AMEX Blue Cash: Approval????

[Chris679]

I really want this card but I'm worried about being approved and was wondering if anyone has any ideas.  My Equifax FICO is 701 currently, but should go up a little before I would be applying due to my last collection being deleted.  I'll list the other things that I think may work for or against me:

PROS

45k per year income and my only debt is $8300 left on my car

4 accounts in good standing with little to no balance on any of them, no late payments

Only 2 inquiries on EX report

CONS

Old CapOne account that was settled for less than full balance in 08, closed

All current accounts are only 1.5-2 years old

10 inquiries on TU report (only 2 in past year)

I am wondering if I'll be OK to apply now or should I wait until July when 8 of my TU inquiries will drop off.  I think my plan will be to wait for FICO to hit my target of 720 and just bite the bullet.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Chris

[score_building]

The relatively recent 'settled for less' acct may be even more problematic for amex than the inqs.  YMMV.

[DI]

You won't get approved.   That one derog is enough for AMEX to say no.  I had one derog and got declined.  The next month, I applied again,  after  I got the derog deleted and got approved for $2000.  Got a CLI 3 months later to $2600.

[tray]

Have you tried the pre-selected card site first, to see if any offers are available.  I think that last derog will probable hurt you also especially too since you want a non-charge card.  Have you thought about seeing if you would be able to at least get a charge card just to get your foot in the door and then you could build a relationship with AMEX for better cards down the road.

[Anonymous]

I would try there pre approval link first before i apply. It's just a soft.

https://www201.americanexpress.com/secure/my-special-offers

[BP2003]

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@DI wrote:

You won't get approved.   That one derog is enough for AMEX to say no.  I had one derog and got declined.  The next month, I applied again,  after  I got the derog deleted and got approved for $2000.  Got a CLI 3 months later to $2600.

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As the great Lee Corso would say, "not so fast".  I was approved for a $3000 AMEX Blue Cash 2 months ago with similar scores.  Approx. 720 EX and high 600s on TU & EQ (which are irrelevant since AMEX typically pulls EX) I also had about a 35% total UTIL.  On my EX report, I had one 30 day late on a Cap1 2.5 years ago and two 30 day lates on an Orchard just over 2.5 years ago. 

I got an instant approval...not really sure why I applied in the first place.  I guess I just wanted that high from the anticipation of the response after hitting the "submit" button on the CC app.  To my surprise though, instant approval.  One other factor, I have had an AMEX Gold card since October 2009 (which I ran a few hundred dollars on every month and paid off days after the balance reported every time)

[Anonymous]

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@BP2003 wrote:

As the great Lee Corso would say, "not so fast".  I was approved for a $3000 AMEX Blue Cash 2 months ago with similar scores.  Approx. 720 EX and high 600s on TU & EQ (which are irrelevant since AMEX typically pulls EX) I also had about a 35% total UTIL.  On my EX report, I had one 30 day late on a Cap1 2.5 years ago and two 30 day lates on an Orchard just over 2.5 years ago. 

I got an instant approval...not really sure why I applied in the first place.  I guess I just wanted that high from the anticipation of the response after hitting the "submit" button on the CC app.  To my surprise though, instant approval.  One other factor, I have had an AMEX Gold card since October 2009 (which I ran a few hundred dollars on every month and paid off days after the balance reported every time)

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I had like 30 inquiries on my EX report when they approved me for the Amex Gold this past week. I know there tight but hey there might be a chance of approval.

[haulingthescoreup]

Just realize that American Express doesn't use FICO scores. They have their own home-grown scoring algorithm, and they go by your reports, especially Experian. (Sometimes they pull EQ and/or TU as well.)

Get your reports as clean as possible before applying with American Express.

[Anonymous]

October 2008.. Applied for Delta Skymiles credit card from American Express..  file pulled, EX, Fico score if I remember it right.. High 680's, Derog on report.. 3 judgments  4-5 yrs unpaid. 2 chargoffs 5-6 year. Income, 43K

Outcome: Approved 8K highest TL at the time.

I found it shocking I was approved

[smallfry]

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@Anonymous wrote:

October 2008.. Applied for Delta Skymiles credit card from American Express..  file pulled, EX, Fico score if I remember it right.. High 680's, Derog on report.. 3 judgments  4-5 yrs unpaid. 2 chargoffs 5-6 year. Income, 43K

Outcome: Approved 8K highest TL at the time.

I found it shocking I was approved

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October 2008? Try that again now. I dare ya.