Disclosure: I receive a commission if you apply & get approved for the credit card mentioned in this post. Thank you for supporting Michael W Travels.

Last week I posted about miles & points earned from credit card sign up bonuses in 2013. While it was a very productive year, I did quite a bit better in 2012.

Over the past couple of years I’ve gotten approved for 5 Citi American Airlines credit cards, earning me 240,000 AAdvantage miles from sign up bonuses.

One of my Citi AA cards from 2012 came up for a fee this month ($85 for the year). I decided to call in and try to get a retention bonus. I was curious to  see if Citi would tempt me with a fair offer to keep this card.

I called the customer service number on the back of my card and explained that I was thinking of closing my card due to a couple of main reasons. I mentioned that for starters, I don’t like paying fees and I also haven’t been using the card much recently since there are superior offers (in a variety of categories) from other credit cards.

The representative was friendly and placed me on hold before I got transferred to another department.

I was again greeted by a friendly representative and I explained my situation one more time. The rep totally understood the points that I made and said that he could offer me a couple of things to make me reconsider closing my account.

I was all ears and listened to what he had to offer.

I was told that if I paid the $85 annual fee I would receive a statement credit for $95 within 2 billing cycles. I thought it was a bit odd that I was offered a credit for more than the annual fee I was calling about but who am I to complain about $10 in profit!

The second part of my offer was also pretty solid. If I spend $1,000 in a billing cycle, I will be awarded 1,000 bonus miles, for up to 16 months.

I felt that this offer was very fair and I didn’t hesitate to accept.

If I decide to fully take advantage of this offer, I will earn $10 and could potentially add 16,000 bonus AAdvantage miles. I realistically expect to earn 12,000 miles from this offer. To earn the full 16K, it will go into next year when another annual fee is due. I highly doubt that Citi would offer me a retention bonus again for this card although you never know.

So what do you think- did Citibank give me a fair retention bonus offer? I think so.

You can add up to 40,000 miles to your American Airlines account by getting a U.S. Airways Premier World Mastercard. Once AA & US Air are fully merged, your Dividend Miles will merge with your AAdvantage account.