Yikes! Thousands of Dollars in Annual Fees Came Due All At Once

Multiple Annual Fees Due At Once

Somehow over the years, I have opened a lot of cards in September and October. Maybe it’s the timing of my spending, or the chance to replenish points before year-end. Whatever the reason, fall now brings a busy stretch of annual fees. Like this year, when more than $4,000 in annual fees came due within 45 days. That was enough to make me take a closer look at which cards deserved a place in my wallet. And like many of you, I’m looking to spend less time managing credit card coupons. Derrick and Sarah have shared journey this year, and I thought it would be helpful to walk through my own decisions.

The Process

I started the process with the same question we cover in our guide to evaluating annual fees: Do the benefits I actually use justify the cost? While a welcome offer means a card is always worth it in year one, beyond that can bring some tough decisions. We all have different budgets and travel styles. So what works for me, may not work for you. That is why self evaluation and breaking down what you can justify moving forward is critical. As part of that process, it’s also worth asking for a retention offer as well.

For each card below, I only listed what benefits I used and what the ‘toss up’ benefits were. For me, a ‘toss up’ benefit is one I have used or might use in the future. If a benefit is not listed, it didn’t factor into my decision. Here is what I decided for each card and why.

Multiple Annual Fees Due at Once: My American Express Cards

American Express Gold Card ($325):

Benefits I use:

• $10 Grubhub credit: I do pick up and the places I use do not charge too much over normal cost. I am not looking for a completely free meal but rather a discounted one. I get value out of the $120 a year for this benefit.
• $10 Uber Cash ($120 a year): Same as above.
• $100 Resy credit ($50 twice a year): I definitely use this as I covered in our guide. I would be eating out or taking my kids to do something anyway, so it is money I am already spending.

Toss Up benefits

• $7 Dunkin Credit: I don’t have one within thousands of miles. The airport locations may not take them. Not as important but I can gift them to friends as gifts at times that live in areas with them.

Result: Kept

I messed this one up. Sometimes life gets in the way of what we want to do. My original plan was to cancel this card since I did not have a retention offer. After all, I have a Green card (my oldest Amex card) that I could upgrade later if I wanted another Gold. I asked twice for retention offers with nothing offered. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to ask to cancel and get a refund within 30 days of the annual fee posting to my account. So I kept this card open. While all is not lost, I would have saved money in the short term if I stuck with the plan.

American Express Green Card ($150):

Note: This card is not open to new applications.

Benefits I use:

• None

Toss Up benefits

• CLEAR and that’s a stretch since I have it on many cards, plus other cards I can use them for friends or family
• I do get some good travel Amex offers and recently had one save me $75 on two hotel nights.

Result: Cancelled

This was the one I wanted to keep and cancel the Gold above. But since I ran out of time to cancel the Gold, this seemed like the best option. And it saves $150 for a card that really doesn’t give much these days. No retention offer and best benefit they could push was 3x earning categories.

American Express Business Platinum ($895):

Benefits I use:

• $200 Airline Incidental Credit: I used it this year. But it is much tougher to use these days with many loopholes closed. I am not sure I would be able to use it going forward based on my travel habits.
• $600 Hotel credit(FHR/THC) $300 semi annually: Easy to use for me and I already used this years too. And now big changes are coming!
• $120 Wireless Credit: Nice to have but not a big deal without it.

Toss Up benefits:

• $200 Hilton credit ($50 per quarter): Unless the timing aligns with a trip or I go to a local hotel, I haven’t really maximized this well.
• $219 Clear Credit: I have plenty of these, but I usually try and give it to a friend for the year.
• $300 ChatGPT credit: I have been trying it out. But I can probably have a friend let me use one of theirs instead.

Result: Cancelled

These are always 1 year cards for me with NLL (No Lifetime Language Offers). So I cancelled this one. The only thing that could talk me out of it would have been one of those crazy retention offers, but no such luck.

