Barclays Really Likes to Waive My Annual Fees
I am happy to say that Barclays has managed to waive another annual fee for me and I am three for three for having them waived this year. I have four credit cards with Barclays right now: Two US Airways MasterCards, one Barclaycard Arrival Plus and one Lufthansa Miles & More card. Although each of these has an annual fee of $80-90, I know many people have one or more of these cards and, even if you’re planning to keep the card, it may be worth calling Customer Service when your annual fee comes up and seeing what they can do.
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In all three cases, I waited until the annual fee would post and then would call Customer Service.
My two US Airways Premier World MasterCards have an $89 annual fee. This annual fee cannot be waived the first year currently, but it’s worth a shot if you’ve had it for a year and your fee is coming up. I got these cards two years ago six months apart and was able to get the bonus twice. At this point, I still like keeping the card as it comes with an annual Companion Certificate allowing me to fly up to up two additional passengers for $99 each when I buy a ticket on US Airways flights. New sign-ups for the card still get the Companion Certificate along with 40,000 miles after making the first purchase. However, the annual companion certificate will be going away as an annual benefit once American Airlines and US Airways merge. I called Customer Service on both cards and completely truthfully said I was thinking of cancelling. They offered to just credit back the annual fee and that was a decision made easy!
For the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard, I signed up last year to get the $440 travel credit. In the meantime, I have been using this card on all my base spending as it offers 2.2% statement credit that I can later use toward any travel expense. Although the statement credit with this card beats any other I have on non-bonus spending, I was considering downgrading this card to the no-annual fee Barclaycard Arrival that offers just 1.1% statement credit . I probably wouldn’t use the card much, but I do like the option of downgrading rather than canceling. I was pleasantly surprised when I called and Barclays, again, offered to waive my $89 annual fee. Now I can continue to earn 2.2% statement credit on all my spending!
The Lufthansa Premier Miles & More Card, I only signed up for last December when they were running the same increased 50,000 mile bonus they are offering now until the end of June. I haven’t yet had the card for a year and I’ll see what happens at the end of my first year.
I should also give a word of caution that the information I post here is specific to my own experience and I, personally, have been getting very lucky with my annual fees this year. Although others may end up with fees waived as well, it’s no guarantee and we shouldn’t make credit card decisions assuming fees will be waived. From what I’ve been hearing from readers and others, Barclays has typically been more generous waiving annual fees than other banks, but I always consider a fee waiver an “icing on the cake” rather than something I am entitled to.
Has anyone else had annual fees waived with Barclays?
They wouldn’t waive my USAir fee. I didn’t escalate. Kept mine and cancelled my husband’s card.
Professor, I was approved for an Amex SPG and Barclay Arrival Plus about 2 weeks ago (otherwise have not had a hard pull since Oct for 2 Chases cards and no pulls before that for about a year). I’d like to also get the Barclay USAirways card, but I know they are sticklers for credit inquiries. Do you think I should go ahead and apply now or wait 3 months? 6 months? I’d like to do it before USairways dumps their companion tix. Thanks!
In my experience, Barclays will typically not approve two cards so close to each other. If you don’t have too many credit inquiries recently, I would suggest trying for US Airways in at least 3 months. I can’t guarantee the companion ticket will still be around, but hopefully they won’t change benefits/offers too son. The companion ticket is definitely valuable!
Thanks. That’s what I figured. I’ll wait a bit.
Had my US Airways card annual fee cut in half but not waived… I was reasonably happy with that. It was like buying 10,000 miles for $44.50. Not bad at all.
Definitely a great deal :)
You mention you churned (have two of) the US Airways cards. Do you know whether the M&M cards are churnable? Thank you.
I don’t actually know the answer to that. The card is too new with the good bonuses for too many people to have done it… US Airways has been around for a while so that’s more known. :)
Crikey – for this post to have any relevance, you need to give the amount of spend you put on your cards. Every retention offer is based on spend.
Sure! I actually don’t spend anything on my US Airways cards and got those for the benefits and bonus (though I think Barclays is trying to retain customers on that card given it won’t be able to take new ones soon) and probably about $1000-$2000 a month on my Barclaycard Arrival.
Previously I had no luck on US Airways so I cancelled that. My annual fee just posted on Arrival card. I will give them a call Monday, Barclay customer service is offshore and usually terrible. I did a lot of spend so it is worth the call.
When you called to downgrade the Barclays Arrival Plus card, had the annual fee already posted?
Yes, I typically call just after it posts. They can still remove it if you decide to downgrade the card immediately after.
I got in on the USAirways card when they were offering 10K points upon each renewal, apparently an undocumented perk. Is that still being offered to new applicants?
Unfortunately, not. That disappeared a while ago. :(
Ah, good to know. For me, the card is worth it if they continue to give me the 10K renewal miles, since I value that at well over the annual fee. Still, it won’t hurt to try to negotiate the annual fee given what you’ve noted… and I’ll also keep my fingers crossed that this benefit isn’t going to be removed from even those of us ‘grandfathered.’
Anyway, thanks as always for your helpful info and quick replies!
My annual fee for my US Airways card is coming up in August. I was planning on closing that card and then reapplying for another one. From reading this post though, I’m now thinking of applying for my 2nd US Airways card now while they’re still offering it since who knows when they’ll stop offering the 40k bonus. The last application i had for Barclays was back in December for the Miles/More card (I got approved.) Do you think there’s a good chance for me getting approved for a 2nd US airways card given the circumstances I mentioned here?
It’s always hard to judge others’ situations. Barclays gets a little stingier with approvals once you have two cards, but a 6 month wait is pretty good. If you have a lot of new account openings or low spending on their cards, they may be tough… although it could go well. That said, I wouldn’t be shocked if the 40,000 mile offer stays around for the next few months (can’t guarantee, of course) – it is in Barclays best interest to attract as many customers as possible before they can’t issue the card anymore. Ultimately up to you!
You should try calling twice, once before the annual fee hits & once afterwards. Before it hits they will likely offer you a miles/spending bonus (e.g get 10k miles for spending $X) whilst after it hits they’ll likely offer you an annual fee waiver.
I just had this go around with my US Air Barclays except I contacted Barclays before it posted because I didn’t want to get stuck with it and had nothing offered. Told them the card was not worth it to me for the $89 fee so if I couldn’t get some sort of adjustment I would unfortunately have to cancel the card and they had no problems with that. Cancelled card immediately. I must have said the wrong thing. Just had the same thing happen on AMEX SPG too. (BTW I only used them for the bonus sign up)
I just called Barclays today and asked them to waive the $89 and the woman explained that money goes toward the “reward program” that they offer and my account is not eligible for a fee waiver. I will keep calling until I get an answer I like I guess! I am not much of a smooth talker but I tried to sound chipper and polite. If worse comes to worst – you say it is a possibility for them to “downgrade” my account to their no-fee card? I don’t have to apply again for a new card, it will be the same account? I have a fairly short credit history so I’d rather not cancel any cards.
I tried having my BarclayCard World Elite fee waived and it was explained to me that they couldn’t do that since the fee was related to “all the perks” of having the card. Should I try again? Thanks!
They explained the same thing to me as well and I tried calling two separate times. In the end they offered to switch me to the no fee version of the card and give me 1,000 points. So the same line of credit is open, but you only get 2 ppoints for travel and dining purchases and 1 point for anything else. I don’t spend a lot per month so I went with that.
Hard to say. Every situation is different.