Applying for Amex?

[JSS3]

Why is it always recommended to apply for an Amex card at the beginning of the year? What's the advantage? For instance, is it more advantageous to apply for one in the middle of 2014 or beginning of 2015?

[longtimelurker]

The reason is for backdating, and only applies to a subsequent card.

Apply for your first Amex as soon as you wish, and in particular if it is Dec, DON'T wait till Jan for example.

Once you have your first Amex, the year you got it is used for all subsequent Amex cards.   So say you got your first Amex Aug 2013.    Then, if you apply in month X in ANY future year, your card will get a Member Since date of X/2013.  If X=1, for January, you get the maximum backdating, and your second card will appear to have been opened in Jan 2013, before your first card!

As with many things, this is highly overstressed here.  As time goes on and number of lines increases, a few months difference has no real impact.   But early on in your credit history, IF it is convenient to do it in Jan, that is the best time.    But if for example it is August, and you really need the benefits of the new card, waiting makes no sense.

[JSS3]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

The reason is for backdating, and only applies to a subsequent card.

Apply for your first Amex as soon as you wish, and in particular if it is Dec, DON'T wait till Jan for example.

Once you have your first Amex, the year you got it is used for all subsequent Amex cards.   So say you got your first Amex Aug 2013.    Then, if you apply in month X in ANY future year, your card will get a Member Since date of X/2013.  If X=1, for January, you get the maximum backdating, and your second card will appear to have been opened in Jan 2013, before your first card!

As with many things, this is highly overstressed here.  As time goes on and number of lines increases, a few months difference has no real impact.   But early on in your credit history, IF it is convenient to do it in Jan, that is the best time.    But if for example it is August, and you really need the benefits of the new card, waiting makes no sense.

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I think what's throwing me off is the word "maximum" before backdating. If I understand correctly, it's really about backdating to the year so that your AAOA isn't affected when applying for future Amex cards. I guess "maximum backdating" is adding the few months(preferably earlier months), which would not only result in an earlier year, but also additonal months on your CR? Ok. I believe I understand now. I was thrown off by the stressing of the month of Jan, itself, as if something is given when you apply then. I see now it's so a person can rack up additional months. In that case, Late 2014 works out better than Early 2015 because you get those extra 3 to 4 months as well as that year's backdate.

Thanks for your help in clearing this up.

[longtimelurker]

Right, on the original card, doing it as early as possible maximizes AAoA, just the same as any other (non-Amex) card.  So getting your first Amex in June 2013 gains you a small increase over getting it in August 2013 (very small, as those months are averaged over all of your accounts).  But generally, for future backdating, you want to get it with an early YEAR as possible.  So if it is Dec and you can app for your first Amex, it makes sense to do it now rather than wait, not just for the extra month, but because all subsequent Amexs will get the earlier year as their opening date.

It IS very strange, and I still find it hard to believe that the CRAs do this, but since that is the game, subsequent cards in Jan maximizes backdating, but for many the difference is small.