For years the Starwood American Express has had no annual fee the first year and $30 after that. They’ve now upped the post-first year fee to $45.
I’ve just been billed my $30 fee in August, so I’m good for at least a year. And I don’t yet know whether existing cardmembers are being grandfathered in at the old amount or will be pushed up to $45 with their next renewal. (My guess is the latter, I just haven’t checked yet.)
Still, the annual fee is lower than most reasonable points-earning cards, which frequently range from $60 – $85. So this is hardly reason to cancel. Presumably Amex realizes this.
Meanwhile the Starwood American Express small business card is still first-year free and $30 thereafter. While this too may go up, perhaps they’ve left the lower fee in place because the card has only been around a little over a year and may not have gotten traction yet. They’ll want a succesful card before they increase the fee.
The fee is going up for long time cardholders. Here is the relevant section from my bill that just posted on the 8th:
Annual Fee
We are changing the annual fee for your Account to $45. This new fee will be effective for annual fees billed to your Account on or after
November 1, 2007. Accordingly, effective November 1, 2007, the Annual Fee section of your Agreement is deleted and replaced with the
following:
“Annual Fees
The Annual Fee is $45 for this Account.”
From my current bill (I’ve had the card for about 5 or 6 years):
Annual Fee
We are changing the annual fee for your Account to $45. This new fee will be effective for annual fees billed to your Account on or after
November 1, 2007. Accordingly, effective November 1, 2007, the Annual Fee section of your Agreement is deleted and replaced with the
following:
“Annual Fees
The Annual Fee is $45 for this Account.”