Another Amex Blue Req Question regarding UT

[SubseaEngineer]

With a mortgage (1.5 years old), 3 late payments on a credit card (all 30 day) in last 6 years, spaced 1 year apart, last one was 3+ years ago, also have a 6 year old 60-day, 90-day, and 120-day (I was unemployed for a few months).

Have 2 dept store cards under 15% UT (1 card is 14 years old, the other is 1 year old).

Have 2 sears cards both at 40% UT (1 card is 15 years old, the other is 9 months old).

Have a discover card at 40% UT (9 months old, $7,500 credit limit).

AAOA is 9+ years old, oldest acct is 15 years, I have current auto loan ($24K), 1 paid off auto loan, 4 student loans (total amt is $35K)

Continuously employed for last 5.5 years, income is about $145K.

Any thoughts on whether this UT is too high to apply for Amex Blue Cash Preferred/Everyday?

[emptypockets]

I would think they would not approve due to util, and too many accounts with balances. But YMMV, obviously. Any idea of your EX score?

[SubseaEngineer]

Fico is 693, I'm waiting for an old collection to fall off in Nov, expecting it to jump over 700.  After the old collection falls off is when I have been planning to apply (end of November).

If I wait till end of December UT on all 3 cards will be 30%.

[emptypockets]

You may be better off waiting. The fewer collections, and the lower the Util, the better when trying for AMEX. Where did you get that FICO?

[SubseaEngineer]

Got the Fico from here, like... 2 days ago.

I def wont apply until collection falls off.  So that will be gone.

My question is (given rest of my credit report), what level of utilization is going to block me from being approved.

[emptypockets]

I asked about the FICO because AMEX mainly pulls a credit score from Experian, and that score is not available on My Fico, so maybe you pulled your Equifax score.

I would say your Util, should be under 30% to get this card. But this is only my opinion. I am sure others will chime in as well.

[SubseaEngineer]

Ah, yeah, my scores are as follows:

Fico Eq:  693 (Fako 691)

Fako Ex:  680

Fico TU:  673

[RyVision]

Your scores should jump significantly once the collection drops off in Nov.  Considering the rest of the info you posted,  I would guess anything under the 40% might allow you to be approved for any in the Blue series at that point.  JMHO.

With your income,  you should have little to no problem getting your UTIL under the 40% mark or even quite lower (if it's because of 0% offers, just inform AMEX of that, they tend to understand).

You can always check on their website pre-selected site too (or whatever they call it) to see if you're on their radar, or maybe get on their radar.  However, if they have no offers for you, it doesn't mean they won't approve you.  I never had any offers on their site "offer checker" myself.