So I got a very interesting and unexpected call last week from American Express. They wanted to thank me for being a Starwood Preferred Guest Business card holder and wanted me to reconsider re-opening my Business Platinum card that I had previously closed. I was intrigued and wanted to hear more about this offer.
A little background, I had previously applied for the Business Platinum card in May 2015 when there was a monster 150,000 welcome offer/bonus (100,000 points after spending $10,000 in 90 days or 150,000 points after spending $20,000 in 90 days). After using the $200 airline credit in 2015 & again in 2016 and earning the full 150,000 points, I ended up closing the card in May 2016. I thought I would never have another Business Platinum card.
Back to the call last week, the representative offered me 50,000 points for spending $10,000 in 5 months ($2000/month). But the $450 annual fee is NOT waived the first year. I asked if there were any other offers as I wasn’t sure as I already have 3 other cards with $450+ annual fees including the Personal Amex Platinum card, he said unfortunately not.
I quickly thought about it and pulled the trigger. My four main reasons on why this offer is worth the $450 fee:
- $200 airline credit in 2017 & 2018 = $400 value (I ended up buying Southwest gift cards)
- 50,000 MR points are worth at a minimum $750 to me. (Last year I transferred 88,000 points to ANA for a roundtrip business class flight to Paris and tacked on a free one-way first class ticket by way of stopover to San Francisco)
- American Express limits welcome offer/bonus to once per lifetime which I already maxed out – this is like a second welcome offer/bonus.
- It’s a business credit card so it won’t show up on my personal credit report – I’m trying to get down below Chase’s 5/24 rule which should happen in September 2018 if I resist any more personal cards before then.
Since starting to get into the travel hacking hobby in late 2013, I’ve had over 55 credit cards and I can’t remember a single time getting a call back a year later asking me to reopen an account? Have you? Or is American Express just getting desperate?
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