American Express Hilton Surpass ($150):

Benefits I use:

• $15,000 spend to earn a Free Night Certificate. I already earned it for this year.

Toss Up benefits:

• $200 Hilton credit ($50 per quarter): Unless this times out with a trip or going to a local hotel, I haven’t really maximized this well.

Result: Downgrade to Hilton Honors $0 annual fee card

I have another one of these via NLL offer (No Lifetime Language), so I decided to downgrad to the no annual fee card. I can upgrade back to the Surpass next year for the $15k spend to earn another Free Night Certificate if I choose.

American Express Hilton Aspire ($550):

Benefits I use:

• $400 Hilton Resort Credits: These credits can be easy to use depending on your travel habits. I have timed them to maximize two credits on one stay before. It always seems like I have a stay or two where these can be used.
• $200 Airline Credits ($50 per quarter): Easy and straight forward to use. I use them for building up credits for future uses as outlined in our guide.
• Annual Free Night Certificate. I generally use this at my favorite resort so the value here is fantastic. I will pay $550 for a night here every year just on this benefit alone.

Toss Up benefits:

• I didn’t even go beyond the above benefits. That being said CLEAR would be one I would only use for friends or family.

Result: Kept

Multiple Annual Fees Due at Once: My Bank Of America Cards

Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa ($395):

Benefits I use:

• 3x on foreign transactions. No brainer for me to use on trips for general purchases, Ubers, etc. Great card to travel with.
• Partner Award booking fee waived. I use most of my points for partners so this definitely comes in handy.
• Spend towards status with the card. I also like that I receive 10,000 status points each year.

Toss Up benefits:

• Companion certificates. As a solo traveler not as important.
• 8 lounge passes (2 per quarter). With the Citi AA Executive card not as important.
• Same day change fees waived. The way I travel could be valuable although I haven’t used it.

Result: Kept

Overall, while I’m not completely sold, I was willing to give this a second year. I just love my Atmos points too much right now.

Multiple Annual Fees Due at Once: My Citibank Cards

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® ($595):

It is worth noting this card’s annual fee went up along with a “refresh”. But my annual fee posted at the lower $595 rate.

Benefits I use:

• Lounge Access. This gets me into Alaska Airlines lounges. I could be an AU (authorized user) on someone else’s card, but that would only be good for AA lounges. I am flying more AS (Alaska) lately so this can come in handy at times, even though I do not think I am a heavy lounge user.
• Earn 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points after reaching each of the following milestones – 50,000, 90,000, 165,000 and 240,000 Loyalty Points in the same status qualification year. The first 2 tiers are probably the most important if I make a push for Platinum Pro status again. That third tier is helpful if I decide to go for Executive Platinum status. Getting 30,000 loyalty points that I do not need to earn otherwise can make a huge difference.

Toss Up benefits:

• Spending for Status. Even though this card does have not favorable earning categories, as with most AA cards in my opinion, it can be beneficial. With Citi as a AA partner now, from a miles-only perspective I would potentially be better off earning points on those cards instead.
• 12X earning on AAdvantage hotels and AAdvantage Cars bookings. I look for hotels frequently for easy one night stays I may need. I haven’t had any booked so far this year, but it could be a good option. I have used it previously.

Result: Kept

This was my most debated card. I think the annual fee posting at the old rate and saving me $100 was a help. If I made a push for those 30k in Loyalty points the card gives, I probably would have spent that on hotels potentially. I will note this card has pretty solid travel protections so I don’t mind putting AA flights on it either.

Multiple Annual Fees Due at Once: My Chase Cards

World of Hyatt Business Credit Card ($199)

Benefits I use:

• Earn up to $100 in Hyatt statement credits per card anniversary year. The credits come in two $50 increments per anniversary year.
• Spending towards status. Cardholders can earn 5 elite qualifying night credits for every $10,000 spent in a calendar year on the Hyatt Business card.

