Further update on Citi and US Bank Annual Fee Waivers

So I received my SCRA letter from US Bank regarding my two cards, both my Club Carlson Visa Signature card and my REI card. The letter said that all fees such as foreign transaction are waived, and that APR was a max 6%. It did not mention annual fees though. I called their military support center, and unfortunately, they do not waive annual fees for their cards. They are not required to under the SCRA, but it’s still unfortunate. I will be downgrading or cancelling my Club Carlson card later this year when the annual fee comes due.

 

(unfortunately in all the chaos of packing household goods, I lost the actual SCRA paper from them, so I can’t scan and upload it…sorry)

 

I do have the paper from Citi though, and I have some good and some bad news. First, the good news. Annual fees are indeed waived on almost all their cards, including the Prestige, the Premier, AA Platinum personal and business, and their Hilton cards. The bad news is that it is not waived on the Citi Exec, like I reported earlier this year. That is too bad. I got doubly screwed on this one, because I thought I’d be receiving the 75k bonus after spending $7.5k, but they said because I’ve had this card already (thrice actually, last year) that I was ineligible for the bonus this time around. I wish they’d told me that before I applied. Whomp whomp whomp 🙁

 

Here is the letter they sent me for the Prestige; I received similar ones for my other cards:
SCRA

9 Comments

  1. Has anyone tried doing a product change? I got Chase to waive fees on my card based on a set of PCA orders. Can I change Chase products and keep the waiver intact? Would like to turn my Marriott card to a Ritz card for the better benefits. Keeping the fee waiver is worth not getting the signup bonus, if it’s possible to do.

  2. I’ve received my card, but had the SCRA request declined for apr AND the annual fee. Any advice on how to get that approved ? She stated I wasn’t approved because I had the card after I entered the service, so was not eligible.

  3. @Leon, @Ben – It’s got my address, where I no longer live (I’m in Okinawa), and it’s got the last four of my CC#. Am I missing something?

  4. @Mike – I know for a fact people have been able to product change from a United MP Explorer to a Club card and keep the SCRA waiver intact. I assume you should be able to do it to the Ritz. It never hurts to ask. Please let us know how it goes!

  5. Has anyone else tried with Citi. I tried to get my few waived fort eh prestige last year and was denied due to opening it after entering the military service. Maybe I will try again with my upcoming PCS orders.

  6. I have a Visa Hilton Card with CITI and they will not waive my annual fee or provide any of the benefits you have listed. They stated I signed up for the card after already being on activity duty.

    anything I can do ?

    1. @Rob – No, unfortunately with Citi, they are very strict about it only working if you had the cards before coming on Active Duty. Try Amex, they will waive any fee even if you obtained it after coming on active duty.

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