Amex 3 card approval

[lewdog]

Finally able to lose some pesky inquiries after a couple years. I apped for the Amex Green and was approved, so I applied for the gold PR car and the Zync, which I also was approved for (all having to call my bank to verify my address). I had a green card back in 1991 and Amex graciously backdated to then. I figured since that would be 3 new cards showing a 21 year history I applied for the Blue and the Clear too. Waiting to hear back.

[Coldness]

That'll do wonders for your account history, but I have to wonder - why 3 charge cards? That's a lot of annual fee to accomplish a score...

Also, be very careful for awhile. Applying for FIVE Amex cards in one day had to raise a potential fraud red flag somewhere.

[pizzadude]

Wow !  That's fantastic, congrats on the approvals ~ and definately let us know when you hear back on the other two cards.

[ccnewb23]

Thats great news. Was it 1 HP?

[BlueHusky]

Can someone explain how the backdating thing works? Isn't PAYMENT history what's important? If you get a card in 2000, for example, and close it after 1 month, then open it again in 2012, and it says "open since 2000" it is still only going to report just a few months worth of payments, with a huge gap in the middle, right?

[jamesdwi]

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@BlueHusky wrote:

Can someone explain how the backdating thing works? Isn't PAYMENT history what's important? If you get a card in 2000, for example, and close it after 1 month, then open it again in 2012, and it says "open since 2000" it is still only going to report just a few months worth of payments, with a huge gap in the middle, right?

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With a manual review it would be pretty obvious that the card was backdated, or at least not used much untill recently. But big reason for  backdating is that it improve AAoA so much that makes a manual review of your account unnecessary...good fico and a AAoA of 61 years with no negs showing why would anyone need to check the file the computer screams  "Approved" end of story lets figure out his credit limit. 

[webhopper]

I thought the most AMEX cards you could have would be 4?

Please let me know if you get both the Blue and Clear?

[FrugalRican]

I have to ask as well, why 3 charge cards... let alone, why apply for all those at once? I'm curious.

[Revelate]

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@FrugalRican wrote:

I have to ask as well, why 3 charge cards... let alone, why apply for all those at once? I'm curious.

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Well the three cards at once is pretty easy: if you want the tradelines, get them setup at once (if you can) so your inquiries all age together and you build payment history on all of them... rather than spreading them out.

It's really no different than the math and benefits of establishing one's credit history as soon as possible.  The downside of course is that you're going to take a short-term hit with the number of inquiries and new tradelines, but you'll be better off as little as one year from a credit profile perspective than if you'd applied for each card even six months apart.

[lewdog]

I apped for the Zync and Green in the same day a week ago and the CSR told me that I was approved for both and would I like them. I could not resist so I said yes. and then apped for the Gold PR. I understand the annual fees, so after the first year without the AF, I may close the Zync and possibly the Green. 

I was just on the phone with CSR and after address verification with my bank was approved for the Blue and the Clear.  While having an AAoA on my current cards of 1 year 3 months, 5 cards at 21 years each should boost that up some. VERY Excited.  Its garden city for a long time. 5 cards = 3 HPs.

Thanks for the kind words everybody