The $550 annual fee posted to my Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card‘s most recent statement. (Rates and fees.)
So, you know what that means: retention call time!
Spoiler Alert
I’ll be upfront about this: I didn’t cancel the card, nor did I really want to. In fact, I wrote that while my wife and I are putting away our respective Delta Reserve cards for the rest of 2022, they’ll get workouts starting New Year’s Day 2023.
My wife and I each hold a Delta Reserve Card because we can put $30,000 of spending on our respective cards and earn a 15,000 MQM bonus (on up to $120,000 in spending each calendar year.)
Plus, Reserve Card membership serves as a tie-breaker in Delta’s complimentary upgrade hierarchy.
Finally, we like the Companion Certificate benefit and two Sky Club guest passes we can use for our daughter.
But once we reach our bonus MQM goals, we put the cards away until the following year.
I was curious to see if American Express waive the $550 annual fee — or offer me some sort of spending challenge.
Here’s what happened.
My Reasons for Canceling the Delta Reserve Business Amex
Before making a retention call, I generally prepare a list of reasons why I should cancel the card.
Below were the grievances I aired (hey, it’s also Festivus time, c’mon!). And maybe they’ll prove helpful for you when you make your retention calls, too.
Long Sky Club Entrance Lines
One of the Delta Reserve Cards’ main perks is Delta Sky Club airport lounge access when flying a same-day Delta-marketed or -operated flight.
But long lines are almost expected outside some Delta Sky Clubs.
So, what’s the point of holding a card with lounge access — when you might not even get to enter the clubs because the lines are too long?
The Card’s Bonus Categories Really Kind of Stink
The Reserve Cards bonus categories are disappointing — at best.
Consider the card earns 3X SkyMiles per dollar spent with Delta. You’re much better off using The Platinum Card® from American Express. That offers 5X Membership Rewards points on purchases made directly with airlines (on up to $500,000 in spending on those purchases each year. Terms apply.)
Or, heck, even one of Chase Ultimate Rewards® cards or Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card that gives you better bonus earnings for booking flights through their travel services.
All other purchases earn a whole SkyMile each. Yay.
The Delta SkyMiles Program Devaluations
Things started looking ugly last year when SkyMiles partner award redemptions soared. (Spoiler alert: they just did again.)
Then Delta devalued Regional and Global Upgrade Certificates.
Now, Delta is hiking the MQD requirements for three Medallion status levels.
So, my eye is wandering — as is my business. (True story: I wrote this post during an American Airlines flight to Phoenix.) The Reserve card’s value decreases the less I fly Delta.
“We’re Sorry to Lose You”
Despite listening to what I thought were fairly convincing arguments, Amex basically told me to pound sand.
“The annual fee is part of the card,” the (very pleasant) rep said. “We don’t waive it nor do we discount it.”
I asked about a spending challenge.
“What’s a spending challenge?” He asked. So, I explained that it would be Amex offering a certain amount of bonus points in exchange for my spending a prescribed amount on the card.
He informed me there were no retention offers for my account. He claimed he even called the retention team while I was on hold. But no dice. “So, I understand if you want to cancel your account. We’re sorry to lose you.”
The rep added that offers do occasionally change and pop up. So, he suggested I call back within 30 days of paying my annual fee. I can cancel the card then and still receive a full refund of my $550. So, I used that as my “Okay, you talked me into it!” Excuse. That’s better than “Oops! My next meeting just walked in, don’t cancel the card, gotta go, bye!” (Not that I know.)
A few hours after calling Amex, my daughter and I attended her school’s Halloween carnival. Another dad (who’s also a Delta Medallion and Delta Amex card holder) and I talked shop while our kids loaded up on candy. He told me he tried a retention call for his Delta Amex Platinum card. Amex told him, too, to beat it.
So, I don’t know if Amex is done (or much more selective) with retention offers.
Final Approach
American Express didn’t budge one cent on my Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card annual fee nor did they offer a spending challenge. (Rates and fees.)
Please feel free to use my talking points for your Delta Reserve retention calls. I hope they help! But I don’t know if Delta is playing ball anymore when it comes to retention offers.
What’s your experience been lately with retention calls? Please share your thoughts in the below Comments section!
To see rates and fees for the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, please visit this link. Terms apply.
To see rates and fees for The Platinum Card® from American Express, please visit this link. Terms apply.
Responses are 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 posts and/or questions are answered.
