Update 7AM:  I just called Chase and got a $95 statement credit on my Chase Ink Bold MasterCard and I moved my credit line from my SPG American Express Credit Card to my Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card.  See tonight’s post for more information.

Planning for Retention Bonuses for a Chase Ink Bold MasterCard and an SPG American Express Credit Card

There comes a time in every credit card’s life when you have to make a very important decision – do you pay the annual fee and keep the credit card another year or do you cancel the credit card to avoid paying the annual fee?  Like most things in life, there is a secret third option, which I like to call Door 3, aka the Retention Bonus.  Behind Door 3, you get the best of both worlds – keep the credit card for another year and avoid paying the annual fee.

I’ve had pretty good success in the past regarding the Chase Ink Bold MasterCard (5,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points or $47.50 statement credit) and the Chase United MileagePlus Credit Card (2 more United Club Passes and 10,000 United miles).  Ideally you want to call 10, 11, or 12 months from the day you were approved for the credit card, right before the annual fee posts to your account.

The term retention bonus means waiving the annual fee, providing a statement credit that offsets the annual fee, or bonus miles/points that offset the annual fee.  Some credit card companies will make you spend a certain amount of money every month to get the retention bonus.  To ensure the highest possibility of a retention bonus, here are my tips:

1. Make sure your credit card is paid off and has a $0 balance.
2. Make sure all transferable points have been spent/redeemed/transferred already.
3. Have 1 or 2 good reasons why you want to cancel the credit card.

As for my Chase Ink Bold MasterCard, I was recently approved for a Chase Ink Bold Visa in mid March (app-o-rama) and both credit cards are for the exact same business.  I don’t need 2 credit cards for the same business and don’t want to pay for 2 annual fees.  I also like the Visa credit card perks more than the MasterCard.  The Visa business credit card is eligible for 1% cash back on Staples purchases through the Visa Savings Edge program.  Those reasons are rock solid in my opinion.

As for my SPG American Express Credit Card, I really haven’t used this credit card much this year.  Since Starwood “enhanced” their award chart last year, there haven’t been as many good deals as in the past.  I don’t care about elite stay and night credits because I get free SPG Gold Status just for having my Mercedes Benz Platinum American Express Credit Card (other perks).  Honestly, what does the annual fee give you?  All other hotel credit cards provide a free night every anniversary, but not the SPG American Express credit card.

Going back to the 3 tips I mentioned before, you should have a $0 balance because even if you wanted to close your credit card, the credit card company wouldn’t let you because you would have to pay off the full balance first.  If you are serious or “serious” about closing your credit card, have a $0 balance.

As for the next tip, make sure all your transferable points (Chase Ultimate Reward Points and American Express Membership Rewards Points) have been spent, redeemed for something, transferred to another points earning credit card, or (preferably) transferred to one of their travel partners.  Here is what you should do for Chase Ultimate Reward Points:

Log into your Chase account and view all your Chase Ultimate Reward credit cards.  Make sure the card you want to cancel has 0 points left in the account.  Uh oh, my Chase Ink Bold MasterCard has 25,540 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points left in my account.  All I need to do is move them from my Chase Ink Bold MasterCard to my Chase Ink Bold Visa.  To do that, click the Go to Ultimate Rewards link next to the card you want to transfer points from.

Then click the Combine Points link at the top of the page.

Select which credit card you want to move points from and which credit card you want to move points to.  Then click on the top option to move all points.

Preview the transaction and make sure the Chase Ultimate Rewards Points are going to the correct account.

Congratulations, your Chase Ultimate Reward Points transfer is complete.

Your credit card will now have 0 Chase Ultimate Rewards Points.

Back in your Chase account, your new Chase Ultimate Reward Points balances should now be up to date.

Now you can call Chase and tell them “you are thinking of closing the card because the annual fee is too high – can you waive the annual fee for me?”  Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post where I will share my audio recordings for both my retention calls.  Fingers crossed :)

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.