Credit Cards

[LaserBlue]

Some of the stories I'm reading on here about Amex are quite frankly scaring the hell out of me. I got a new Blue in March, along with some other stuff, and I'm wondering if any of it will throw up any flags with Amex.

I got a Cap1 first, then the Blue, then a mortgage refi, then a couple of other cards from Chase and Citi. So far, the Cap1 and Amex are reporting, and my old mortgage that was showing as a regular installment is showing closed but the new mortgage hasn't started reporting yet.

The Blue has a 4500 CL and I use it like a Green - I put everything on it and PIF every month. The first billing cycle only had 5 days in it and I ran $377 through, then the second month I ran $3700 through and PIFed the day after the statement cut. That was a pretty unusual month, but I expect to be putting $1000-2000 through it every month and PIFing.

Will Amex love me for PIFing and give me CLIs, or see me as a risk because I use it a lot have a lot of new credit?

Grrrrr... I hate uncertainly.

[chiwiseguy]

Amex will love you if you keep pif'ing. I can't see you having any problems with them. If you ran up another card, or paid late on something, maybe.

[haulingthescoreup]

PIF on just about everything. Despite what many posts say, when you dig down, most of the time the underlying problem is one or more cards whose util has jumped. (Sorry, those of you who've been slapped by AmEx, I'm not disagreeing with you; I'm just trying to report the common element that I've seen.)

AmEx may watch you warily, but as long as you show that you can handle the additional credit by having minimal balances on a couple of cards and $0 on the majority, I think you'll be OK.

[LaserBlue]

Yeah, I do PIF everything. When it comes right down to it, I don't believe too much in credit. I figure if you don't have the money you probably don't need it. I just like the convenience of paying everything with one check (plus the points), and I want my FICO profile to be right for all the things in life that it helps. I view my Blue as a Green with no AF.

The Cap1 and Chase cards are currently sock-drawered. I have a couple of small monthly auto-charges on them to keep them active, but their util will not be much over 1% (13.89/750 - soon to be 1250 after my next statement - and 24.99/2000). I plan to use the Blue for everything that I can, and I use the Citi at the handful of places I go that don't take Amex. That util should hopefully stay around 10%, and of course PIF.

I'm just afraid (based on what I've read here) that once I have 5 new cards and a new mortgage reporting, Amex will think I have too many new accounts and get spooked.

[haulingthescoreup]

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LaserBlue wrote:
Yeah, I do PIF everything. When it comes right down to it, I don't believe too much in credit. I figure if you don't have the money you probably don't need it. I just like the convenience of paying everything with one check (plus the points), and I want my FICO profile to be right for all the things in life that it helps. I view my Blue as a Green with no AF.

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Post of the day! That is EXACTLY what credit is all about.

I really do think that you'll be all right. Did you get the Blue as a straight app, or did you do a product change up from Delta or something?

My prediction is that they will watch you like a hawk, and once they see that you are completely on top of your available credit, they will relax. Fingers crossed!

[FretlessMayhem]

They haven't given me any crap over new accounts, and I opened along the lines of 80k worth of new credit.

Any lates on other accounts, or a spike in util will make them nervous though.

What I don't get is this. Average Joe doesn't really know about FICO and scoring and util, etc. What happens if Joe is a PIF'er every month religiously, but is always maxing out and paying after the statement cuts.

[LaserBlue]

It was a straight cold app.

My credit was so bad for so long that I wasn't sure what I could actually get. The Cap1 was a pre-app deal that came in the mail, and after I got that and realized I could get better cards I took a chance and apped for the Blue. I didn't really expect to get it, although now I realize my credit is actually fairly clear of baddies.