Can you get your credit card’s annual fee waived?

The good news: There are a few ways to get this fee waived. Here’s how.

How to get your credit card annual fee waived 

Your credit card probably offers a variety of benefits that you may or may not use regularly, such as cash back at the grocery store, rental car insurance, or access to an airport lounge. Although some of these perks are nice to have just in case you need them, your annual fee might end up being a waste of money if you don’t take full advantage. 

You might even feel compelled to charge more expenses to your card to make the annual fee seem “worth it.” For example, you might put your Netflix subscription on a rewards card that offers 3% back on streaming services. But if you carry a balance month to month, those rewards get wiped away by the interest anyway (and then some).

“That’s why it is very important to calculate the real worth of one of these cards,” says Freddie Huynh, vice president of data analytics with Freedom Debt Relief. If you decide that paying this added fee isn’t working for you, here are a few ways you can get it waived. 

Here are a few ways you can potentially get your credit card’s annual fee waived.

1. Contact your card issuer

The first step to getting your credit card annual fee waived is leveraging your history with the issuer. If you’ve owned your card for a while and have consistently made your payments on time, you may have better negotiating power than someone who recently opened their card or has a history of late payments. 

Start by calling your card’s customer service line. The number can usually be found on the back of your card or on your monthly statement. Politely explain that you would like to have your annual fee waived. Explain your history as a reliable customer and emphasize that you would like to remain one. In the best case, they might simply say yes. 

But it may not be that easy. Often, customer service representatives will tell you they cannot accommodate this request as it’s not within their policy to do so. If that’s the case, request to speak with a representative from the retention department. These agents often deal with customers…