topic Re: Need Some Amex Advise in Credit Card Applications

Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 03:01:24 GMT

Hi, I recently was approved for the Amex Delta Gold ($1000 limit). I understand this is their entry level, lets go on a date and see if we like each other approval. I guess my question is, when do I meet Amex's parents?

I am only interested in getting the Amex Gold charge card but have been denied twice now. Rejection letters say FICO is too low and I have serious delinquincies (which was an old student loan that I have since paid off but it will still linger, I guess). So looking for some advise.

Here are some facts for you;

Current Experian FICO 8: 660.

Took care of collections accounts and it should be climbing now (hopefully) as it starts to age.

Credit cards: Discover (3 years old $1800) and CapOne ($300, which I have been told is useless and I should just close it, but that is for another time is from Aug of 2019).

Utlization is 1% or can even be 0. I just keep it at 1% to 2% to show activity.

How I use my Amex with $1000 limit.

I am literally using it for everything under the sun and paying it off every week. I have had it since October 2019 and since then, on average I pass through $2700 / mo. Use, approach limit, pay it off (repeate) and before cycle closes, pay it down completely and leave a few $ on it so it can report something to the agencies.

My question is, when will Amex take me home? Am I smothering it? (using it all the time and paying it off). Does it like being smothered? or should I just back off and let it come to me? Show that I dont care anymore and for it to start to love me only when I've lost interest? Some have said that the way I am using my card has no bearing on my Amex relationship with them. Some have said, they love to be smothered.

I just want a Gold charge card.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

KJinNC — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 03:07:54 GMT

The use pattern sounds good, but I think it's going to be more about your overall profile, your scores and fixing or putting distance behind the derogatories. You do have a secret weapon now, though, you can check SP preapproval for Gold any time. Just click on the Apply button and you'll see with high confidence whether you will get the card or not. If it says "StephStamper, you are preapproved!" you are extremely likely to be approved. If you don't, you can apply anyway if you want, it'll probably be a SP if you're rejected.

You are also eligible to request a 3x CLI, by the way. I would wait until I'm seeing a pretty good number of preapprovals on various cards, though. JMO, good luck!

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 03:12:33 GMT

Thank you for the reply. For the checking of the approval / pre approval, do I just find the card and click "apply" or is there a special link to check pre-approvals?

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

ChargedUp — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 03:18:17 GMT

Using the card a lot is fine and helps build your internal scoring with Amex. Keep an eye on your Experian as Amex seems to use this CRA almost exclusively. Try good will letters to get rid of derogatories and keep paying all your lenders on time and Amex will grow with you. It may be slow at first, but they eventually come around.

My first Amex card was BCE with $1000 SL. 3 years later it's $24K... You can get there as well!

Feel free to join us in the Garden section to allow your current cards to grow.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

KJinNC — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 14:25:23 GMT

You just find the card and click Apply, while logged in. The next screen will say "Steph, you are preapproved!" or "Applying to expand your membership with us is easy, Steph" or something about 30 seconds. The one you want to see is the first, with the word "preapproved".

Additionally, if you were to fill out the form and apply, applications that are denied are generally SP-only. Applications that are approved may be SP or HP.

Good luck!

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:21:34 GMT

i've read in a few threads here that having an experian fico score of 680+ will help get the approval for the amex charge cards.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:05:18 GMT

Oh Kay! Great tip guys! I went around and clicked a few cards (the apply button) and this is what I got:

Amex Green (expand membership)
Delta Platinum (pre approved)
Delta Reserve (pre approved)
Amex Blue Cash preferred (pre approved)

I don't see the Amex Gold anywhere. I guess since I've applied for it 2x since October. It's basically gone.

I just logged out. Not sure what my next move will be.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:16:06 GMT

that was my situation.

when i checked my prequalified cards, the only ones that showed up were the everday, blue cash everyday, and delta gold.

but when i logged into my amex corporate account, there was a pop-up telling me that there were special offers for the platinum, gold and blue cash preferred cause of me having the coporate.

didn't say preapproved or anything, but i just applied for it through my corporate acct and was surprsingly approved for the platinum.

will be my first personal amex card.

only pulled from my experian with the score in my signature below.

@Anonymous wrote:
Oh Kay! Great tip guys! I went around and clicked a few cards (the apply button) and this is what I got:

Amex Green (expand membership)
Delta Platinum (pre approved)
Delta Reserve (pre approved)
Amex Blue Cash preferred (pre approved)

I don't see the Amex Gold anywhere. I guess since I've applied for it 2x since October. It's basically gone.

I just logged out. Not sure what my next move will be.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:26:21 GMT

Corporate as in, your work? Or through your personal business that is tied to your social?

I work for a large corporation that is a premium partner for Amex. I pass through about 5 to 7K a month through my corp card. I didn't think it would be tied to any of my personal stuff?

Are you saying you were able to get a personal card using your corp account?

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:30:14 GMT

corporate amex is with my company.

doesn't show up on my reports.

was able to get my first personal amex by applying through the coporate amex account.

try logging into your coporate amex acct and see if there are any offers for the coporate advantage program.

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/credit-cards/gcpadvantage/login/?eep=36010

@Anonymous wrote:
Corporate as in, your work? Or through your personal business that is tied to your social?

I work for a large corporation that is a premium partner for Amex. I pass through about 5 to 7K a month through my corp card. I didn't think it would be tied to any of my personal stuff?

Are you saying you were able to get a personal card using your corp account?