Thank you: this is discouraging news!
Like you, no success with the Delta Reserve card. However, I have had good success with the NON Delta variety. My wife just got a $350 statement credit for the Platinum Business card after $5K spend. I got a similar offer on my card last year. Amex is probably paying too much out to Delta to make retention offers worth it for them.
Thanks for the data points, Steve!
For me there would be two reasons. One is the astronomical spending requirement for MQD. One of the reasons I got the cards was to make the MQM requirement, which was sufficient then to get Diamond. Even with several international trips, with discounted pricing it’s hard to make the 15K level. And if you do make the MQD waiver, all the MQD attainment is worthless as it doesn’t carry over.
Then there’s the fact that the main benefit for being Diamond, the GUCs, has also been devalued, by making it harder to get into Delta One and making them expire a year earlier. I’m having to use 2 of mine on domestic trips because I didn’t use them this year (even though my 2020, 2021 and two of imy 2022 ones were used before the original expiration date before Delta extended them). I could have used them all if I’d known a few months earlier that their life was going to be shortened.
I’m not loving this new AX era. No retention offers on my personal Plat this week, dispute the ridiculous $695 fee for that coupon book. (The rep said she’d offer me a special deal and allow MR redemption at 1¢ to pay the AF.) The fees on all of these cards have jumped to the highest ever, and I understand why many now say they’re proceeding with cancelling.
People pay “fees” just to have a certain credit card? I guess a sucker is born everyday.
1. The correct saying is, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
2. Suckers are the ones who don’t make efforts to earn back a card’s annual fee.
Same card, same answer (NO DEAL) about two months ago, so I cancelled. Will get a different card in 2023 (Delta Personal Plat or Reserve) to get the spending bonus miles and MQD waver. I have almost 120k MQM’s (with all the pandemic holds on expiring MQMs), and don’t want them to go to waste. The companion certs are a joke. Only good on short flights unless you book way in advance, and that doesn’t work for our travel patterns. The Alaska and American companion certs are much better, you can actually use them to go where you want to go!
Thanks for the data point!
After second call (first one last week) I finally got a retention offer to keep my AMEX Platinium open for the second year…….”Yes, I am a retention specialist and because you are such a valued Card Member, you can earn 30,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $3,000 or more on purchases on your Platinum Card® account within 3 months of accepting this offer. The 30,000 Membership Rewards® points will be credited to your account 8 to 12 weeks after the purchase requirement has been met. This is our way of saying thank you for keeping your Platinum Card® account open today. It took an hour on the phone with them today, and was like a pulling teeth. But I got it done, and will keep it another year.
Thanks, Peggy!
I made my yearly call on my Amex Plat Biz card. The guy told me the retention offers ended yesterday and he wasn’t seeing anything. He also said try back in 30 days and that is the time they usually add new ones. I had a week before the fee was due, called back 3 more time on a different day (I think I got the same guy 2-3 times), then cancelled.
Thanks, Keyser!
It’s interesting that the rep said the retention offers ended, as if that was across the board. I did have an offer for my HH Aspire on the same call where there was nothing for my Plat, so clearly they aren’t all gone.
Note that it is not necessary to cancel before the annual fee hits your account. Amex has a 30 day window where you can still cancel and get a fee refund.
Right. I think I mentioned that…?
The real devaluation on all Delta Amex cards was when they cut the spending threshold bonuses to just MQMs and did away with redeemable Skymiles as part of the bonus. The 15,000 redeemable bonus miles were worth $150 as Pay with Miles. Practically paid for the cards.
No retention offer for me either. And don’t forget to cancel.
PSA: You have 30 days to cancel the card. Beyond that you will be charged the full annual fee, no prorated refunds. Over 31 days will cost you the whole year. Not even many calls to many supervisors would prorate it.
It’s extremely difficult to even use the companion certificate with Delta. I’ve tried 7 times this year and still haven’t. Like you the long lines to get into the club make it impossible to use them, along with Delta’s short connection policy. I found it easier to cancel the card and switch to United. No long waits to get into the clubs.
I had a similar experience with an agent when I called in about my amex platinum card. However, after I said I want to cancel my card, they transferred me to the “membership consulting” team, which is apparently the team that has the retention offers, and they had one for me that was good enough for me to keep the card. So if you are ever talking to a clueless agent about retention, just ask to be transferred to membership consulting (or just ask immediately!).
Good tip! Thanks, Paul!