgrade to from blue cash everyday. The bribe was 300 dollars and it increased the grocery rewards to 6%. I think with helping my Sister on some groceries, it is probably getting me more than the 89$ AF in savings from the extra 3%. That would require 3000 dollars a year in groceries to get 180 dollars rewards, because the everyday would get me 90 dollars. It is not a huge difference either way, but the 300 bribe made it a no-brainer. It appears that I would never get a retention bonus, and once trying brought to their attention the fact I have never payed them a penny in interest it might have the opposit effect. In any case with all the SUBS, rewards, and even that 300 buck PC bonus, I am making out like a bandit so perhaps I should fly under the radar. I keep expecting them to tire of paying me so much to use their money interest free anyway. For some time I have gotten at least 3% on everything, 5% on amazon, and 6% on groceries. The HSBC had 12 months at 3% and State Farm has 3% on insurance. Chase Amazon prime and the AMEX blue cash preferred completes that. In 6 months I may take another 3% offer. If I was not disabled and never travel, I would have long ago gotten one of these premium travel cards like the CSR. Now if I could just talk my mortgage holder into taking credit cards I would be set, because that is practically the only thing I don't put on a card. Due to this virus, even my tax office is waiving the convenience fees to pay the property taxes on vehicles.