My wallet was getting full after adding a few new credit cards in August. So it was time for me to assess what was in my wallet and clean out cards that I was not using. My goal was to free up space in my wallet, reduce credit card annual fees and avoid canceling a card by moving to fee free cards where possible.

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Reconsideration Offer

The first card I attempted to cancel was the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card. Since I recently acquired the Citi Platinum Select Visa Signature Card, which now offers 30,000 AAdvantage miles after spending only $1,000 in 3 months, the CitiBusiness AAdvantage was up for cancellation.

I called the Citi number on the back of the card and asked for the cancellation desk. I asked to cancel my card even though my fee isn’t coming due until mid next year. I fully intended to cancel the card since I haven’t used it in a while.

The agent looked up my account and began making me offers to retain the card in my wallet.

• The first offer was a $50 statement credit and I declined.
• The second offer was for 10,000 bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles after spending $5,000 in the next 6 months

Since I can easily hit this spending threshold and the card fee isn’t due until after that 6 month period I retained the card.

Next up was the Starwood Preferred Guest card from American Express.

SPG American Express Cancellation Approach

Next up was my SPG American Express credit card. And you can double that amount of Starpoints if you apply for the personal and business cards.

Since I recently acquired the Delta Reserve American Express and the American Express Business Gold, I was heavy on American Express cards.

Bottom Line

In the end, I’ll retain the CitiBusiness AAdvantage card for another 6 months in order to achieve the 10,000 spending bonus. My SPG American Express was converted to a Blue Sky American Express card and most of the credit limit was allocated to my Delta Reserve credit card.

By cleaning out old credit cards in my wallet, I’ll be prepared for future credit card opportunities when they arrive. Have you cleaned out any credit cards from your wallet lately?

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