I paid off a charged off account balance last month for an old AMEX account, and as they promised, I received an offer to regain card membership two days ago in the mail. The offer was for $5,000, which is strange since my old account only had a $3,500 account limit. I am definitely not complaining about that, and I am not too dissatisfied with the $49 annual fee (deserve it after getting the account charged off).
My questions are as follows:
1. How do I get this account backdated from the beginning to show that the account has been opened since 2007 (when I was a member). I have read about people backdating, but I have no idea how to do this for this account before it is opened.
2. How were people's FICO score changed by the opening of this account? I know it varies from person to person, but just interested.
Thank you.
Starting Score: 583 EQ, 612 EX, 569 TU
You can't get the card backdated. Amex does not backdate to cards that were charged off. There are some people that have had their cards backdated when their original account was charged off, but they are by far the exception rather than the rule. I would not count on any backdating. It was my understanding that backdating for charged off accounts only happened in rare circumstances where a person's account slipped through the cracks. According to the post below, you can ask and they will sometimes accomodate the request, so I have edited this response.
Your FICO is going to be affected by a new credit inquiry and a new account which will lower your AAoA. Both of these will lower your scores. By how much depends on a lot of factors, it's too difficult to say. You will now apparently have a new account with a $5K limit, which could improve your utilization % depending on what you let report. That will be a positive factor. I don't think anyone can say anything else with the information you've given.
Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)That is a bummer that you cannot backdate an Oasis card, but I cannot complain. I brought it upon myself with the overextension of debt and then a loss of my job. I have lived and learned, and will come out a better person.
I was in the same boat a couple months back. I had been seriously ill and knew I owed them something from around a decade ago. I wasn't sure how much since it wasn't on my credit report but I just wanted to make good on it. I spoke to a lady at the executive office and she connected me with someone in their collections dept. I didn't pay him actually, I paid it in full online in a single payment. But at the time he offered me an optima and told me that the "provisioning department" (whoever they are) will backdate the accounts. I've heard of other people in the forums having their original member dates on the cards as well, sometimes just random luck, other times they called in. Then I've also heard some having a more difficult time. I turned down the optima and apped for a regular card instead. So that might be an option you might consider. My card shows my original member date, but I did have to ask. Ymmv. They're forgiving but I highly recommend making very regular payments. 
Thanks for the information. I just want to clarify - the Oasis card will show 4 years of perfect payments after it opens and reports (my charged off account was opened in 2007).
That is great news, and it almost seems too good to be true.