Oh AMEX why do you nag me so!

[laboi_22]

I've been with AMEX since 2011. I have the BCE at $6,000 CL (have been unable to get any more CLI love since the 61 day mark), I also applied for the Hilton HHonors card and got a CL of $2,000. The Hilton card sucks now since they changed some of the rewards structure and redemption power. I wanted to change over to SPG. Of course you can't PC so I reapplied and was declined. Called Exectuive office and was approved with a CL of $1,000. Just got the card in the mail. Called CS yesterday to take $1,500 from the Hilton and move to SPG and then close the Hilton. I go the 7-10 day message. I'm sure that will be declined as well. How can I get the spending bonus with a CL of $1,000 without having to pay multiple times. So frustrating!!

If I didn't like my BCE I'd be done with AMEX like I'm done with Discover. Closed a whole bunch of cards lately and now I'm considering closing AMEX. Any thoughts??

[longtimelurker]

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@laboi_22 wrote:

I've been with AMEX since 2011. I have the BCE at $6,000 CL (have been unable to get any more CLI love since the 61 day mark), I also applied for the Hilton HHonors card and got a CL of $2,000. The Hilton card sucks now since they changed some of the rewards structure and redemption power. I wanted to change over to SPG. Of course you can't PC so I reapplied and was declined. Called Exectuive office and was approved with a CL of $1,000. Just got the card in the mail. Called CS yesterday to take $1,500 from the Hilton and move to SPG and then close the Hilton. I go the 7-10 day message. I'm sure that will be declined as well. How can I get the spending bonus with a CL of $1,000 without having to pay multiple times. So frustrating!!

If I didn't like my BCE I'd be done with AMEX like I'm done with Discover. Closed a whole bunch of cards lately and now I'm considering closing AMEX. Any thoughts??

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If the SPG hasn't increased by the time the AF comes due, then certainly close it, $65 for a $1k limit isn't worth it.    I wouldn't think of things like "Done with Amex", consider each card invidually ("Is this card worth keeping given..., now and in the near future")  So keep the BCE if it is useful, and junk the others if they are not.

Lots of people here are against closing (non-AF) cards, but its a personal decision without a whole lot of impact either way.

[laboi_22]

Yeah I used to feel the same way as this forum: don't close cards that are free to keep. I'm now noticing that it really doesn't matter. I just trimmed my wallet of about $5,600 in credit lines, but was able to still keep a low (3%) UTL with the lines I have open (approve 90,000 in open credit). I've reached a point where it makes no sense to me to handle multiple cards. I've also moved into the mind set of put your spending on cards that have rewards that are most valuable to you. I've been doing just that. Most spending now goes on my Chase Trifecta.

The BCE is only used for gas purchases when the Freedom doesn't have gas as a category. I really value the SPG points and don't mind paying the AF for it. It's a great way to earn more points on American for me. I fly United mostly and American close second. I really hope they allocate the lines so I can close the Hilton. If not I don't see why loosing all of my AMEX products would be any issue for me since I still have Chase whose rewards I personally value most. I could always in a few years re-apply with AMEX and start over and also gain the benefit of backdating to 2011.

I hate that they can be so wishy washy!

[madmann26]

The bigger question is what does CR's look like. Since you're able to recon it can't look all that bad. U suspect the OP is running high util? Am I getting warm?

[laboi_22]

Not at all. Scores are in the signature. My UTL is currently at 3%. I don't carry any balances except for the ones I purposly let report to show use. My latest TU FICO is 774. There are no baddies on my report except for one 30 day late in 2009 which at this point has never been an issue (it was on a small loan). I have an income of 100,000 (+) and spend heavily on my credit cards. The only other problem AMEX might have is that I opened two new accounts this year and those inquiries are showing as well. I have no other ideas as to why they are acting this way. I just closed my Green card before the AF hit and I was able to charge as high as 20,000 with them.

[madmann26]

TU is one thing...what about Exp?

Amex likes to use Exp.

[laboi_22]

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