Keep Vs. Cancel: SPG Personal

Every year, I get an annual fee for $95, and every year I consider cancelling the SPG Personal. Every year, I call in and see what Amex will do for me. Amex’s retention has been a lot more generous lately. It started earlier this year with my Amex Benz retention bonus. It continued with the SPG personal card. For only spending 1k, I will receive 7k SPG points. That’s a huge bonus. New card holders get 25k for signing up and 7k points can go a long way especially if I stay at Protea hotels in Africa. This may be the last year for the SPG card so I’ll enjoy it while I can.