You should regularly review your credit card you hold to evaluate its value. Sometimes, you may have opened the card for a specific benefit stop. At other times, if your spending habits have changed, the reward category may become less (or more) valuable. If you are paying an annual fee for a card you no longer use, it may not be worth keeping.
However, before you decide to cancel or downgrade as a renewal card, you should talk to a customer representative to see if you can get a retention offer worth a year on your retention offer.
Here are these valuable incentives you need to know.
What is a reservation offer?
Once a credit card issuer spends hundreds of dollars (with cashback, points, or welcome bonuses) to lure you into opening the card, it needs to find a way to recover that investment. If you shut down your card only after a year or two (especially if you use it on a regular basis), the issuer may lose your money.
To compensate for this investment, some (but not all) issuers will expand targeted retention offers to encourage customers to stay the card longer. These offers can take the form of reward points, declare points, reduced or completely exempted from annual fees – anything that helps convince you to keep your card open (in the eyes of the issuer, please spend on the card).
For example, multiple cardholders American Express Platinum Card® An annual fee of $695 has been reported (see Fees and Fees) and is partially offset in the form of a stated credit. They received a bonus for points when others call or chat via the app to tell the delegate they are considering cancellation.
Related: That’s why you never close your credit card a year ago
How to request a reservation
A common misconception about keeping quotes is that you can get them only if you try to close the cards. Indeed, you usually ask for the maximum success of your annual paid post (as many people decide to cancel your card) but you can try your luck anytime.
With more and more companies using automated systems, it is very important how you express your request. Rather than saying “I want to close my credit card”, you want the agent to give you an offer and need to say, “I’m considering closing my card”, or, “I’m not sure if I want to continue paying my card’s annual fee.”
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We’ve heard horror stories about people who want to turn off cards, and automation systems shut down their accounts before they talk to people.
Each issuer deals with different retention rates. Some people, such as American Express, have a dedicated retention department that you can request for transfers.
You can also use the chat feature online or on a mobile app using AMEX. For other cards, frontline customer service representatives may be able to help you. You can adjust the script to suit your needs, but my phone or online chat usually does this:
“Hi, I noticed the annual fee just posted on my ______ card, and I’m really not sure if I could make a reasonable payment for another year. I really like it (insert your favorite benefit), but I’m just not sure about this annual fee. I’m wondering if you can check if there are any reserved quotes on the account that can help me put on my makeup?”
At this point, you can expect company marketing to start, and the agency will read you some topics about why the card is so great and worth keeping. You need to deflect, and you can do that by bringing the discussion back to the annual fee you don’t want to pay.
Try to mention that you have other cards with similar privileges (especially if you have multiple Marriott, Delta, or Hilton cards), or consider saying you find yourself not spending much on the card. Remember, you should never say “I want to close the card”, it’s just that you’re thinking about it.
This is purely anecdote, but we find American Express the most generous in retention. In recent years, some TPG employees have even received reservation quotes on multiple cards in the Amex family.
Chase rarely sends them (although it’s more common on a common chase card than an issuer’s final reward brand card).
A TPG employee was deprived of their reservation offer Chase SapphireReserve® (See rates and fees) and finally decide to downgrade it. Other card issuers may do this, but it is much less frequent.
Related: Is Amex Platinum worth annual fee?
What type of quotes are there?
Depending on the issuer, you may receive three different quotes:
- Reduce annual fees or exemptions: Depending on the card, this can be as good as cash. Even if you don’t plan to use the card too much, you can open the card for one year if you get an annual fee, which can improve your credit score. When you consider privileges like stating credit or elite status, reducing annual fees may be enough to push the card to its breakeven point.
- Reward points or miles: Sometimes you will earn points for agreeing to keep your account open, although there are often quotes similar to initial welcome rewards: Spend a certain amount of money during a specified period to earn bonus rewards.
- Declare points: Statement points can sometimes be applied directly to the account, but they often bring about expenditure requirements.
Needless to say, the more you spend on your card, the more likely you are to receive an offer. The issuer wants to retain its most valuable customers.
Sometimes you may even choose between claiming credit or bonus points, in which case you can quickly extract TPG’s August 2025 valuation and determine which offer is better.
For example, a TPG employee once received their reservation offer Amex Platinum In short, they do not feel that they have good value from all their interests justify high annual charges.
After talking to a client representative, staff can choose to pay 40,000 members for bonus points, $400 spending statement credit of $3,000 or $150 spending credit without spending requirements.
TPG’s August 2025 valuation of PEG 40,000 Amex points is $800, so it’s easy for the staff to choose 40,000 points.
Some other TPG teammates also shared some of the reserved quotes they received:
- Marriott Hotel: “I got a 20,000 offer in three months for $2,000 spending – I’m hoping for more quotes since I kept the card on the fence, but decided to keep it for another year!” – Becca Manheimer, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications
- Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card: “I have the option to add authorized users and spend $2,000 on the card to earn a $200 declared credit, which is actually a 10% return.” – Senior Editorial Director Nick Ewen
- Amex Platinum: “I only have one offer, and after spending $4,000 in the next three months, it was 50,000 members reward points, so I jumped on it right away!” – Danyal Ahmed, credit card writer
- DeltaSkymiles® Reserve American Express Card: “I’ve been keeping the card after the annual fee on the fence and changing the benefits. I asked if there are any available retention quotes that could help offset the annual fee and give me more time to evaluate the value of the card. Agents have spent $30,000 or more on the next three months giving me 30,000 Delta Skymiles on the CARD of TPG. According to TPG’s August 2025 value. – Senior Writer Tarah Chief
Related: 4 main considerations before upgrading your credit card
Bottom line
Whenever one of your cards pays for annual charges, consider keeping it open, downgrade or canceling.
We recommend calling the issuer for a few minutes to see what retention you may receive; there aren’t many better deals in terms of pure time returns.
Related: How to use the retention benefits to increase points and mileage
For Amex Platinum rates and fees, click here.
