Annual Fees NOT waived by American Express...

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2020

In the past I have read of annual fees being waived by AMEX on request based on the account. I contacted them to ask for this on one of my accounts. My request was denied. So for those of us with renewals over the next few months, planning to budget these fees might be a good idea, especially during these uncertain times. I suppose it will end up being a case by case consideration. Good luck all and stay safe!

AverageJoesCredit · ‎03-28-2020

Had Amex offered to waive my Bonvoy af i wouldnt have closed it. Im guessing they will only do so for their profitable clients.

K-in-Boston · ‎03-28-2020

I wasn't aware that they were waiving annual fees for anyone outside of SCRA for active duty military, or if the Welcome Offer includes a waived annual fee for the first year. Usually they have retention offers that are either a statement credit, points/miles, or a rewards incentive based on spending a minimal amount. But I don't think waiving an annual fee is on a case-by-case basis; I don't think they waive renewal fees at all except for SCRA.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2020

I suppose that's one way to go by saying I will close the account to have the AF waived. My account just turned 20 years old and I recently had an APR on one of my cards permanently lowered to a single digit. I'm not willing to scarifice 20 years of positive credit history.

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2020

Maybe what I was referring to by "case by case" is when customers threaten to close their accounts. It's definitely not the route I want to go.

kdm31091 · ‎03-28-2020

Amex (and others) will sometimes offer retention bonuses that will offset some of the fee, but it is typically not just a flat out waiver of the fee. Typically the only way you are going to access a retention offer is by stating that you are considering cancelling. Flat out asking for an AF waiver is unlikely to get you anywhere.

simplynoir · ‎03-28-2020

@Anonymous wrote:
Maybe what I was referring to by "case by case" is when customers threaten to close their accounts. It's definitely not the route I want to go.

I think unless you're prepared for the lender to close the account for you to not "threaten" closure of a card. Different wording is definitely better when wanting to go this route on nabbing a waived AF or at least a retention off to offset the fee itself

Anonymous · ‎03-28-2020

The only "waive" I've ever heard or seen about was for certain cards as a SUB for the first year. Existing cardholders looking to get out of paying it have only been successful in retention offers for various amounts for certain spend thresholds. Of course they may be a few that had it waived, but I'd guess they were the very profitable customers.