topic Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG) in Credit Cards

Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Objectivist — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 18:30:33 GMT

My score is 650-700. I have a low debt ratio and my longest account is 3 years old. I really want this card and/or others like it. I've already been declined for it though. (no surprise). I have 2 credit cards. My oldest has a $200 CL (BankAmericard Visa) and my new one I got this week has a $300 CL (CAP1 MC). I also have $10,000 in student loans on my report. I'm still a student. Also, I have no baddies-- only a lot of inquires. I know this will take some time. What does my pathway look like to getting this card?

CARD: https://www.creditkarma.com/creditcard/CCAmericanExpressCard82?originEvent=222394882

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Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Duncanrr — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:12:26 GMT

How old is your oldest cc? What is your AAoA? What income, if any, do you have? And lastly, how many inquiries on each report and how old are they?

I've not been a student for a while so not familiar with the products but I believe Discover and Citi offer some good student cards. Also, you may want to app for Amex Green card (I would say zync but don't think it's available anymore).

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Elcid89 — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 19:56:23 GMT

Realistically, your pathway to this card involves being employed. What reasons did Amex give for the decline?

They also hate excessive inquiries, as do most prime lenders.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

creditnocash — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:11:22 GMT

Elcid89 wrote:
Realistically, your pathway to this card involves being employed. What reasons did Amex give for the decline?

They also hate excessive inquiries, as do most prime lenders.

yes employed is a factor. well having a substainable income is.

without having specifics we can't really provide info.

are those the only two things on your reports?

and someone correct me if im wrong. i believe that card needs a 5k limit?

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

OptimasPrime — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:16:23 GMT

I would work on raising exisiting limits before giving it another try. Amex revolvers generally have a minimum cl of 1k (not sure on the spg though), with 2k being far more common.

Since you're still a student, I would look at citi and discovers student cc's first as they are more likely to grow from a cl perspective than your exisiting tradelines

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Elcid89 — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:19:27 GMT

creditnocash wrote:
Elcid89 wrote:
Realistically, your pathway to this card involves being employed. What reasons did Amex give for the decline?

They also hate excessive inquiries, as do most prime lenders.
yes employed is a factor. well having a substainable income is.
without having specifics we can't really provide info.

are those the only two things on your reports?
and someone correct me if im wrong. i believe that card needs a 5k limit?

Nah, I have heard that they will issue a starting limit as low as $1,000 with this product, although it hardly seems like it would be worth their time given the startup bonus.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

creditnocash — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:22:49 GMT

Best case scenario is to finish school gardening your cards and app when you have a little higher aaoa and most of your inquries have ethier fallen off or are non factor to your score (over a year old)

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

CreditEd — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 23:57:23 GMT

First step is to get a green AMEX. This will get you in and requires 30-50 points lower score than an AMEX revolver. Gold Delta next. This card is relatively achievable and can be started with a low limit then grow infinitely.

SPG is AMEx top revolver so don't mess up the two above mentioned cards and pay pay pay your bills on time. With these two cards top Chase and Citi cards will also come soon, but again pay pay pay your bills on time. Your history and low utilization will become even more important than your income.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Objectivist — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 03:31:52 GMT

Just got off work. I do have an income of $25,000. Thank you CreditEd. This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a lot of recent inquires that won't have an affect one year from now. My AAoA is maybe 1.5 years with the oldest being 3 years.

So is this my plan then?:

AMEX Green --> Gold Delta --> SPG

When should I apply for AMEX Green? I just got a line of credit from CAP1 and my score is a lil below 700 with a ton a inq's.

When after should I apply for Gold Delta?

Finally, when should I realistically expect to have the SPG?

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

creditnocash — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 04:07:23 GMT

Objectivist wrote:
Just got off work. I do have an income of $25,000. Thank you CreditEd. This is exactly what I was looking for. I have a lot of recent inquires that won't have an affect one year from now. My AAoA is maybe 1.5 years with the oldest being 3 years.

So is this my plan then?:

AMEX Green --> Gold Delta --> SPG

When should I apply for AMEX Green? I just got a line of credit from CAP1 and my score is a lil below 700 with a ton a inq's.

When after should I apply for Gold Delta?

Finally, when should I realistically expect to have the SPG?

what is your expected income after college? 25k is a little low i think.

and is the 1.5 years with the new card/s you just got?

since you dont have any backdating you could app for green anytime.

but note there is an annual fee after the first year.

depending on income id say 2/3+ years and youd be good.

3+ solid years of on time payments and low util. no inquries would be awesome for spg.

the better thing is if you do get the green every other app you do with amex will be a soft pull if denied.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Revelate — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 04:45:38 GMT

+1 on the Green, or maybe the Delta revolver now actually though I think that would be a stretch and TLDR I'd simply take a shot at a Green.

The SPG isn't so far fetched anymore as some folks make it seem, both it and the BCP seem to have dropped substantially from an underwriting requirement standpoint; however, that's subject to change at pretty much anytime but has held true for the last few months at least. Other lenders since June have done similar, it's anyone's guess when they stop in that regard (Chase, BOFA, not certain on Citi).

I don't know if the Delta card is any harder than a Green, but I think right now the Green is an easy approval based on another student's recent approval and similar income, and you don't need to three-step the SPG: a Green can get you there too as there were others who went Zync -> BCP or SPG if I recall correctly.

Edit: the BCP minimum limit is $500, SPG may be that low as well but it wouldn't surprise me if it were 1K as $500 probably doesn't even cover three nights stay in many markets.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

cloyd — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 13:35:22 GMT

Soounds like income will be the largest obstacle. But yeah try to get a foot in the door with the green and move on from there.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Objectivist — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:11:22 GMT

My starting income after school would be somewhere between $60 -$75,000. But that won't be for another 3 years.

Should I get the Green or Zync? I heard Zync wasn't available anymore, but I found an application for it through Google.

Also, I'm surprised you don't think the Delta is that hard to get. Is there a low income requirement for it?

In that case, I guess I'll apply for that one a few months down the road here?

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

shakalaka — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:16:46 GMT

Zync is no longer available. You may go for Green I think.

Revolvers are harder to get, that is the reason why. Normally you are more likely to be approved for a charge card, but all depends on your history.

Re: Pathway to getting this card? (SPG)

Revelate — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 17:23:44 GMT

shakalaka wrote:
Zync is no longer available. You may go for Green I think.

Revolvers are harder to get, that is the reason why. Normally you are more likely to be approved for a charge card, but all depends on your history.

Pretty much this, but the Delta revolver has always been a different underwriting criteria than many of the Amex-branded cards, and even some of the other co-brands (SPG in particular historically). I would agree the Green is probably easier to get right now than the Delta since we just saw a six-month history approval with the Green and I'd still stick with the idea that the Delta requires a year of history, but other than that the rest of the requirements have got to be close.