Chase/AMEX Questions for a Friend

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

Hey guys! Just wanted to post a few questions for a friend to get some helpful info for him.

He recently app'd for a BCE AMEX card and received a starting limit of $16,500. His scores are all 750 so he was happy with the starting limit for the card. He also just app'd for the Amex ED (i think that's what it's called) and through talking to chat his starting limit is $5,000. Is that the normal for that card or can he recon the limit since his BCE was approved for $16,500?

Another set of questions is regarding Chase. He opened a Chase Slate almost 2 years ago simply for the balance transfer and currently it has no purpose for him since the balance is now $0 on the card. I think his limit is $3,000-$4,000 but not sure. He doesn't have any other Chase cards but I told him alot of members here love the Chase Freedom. If he were to app for that, can he combine the limit from the Slate on the Freedom? Reason being is he said he would love to be able to app for the Chase Slate again down the road if he needs a balance transfer again. Otherwise he didn't see a reason to keep the Slate open.

I'm gonna get him signed up on this site but wanted to ask a few questions for him.

His current card lineup is...

VentureOne WMC

Venture

Sallie Mae

Chase Slate

Amex BCE

Amex ED (just app'd today)

DiscoverIt( just app'd a few weeks ago)

BestBuy

also has 2-3 store cards but that's mainly the profile he has. All scores are 750 with lowest being I think 743. He wasn't sure which cards are best to get with his scores but def would app for another card or 2. Since my scores are all 675 I told him I'm not sure which cards are best at his range since I'm not there.

Thanks for any help guys and if any other info is needed I can ask as well.

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

Sine he has had the Slate for almost two years it is my understanding that he can request the credit limit be switched to the freedom after approval ( one card has to be 13 months old). He may have to leave 500 on the Slate.

Your friend should also look at the Chase Sapphire Preferred because he already has the Discover It. My Freedom is currently sock drawer because I get the same category or better on my Discover. Plus Discover is double cash for the first year. Your friend could also PC the Slate to a Freedom and apply for the CSP to give him the Freedom/CSP combo.

One caution to your friend in regards to getting the Slate again later. Chase has made it quit clear that it won’t tolerate more than 5 cards( any cards including the store cards he may have) in 24 months. By my count, your friend currently has 4(depending on how long ago he actually got the Slate).

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

1)"His scores are all 750 so he was happy with the starting limit for the card. He also just app'd for the Amex ED (i think that's what it's called) and through talking to chat his starting limit is $5,000. Is that the normal for that card or can he recon the limit since his BCE was approved for $16,500"

Yes, that is normal. He may have reached an initial internal limit.

2)He opened a Chase Slate almost 2 years ago simply for the balance transfer and currently it has no purpose for him since the balance is now $0 on the card. I think his limit is $3,000-$4,000 but not sure. He doesn't have any other Chase cards but I told him alot of members here love the Chase Freedom. If he were to app for that, can he combine the limit from the Slate on the Freedom? Reason being is he said he would love to be able to app for the Chase Slate again down the road if he needs a balance transfer again. Otherwise he didn't see a reason to keep the Slate open.

Yes, he can apply and afterwards combine limits. There is no downside to that-

3) For his other cards, it will depend on his needs...

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

Ok thanks u2 for the info! Will pass it along. I know he has had 4-5 new cards within the last year/year and a half but wasn't aware of the 5 card thing with Chase products.

Good to know for me as well in the future!

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

Sine he has had the Slate for almost two years it is my understanding that he can request the credit limit be switched to the freedom after approval ( one card has to be 13 months old). He may have to leave 500 on the Slate. <<< This is incorrect. I think PDX may have confused this policy with Amex. There is no time restriction for moving limits around with Chase cards.

They are one of the easiest lenders to work with regarding this even if both cards are only a couple weeks old. He will only need to leave $500 on the Slate card if there has been a transaction within the last 30 days.

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
Sine he has had the Slate for almost two years it is my understanding that he can request the credit limit be switched to the freedom after approval ( one card has to be 13 months old). He may have to leave 500 on the Slate. <<< This is incorrect. I think PDX may have confused this policy with Amex. There is no time restriction for moving limits around with Chase cards. They are one of the easiest lenders to work with regarding this even if both cards are only a couple weeks old. He will only need to leave $500 on the Slate card if there has been a transaction within the last 30 days.

