In case you didn’t know, Citi Hilton card will be converted to American Express Hilton cards at the end of January in 2018. Some Citi cardholders have been calling to cancel their cards because they don’t want this product change to occur for a number of reasons:
- They haven’t received the sign up bonus on the American Express cards before and want to keep this option open
- They are already at or near the 4/5 American Express credit card limit
Some readers have been offered 5,000 Hilton points to keep the card open (1, 2, 3). Obviously there is no guarantee you’ll get such an offer (in fact it seems to be about a 50/50 chance) but it’s worth keeping in mind. The reason why Citi doesn’t want cardholders to cancel is American Express is purchasing the portfolio for them. This transaction is extremely valuable to Citi, in fact they expect to gain $150 million from the sale (this values the portfolio at over $1.2 billion). If you want to try and increase your chances of getting an offer make sure you call in rather than sending a secured message.
5K offered still today when I called to cancel.
Called to cancel the card, was offered 5000 points to keep it
Still went on to cancel it since I do not want any risks in getting my first Amex hilton card bonus
I called to close my Citi HHonors Visa and they happily closed it almost before I could finished my sentence. No points offer.
Got -0- points. Closed the Reserve account. Keeping the Hilton Visa for now because it’s almost 3 years old and it would be nice if it’s history can continue.
It’s a different issuer, the history won’t be continuous. At best they can only backdate the opening, but the report will show a new card.
I’m pretty sure it will be considered a new account for the Chase 5/24 rule.
Same thing happened with the Costco card.
Okay, so I just called to do a cancel (I certainly don’t want or need another Hilton Amex) and I was told that my account would not be converted to an Amex… rather, some accounts were being retained by Citi, but she couldn’t tell me which product I would be switched to. She did say that this would not affect my ability to open a new ThankYou Premier and earn the bonus (again after waiting 24 months).
I called and the rep said that they weren’t offering any retention bonus, per Amex. I asked to speak to a supervisor, who gave me 5,000 Hilton points to keep the no-fee card. I was told that it will post on the next billing cycle, then I will cancel, as I already have the no-fee Amex card. I don’t need 2 of the same cards.
Is there any sample scripts we could follow when speaking with the clueless Citi CSRs? TIA
I SM’d them last week and they closed it immediately. No need for me to keep that card as I already have a Surpass and don’t need another amex card clogging up the pipeline for nothing.
Bummer. Citi just closed my Hilton card due to the lack of activity
I called and was only offered 1K points. In these instances better to decline and call back or just accept?
Accept. Unless you have a lot of free time and want to take your chances.