American Express Cards

[Anonymous]

This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right? 

Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right? 

Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

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Yes both count in AAoA calculations.  As for your second question if you PC a card to another one it will still show the same open date.  If you close one of them it will continue to report for 10 years and still count in AAoA

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring. 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring. 

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You're welcome and you'll be there soon enough.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring. 

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In the next month or two? A 40-65 point jump is no joke, it may take years to get from 760-800 across the board..

[Anonymous]

Anything under 720 can make some serious swings. The higher the more OCD people get to inchworm 5 points.

[Anonymous]

That being said if I hit 720 with baddies intact, and they fell, I'd expect luv

[takeshi74]

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@Anonymous wrote:

This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right? 

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All cards whether AmEx or not (and all of the other credit accounts on your report) would factor into your AAoA.  What was different with cards issued by AmEx is that they would backdate to the year of your MSD but that has not been the case for some time now.

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@Anonymous wrote:

Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

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That's your call to make based on your goals and preferences.  There are those who keep every account open for AAoA purposes.  There are those that do not bother with it.  I'm in the latter camp but I can't tell you which approach you prefer.

As stated above, closed accounts typically continue to report for 10 years and factor into your AAoA.  See also the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky.