No credit card required
Browse credit cards from a variety of issuers to see if there's a better card for you.
@bichonmom wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:I saw lots of cases where people got 3x CLI without spending much on their CC. The most important things are income and util
+1 This is my experience. I got Zync & Costco $2000 CL in Feb. Around 61 days later, I went through automated system and asked for 3x CL and was grated $6000 CL. I had not had a balance over around $300 to $400 in those 2 months. My util was low, my CR was good, my income substantiated the CLI. I certainly didn't think the $6000 CL was guaranteed when I called for the CLI. I was relieved and grateful when the computerized system said it had been approved.
I certainly agree that the CLI is in no way a sure thing. However, I think it's determined by your overall credit picture and prompt payment on your Amex. I don't believe that you need to use the card to get a high balance to justify the CLI. And with Amex, that could just backfire. If they see high usage on a brand new card, from what I've read here, that could be a red flag for a FR.
Hey Bitchon are you gonna go for 18k in 6 months?
I think this issue is symptomatic of larger issues with the board. People post their experiences and things they have learned over time, others read this and apply it to their situation. The ones for whom it works repeat the advice in progressively absolute terms until it becomes a fact. People with little experience then read these "facts" and apply them to situations they were never intended for, with negative consequences. They then post these negative consequences. Cycle repeats.
If you are trying to keep people from misinterpreting what you write, you are doomed to failure. If you try to set out some basic rules, you can expect someone to instantly post an exception based on their personal experiences. All of this is symptomatic of a large group of people trying to predict behavior based on intentionally incomplete information. The fact that the majority of the participants ended up here because of a previous mistake (or series of mistakes) only increases the chances of additional mistakes happening.
So here is what I take from all the Amex threads (of which there are undoubtedly more since I started typing): Amex is unique in allowing you to apply for a CLI of up to 3x your current limit after 61 day and it will be a soft pull. This is information I would never have discovered without this board. I found this information useful, as have many others. But...Anything beyond this statement is speculation. Speculation that might be useful to some members of the board? Sure. But speculation nonetheless, like:
In general, people with higher incomes who push a lot of charges through their cards tend to get more favorable treatment from Amex than those who dont. Some people violate very aspect of the collective wisdom assembled about Amex and still get approved. Some do everything the collective wisdom dictates and get no love at all. There are exceptions to every rule and the principle of reporting bias suggests that the exceptions are more likely to post their results.
Nobody on this board has access to the data being used by the decisionmakers. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of credit in general: people are making decisions that impact your life and they won't tell you the basis for that decision, because to do so would be to give proprietary information to their competitors. So we try to take our own experiences, combine them with others and arrive at some general concensus. But anyone, ANYONE, who takes this as gospel is being foolish and to blame the original posts is like blaming the engineers every time some idiot wrecks his Ferrari going too fast on Mulholland in the rain. And someone posting about how he drove his Ferrari at 80mph from Sunset to Malibu in a hurricane without problems doesn't relieve the original owner of responsibility.
Are there people posting on this forum assuming the 3x cli is a given, just like getting a zync guarantees a BCE 6 months later? Yep. Caveat emptor.
Based on personal experience with AMEX and other lenders, I disagree with the necessity of running up your card... My Clear had been sockdrawered for a full 6+ months when they trippled my line. Similarly, Citi recently did an auto-CLI on my Dividend, which is also sockdrawered and has been for 6+ months. My last Discover CLI (not triple, but close) also came at a time when that card was given very, very minimal use. Meanwhile, the cards I actually use (AMEX SC, Chase Freedom, and PenFed PR) haven't received an auto-CLI in ages. To be fair, I haven't explicitly requested them either, but given what I've personally experienced, I simply disagree that making "good use" of your existing credit line is either necessary or prudent in order to earn higher limits. Your income and the size of your existing lines are both far more important factors, which is why it is critical to push for higher limits, even if you have no intention of using them.
I'll be going for $22,500. I'll let you know how that goes around the beginning of November!
I recently was denied a CLI from AMEX (with no counter offer). I posted my experienced, and some credit info. I have a decent credit profile, but I do have numerous new accounts (5 since June), which I am sure AMEX did not like. I was not mad that I did not get the CLI, nor was I really surprised. I have alot of cards, and while I use my AMEX regularly, perhaps it is not as often as they like. No biggie, at least I got my current EX score.
FWIW, I think that AMEX is alot easier to get from 1-2k up to say 6k. After that, they look very closely at debt to income, etc. as well as your score. A high score alone will not get you a CLI. They seem to frown on you having cards with balances over 25-30% (for me anyway). I have one card with 33% util (a 0%/18 mos purchase). Overall util is 6%.
