I have an AMEX Rewards Maximizer & AMEX Gold Card and have taken up the 1st years free for three years in a row.
Once the annual fee is charged, I call up AMEX and give them the option before I close the account. Each time, the customer service attendant has no authority to waive the fee. In order to keep me, the customer service attendant encouraged me to reapply online.
In order to save $192- and around 10 minutes applying online and updating all the DDR's, I think it's worth the time and effort for a once a year event.
