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One of the most commonly searched terms in personal finance is how to save money. Many of us enjoy using our credit cards to earn points, rewards, and travel miles but nobody is thrilled about paying an annual fee on your credit card. I’m here to show you step by step how the credit card annual fee was waived on my Citi AAdvantage card.
I hate fees. If you don’t hate fees personally I think there is something wrong with you. I do my best to avoid fees because in most cases I don’t think they should be part of doing business. I’m not against fees in some cases but if I can avoid them I will. While this article is about getting your annual fee credit card waived on your Citi AAdvantage credit card let’s start with the big picture first.
Many credit cards that offer a rewards program will often charge an annual fee. In my case I decided last year that my wife and I would be flying American Airlines as our primary airline out of Miami so it made sense for us to start accumulating American Airlines miles with a travel rewards credit card.
After some careful research I ended up with the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® and 65,000 bonus miles along with the $99 fee waived for the first year. Almost immediately after receiving my card I set up a Google calendar appointment to call and cancel my card and/or request to waive the fee the following year.
Then when my calendar alert reminded me I called into Citi card. A couple minutes later my fee was waived for the year.
The conversation sounded something like this:
Me: Hi I’m calling to cancel my Citibank AAdvantage card because I’m set to be charged the annual $99 fee.
Citi: Hi sir, I understand your frustration with fees. Would it help if I waived the $99 to keep you with us as a loyal customer?
Me: Yes that would indeed keep me as a loyal customer, thank you.
Citi: It’s my pleasure, your fee will be waived on your next statement.
Honestly this was one of the easiest and shortest phone calls I have made in regards to fees. I barely even made an ask before they were ready to waive the fee. It’s important to know that financial institutions value your business so they want to keep you around rather than have you go to a competitor.
Avoid Fees Money Saved: $99
Time Spent: 2-3 minutes
✅Action Step: If you have a credit card with an annual fee, look up the annual fee date and add this to your calendar so you can call and ask for the fee to be waived.
Everyone is looking for ways to save money and avoid fees. The script I used can be used in just about any company that charges a fee.
✅Action Step: Make the phone call. Followed by a simple ask: will you waive my fees? You might be surprised at how often it works. By taking less than 3 minutes of my time I saved $99! Give it a try and let me know how you did.