@Cdnewmanpac wrote:
In general, people with higher incomes who push a lot of charges through their cards tend to get more favorable treatment from Amex than those who dont. Some people violate very aspect of the collective wisdom assembled about Amex and still get approved. Some do everything the collective wisdom dictates and get no love at all. There are exceptions to every rule and the principle of reporting bias suggests that the exceptions are more likely to post their results.
I was going to make this point, until I've read that you have done so already.
One of the more frustrating things when positing general guides as opposed to absolute scientific truths is there will always be exceptions. Especially in a medium such as this, every individual dissenter who were an exception will offer a position to refute a general axiom.
Even if I were to state that the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 m/s squred, there will be a post stipulating (correctly) this isn't true because they have an object with low density (a feather) that clearly refutes this rule. Cdnewmanpac makes a good point that if we were to offer general guides including every possible exception, they would cease to be a "general" axiom and cease to be useful. It would be counterproductive to encumber a general guideline with so much minutia rendering it impractical, just to avoid the knitpickers's out there, whose calling in life is to be the next MC for the Hairsplitter's Convention in Vegas.
In general, Amex treats better those customers with good credit, high income, and spends more. Moreover, all things being equal, they tend to favor luxury spending on fine hotels and restaurants, as opposed to the same spent on 100 burgers form McD's or 50 nights at Motel 6.
There is a reason why Amex refers to their model as spend-centric. It's not just term or catch phrase they've recently come up with to make a splash (like Barclay's ring), it's been their business model since inception in the 60s when they were the first to follow the Diner's club card.
@Anonymous wrote:I saw lots of cases where people got 3x CLI without spending much on their CC. The most important things are income and util
+1
@Cdnewmanpac wrote:I think this issue is symptomatic of larger issues with the board. People post their experiences and things they have learned over time, others read this and apply it to their situation. The ones for whom it works repeat the advice in progressively absolute terms until it becomes a fact. People with little experience then read these "facts" and apply them to situations they were never intended for, with negative consequences. They then post these negative consequences. Cycle repeats.
If you are trying to keep people from misinterpreting what you write, you are doomed to failure. If you try to set out some basic rules, you can expect someone to instantly post an exception based on their personal experiences. All of this is symptomatic of a large group of people trying to predict behavior based on intentionally incomplete information. The fact that the majority of the participants ended up here because of a previous mistake (or series of mistakes) only increases the chances of additional mistakes happening.
So here is what I take from all the Amex threads (of which there are undoubtedly more since I started typing): Amex is unique in allowing you to apply for a CLI of up to 3x your current limit after 61 day and it will be a soft pull. This is information I would never have discovered without this board. I found this information useful, as have many others. But...Anything beyond this statement is speculation. Speculation that might be useful to some members of the board? Sure. But speculation nonetheless, like:
In general, people with higher incomes who push a lot of charges through their cards tend to get more favorable treatment from Amex than those who dont. Some people violate very aspect of the collective wisdom assembled about Amex and still get approved. Some do everything the collective wisdom dictates and get no love at all. There are exceptions to every rule and the principle of reporting bias suggests that the exceptions are more likely to post their results.
Nobody on this board has access to the data being used by the decisionmakers. This is one of the most frustrating aspects of credit in general: people are making decisions that impact your life and they won't tell you the basis for that decision, because to do so would be to give proprietary information to their competitors. So we try to take our own experiences, combine them with others and arrive at some general concensus. But anyone, ANYONE, who takes this as gospel is being foolish and to blame the original posts is like blaming the engineers every time some idiot wrecks his Ferrari going too fast on Mulholland in the rain. And someone posting about how he drove his Ferrari at 80mph from Sunset to Malibu in a hurricane without problems doesn't relieve the original owner of responsibility.
Are there people posting on this forum assuming the 3x cli is a given, just like getting a zync guarantees a BCE 6 months later? Yep. Caveat emptor.
+1! Very well said!
i would think income and time at current employment would play the biggest role in determining a cli for amex. most people who post a denial for a cli never post their income so who knows. i would think there is no way amex would give a card holder 25k if their income is 50k. some suggest it is the amount you run through the card even one member said if your only running 200 through a 1000 limit card why would they give you an increase?
creditors arent stupid. they know about util. so thus giving you an increase would entitle you to spend more without having to worry about util.
in most cases though if you compare the ones who are successful with the 3x cli to the ones who are denied there is a difference (credit wise)