CLI Declined 2nd time for AMEX BCE

[Jutz]

Hey all, maybe you can shine some light on this.  I was hoping to make the BCE my secondary "go to" card, behind my Freedom.  I got it back in July and have since been denied a 61 day CLI, and then the subsequent 90 day CLI.  Now, it's AMEX's perogative to deny me of those, and on one hand I can't blame them.  Looking just at the numbers, 2013 was an incredibly busy year for me credit-wise.  I bought a house, a car, and added four cards, including the BCE.  On the other hand, it's also my perogative to look in another direction.

My question then is...do you think that I will eventually overcome this "stall" from AMEX (which I no longer use at all, although I still put a few hundred through my AMEX Gold each month)?  Given that I'm stuck at $1k with them, and all my other cards are slowly surpassing the 5k mark, is this going to take another full year to see any real progress?

Should I look into just nabbing a Discover IT or Citi Preferred? Both have sent me numerous pre-approvals, with Discover sending at least one a week.  What are the CLI terms on them (SP or HP?).  Which tends to start or grow quicker?

Thanks for any advice.  Once my credit rebuild hit warp speed last year, so did my new products, which were kind of at a standstill for a few years.  I fully understand how that can look to a creditor, especially AMEX who is pretty smart with their risk analysis.

[gdale6]

I would look to the negative items on your report, your score seems to be low for what you have obtained over the last year. Discover It over a Citi is my recommendation, Discover will do sp increases if they are available and will give you the option to a hp for CLI if needed.

[Jutz]

---

@gdale6 wrote:

I would look to the negative items on your report, your score seems to be low for what you have obtained over the last year. Discover It over a Citi is my recommendation, Discover will do sp increases if they are available and will give you the option to a hp for CLI if needed.

---

Thanks for the reply, the SP info on the IT is good news.

As far as negatives, my most recent is almost exactly 24 months ago, and it was a 30 day late.  Prior to that was a bevy of lates, including a 90 day.  Depending on what bureau, there may also be a Collection/Charge Off, but more than likely AMEX is looking at Experian, which would not have one.

[phillyguy12]

could be a usuage issue, my scores were around yours when i got my bce about a yr ago, and i also started w/ a 1k limit, got 61 day then the 6 month approvals so i am upto 9k. my yr end summary shows i ran  just under 5500 on the bce and 3700 on my zync in 2013, i paid the bce in full most months, rarely carry a balance if i do its only a few hundred for a max 3 months, zync is a charge so thats always pif.   so i assume i have a good internal score w/ them.  try putting more on it and pif even if it means making multiple payments a month to do so, and if after 6months they dont give you any love then prehaps it would be better to shift your spend else where

[Creditaddict]

I would move your spending back to blue if you are not getting the bonus category on Chase.

you could get a discover but don't get excited about frequent sp CLI... they tend to be a bipolar mix, some get auto CLI, some get huge starting CL's, some can get decent jumps with hp, others get nothing... they seem to favor medium to bad credit more than great credit... they more than likely will never be your $25k card in the wallet and if you want proof of that you can read the thread "What is your discover limit" people posted on that 10+ year history with smaller lines then a simple starting line with chase or amex.

since you have been denied, I think you can keep trying for the CLI's every 45?? days or something, just start using the blue and gold for everything that doesn't meet your bonus on another card and see what happens in next few months.

[Jutz]

---

@Creditaddict wrote:

I would move your spending back to blue if you are not getting the bonus category on Chase.

you could get a discover but don't get excited about frequent sp CLI... they tend to be a bipolar mix, some get auto CLI, some get huge starting CL's, some can get decent jumps with hp, others get nothing... they seem to favor medium to bad credit more than great credit... they more than likely will never be your $25k card in the wallet and if you want proof of that you can read the thread "What is your discover limit" people posted on that 10+ year history with smaller lines then a simple starting line with chase or amex.

since you have been denied, I think you can keep trying for the CLI's every 45?? days or something, just start using the blue and gold for everything that doesn't meet your bonus on another card and see what happens in next few months.

---

Didn't expect usage to be an issue with AMEX, that's interesting that you and philly mentioned this.

Using a $1k limit card is so frustrating.  It's so easy to charge it up to near max, and I'd hate to mis-time a payment and have it cut at like 90% util.  I know it's only a temporary ding, but I don't enjoy it.  I guess I'll just use my Freedom for gas and Starbucks for the rest of this month, and flow everything else through BCE for a few months.

AFAIK, it's still 90 days between CLI requests for AMEX.  61 days for the first, 90 days for each subsequent.  I don't know if being rejected for a standard 90 day warrants me to get a CLI any sooner, but I'm pretty sure I asked the rep and she told me 90.

Thanks for the advice guys.  I'll hold off on Discover for now, I really don't want to add new credit for the sake of adding new credit.

EDIT: I should mention, my last collection rolled off last month, I was wondering why I saw a big jump on EQ.  24 months ago, I had 5 collections accounts listed, and today I have none.  Woohoo.

[Swapmeet]

What has your util been like at 61 days, then after 90 more? This could certainly be a factor.

[Jutz]

20% max, generally 10% or under.  Definitely not a UTIL factor, as it wasn't even listed on the AMEX letter.  New credit and having derogatory marks definitely seem to be the pieces that are still holding me back. (Which I can't totally blame them for; for a risk adverse company like AMEX I'm sure my amount of new credit is a bit unsettling.)

[Jazzzy]

My Amex is a Delta Skymiles. I got the $2k starting limit. A few months later I wanted to cover (and get miles for) expenses for daughter's wedding, so I requested CLI and was given $6k.

Fast forward....I have never asked for another CLI, but they have gradually given me a limit of $19.5k without request.

I believe this is because I use the card a lot and (until the limit creeped up) paid them 2-3 x per month. I truly believe they like to see usage, and they like to see that you are bumping up against your limit. I don't pay them interest, but I do let the monthly amount show on the statement and then pay it.

My next highest limit card is $19k, and I don't think it is coincidence that AmEx went above that limit for me.

[Jutz]

That's good to know, although I don't know anything about your credit profile.  I'd assume since you hit $19k without asking that you have some tradelines that are quite worthy of that consideration.