Don't Cancel Your Credit Cards, Annual Fee "Hacks"

📣 WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

• Rakuten Cyber Tuesday deals are 10-15% back. Until 11/30, you can get $40 off $40+ spend (referral). If you missed it, I wrote an example of how Rakuten gives cash-back as AMEX points, allowing you to turn 10% back into 100% back.

• JetBlue Cyber Monday sale (11/27 - 11/29) - One-way flights as low as $49. For travel 01/09 – 03/27 (Tue & Wed). Book quickly as routes will be claimed.

• Southwest Cyber Monday Sale (ends 11/30) - Save 30% on base fares with Promo: CYBER30. Travel between 01/19 - 03/06 or 03/22 depending on destination, see terms. You can “change” existing itineraries and apply the promo code for credit back - I just saved $150 doing this.

• Alaska Cyber Monday deals (ends 11/29) - Flights from 4k - 7.5k points one-way in economy on transcon, domestic, Hawaii, & some international routes.

• eBay has 20% off up to $500 max on select items. Promo: HOLIDAYSAVES20. Can be used twice.

• Book via IHG app and get 20% off paid stays. Book by 11/28, stay by 04/30/24.

• Register for Best Western Winter Promotion - Stay 3 nights and get $100 BW gift card. For stays between 12/04 - 02/04/24.

• Once again, check if you’re targeted for Amazon holiday card promos (affiliate):
• AMEX - 40-50% off
• Chase - 50% off
• Discover - 50% off
• US Bank - 50% off

🧠 CREDIT CARD STRATS/HACKS/TRICKS
Don't Cancel Your Credit Cards, Annual Fee "Hacks"

Credit card annual fees can be sizable and go as high as $695 annually. Some people can stomach this “price tag” for the first year due to sign-up bonuses offsetting the cost.

However, when renewals come around the following year, many budget-conscious people will balk at these fees and opt to immediately cancel.

Don’t cancel your cards immediately.

Banks and CC issuers have what’s called a “retention” team where they try to keep you as a customer. Here’s the hack:

Call the retention lines and tell them you’re “thinking of canceling” your card as you can’t justify the annual fee. Ignore the sales pitch around card perks and ask the agent to check for “retention offers.”

Retention offers generally come in these 2 formats:

• Flat dollar amount as statement credit
• X points for $Y spend over Z months (same as sign-up bonuses)

A few things to keep in mind:

1. You generally must wait until after your annual fee posts on your statement for there to be retention offers. You have up to ~30 days after your annual fee posts to close and get a full refund. Call for retention offers during this window.

2. You don’t need to make a decision on the spot. Feel free to hang up by saying you’ll consider.

3. An automated system controls retention offers, not the retention agents. It’s observed that calling at different points throughout the 30-day cancellation window yields different results. Personally, I’ll call 3 times on days 0, 14, and 28 before deciding to close a card.

4. Consider downgrading to a no-fee card instead of closing. Sometimes this makes sense to keep reward points alive, or to maintain a relationship with the bank/card issuer. Lower your credit limits to the absolute minimum if you won’t use the card after downgrading.

It only takes a few minutes and could save you a couple hundred dollars, sometimes offsetting the entire annual fee. Take the time to do this.

Save these retention numbers:

Chase: 800-432-3117
AMEX #1: 800-452-3945
AMEX #2: 866-376-4552

⏳️ FINAL BOARDING CALL - TIME-SENSITIVE
AMEX 15% Transfer Bonus to LifeMiles | Expires 12/10/23

I’d only transfer points if there’s already a redemption in mind with availability. Avianca LifeMiles has decent pricing and with a few sweet spots:

• US to Europe one-way: 63k+ for business, 87k+ for first
• US to Asia one-way: 75k+ for business, 90k+ for first

Search: Head to lifemiles.com and log in. When you reach date selection, the calendar view will have a little blue bar on days with availability in your desired cabin.

Here are some examples I’ve found. Take 15% off of the listed prices.

Best cards: LifeMiles can be transferred from AMEX, Citi, or Capital One. Go for either:
• AMEX Biz Plat/Gold at 190k/150k points
• Capital One Venture X at 90k points (reader referral)

Flying Blue Can Now Redeem Etihad Flights & Expiring Chase 25% Transfer Bonus

You can now book Etihad award flights via Flying Blue website and app. Pricing isn’t standardized and depends on number of routes/segments, but there is still some solid value to be had.

Until 11/30 (expires in two days), Chase has a 25% transfer bonus to Flying Blue. You can fly Etihad Business from e.g. IAD to AUH (Abu Dhabi) for just 63.5k Chase points one-way with the transfer bonus.

There’s a decent amount of availability scattered throughout 2024.

Search: Use seats.aero Etihad page, sort by business class pricing, then head to Air France to find the same itinerary.

Best cards: Flying Blue can be transferred from AMEX, Chase, Citi, Capital One, & Bilt. My recs are:

• AMEX Biz Plat/Gold at 190k/150k points
• Chase Ink cards (referral) while the all-time high 90k sign-up bonus is still available for the Ink Cash & Ink unlimited at $0 annual fees

☁️ ON POINTS
TAP Air Portugal Has Massive Transatlantic Availability

If you’re trying to get across the Atlantic, TAP Air Portugal is a great option right now. There’s a huge amount of availability that was released like the 6 business class seats I just found from SFO to LIS for 70k Aeroplan points.

If you’re interested, book with:

• Avianca LifeMiles: 63k+ points, transfer from AMEX (15% transfer bonus, see above), Citi, Capital One
• Air Canada Aeroplan: 60-70k+ points, transfer from Chase, AMEX, Capital One, & Bilt

Search: head to seats.aero’s Aeroplan page, filter your regions, sort by business class prices, and use the search box to filter (3-letter airport codes).

If you’ve got the cash but not the points? There are also incredible round-trip business-class cash fares starting as low as $1,300 to Lisbon. This is an incredible deal, even more so if you can combine it with the AMEX merchant offer mentioned below (ITA Airways).

Best cards: Want the points? My rec is to go the Aeroplan route (transfers from Chase, AMEX, Capital One, & Bilt). Either go for:

• AMEX Biz Plat/Gold at 190k/150k points
• Chase Ink cards (referral) while the all-time high 90k sign-up bonus is still available for the Ink Cash & Ink unlimited at $0 annual fees

🛍️ CREDIT CARD MERCHANT OFFERS

Automatically add, favorite, and search all merchant offers on every credit card in a centralized, clean interface with CardPointers+.

AMEX (login at americanexpress.com to check)

• AT&T Business Fiber: $50 back after $50+ in purchases | Expires 02/28
• Brooks Brothers: $30 back on $150+ spend | Expires 12/31
• ITA Airways: 17.5k MR points on $1,000+ spend | Expires 12/31 | Flight must originate in US
• Tender Greens: $5 back on $25+ spend | Expires 02/29/24 | Can be used 3 times in-restaurant or online
• Samsung Business: $200 back after $2,000+ in purchases | Expires 12/27

Chase (login at chase.com to check)

• Office Depot: 10% back up to $11 max | Expires 12/31

🤡 MEME

At least the pretzels are still free.

Some travel experiences are so profound we can’t help but want to share them with those closest to us. Traveling on points enabled me to create these lifelong memories with loved ones, and it can do the same for you.

Share Fly EnPoints with friends and family so they can join your next life-changing adventure. It may be the experience you all reminisce on together for years to come!