Toss Up benefits: N/A

Result: Kept

I am working on finishing off $10k in spend for 5 EQN (Elite Qualifying nights) but I have used that much less this year. I am also holding out on a possible refresh which is badly needed. For now the net $99 cost is worth it for me. Next year might be a different story. This card and the next one on the list have been important for my quest to earn Hyatt Globalist again.

World of Hyatt Credit Card ($95)

Benefits I use:

• Free Night Certificate (category 1-4) every year after renewal.
• Spending towards status. Cardholders can earn 2 elite qualifying night credits for every $5,000 spent in a calendar year on the Hyatt personal card.
• Free Night Certificate (category 1-4) every year with $15,000 in spend.

Toss Up benefits: N/A

Result: Kept

No brainer on this one. It’s a great card. And I stay at a lot of category 1-4 hotels, so I usually get between $250-$300 in value off that Free Night Certificate.

The New IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card ($99)

Note: this card was refreshed and the annual fee is now $150.

Benefits I use:

• Free Night Certificate of 50,000 points. Being able to add points to it is nice.
• $100 Airline Statement Credit. Get a $100 statement credit when you spend at least $250 on flights purchased directly with the airline each calendar year. This is a new perk, and I used it right away.

Toss Up benefits:

• Up to $100 in annual Food and Beverage Rewards at IHG hotel. However, its a $25 Food and Beverage Rewards voucher quarterly to treat yourself to a drink or meal on your next trip at IHG hotels. I have been using the Chase Edit credits for an IHG hotel I like. But currently, those are my only stays along with wherever I use the free night certificate. So I’m not sure how much use these would get.
• Status from the card is being dropped from Platinum to Gold. I have enjoyed status on my few stays.

Result: Kept

This was a positive as the refresh kicked in right after I paid my annual fee. I was always just paying the $99 for the free night every year in case I stayed more the status was nice. This card was on my chopping block thoughts, but holding out benefited me.

Chase Sapphire Reserve® ($795)

Benefits I use:

• $300 Travel Credit
• The Edit Credits. $500 (2 bookings saving $250 each)
• Chase Select Hotel credit $250
• StubHub credits $300 ($150 every 6 months)
• Hyatt transfers 1:1 (New)

Toss Up benefits:

• Chase dining $300 in annual credits ($150 every 6 months). I have lots of gift cards but haven’t really used it.

Result: Downgrade

This was a downgrade, with a “but”. I upgraded to this last year when I knew the refresh was coming. That gave me a year to try out the benefits. I made a strategic move in June and upgraded one of my other cards to another one of these. That allowed me to use the credits for both halves of the year on a new card knowing I would downgrade this one. So I still have a Sapphire Reserve in my wallet.

The Math

For those keeping track, that was a total $4,248 in annual fees. I eliminated $1,990 of those, so I still paid $2,258. Here are some of the immediate benefits I’ll get from the cards I kept:

• Hyatt Free Night Certificate
• $100 in Hyatt credits ($50 X2)
• Hilton Free Night Certificate
• IHG Free Night Certificate
• $100 in Alaska wallet funds (IHG card)
• AA/AS lounge access

Looking ahead, I can see opportunities to eliminate another $1,000+ in annual fees next year. And like this year, multiple annual fees will come due at once. But I’ll keep an open mind as my travel plans and card benefits change.

Multiple Annual Fees Due At Once: ToP Thoughts

I hadn’t reviewed my annual fees this closely before. Having so many come due together pushed me to consider what each card offers and whether it fits my upcoming travel. I didn’t get every decision right. I missed a chance to eliminate a $325 annual fee and kept a couple of cards with nearly $1,000 in fees that I’m not entirely sold on. Still, given my travel plans, I feel good about the overall result.

Have you been in a situation where you have lots of annual fees posting at once? How did you decide what cards to keep? Tell us what you think over in the ToP Facebook group.