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I want to get my foot in the door with Amex, and want to apply for a charge card. I am "pre-selected" for both Gold and Green. Ideally, I want to apply for the Gold, as the AF is waived for the first year, it's a 15k point bonus, and I think I would use the "exclusive events" benefits. My question is: even though I want the Gold, should I just play it safe and app for Zync? I already got denied from Amex for a revolver (SPG, which in hindsight, with my thin history, was a bad idea) a little over 30 days ago. Additional question: I know "pre-selected" is meaningless, but I think I read somewhere that it means you will only get soft-pulled if you apply using the existing offer. Is this true?
736 (FAKO - Credit Sesame)
729 (FAKO - Credit Karma)
714 EXP FICO (1 month old)
Accounts:
Orchard Bank, secured (13 months) - 5k CL
Capital One (6 months) - 750 CL
Discover (1 month) - 750 CL
Current Util (according to CS/CK): 2%
INQ on EXP: 6
I got the Zync, kept it for 9 months, and was invited/pre-approved for Amex Platinum. I decided to get the Gold instead.
That's just the route I took and it worked well for me. And I'm actually planning on PC'ing my Gold back down to Zync because its not worth the AF in my opinion.
I too started out with the Zync, then around around 6 months later I think, might've even been 7, I got the Platinum card...I think you would be approved for teh Zync, you may want to go that route and then app for the Gold, or if you're not concerned taking burning an INQ, go ahead and app for the Gold now, you can always try a recon if you're denied...By the way from what I hear the SPG card is one of their hardest to get, I actually want the card myself since I mainly stay at Starwood hotels when I travel, I'll probably go for it alittle later in the year..Good luck, let us know how it turns out
Do you think a 7th INQ with a denial would tarnish my report/score much?
Green is worthless. Gold, even more so. I think you should skip Gold and go for the PRG if you don't like the looks of Zync. I wish I had done that. 25k bonus points is pretty big.
13 months of history on the Orchard should be sufficient, but Amex has been known to deny because they didn't like the looks of your other creditors - subprime lenders like Orchard raise Amex's hackles. If you really want a good shot, wait 6 months and get a CLI on the Discover to over $1000.
Might as well skip green and go for gold if you are pre-approved.
Green is like a relic from the past like a statue of Caesar.
I'd go Gold. While it doesn't reap as many MR points as PRG, it is $50 per year less than PRG. And...you're already pre-selected for it.
Go for the gold...i also got the green and gold pre-approvals in the mail..i threw the green and kept the gold as a just in case...my scores were pretty low 600's and i still got the gold.
I forgot to mention that I want to get in with AMEX in 2012, given backdating. So I probably would not want to follow djrev4's advice wait 6 months and get the PRG.
The advice in this thread seems pretty split on Zync vs. Gold.
I think you're fine to apply for any charge card. I would recommend the Premier Rewards Gold though, it is more useful and has a better signup bonus. You can always downgrade it later if you want. I'm pretty sure that the underwriting criteria for Amex charge cards is identical or nearly so, save for the $500 Zync counteroffer.