How To Ask Your Credit Card Company About Your Annual Fee
The Short Version
- 95% of credit card holders who asked about an annual fee had it removed or reduced.
- Ask before you decide whether to keep the credit card.
- Nobody is promised a yes.
When Should You Ask?
When the fee shows up on your statement, or the month before it posts. Your statement shows the date.
What Do You Need Before You Call?
Your statement, the amount of the fee, and how long you have had the credit card. Call the number on the back of your credit card.
What Do You Say?
I wrote the call out word for word, including what to ask if they won't remove it.
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What If They Won't Remove It?
Ask whether there is a version of the credit card with no annual fee you could switch to. Then decide whether the credit card is worth the fee to you.
Next Steps
- Check the same statement for a late fee: how to ask about it.
- Ask for a lower interest rate on the same call.
- Take the 1 minute quiz: Which Stage Are You In?
Questions People Ask
Do I need a reason to ask?
No. Saying you are deciding whether to keep the credit card is reason enough.
Should I close the credit card instead?
Ask first. If they remove or reduce the fee, you may not need to. A balance on a closed credit card is still owed, so ask what happens to it before you close anything.
Source for the 95% figure: LendingTree survey of 2,050 U.S. consumers, May 2025.