Update 4/24/2014 Gardening past 6 months, AMEX pre-approval was given to me, advice

[sideshowmer]

 I have been gardening for 6 months now and was able to obtain 2 cards with lower APR rates than my first CC citi expedia. I was denied a Chase Freedom, but was approved on those 2 lower APR cards which is my  BofA Americard with 3500 CL and Discover it CL 1500.  Then I got  a Vitacost CL 3500 but APR is high, so only using it on Vitacost site and that one is payed down. Now, I was sent a pre-approval for a Green Card American Express, $0 intro rate for the first year then $95 a year. Is it worth it to get an American Express card? I know that with Amex all balances must be paid in full each month, also with this card the downside is a foreign transaction fee, which is why I was trying to get a Chase for their great travel benefits. Is it worth getting an American Express to work towards their eventual benefits? 

4/24/2014

Guess what.. I got an a invite to apply for the premier AMEX gold, as predicted by some on this topic....ummm just deciding if I should wait til the end of the year to get my AMEX card

[Creditaddict]

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@sideshowmer wrote:

 I have been gardening for 6 months now and was able to obtain 2 cards with lower APR rates than my first CC citi expedia. I was denied a Chase Freedom, but was approved on those 2 lower APR cards which is my  BofA Americard with 3500 CL and Discover it CL 1500.  Then I got  a Vitacost CL 3500 but APR is high, so only using it on Vitacost site and that one is payed down. Now, I was sent a pre-approval for a Green Card American Express, $0 intro rate for the first year then $95 a year. Is it worth it to get an American Express card? I know that with Amex all balances must be paid in full each month, also with this card the downside is a foreign transaction fee which is was I was trying to get a Chase for their great travel benefits. Is it worth getting an American Express to work towards their eventual benefits? 

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I would probably apply for a Gold Rewards Charge Card (should be same underwriting as the green but better rewards and still free for a year) next year you can cancel and hopefully before then get a credit card, might even qualify now... very popular to apply for charge card and after approval apply for a credit card like Blue Cash, Everyday, Delta, Costco on same day and see if approved... no biggie if declined (same inq)

[sideshowmer]

But I was given a code for this Green Card not Gold, how do I go and try and get a gold instead?

[Creditaddict]

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@sideshowmer wrote:

But I was given a code for this Green Card not Gold, how do I go and try and get a gold instead?

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just go directly to Americanexpress.com and apply with no code for the Gold Rewards Charge Card.

[sideshowmer]

Ok I looked it up, so it is basically the gold card, but the rewards comparison didn't seem to great to me plus $125 annual fee vs. $95 for green. The Blue Sky seems to be better for a travel rewards. I am unsure...

[Creditaddict]

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@sideshowmer wrote:

Ok I looked it up, so it is basically the gold card, but the rewards comparison didn't seem to great to me plus $125 annual fee vs. $95 for green. The Blue Sky seems to be better for a travel rewards. I am unsure...

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it's free for the year... you can downgrade to green or close next year.

If blue sky looks good, you apply for gold... upon approval, go back in and apply for blue sky!

[asulaw]

It all depends on what you like the best in the end. Personally, my girlfriend and I love gaining MR instead of cashback. If I were looking for a new charge card I would not look at the Green though. My opinion is that the Premier Gold Rewards card has much more to offer, and yes there is a bit more in fees, but you'll end up using it a lot. You can get good sign up bonuses with the PRG too I've heard of 75k offers floating around.

As far as travel rewards with Chase goes, my set up now is I have the Marriott Premier, and I use that for our hotels. We love Marriott so it made a lot more sense than a Hilton card. The Marriott Premier gives us 1 free night stay at a Cat 5 which can outweigh the annual fee easily.

Back to the MR, we find that they work better on flights and NOT on hotels or gift cards.

Again, it is all preference on how you like to spend your cash. But it sounds like you want to travel more. As far as your offer, I'd hold out until you get something in the mail for a PRG. They will send it if you are patient. My girlfriend got a Green, then PRG for 25k then we got the PRG with 50k that's when we pulled on it.

Good luck!

[sideshowmer]

So did your gf at the start get a Green to start with, then she started getting offers for Gold?

[asulaw]

My gf had offers for the Green in the mail but did not want to do it, not until I saw the PRG come in did she start to think about it. It was just coincidence though that she got the 50k mail offer because she was going to do the 25k mail offer originally. If I remember she got a green inbetween two PRG offers. Not that it matters though, if you're on their radar you're there for a reason.

[sideshowmer]

I am going to take your advice and wait, I am unsure... so it is best to just wait and see what rolls in. I'll keep cultivating what I have for the time being.