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I Closed my AMEX Hilton Ascend Credit Card & Received a $95 Statement Credit (Refunded Annual Fee)

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Good morning everyone, happy Friday.  When I was doing research for my previous Hilton post (Hilton Ascend Credit Card: Unlink Citi Card; Set up AMEX Card; View AMEX Offers; Call for Retention Offers), I closed one of my American Express Hilton Ascend Credit Cards.  A few days later, I logged back into American Express and saw a $95 statement credit on my account.  That was surprising since I hadn’t used the credit card in several months before it was converted from Citi to American Express.  I did some digging and found out that the $95 was a refund of my annual fee.

a screenshot of a credit card

Without asking, American Express processed an annual fee refund to my closed American Express Hilton Ascend Credit Card.

a screenshot of a computer

What is even stranger, the $95 annual fee from my Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card posted on March 3, 2017.  That is almost 11 months ago, but I received the full annual fee refund.  I’m not complaining, I am just surprised.

a screenshot of a receipt

I then live chatted with American Express.  I asked the rep to transfer the $95 credit balance to my other American Express credit card.  Here is the cleaned up version of our chat:

  • AMEX: Hi Grant, how can I help you today?
  • Grant: I want to transfer the $95 credit balance from my Hilton Honors Ascend Card (XXXXX) to my Blue Business Plus Credit Card (XXXXX).
  • AMEX: Let me check the card accounts and I will help you with transfer. Am I chatting with Grant?
  • Grant: Thank you, yes this is Grant Thomas.
  • AMEX: Thank you for confirming your name! One moment while I look up your account.
  • Grant: Thank you, I really appreciate your help.
  • AMEX: A credit balance inquiry has been opened. The request can take up to 7 business days to complete. However in most cases the adjustment is processed in 48-72 hours.
  • Grant: Perfect, thank you. That was my only question. Have a great day.
  • AMEX: It was my pleasure to assist you today. Thank you for choosing American Express, please click on the X in the top right of the chat window to complete our Exit Survey. Have a nice one!

There you have it, if you close your American Express Hilton Ascend Credit Card, you may receive a $95 statement credit as a refund of the $95 annual fee, regardless of when your annual fee was billed by Citi.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!


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4 thoughts on “I Closed my AMEX Hilton Ascend Credit Card & Received a $95 Statement Credit (Refunded Annual Fee)

  1. Dominik

    Had a similar experience when closing SPG card few months ago. In my case I was applying for AMEX card, but due to being at the max number of cards had to close one of my accounts. Ended up closing SPG card for which the annual fee was paid about 6 months before. Like you I was surprised that the annual fee was credited back to the account. I didn’t transfer the credit to another account and ended up getting a check from AMEX a month or so later.

    Reply
    1. Grant Post author

      Good to know. I think Amex changed the rules on prorated annual fee refunds on their Platinum cards, but I don’t know what their current policy is for lower end cards.

      Reply
      1. Nick F.

        I did a chat with a regular rep via their website, and he said they would only refund annual fees within 30 days of fees appearing on the account. Also, no promos on my account yet, but they told me to check back in a few days. My only downgrade option for the Ascend card was the no-fee Hilton card.

        Reply
        1. Grant Post author

          Interesting, you had totally different answers to all my answers. I wonder if you call back again, if you will get different answers again.

          Reply

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