Amex Questions- BCE CLI & PRG PC

[nitrov]

hello all!

I have a BCE I opened a while ago with a $5500 CL. I apped at 61 days for a CLI after following all the rules and got declined. I got discouraged and left a balance on the card after that to take advantage of the 0% APR promo and left the balance on there for about 6 months. I just paid the balance off. I know Amex isn't keen on carrying balances and that it's one of the more common decline reasons when apping for a CLI but I wanted to know: how long do I have to wait to app for a CLI after it's been paid to $0?

2nd question: I have a PRG that I've had a little over a year and just got an offer for the 50k offer if I upgrade to Platinum. I know there's 100k offers floating around out there; anyone know anything I can do to try and get targeted for one of the 100k offers?

Many thanks!

[kdm31091]

The "Amex isn't keen on carrying balances" mantra is overused IMO. Just like any issuer, of course they'd rather you don't max out your card and then pay the minimums, because you've become risky at that point.

But plain old carrying a balance? I've carried a balance many times on my BCE, when it was in the 0% period. My limit was $6k at the time. I carried $800, $1000 even, and guess what? Nothing happened, and I later got my CLI to 15k. So you carrying a balance didn't cause the decline. If Amex truly wanted nobody to carry a balance they would not offer revolvers, period.

Anyway, once your CLI is declined, there's a 90 day wait before you can try again. You said you apped at 61 days knowing all the rules, but the 61 day thing has been a no longer valid policy for months now. Amex is like any other issuer. There is no magic timeframe for a CLI, nor is there some certain date where you will suddenly get a CLI. Amex CLIs have some large misconceptions around them, primarily people thinking it's a sure thing when it is definitely not.

Cannot answer your PRG question in detail as I don't have one or experience with trying to get the offer, but "trying to get targeted for an offer" sounds like a complete waste of time. If you want the offer, all you can do is message them and ask. You'll get an answer and can move on.

[nitrov]

---

@kdm31091 wrote:

The "Amex isn't keen on carrying balances" mantra is overused IMO. Just like any issuer, of course they'd rather you don't max out your card and then pay the minimums, because you've become risky at that point.

But plain old carrying a balance? I've carried a balance many times on my BCE, when it was in the 0% period. My limit was $6k at the time. I carried $800, $1000 even, and guess what? Nothing happened, and I later got my CLI to 15k. So you carrying a balance didn't cause the decline. If Amex truly wanted nobody to carry a balance they would not offer revolvers, period.

Anyway, once your CLI is declined, there's a 90 day wait before you can try again. You said you apped at 61 days knowing all the rules, but the 61 day thing has been a no longer valid policy for months now. Amex is like any other issuer. There is no magic timeframe for a CLI, nor is there some certain date where you will suddenly get a CLI. Amex CLIs have some large misconceptions around them, primarily people thinking it's a sure thing when it is definitely not.

Cannot answer your PRG question in detail as I don't have one or experience with trying to get the offer, but "trying to get targeted for an offer" sounds like a complete waste of time. If you want the offer, all you can do is message them and ask. You'll get an answer and can move on.

---

When I apped at 61 days it *was* a rule, as I mentioned this was almost a year ago. I didn't carry a balance at that time, and my decline reason back then was because of my credit score and too many inqs which was about the same as when I originally apped. I haven't apped for a CLI for about 8 months. I'm not asking for a crystal ball, and I know it's not magic or certain & sudden, but I do know there are people who have done some significant work boiling some credit issuers to a near science.

I did message them and ask, and they gave me a canned response saying the offers are sent based on demographics, spending patterns, etc. etc. So I'm not sure if there is an annual spend amount that plays a role in triggering the 100k bonus offer.

[kdm31091]

---

@nitrov wrote:

---

@kdm31091 wrote:

The "Amex isn't keen on carrying balances" mantra is overused IMO. Just like any issuer, of course they'd rather you don't max out your card and then pay the minimums, because you've become risky at that point.

But plain old carrying a balance? I've carried a balance many times on my BCE, when it was in the 0% period. My limit was $6k at the time. I carried $800, $1000 even, and guess what? Nothing happened, and I later got my CLI to 15k. So you carrying a balance didn't cause the decline. If Amex truly wanted nobody to carry a balance they would not offer revolvers, period.

Anyway, once your CLI is declined, there's a 90 day wait before you can try again. You said you apped at 61 days knowing all the rules, but the 61 day thing has been a no longer valid policy for months now. Amex is like any other issuer. There is no magic timeframe for a CLI, nor is there some certain date where you will suddenly get a CLI. Amex CLIs have some large misconceptions around them, primarily people thinking it's a sure thing when it is definitely not.

Cannot answer your PRG question in detail as I don't have one or experience with trying to get the offer, but "trying to get targeted for an offer" sounds like a complete waste of time. If you want the offer, all you can do is message them and ask. You'll get an answer and can move on.

---

When I apped at 61 days it *was* a rule, as I mentioned this was almost a year ago. I didn't carry a balance at that time, and my decline reason back then was because of my credit score and too many inqs which was about the same as when I originally apped. I haven't apped for a CLI for about 8 months. I'm not asking for a crystal ball, and I know it's not magic or certain & sudden, but I do know there are people who have done some significant work boiling some credit issuers to a near science.

I did message them and ask, and they gave me a canned response saying the offers are sent based on demographics, spending patterns, etc. etc. So I'm not sure if there is an annual spend amount that plays a role in triggering the 100k bonus offer.

---

Just IMO you are wasting your time trying to spend enough to get the 100k bonus offer. It's targeted, nobody can really tell you who gets it and why, so spending is unlikely to work. Who's to say they don't give it to people with low spend to encourage them to spend more?

Speculating about how to get a targeted offer is like more than just trying to use a crystal ball. Yes, we know a lot about the patterns of issuers, but targeted offers are just that -- targeted.