Credit cards often have new benefits added, but they also have benefits removed or modified. Whenever this happens, you should always call in and ask for some type of compensation. This has worked extremely well for me in the past and is something I realized I haven’t talked about before.
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Examples Of It Working
Let me give you three specific examples of this working:
- Chase recently removed announced that they would be removing the Lounge Club benefit on their Chase Ink cards. User Diamond sent a secured message asking for 5,000 Chase UR points as compensation and received it.
- American Express platinum loses access to Regus benefit. A reader was able to call in and get $100 in compensation from AmEx
- Citi Thank You Premier changes. Reader Jeremy got this card because he wanted a high earning rate on restaurant purchases, when he found out this 3x category was going away he ended up getting 5,000 ThankYou points
How To Ask For Compensation
You attract more bees with honey than vinegar and I find that this is especially true when it comes to asking for compensation. Always be polite and friendly, customer service representatives have the discretion to give you a small amount of points/miles/cash back but they by no means have to.
Try to be specific as possible, for example: “Hello, I just received a letter informing me that the lounge club benefit would be going away. That’s one of the main reasons I applied for this card. I’m not sure I’ll keep this card long term anymore because of this, is it possible to get 5,000 Chase UR points to help cover future lounge expenses? Thank you and have a nice day”.
Obviously don’t use that exact same script and experiment until you find something that works for you. I usually have better success when I ask for a specific compensation (e.g 5k points) but this also limits you a bit as they might have offered you more.
Recent Benefits That Have Been Removed
This is an incomplete list, so if you remember any other benefits that have been recently removed – comment below.
- Chase To Remove Lounge Club Access On Ink Business Cards
- American Express Business Platinum Cardholders To Lose Regus Platinum Office Benefit
- American Express Business Platinum Will Lose 20% “Pay With Points” Rebate
- American Express Will Add A Minimum Order Size To ShopRunner Benefit
- U.S Bank Cash+ Card $25 Bonus Now Limited To Once Per Lifetime, Rather Than Calendar Year
- Changes Coming to Citi Thank You Premier – Reward Structure and Annual Fee
- Earning Changes To The Chase British Airways Card (3x On BA & 1x On All Other Purchases)
