Thank you for everyone who entered my giveaway contest (link). Some of guesses were pretty close, but there can only be two winners (according to the rules I created).
The two winners are Smarterman64 (indeed smarter than everyone else) and Brian (anagram for brain). I will send you a $10 Amazon eGift Card to your email address, so look for those emails shortly.
One of my friends asked me about Chase Ink Bold retention bonuses this afternoon. I told him I asked for my $95 annual fee to be waived and Chase responded by issuing a $95 statement credit to my account (see original post). My friend told me that he was only given one retention bonus offer: spend $5,000 in 3 months and receive 10,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points. Since that was the only offer given to my friend, he took the retention bonus. My question to you (all of you are my students, I am your sensei), if you were give the option to take a $95 statement credit or complete the spending bonus, which would you pick?
Answer now before going on…
(Hat Tip to Gary for the heads up on the new American Express Platinum Credit Card Perk)
For those of you with an American Express Platinum Credit Card (Personal, Business, or Mercedes Benz version), there is a new perk available. American Express and partnered with Boingo to offer free unlimited WiFi at over 1 million Boingo hotspots around the world. To sign up, click this link.
This morning, I made two short calls to American Express and Chase to close two credit cards. I tried asking for retention bonuses or to waive the annual fees last month (read Retention Bonus Results for a Chase United, AMEX Delta, and Citi American Airlines Credit Card), but wanted to see if I would have better luck calling again. I didn’t expect much in terms of retention offers, I probably spend less than $1,000 total on both of these cards over the last 12 months, so I was prepared to close the cards if I didn’t get a good offer. If you are curious, you can listen to the 9 minutes call below, or download it here: AMEX Delta and Chase United Recon Calls.m4a
After striking out getting a retention offer on my American Express Gold Delta SkyMiles Credit Card, I asked if it was possible to convert the card to an AMEX Everyday (or Preferred) credit card. The agent said it was not possible at this time, so I instead asked for the $5,000 credit line be moved to my American Express Blue Cash Preferred Credit Card. Instead of moving the entire amount, the agent was only able to move $4,500 over, keeping $500 with the Delta credit card. I have to wait a few days for the request to be processed and wait for a letter in the mail from American Express. After the credit line has been moved, I will call back and officially close my Delta credit card. I wish American Express was instant like Chase… Continue reading
Good morning, here are my results from my recent three card retention bonus challenge (read the intro here). If you want to listen to all three reconsideration calls (24 minutes long), please click the play button below. Download link (3-Card-Reconsideration-Calls.m4a).
Here are my results and plans going forward…
Card #1: Chase United MileagePlus Credit Card