Last year around this time, I got the AAdvantage Aviator Business MasterCard with an increased bonus back then of 60,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles. (The current limited time increased offer for this card is 75,000 miles).
Now, a year later, I got the bill for my $95 annual fee. I decided that I wasn’t going to pay this fee. I called Barclaycard to see if they would make me a retention offer. They didn’t, nor was there a downgrade option available. I therefore opted to cancel the card. I decided paying the $95 was not worth it to keep this card for the following reasons….
1. I do not use this card enough nor do I consistently take advantage of the card benefits to justify paying the $95 annual fee
2. Sometimes I keep cards that I don’t use because they offer benefits that I do use, like free anniversary annual nights or free companion tickets, this card doesn’t have any benefits like that.
3. A downgrade option (good alternative to canceling) to a no fee card was not available.
4. My credit line was low enough that I was willing to lose it. Remember, I usually advise to try to move credit lines to another card from the bank before canceling. Unfortunately, this was my only Barclays business card, so another card wasn’t available to receive my credit line. But, I don’t think this loss will have that big of an impact on my utilization ratio that would lead to drastic lower credit score. I am willing to go down a few points, my credit score is high and I am not bothered by the monthly fluctuations.
Bye Bye to my American AAdvantage Business Aviator card and thanks for those 60,000American Airlines AAdvantage mils that I scored last March.