When the annual fee arrives on your credit card account, you have a decision to make. If the card has value to you, the only thing necessary is to pay the bill when it’s due. However, it could be time to cancel if the card isn’t worth the fee. Before doing that, you should consider your options like changing to another card or getting a retention offer.
Last year I signed up for the CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard. At the time we received a generous sign-up offer. In addition, the card comes with several benefits when flying on American Airlines, like free checked bags, preferred boarding and discounts on in-flight purchases.
The annual fee was waived for the first year, making it an even better value. We took several flights on American last year and took advantage of the perks. However, the $99 annual fee hit the account and I looked at what we’d get for the money.
The first thing that struck me was we currently have no flights planned on AA. This year’s summer travel is different from usual, and American flights didn’t fit those plans. That means the AAdvantage co-brand card has no real value for the $99 fee. It was time to contact Citi about closing the account.
Citi has gone back and forth about what you can do via the chat function. There’s little information available so I decided to try and talk to a rep about canceling the card online.
I logged into our Citi account and went to the contact us tab. From there, I started with the Chatbot. Once I typed that I wanted to close a card, I was told that I was being connected to a representative. It wasn’t more than a few minutes to talk with someone. I’ve read there’s also a way to chat via the mobile app.
Once confirming which Citi card I was talking about, I said the annual fee just showed on the account and it wasn’t worth the cost because we weren’t flying on American. The reply was that they could not waive the fee and that I had two options. I could change to a different card or I could close the account. Both actions would cause the annual fee cost to be refunded to the account.
If I wanted to keep the card, I would have asked leading questions about getting a retention offer but with so many options for AAdvantage cards, I think it’s better to cancel and I’ll get another one when I need it.
When I said that I’d close the card if those were my two options, I received a short disclaimer about the AAdvantage program. I appreciate that they notified me that points expire within 24 months of no account activity.
A quick reply of YES and the account was closed. Easy peasy.
Final Thoughts
Closing a Citi account by online chat was very easy. The entire process took less than 5 minutes. If you’re looking to close a card and have no intention of trying to do a product change or get a retention offer, this is the way to go. But if you’re on the fence and looking for offers, it might be better to call.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.