is there any way amex can claw back the delta sub if i cancel card after 5 months?

[midwestsunshine]

short story, i am done with amex & want to cancel a 5 month old card.  the delta miles from the sub are in my delta freq flyer account.  is there anyway amex can take them back?  thank you

[K-in-Boston]

Yes, they can.  Whether they will is up to the RAT team (I hate that term; it's like "VIN number" or "ATM machine" or "UPC code").  Is there any pressing reason for you to close it today rather than 7 months from now after the annual fee has been charged and you have 30 days to cancel without paying that?

[midwestsunshine]

well, they really annoyed me yesterday, but that isn't a good reason.  i will take your advice and wait.  thank you for your help.

[K-in-Boston]

Other than for returns and manufactured spending, I am not aware of any data points of them actually clawing back SkyMiles, but like I said they can and it was in the application agreement.  If the miles have already been used, they can still receive the miles back from Delta that they have paid for (they have a direct feed to Delta, which is why your SkyMiles balance shows in your Amex account, compared to say Marriott where it will just show points earned on your card year to date) and you would be left with a negative balance.  That would then be up to Delta to handle, and the terms of your SkyMiles agreement state that they can charge you the normal price to purchase SkyMiles (3.5 cents each, or $350 per 10k miles) if you do not bring your balance back up to 0.

Keep in mind that even if you close it at the 1 year mark, that may still prevent you from being eligible for future Welcome Offers on any American Express Card.  That would have to be a pretty big annoyance to consider burning that bridge, especially if you are a Delta flyer.

[Anonymous]

I was in a similar situation last year.  Wife really didn't want to pay the annual fee for the first time, and really wanted me to close the card before it was assessed.  The rep didn't give me any notice or warning on the closure when I was talking to them.  And not even any pushback or attempts to get me to stay.  I later got an email that indicated they'd try to claw back the miles.  Yikes!

Called back 2-3 days later after that email arrived.  Requested to reopen my account.  They could do that, but the claw back would still occur.  So what's the point?  Looks like I'll never get a Amex Gold bonus ever in the future.  Whatever.

Thing is, I do like Delta, and would fly them unless a significantly lower price on another airline was found.

[wasCB14]

I waited until the AF hit on my Bonvoy Brilliant card (Marriott Amex personal $450 AF). 2 or 3 days later I called and got $446.xx of the AF reversed and was billed $94.xx for the $95 AF card I downgraded to.

I was expecting a 35k certificate (what the $95 card gets), but almost 3 months later my Bonvoy account still shows a 50k certificate (what the $450 card gets). Not exactly sure when it posted, but it expires late May 2021.

Point being...wait for the AF to hit.

[recoveringfrombk7]

@wasCB14 Super Contributor holllaaa

[wasCB14]

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@recoveringfrombk7 wrote:

@wasCB14 Super Contributor holllaaa

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One does wonder what makes 5703 posts different than 5702.

But "I got the higher AF perk while paying the lower AF" is a way to do it in style.