Should You Even Bother With Credit Card Retention Bonus Offers?

When a credit card company offers you something free of charge, like credit card retention bonus offers, it only makes sense to accept, right? That’s a very loaded question with an actual correct or incorrect answer. I cannot tell you what is personally right for your financial situation or your credit situation. The best that I can do is tell you what you might consider when potential credit card retention bonus offers are thrown your direction. But first, let’s discuss what credit card retention bonus offers are for those who might not be familiar with this term.

If you have a credit card that you want to cancel, you call to cancel it. That’s when many creditors begin offering you incentives to remain a cardholder. For example, a card company might tell you that they’re happy to waive the annual fee you’re paying on the card for the life of the card if you simply stay with their company and refrain from closing your account. They might offer you free miles or a free hotel stay or some number of reward points; it all depends on the card company. Those are all credit card retention bonus offers; they are rewards being offered to you when you want to close your account so that creditors can keep you as a cardholder in their business.

Is there anything wrong with credit card retention bonus offers?

No, not particularly. It’s free rewards for doing nothing more than making a call and attempting to close your credit card account; there is nothing wrong with that. However, you should know that some credit card companies offer loaded credit card retention bonus offers. What this means is that they will offer you rewards or points or miles, but you have to spend a certain dollar amount in a certain amount of time – much like you did when you first applied for the card and were able to take advantage of the sign-up bonus being offered by the company. Not all are loaded, but some are.

Should I take the credit card retention bonus offers?

This is a decision that is completely up to you, and it all depends on a number of factors. Do you want to accept the retention offer and keep your card, or do you truly want to cancel your credit card? Is the offer one that’s too good to pass up? A waived annual fee on a good card is not something to laugh at in most instances, since you’re not going to get that with a new card. However, you are not required or obligated in any way to accept an offer from a card company that requires you to spend money to earn the offer. If you really want to forgo this card and cancel, go for it.

Remember, though; it’s free. In most instances, credit card retention bonus offers are free of charge. You get them without having to do anything else but keep your card active. Since it’s often more beneficial to keep a card active than it is to cancel it – especially if it’s one you’ve had a long time – it’s helpful to accept the offer and allow the card to remain one that you carry and use. Additionally, you might find that you can receive some free offers when you’re close to some rewards without actually doing anything other than telling your creditor that you’d like to close your account even when you do not. It’s a way that some people will reach their point incentives for free nights or miles, and a lot of people take this route more often than you might think.

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