The first card as a formal churner was the SPG Amex personal. I used the sign up bonus to go to Bahamas and met the min spend by going to New Orleans. This was way back in 2011 when the annual fee was only $65 and I had no idea what I was doing.
Today the fee has increased to $95, something TPOL had predicted would happen as a result of the no foreign transaction fee addition. As I had written, there are no benefits that justify a fee increase which is why I’m debating if I should cancel this card.
The only reason I kept it before is because it provided two stay credits towards earning platinum. Now that SPG has broken my heart by joining Marriott, the status of the SPG program is up in the air.
Furthermore, I always end up with more than the 25 stays required to hit platinum rendering this feature useless.
What to do, what to do? Step 1: Call and ask for a statement credit. While this process gets old, it’s all a part of the game.
Remember those people boinking on the balcony overlooking the party? Also, guy who got left behind by the cruise ship. That was my dude!
I remember making others pay for transport and my quest for sugar free redbull.
I cancelled mine as welll
Yeah I used to just pay for this one out of habit but I’ll pass this time.
Keep!
What! Why? I thought for sure you’d say cancel. I still have spg business.
Well, if the 5 additional nights no big deal for you (sorta like mattress run for $95), then cancel. I’m keeping my biz SPG card – canceled the personal long time ago.
It’s just 2 additional nights but that’s an interesting way to look at it. Is 2 nights worth $95 or will I naturally get to the 25 nights on my own. Historically I always have though it gives me stress throughout the year making sure I do. Then year end comes and I’ve hit 50 and don’t know how. I agree with keeping the business for now because of the SPG points it earns. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out with the Marriott merger.
Don’t forget to factor in the Amex Sync bonuses that you can get on the main card as well as additional cards. I have found that the Amex Sync offers outweigh the annual renewal fee, yet I never really hear people mentioning that.
If the offers are within your normal spending, then I agree they are good, especially when it’s Amazon. But when you have to pay $95 for SPG personal, $95 for SPG business, $175 BRG, $450 Amex Platinum, $450 Amex Business Platinum…there’s only so much one can rationalize/afford.
Yeah, that number above does not reflect the $50 AirBNB credit and $15 Amazon credit I still have to use across all my Amex cards. I was going to cancel my Platinum Business this year, but Amex sync has saved me $600 so far, so with that and the airline credit I may just keep it.
Go Blue! I’m from Michigan as well…
I like how they’ve made the offers more easy to find. Before you had to scroll over, now you can scroll down. I’ll admit I can’t be bothered to check it all the time like some bloggers so I’m probably leaving money on the table.
I’m from Flint (Grand Blanc), Umich class of ’03.
On a side note, I checked out your blog. I love BA and am from Michigan myself. Judging by your favicon, you’re a fellow Michigan man. #goblue