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:34:37 GMT

Ah. Wow. Thanks for the tip. Just tried doing that I see 3 "offers". But when I clicked on the apply button for all 3, none of them are "pre-approved". Even the Blue Cash Preferred that shows pre approved in my personal profile was not in my corp one.

Interesting.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:39:47 GMT

same for me..i wasn't preapproved for any of the 3 listed.

i just applied for it and prayed haha.

got instant approval for the platinum.

what convinced me to try it out was this thread here:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Approvals/Amex-Platinum-approval-CAP/td-p/5881983

@Anonymous wrote:
Ah. Wow. Thanks for the tip. Just tried doing that I see 3 "offers". But when I clicked on the apply button for all 3, none of them are "pre-approved". Even the Blue Cash Preferred that shows pre approved in my personal profile was not in my corp one.

Interesting.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:46:54 GMT

AMEX will open the gates very quickly. I was the opposite way. I was approved for a AMEX Gold around 635 EXP and then I obtained a Delta Gold a couple months later with an SP at the 1K limit. I just recently was able to make it a 6K CL. Now, almost a year later of a similar strategy (pay balance every week), I’m preapproved across the board for AMEX. Reserve, Aspire, Platinum, Brilliant.

AMEX don’t care how you pay, just swipe and make it your go to card and they will open the world to you. Now let’s see if they will give me a BBP in a month...

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:52:25 GMT

Thank you for sharing. My corp card is in excellent standing and 6+ months old but my personal card I've only had since October 2019.

This CAP thing is encouraging. But I think I'll wait for another few months to get my score up (currently at 660). The OP in the post you shared was at 740+...

I know nothing lost if you apply and get denied but, I hate seeing that "sorry can't approve at this time" notice. It's a real blow to the day

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 17:58:38 GMT

i feel you on that.

i'm waiting for an approval/deny letter for the caesars rewards visa i applied to earlier this week.

told me that they'll send me the status in around 2 weeks.

according to some other threads and posts, experian scores at round high 600s will normally get approvals for amex charge cards.

good luck on when you decide to apply

@Anonymous wrote:
Thank you for sharing. My corp card is in excellent standing and 6+ months old but my personal card I've only had since October 2019.

This CAP thing is encouraging. But I think I'll wait for another few months to get my score up (currently at 660). The OP in the post you shared was at 740+...

I know nothing lost if you apply and get denied but, I hate seeing that "sorry can't approve at this time" notice. It's a real blow to the day

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

KJinNC — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 22:13:18 GMT

I am the OP in the other CAP thread

I am over 740, but that's deceptive, due to heavy credit-seeking and inquiries that are well in the double digits on every credit report (I think about 16 or 17 on Experian). In reality, I wouldn't qualify for a lot of stuff.

A few comments, since I wasn't aware you had a corporate card earlier.

1 - Preapproval and prequalification are two different things. Prequalification means you will "probably" get the card. Preapproval means you "will" get the card unless your income is a problem or something has gone horribly wrong with your credit in the past few days.

2 - With CAP, since you are not logged in as you normally would be, you won't see preapprovals. However, you can check preapproval in the normal interface, and trust that it will carry over to CAP.

3 - I don't know what it means for you not seeing the Gold Card. Normally I would say, if you can get Green or Platinum, you can also get Gold. Since you are preapproved for those two, I would think you could get Gold. But I don't know if Amex is simply blocking Gold from view, or if there's something else going on.

4 - All that said, my advice is to apply via CAP. I think you will probably get it, and if not, it will probably be a SP anyway.

5 - If you aren't feeling brave enough for that, wait until it shows up again for you and check preapproval. If you are preapproved, apply via CAP.

Good luck!

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 22:19:56 GMT

*sigh*. I tired the Platinum app through the CAP and was denied. I think the CAP offers great benefits your company has negotiated but prob defaults back to your own profile for the acceptance. Therefore, your corp card and it's stellar history really has no bearing. I could be wrong.

I'm just going to hold for a few months now until all signs are pointing towards an approval. But I'm glad there is a program like this.

Thanks for the added details.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

KJinNC — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 23:03:15 GMT

Sorry to hear - but, probably just SP! Which means harmless (even if frustrating). I'm sure you'll get there soon!

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 23:19:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Oh Kay! Great tip guys! I went around and clicked a few cards (the apply button) and this is what I got:

Amex Green (expand membership)
Delta Platinum (pre approved)
Delta Reserve (pre approved)
Amex Blue Cash preferred (pre approved)

I don't see the Amex Gold anywhere. I guess since I've applied for it 2x since October. It's basically gone.

I just logged out. Not sure what my next move will be.

@Anonymous American Express has a dynamic website and often when you are denied for a card it will remove that card from view when logged in to your account until either 30 or 90 days have passed since the date of denial (that period varies by the reason for the denial).

You can test this by clearing the cookies from your browser then going to the main Amex website. If you click on Personal Cards you should see that they offer 18 cards. Now log in to you account and click on Menu > Cards > View all Credit Cards. Scroll down to the section titled "Browse All Cards" which show show 18 cards. If you're seeing less than 18 cards then the missing card(s) is removed due to the recent denial.

Re: Need Some Amex Advise

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 23:26:05 GMT

You typically need an Experian FICO 8 score of 670 or above to be approved for one of Amex's core cards. You can sometimes be approved with less than a 670 but you're likely to be placed in Amex's version of credit steps where you're given either a $500 or $1,000 credit limit and a promise of a 2X credit limit increase after 180 days.

The co-branded cards have looser underwriting standards so they are easier to get approvals and don't necessarily require a 670 EQ FICO score.