Ahh ok thanks Heavenly! I know he said the Slate didn't have a balance and was sitting around doing nothing. He just didnt have any other Chase cards and had mentioned closing it. I told him to wait and let me ask for advice on what he should do. He mentioned getting a Freedom since I told him that a lot of people liked the Freedom on the boards. I'm not sure which Chase cards are best for rewards or best in general since I don't have any Chase cards myself.

I just know about the Slate being the best (or top 2) cards to use for BT's.

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

No problem

Chase has sooooooo many nice cards it all depends on what he's looking for as far as whats best for him. Might be a good idea to browse the website. Freedom wasnt particularly great to me but others find it useful. Personally I think AARP is a pretty nice card, Hyatt card is awesome, but not sure where most of his spend goes or what type of rewards hes looking for so hard to give a recommendation.

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

Oops HF is right. I did get AMEX mixed up with Chase. Sorry about that OP I spend too much time on this site.

Anonymous · ‎10-19-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
No problem Chase has sooooooo many nice cards it all depends on what he's looking for as far as whats best for him. Might be a good idea to browse the website. Freedom wasnt particularly great to me but others find it useful. Personally I think AARP is a pretty nice card, Hyatt card is awesome, but not sure where most of his spend goes or what type of rewards hes looking for so hard to give a recommendation.

Yea I told him to look at the cards on the site and just see which ones interest him. I know he would like to add another Chase card but he def needs to pick what he likes. I told him getting in with Discover was a good choice. I think he mainly wanted to apply for a few cards now and let them all age together.

He has heard me talking about the myfico forums on several occasions and mentioned how it has helped me and how there are so many great people here to help. He was like " they don't charge to use that site and give you that info?" I said well I pay for my fico scores here but the forums are free. He said " well the info u have gotten so far has more than paid for your fico scores"

I couldn't agree more because my scores have jumped 100 points total since I joined the site and learned as much as I could. Well worth it to me so the journey continues!

takeshi74 · ‎10-20-2015

@Anonymous wrote:
He recently app'd for a BCE AMEX card and received a starting limit of $16,500. His scores are all 750 so he was happy with the starting limit for the card. He also just app'd for the Amex ED (i think that's what it's called) and through talking to chat his starting limit is $5,000. Is that the normal for that card or can he recon the limit since his BCE was approved for $16,500?

Nothing abnormal about it. One cannot simply assume that because one got approved for a limit of $X that every subsequent card will have the same or similar limit. Limits are not simply matched by creditors. Limits are assigned based on what one's credit qualifies for at the time of consideration. Credit is not static. After being approved for the BCE and after having it report your friend's credit was not longer the same as it was when he was approved for the BCE. For any given credit profile, a creditor will only extend so much credit. How much credit would be extended can vary from creditor to creditor.

One can always try to recon but generally AmEx doesn't consider recons unless there are errors in the report. Additionaly, "I got $X with Y card" is not a valid basis for recon.

It is certainly possible that one could get $X on a card and then get $X on the next card but it really all depends on the credit profile and the creditor's underwriting criteria. Right after I cleaned up my credit back in 2013, Chase instantly approved one card after the other with the same 5 digit limit for both.

@Anonymous wrote:
He wasn't sure which cards are best to get with his scores but def would app for another card or 2.

Which card isn't just a matter of score. It's never just about a score. If your friend is looking to maximize rewards then your friend needs to look at his spend to determine his major spend categories and which cards would maximize rewards on his spend. If he has other priorities as well then those should be considered as well.

Definitely put some thought into the selection process. Why, for example, does he have the BCE and the ED and the Sallie Mae? These cards do differ a bit from each other but they have quite a bit of overlap. Did he run the numbers or just look at AF when considering the BCE versus the BCP? In many cases the BCE is not the best fit. Don't just consider AF and consider total cost/benefit. For point/miles cards like the ED don't just look at the rewards earn rates. Carefully research redepmtions to ensure that point/mile value can be maximized.

@Anonymous wrote:
also has 2-3 store cards but that's mainly the profile he has.

Profile is not just a list of cards. Profile covers all accounts and attributes that would impact scoring and risk assessment.