Credit Cards

[BrickTime]

I had an AMEX Green back in the 1990's and it was closed by them, but immediately paid in full by me.  It had a member date of since 1996.  Over the years, I have handled credit well, and I have had times where I completely screwed things up. What I am wanting is some prime cards, and the top of that list for me is AMEX PRG and BCE.  My middle score is a 659 currently.

The good:  3 credit cards open, perfect payment history going back to 2005.

                   No current inquiries on Experian, 4 on Equifax, and 1 on TU

                   WF Auto Loan, 36 months into 60 Term.  absolute perfect payment history (pay more than minimum since inception0

                   Oldest account 18 years, average of account 8 years

                   Verifiable income of 75,000 per year.

                   No public records, BK, repo, judgements, liens, etc.

The Bad:  30, 60, 90, 120 lates on Student loan, but nothing late since 2009.  Everything current now.

                  2 charge-offs credit cards.  One never paid due to fall off report in 2013.  One paid in full in collections in 2011. (last activity had been 2007)

                  No mortgage.

                  63% Util.

my question is do I have a decent chance of getting approved for AMEX in my current situation?  I realize that a revolver would be hard to get, what what about PRG?  Should I just sit in the garden for another year or two instead?  My score has been stuck where it is for about a year now.  Not sure what else to do other than getting my utilization down.  I should be able to get utilization under 15% within a few months at the most.  Has anyone been approved for an AMEX with a comparable profile to mine?  I really don't want the Delta Gold Amex because I don't really ever fly Delta and even if I did, I have heard that it is pretty worthless card for reward miles/redemption.  Any advice would be great!

[trumpet-205]

You know you can PC Delta Gold right away to BCE right?

To be honest, 90 and 120 days late are going to be a deal braker here. Especially 120 days late, it is almost as bad as a collection.

[09Lexie]

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BrickTime wrote:

I had an AMEX Green back in the 1990's and it was closed by them, but immediately paid in full by me.  It had a member date of since 1996.  Over the years, I have handled credit well, and I have had times where I completely screwed things up. What I am wanting is some prime cards, and the top of that list for me is AMEX PRG and BCE.  My middle score is a 659 currently.

The good:  3 credit cards open, perfect payment history going back to 2005.

                   No current inquiries on Experian, 4 on Equifax, and 1 on TU

                   WF Auto Loan, 36 months into 60 Term.  absolute perfect payment history (pay more than minimum since inception0

                   Oldest account 18 years, average of account 8 years

                   Verifiable income of 75,000 per year.

                   No public records, BK, repo, judgements, liens, etc.

The Bad:  30, 60, 90, 120 lates on Student loan, but nothing late since 2009.  Everything current now.

                  2 charge-offs credit cards.  One never paid due to fall off report in 2013.  One paid in full in collections in 2011. (last activity had been 2007)

                  No mortgage.

                  63% Util.

my question is do I have a decent chance of getting approved for AMEX in my current situation?  I realize that a revolver would be hard to get, what what about PRG?  Should I just sit in the garden for another year or two instead?  My score has been stuck where it is for about a year now.  Not sure what else to do other than getting my utilization down.  I should be able to get utilization under 15% within a few months at the most.  Has anyone been approved for an AMEX with a comparable profile to mine?  I really don't want the Delta Gold Amex because I don't really ever fly Delta and even if I did, I have heard that it is pretty worthless card for reward miles/redemption.  Any advice would be great!

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I wish I could speak from Amex experience but in my rejection letter last month, they said my balances were too high to limit and my util was only 10% (stupid mid cycle reporting) and amount of recent accounts.  The score from my Exp was 702, oldest account 28 years, AAOA 8 years, $300 coll due to fall off in March, paid mortgage, paying on student loans forever- no lates, new Chase auto loan 6mos but all revolving credit was new-so off to the garden I go unil 2013.  My 'new credit' will be almost 9 mos.

Hope that gives you some help in your decision.   

[BrickTime]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I pretty much knew what the answer was going to be, but was holding out that maybe I could get my foot in the door with a 650ish score- at least a charge card. 3 years removed from the 90 and 120 baddies. Hoped that start to gradually fade in factoring my score more than it has. Just tired of a stagnant score and don't want to waste an inquiry until I have a reasonable chance.

[webhopper]

You can try for gold or green. I got zync with a paid public record and a paid collection; and a 90 day on a wells Fargo cc reporting.

Be prepared for a decline though... I would say your chances are probably 50/50

[HiLine]

Do you have a particular reason to possess an Amex card soon? If not, gardening for a couple of months will help your chances a lot.... Your score seems too low, even for charge cards.

[webhopper]

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HiLine wrote:

Do you have a particular reason to possess an Amex card soon? If not, gardening for a couple of months will help your chances a lot.... Your score seems too low, even for charge cards.

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His income is high and file is probably thick.... I think he should go for it and if declined just wait 6 months.

[BrickTime]

It's not critical that I get one soon, but I travel a lot for work and get fully reimbursed so I could really take advantage if the Amex benefits. Also, I am anxious to replace the Capital One rebuilders with prime cards like Amex and Hilton Honors, CSP, etc.