Yesterday I wrote about My Amex Platinum Card Retention Offer. While my offer of 6,000 Membership Rewards points or a $50 statement credit was nothing to get overly excited about, many would agree that something is still better than nothing!
I knew that retention offers varied from American Express and found out a couple of things from reader’s comments.
- Retention offers seemed to vary from 1,500 – 25,000 Membership Rewards points
- Due to the loss of American Airlines/ US Airways lounge access, Amex was giving many people an additional incidental credit of $100 – $200 in late March. (I heard about this offer when lounge access changes were announced but I was not offered an additional credit during my initial call.)
Not being one to just accept what I was given (& inspired by your comments) I decided to place another call to the Amex Membership Services Department (800-452-3945).
I called up the Membership Services Department and was greeted by a very friendly rep. I went on to explain how I had called regarding my annual fee a couple of days back etc… I then mentioned how some friends (readers) had been offered an additional incidentals credit due to the upcoming loss of AA/US Air lounges.
She was familiar with the offer and asked if I was read a really long disclosure when I had previously called. This didn’t sound familiar and I said how when those kinds of things are read to me, I can’t say that I pay full attention. She also told me that the additional credit was not noted in my account but she would add it!
Before being read the long and boring disclosure I asked how the new $200 incidentals credit worked and was immediately corrected and told $100.
I asked why some were getting $200 while other got $100. I give her credit for her honesty. She stated that she really did not know. Fair enough.
After being read the disclosure I had a couple of more questions.
- When exactly does the additional credit kick in? After March 22
- I currently have Southwest designated as my qualifying airline. Is the additional incidental credit good with Southwest or only on AA/ US Air (and do I have to switch my designated airline to AA/ US Air)? The additional credit is exclusive to AA/ US Air and no I do no need to change my designated airline.
So there you have it. Another (under 10 minutes) phone call got me $100 more in value from my Platinum card. I look at it as a wash since I will currently be paying the fee in hopes of a sweet transfer bonus being offered by Amex in the near future.
Dave- I would not settle for no as an answer. Call customer service, explain your situation and ask for a supervisor. When that fails, ask who you can write to resolve the issue.
Greg- I was told a few days ago by Amex customer service that they do not keep track of how many visits card members makes to the lounges. I think it is more tied in with spend placed on the card but that is just my guess.
I have heard that whether you get $100 or $200 credit for losing AA and US lounges depends on how much you took advantage of the benefit previously.
AmEx promised me a credit via chat, which I captured. I followed up later when it was not received and they are playing games with me. They said they made an error and cannot offer the credit anymore. FRUSTRATING.