[chompy]

With credit cards offering the first year free of annual fees, I was wondering if anyone has asked successfully or unsuccessfully for another year for free?

The reason I ask was considering changing from a Westpac 55 day free to the earth+. The first has no fee (if you spend more than 12k), but the earth+ offers the first year free.

[Dave Noble]

Since this is specifically about credit cards, it would seem that the General Credit Card Discussion forum would be more appropriate

Dave

[gilkatho01]

The only reason I've ever had a bank do anything nice is if you are leaving them. I'm thinking you would have to be prepared to leave them/cancel the card before they will go into their "win back" spiel.

Sometimes it is worth allowing the call centre operator the time to suggest another alternative as they have incentives to get you onto their current preferred products.

If you have any lending with Westpac they sometimes will waive the annual fee. I have a fee free Altitude which came as part of their home loan offer.

That's another thought, if you are negotiating any lending or leasing with them that is a good time to request the fee free card - before signing the paperwork.

[wleong]

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.

[one9]

Originally Posted by wleong

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.

Depending upon how much other stuff you have going on on your credit file, it may not be worth it for some people.

[skywalka]

Originally Posted by wleong

Once the annual fee is charged, I call up AMEX and give them the option before I close the account.

Would it be best to negotiate against an annual fee before it is charged?

Originally Posted by gilkatho01

If you have any lending with Westpac they sometimes will waive the annual fee.

When I cancelled my Holden card I told them if they didn't charge me an annual fee I wouldn't cancel. They weren't interested. They offered me another Westpac card. I asked if they had any with an interest free period but without an annual fee. They don't so I cancelled. That's probably why they wouldn't waive the fee. That and I have no lending with them.

[wleong]

Continuing on from my application in October earlier this year, I was advised by an call centre operator based in India to reapply online and get another year waived.

The Indian operator said they were going to call me back to see if they can come back and waive the fee without me reapplying for another card. Well the operator gave me their name and number and when I received no call back, I called them and no one is known by that name. I was fuming with AMEX and thought I'll reapply and see what happens.

If AMEX was going to charge me a fee, I was willing to close the account off immediately.

A few months later, AMEX did not close my Rewards Maximiser off properly. In effect I curently have two AMEX Rewards Maximiser. When I call up AMEX, they could not work out how I could end up with two Rewards Maximiser accounts. They said the system should have rejected this but some how I circumvented their system.

AMEX marketing came out with an offer for a supplementary card free of annual fees. AMEX botched the application up and all the accounts were very confusing for them. Even though the offer was for a fee free additional card, they charged it to my old account. AMEX promised another call back this time to fix it.

They offered me a David Jones voucher for $50- for my troubles which I received in today's mail for the fee charged.

I contacted AMEX again last night and after the 5th attempt managed to close off the old account and have all the supplementary card fee reversed.

In the interim, they will be posting me a form for an additional card holder free of annual fees.