Fresh off the AMEX B-List...is it cool to have more than 1 card?

[Anonymous]

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@MrShush wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

AMEX will not cancel your green card due to another application.  However, if your green account is relatively new, I would wait 6 months before any new applications, and 1 year is better.

But, once you age it a bit, and keep your credit nose clean, the YES BY ALL MEANS get another AMEX or 2.  Why?  Because they will all date to 1996 and this will do wonders for your AAOA if it is less than 14 years.

txjohn

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I'm not going to take the bait and apply. I've thought about it and after careful consideration, I will wait patiently and see what happens with this card. I'd love for a longer AAoA and if they will really mature this card with a 14 year history. I'm really anxious for them to report and to see what affect this will have on my reports.

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@Anonymous wrote:
What he is worried about is that it may call attention to himself and the fact that he was approved for the green card while on the AmEx blacklist and discover that they may have approved him in error.  If that happens, they will cancel his green card.

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06 is right, I am paranoid if not terrified that they will change their minds. But honestly, does anyone approve in error? I was looking at my EX report the other night and it is littered with AMEX softs. I think they know exactly what they did. I hope anyway.

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Nope.  They don't know what they are doing.

Anybody who has had an AmEx product that has gone South is usually softed -- sometimes weekly -- until either 1) hell freezes over, 2) AmEx gets their money or c) until death do us part.  I have seen dozens of cases where B-listers are softed over and over again and when they apply ... they get the "Previous account closed by AmEx so drop dead!" message.

Right here on the forums we've seen people apply for and get approved for credit cards only to have their accounts nuked a day or so later.  Not saying that will happen to you -- or at least I hope it doesn't happen to you -- but I only see a few different scenarios:

1.  You were never really b-listed;

2.  They stopped b-listing people;

3.  B-list only lasts a certain length of time; or

4.  Their system was asleep and you slipped through the cracks.

I'd lay low and enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.

[MrShush]

No kidding?! They pull the plug on new accounts opened in "error"? I don't want that to happen. I guess nothing is guaranteed anymore. Should I use the account? I keep logging in to check all is well and plug amounts in the check spending availability and they say the charges will be approved...

[Anonymous]

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@MrShush wrote:
No kidding?! They pull the plug on new accounts opened in "error"? I don't want that to happen. I guess nothing is guaranteed anymore. Should I use the account? I keep logging in to check all is well and plug amounts in the check spending availability and they say the charges will be approved...

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Not saying it will happen with you, but it is possible.  The odds of it happening depend on their internal processes.  After a card is issued, do they assume it was properly vetted and then never run a check of those accounts again to see if anyone is on their b-list?  If they find out, what is their reaction?  I know HSBC has a b-list and if they find you are on it after they have issued a card they do not cancel the account -- they just freeze your CL at $300 for the next seven hundred years. 

Personally, I think you'll be ok.  But it is always wise -- especially with BOA and AmEx -- to never call attention to yourself.  Heck, even if you only use it to buy a cup of coffee every month you're still coming out far, far ahead -- you just got a 15-year-old account!  Most people here would kill for an instant 15-year history.

[MrShush]

So, I shouldn't even use the card? Pay the $95, leave it in my wallet and call it a day?

[Anonymous]

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@MrShush wrote:

So, I shouldn't even use the card? Pay the $95, leave it in my wallet and call it a day?

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Noooooooooo! 

I would just tread carefully.  I would refrain from pulling the trigger on other AmEx applications for a while.  I would not call in to customer service and ask questions.  I would definitely not ask for a CLI or anything like that.  Avoid buying gambling chips, shopping at Wal-Mart, paying legal fees or anything else that might push AmEx into asking for a FR. 

Now, if it were me, I'd pay the $95 and be daily smooching the AmEx God's fat cheeks for another positive 15-year-old tradeline.  But I would still use the card.

