MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.
The ThankYou Premier’s offer has expired. Click here for the top current credit card offers for free trav
I got the Citi Prestige® Card this week. (Here’s why I got the Citi Prestige.) It makes two of the other cards I have less valuable.
- The Citi ThankYou® Premier Card is flipping its category bonuses on April 19 to nearly mirror the category bonuses I’ll have with the Citi Prestige® Card. I only need one card that earns 3x on flights and hotels and 2x on travel and dining, and the Prestige is fine for that.
- The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® comes with Admirals Club membership. The Citi Prestige® Card comes with access to Admirals Club for me plus two guests (or a spouse and all kids) when flying American Airlines or US Airways and access to Priority Pass lounges worldwide. I only need one card for lounge access, and the Prestige is better.
For that reason, I decided to call Citi and ask about canceling my Citi ThankYou® Premier Card and Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® to see what retention bonuses they’d offer.
Citi ThankYou Premier Retention Offer
I just called the number on the back of my ThankYou Premier and told the agent I wanted to cancel the card in order to be transferred to a retention specialist. He offered me:
- A $125 statement credit if I spend $3,000 in the next three months.
- A $125 statement credit and 1,000 bonus ThankYou Points if I spend $1,000 per month for the next three billing cycles.
If you’re only given one offer, ask if there are any others. Sometimes not all offers are given so easily, and offers vary by account.
I asked him to put the second offer on my account. I wasn’t planning to cancel this card, and this is a nice bonus that works perfectly for me. I am already in the middle of spending $3,000 by mid-May because the card has a split sign up bonus, and I am in the first three months of my second year of being a cardmember.
Citi AAdvantage Executive Offer
While still on the phone, I asked the agent about my Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®. Again, after prodding, I got two offers:
- 1,000 bonus American Airlines miles every billing cycle that I spend at least $1,000 for the next 16 billing cycles. That’s up to 16,000 bonus miles.
- 2 Admirals passes every billing cycle that I spend at least $1,000 for the next 16 billing cycles. That’s up to 32 Admirals Club passes. I must have misunderstood this offer because I can’t believe 32 passes are being offered. I also don’t see much value since the card offers free entry into Admirals Clubs automatically.
I asked for the first offer to be applied to my account. That’s 2 miles per dollar on all purchases on the card as long as you spend just over $1,000 per month. I’m not sure I’ll use the card enough to earn the bonus, but in case, I don’t want to miss out.
In the end, I didn’t cancel either card. I will probably call back in June to cancel my Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® before its $450 annual fee is due. After all, I have a Citi Prestige® Card, which offers me Admirals Club access.
Bottom Line
If you’re thinking of canceling a card, call in to see what offers you get to keep it, regardless of the issuer of the card. You don’t need to wait until an annual fee is due.
If you have the Citi ThankYou® Premier Card, you may get extra bonus miles and a statement credit while you’re unlocking the second part of the card’s sign up bonus like I was offered.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.
Hi Scott, I have a question if u don’t mind..
I need a one way ticket for 3 people from CDG to IAH on Sunday April 26th using American Airlines miles, I keep looking at the AA.com website but there’s never an availability on that day for saver award option, only 65000 tickets are available (the date is fixed unfortunately).
I am not sure if I can use the AA miles at the saver level (20000) per person on partner airlines, would that be possible? Or would it cost more on the partner airlines? Any suggestions are very appreciated.
Thx in advance
Just spent few minutes trying to do this (had some time today), and hope it is somewhat helpful. I could not find availability from CDG on 04/26, but found availability from Madrid on that date for 3 people in Economy. Flight details below.
AA 37 MAD 04/26 10:45 DFW 04/26 15:00
AA2326 DFW 04/26 17:10 IAH 04/26 18:28
To get from Paris to Madrid, you could take an Iberia flight on the night of 25th (if that works for your schedule) and overnight there. It should not increase the mileage price of the ticket, though there will be some additional taxes that you will have to pay. The flight detail is below:
IB3411 ORY 04/25 20:15 MAD 04/25 22:20
I am unsure of the MCT at MAD airport, but if it is 1 hour or less and if Iberia opens up economy space on IB3401 for 04/26 later, you can change your AA award reservation without any fees so that your layover in MAD reduces from 12 hours to 1 hour.
Would you recommend doing this even if you’re not really cancelling a particular card, just to see what is offered?
I did basically the same thing a couple of weeks ago with the prestige and exec card. my prestige fee is only 350 since I am already citigold.
the retention offer which I did not accept was a statement credit of 250.
The retention offer that I received on my Exec card was $450 statement credit after 3 months of $5000 spend. Works for me because I am planning on spending 40k for the 10k status miles anyway. I guess it all depends on the account.