Amex Statement Cut Dates Changing ?

[Anonymous]

Hey all, I am in the middle of trying for my first 61 day 3x CLI with my Amex BCE w/ a $1k SL. 

I opeed the card on Sept. 2nd and am having trouble with the statement cut date. I am trying to show the best util so I can have a better chance of gettiing my 3x CLI @ 61 days.

9/18/16 was my first statement cut date. I made transactions on 9/18 and didnt realize they would show up on that months statement. I messed up there already, not bad, but instead of showing 9% util like i tried to do, I ended up at like %20.

Fast forward to this month, I scheduled a payment for 10/18/16, before my October closing date, which was supposed to be on 10/19/16 as that is what it says on my September statement. The payment went through on the 18th of the month, I made a couple charges on the 20th and 21st, thinking it was a new statement. I go online ( like I do almost daily and check all my credit cards and bank statements etc ) and it says my October statement didnt end till today ? So did I just mess up again, and instead of showing 6.5% util my charges from the 20th and 21st will now show on my october statement, and I will be at about 30-40% util.

Keep in mind this is only for the 3x CLI or for UTIL point maxumization. 

My concern is why is AMEX not able to tell me why my statement cut date is changing. All they keep telling me is to only worry about the due date, but that is the least of my worries because I pay my credit cards multiple times a month.

September cut date was 9/18

October cut date was suppose to be 10/19 but ended up changing to 10/22

November cut date says its supposed to be 11/20 on my October statement

All amex tells me is, 30 days from my last cut date should be my new cut date for the following month. But if there is 29 or 30 or 31 days, the cut date changes a day or two ? Ok that is understandable, but if each month is already predetermined with a set amount of days, then why does it say on my statement my cut date for the coming is one day, but a few days before that day comes, the cut date actually changes. 

I know I am probably just over thinking things like usual, but credit cards are a new thing to me & ive been a cash only guy for the last 5 years or so since i started my new career.

So i just need some helpful insight please!

[Anonymous]

I tried the chat feature 3 times today with AMEX CSR. The first time, the man Miles didnt speak too well, and it seemed like he gave up helping me, didnt respsond for a few minutes, and than the chat disconnected. I tried again with Trent, and after about 5 minutes of chatting or so, my internet / laptop or Amex crashed. So I reloaded and tried again with a 3rd CSR, Susan, I was asking a few questions, making sure she had all my old msg's on file from the previous 2 convos just minutes prior. She didnt respond for  a few minutes, I finally see a response, the chat feature is blinking, as I am reading her 4 responses at once, it immediately went to like a "rewview how was your chat experience today" or whatever it says, i didnt even get a chance to read what she was explaining. It kicked me off again and went to the review thing. I take it they dont want to help me...

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this will help you, but if you look under your recent activity on thr right hand side it says when your next closing date is.

[Anonymous]

That and my prior months statement had the same dates, 10/19. My payment posted and I decided to check my account to see my balance. Because I had just made a few charger the day before, and that day ( 21st ) and it says my statement is now the 21st !?! I check my september statement and it change from "Next Months Closing Date 10/19/2016" to the new 10/21/16 and it says it on my app, and now on my statement as well. It changed.. They insisted on just checking on it because it wont be the same date every month, it will always be the 18-22 or so they said.. but i mean that doesnt help. espeicially when I "need" the card for the bonuses (grocery) If the dates are going to change that much, and within days of the actual day.. i cant make scheduled payments, I'd have to not use the card for like few days to a week around the "usual cut days" 18-22nd.. But I go to the grocery store weekly. I'd like to use my grocery bonus card instead of a 1.5% card..

[Berk]

Personally, I never worried about Utl at all when I asked Amex for CLI's (or any other lender for that matter). I was never denied one either. I might not have gotten all I was asking for but they were still nice counters that I took without question. 

Don't obsess about it - that takes all the fun out of using your cards and watching your overall credit limit increase over time.

[Ghoshida]

AMEX is notorious when it comes to having one single statement cut date. For me it has varied over a 4 day range and it's to be expected with AMEX.

As to why they do it, I have never gotten a clear answer from them and have assumed that it's got something to do with their previously worshipped charge card nature, maybe? 

My best bet is that they have a fixed day balance closing, that's somehow related to their legacy system instead of a particular date on the calendar. So probably they do it every 31 days, which may not be the same day every month. Whatever. 

I'll agree with OP that it's ridiculous. For your best case scenario, my advice will be to (1) Pay your entire balance in full on or before the due date, then (2) not charge anything unless you've seen AMEX generate its statement. Use your mobile app for help. In my experience, the difference between (1) and (2) can be anywhere between 2 to 5 days. 

It's an inconvenience, sure, but if you are really, really religious about hitting a zero (or some fixed percentage) balance on your AMEX, you have to do this. 

From AMEX's point of view, as long as they're not changing your due date randomly, they should be fine. Also, on their agreement, they'd have promised a minimum grace period (typically 21 days or so), and the due date is generally at least that far away from the statement date, so they get away with changing the statement date by a couple of days either way.

[Anonymous]

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@Ghoshida wrote:

AMEX is notorious when it comes to having one single statement cut date. For me it has varied over a 4 day range and it's to be expected with AMEX.

As to why they do it, I have never gotten a clear answer from them and have assumed that it's got something to do with their previously worshipped charge card nature, maybe? 

My best bet is that they have a fixed day balance closing, that's somehow related to their legacy system instead of a particular date on the calendar. So probably they do it every 31 days, which may not be the same day every month. Whatever. 

I'll agree with OP that it's ridiculous. For your best case scenario, my advice will be to (1) Pay your entire balance in full on or before the due date, then (2) not charge anything unless you've seen AMEX generate its statement. Use your mobile app for help. In my experience, the difference between (1) and (2) can be anywhere between 2 to 5 days. 

It's an inconvenience, sure, but if you are really, really religious about hitting a zero (or some fixed percentage) balance on your AMEX, you have to do this. 

From AMEX's point of view, as long as they're not changing your due date randomly, they should be fine. Also, on their agreement, they'd have promised a minimum grace period (typically 21 days or so), and the due date is generally at least that far away from the statement date, so they get away with changing the statement date by a couple of days either way.

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Thank you for this great response Ghoshida!

What I needed to hear, thank you for the advice. I guess I will just keep checking on it, since amex wants to keep that old ChargeCard mentality -_-