[Uborrow-Upay]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@MrShush wrote:

So, I shouldn't even use the card? Pay the $95, leave it in my wallet and call it a day?

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Noooooooooo! 

I would just tread carefully.  I would refrain from pulling the trigger on other AmEx applications for a while.  I would not call in to customer service and ask questions.  I would definitely not ask for a CLI or anything like that.  Avoid buying gambling chips, shopping at Wal-Mart, paying legal fees or anything else that might push AmEx into asking for a FR. 

Now, if it were me, I'd pay the $95 and be daily smooching the AmEx God's fat cheeks for another positive 15-year-old tradeline.  But I would still use the card.

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+1

And,  I'm LMAO picturing O6 bussing the rosy cheeks of a weight-challenged Amex deity, whom I imagine looks somewhat like the fully-grown love child of Rosie O'Donnell and Jabba the Hut...    O6, you crack me up, and I really needed that right now.  Thanks!

[Anonymous]

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@Uborrow-Upay wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@MrShush wrote:

So, I shouldn't even use the card? Pay the $95, leave it in my wallet and call it a day?

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Noooooooooo! 

I would just tread carefully.  I would refrain from pulling the trigger on other AmEx applications for a while.  I would not call in to customer service and ask questions.  I would definitely not ask for a CLI or anything like that.  Avoid buying gambling chips, shopping at Wal-Mart, paying legal fees or anything else that might push AmEx into asking for a FR. 

Now, if it were me, I'd pay the $95 and be daily smooching the AmEx God's fat cheeks for another positive 15-year-old tradeline.  But I would still use the card.

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+1

And,  I'm LMAO picturing O6 bussing the rosy cheeks of a weight-challenged Amex deity, whom I imagine looks somewhat like the fully-grown love child of Rosie O'Donnell and Jabba the Hut...    O6, you crack me up, and I really needed that right now.  Thanks!

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You've gotta have ESP because that's exactly how I pictured the AmEx deity, too. 

I do have a couple of really old positive TLs reporting still, but with all the newer additions to the collection my AAoA is still something like 20 days.  Were I on the AmEx b-list and could slip through the cracks and wind up with a 15-year-old positive TL in the deal, who wouldn't be thrilled to death?  Heck, I've heard of folks renting out TLs like that and earning decent $$ (not to say that I think that should be done, mind you). 

[Anonymous]

be carefull, amex sometime crazy .. they FR my account just one hour after i call to activate, and i closed my account the next 5 minutes .. they sometime crazy .. like me .. lol

[MrShush]

I'll use the card, carefully, strategically. Dinner or something. I don't gamble because I don't win *sigh* and I don't patonize other questionable establishments. I stopped paying at the liquor store or beer distributor with random CC's for points or cash back 3 years ago because of the data mining and subsequent AA.

I am thrilled that I was able to get back in with AMEX. I wrote them off assuming I'd never carry a real AMEX again; forever relagated to bank issued cards. Having said that, I come home yesterday to another invitation for a Green. Maybe it crossed the card in the mail. I get several emails now from them for different offers which I don't mind but also yesterday I get an email inviting me to apply for the Premier Rewards Gold and at the bottom, view other card offers specially selected for you: Blue Sky, Delta Gold, and Starwood. It seems like they are going to continue to wave offers at me. I will stand fast. No more applications!

[Anonymous]

My apologies before, I didn't pay attention to what B-Lister meant...and did not understant that OP had a previous CO unsettled.

However, regardless of what future action AMEX takes, you now have a new 14-15 year old TL on your CR and that isn't going away even if they cancel down the road.  If closed you'll still get the benefit of the TL and AAoA for up to 10 years...so that really is the worst case.

Best case....you have an AMEX and they let you keep it long term.  I would use it...don't spend lavishly...use it with some conservatism and way within your application stated income and always pay on time.

You really can't go wrong here...you have an account that you shouldn't really have gotten, so however long it lasts...you are ahead.

Good luck

txjohn