Introduction
There’s a spectrum of what churning blogs will talk about, ranging from ultra low frequency things like fuel dumps to an onslaught of affiliate card articles for the new big bank special. Somewhere close to the fuel dump end of that spectrum is discussion about credit card retention offers. Retention isn’t mentioned much, not because it’s a fragile secret, but rather most credit card affiliates relationships forbid bloggers from discussing it at all. Fortunately (?) though, I’m not burdened with affiliate relationships.
The Call
Retention offers encourage you to hold on to a card you might otherwise cancel, and should it help your mental model you can think of them as a secondary sign-up bonus for the same card. The mechanics of getting a retention offer are simple, call the number on the back of your card and say something like:
I was considering closing my card ending in [XXXX] because [reason], but before I decide what to do I was wondering if there were any retention offers?
Most banks will have an offer on most cards, and some banks, especially Citi and American Express, often have multiple offers available and occasionally won’t give the best one first. So, assuming an offer is available, the next thing to say is something like:
Hmm, thanks. Are there any different retention offers or than this one available?
You may have to do this multiple times to get the best offer.
The Juice
What do backs offer for retention? Typically something like:
- American Express: 15,000-120,000 points (or equivalent statement credit) with some spend
- Chase: $100-$300 statement credit
- Citi: $100-$200 statement credit, bonus multiples on all spend, or an annual fee waiver
- Barclays: Annual fee waiver
- US Bank: Annual fee waiver, $100-$300 statement credit
This works on no-annual fee cards and on co-branded cards too.
The Gotchas
Some banks, especially American Express, see retention as a two-way street. If you get a retention offer, plan on keeping that card open for at least 366 days unless you want to be banished to pop-up jail and have a (low probability) retention bonus clawback.
Have a nice Thursday friends!
Alternative retention script (may not work as well).