topic Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit in Credit Card Applications

Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:22:11 GMT

Amex Delta Reserve application was denied. Delta Diamond for many years. Fico Ex. 797 EQ 770 and TU 768. No bankruptcy, no negative history or late payments. Only one CC as I pay all my expenses, purchases, travel etc. at once usually bank card, or check etc. -- CC card with $1500 only for hotel and rental car reservation with credit utilization .03 , Salary +$150k verified with bank statements. No debts.

Amex Rep said my credit limit on my current card is too low. 😂 As I don't usually use credit can someone please explain this rational.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

GZG — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:31:26 GMT

@MBCLA wrote:
Amex Delta Reserve application was denied. Delta Diamond for many years. Fico Ex. 797 EQ 770 and TU 768. No bankruptcy, no negative history or late payments. Only one CC as I pay all my expenses, purchases, travel etc. at once usually bank card, or check etc. -- CC card with $1500 only for hotel and rental car reservation with credit utilization .03 , Salary +$150k verified with bank statements. No debts.

Amex Rep said my credit limit on my current card is too low. 😂 As I don't usually use credit can someone please explain this rational.

lenders like to see you have history with similar cards, particularly for high limit cards or cards with high CL minimums

one $1500 CL, even if it's a 10 year+ history isn't evidence that you can handle a big $10k+ CL and a $650 AF

you should get a few extra cards and work on building your CL's so other lenders won't be so skittish when you want a nicer travel card

what card is your current credit card?

in amex's mind: "why would a person who only has a history with a boring, small $1,500 credit card want our $650 af delta reserve card, that doesn't make sense and I don't trust it".

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:41:05 GMT

Thanks for replying. I don't use credit for anything normally. I got the CC w 1500 limit only for reservations. Most car rental need a CC for reservations. I still pay the bill at the time of service. I just didn't understand the rational Amex gave me. I'm not pressed, as my method obviously works for me. I wanted to get the 100k skymiles to add to my 400k current Delta skymiles for incidentals and upgrades etc. they invited me to apply later but my situation probably won't change as I see no purpose in getting another CC with higher limit just to get approved for Amex.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

creditrizz — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 07:02:06 GMT

Ask 'em for a CLI that limit is too small for the cost of things in 2025. What if you need to rent a car for two weeks, it probably won't even get approved with the damage deposit they usually add. Weird that they didn't increase it automatically at all over all that time.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

FicoMike0 — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 02:56:21 GMT

As I found out, you must have credit to get credit. I'm long retired. I closed my credit cards and used cash or debit for years. I counted on my dw having a card for rental cars and hotels. About two years ago, she had a problem while we were on a trip. I decided I should have a backup. I was unscorable! My longtime local bank approved me for a $500 card anyway. About six months later, with a total limit of $2500, I applied for amex bce, approved for $6,000. I got an auto cli to $9000 at six months, requested and approved cli of $27,000 at one year.

You should definitely cli your present card.

I agree, you sort of jumped the shark going from $1500 to a high fee card. Why not try the delta gold? 70,000 Mile bonus, no fee first year. Once in with amex for a while, you can upgrade and pay the big fee, lol. I don't really travel much and I recently got the amex hilton as well.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

markbeiser — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 06:28:36 GMT

You have to play the game, at least a little, to level up!

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

Berk — Fri, 08 Nov 2024 20:33:11 GMT

You sound exactly like my father. He was an investment banker. Had one credit card his entire life. Final credit limit was 10K and he woudl get mad at the bank every time they increased his limit. He only used it when he absolutely had to - car rentals and hotel reservations mostly. Plane, train, and boat tix were all purchased through an agent. He used Amex Travelers Cheques for every vacation we took. I can count on one hand the number of times I saw him actually use his card. Never did understand why people needed more than one card and didn't care about cash back or rewards points.

He was a great man and probably one of the most financially savvy people I know.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

cashorcharge — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 16:08:47 GMT

If you're serious about accruing those Delta benefits, perhaps start with the lower tier Delta Card and then upgrade/product change up to get to the greater benefits of the Reserve Card

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 11:21:58 GMT

Your father sounds like a remarkable man with a disciplined and thoughtful approach to finances. It's clear he valued simplicity and had a strong sense of control over his spending, which is how I am hoping to emulate him... a lesson many could learn from today IMHO. I admire his methods of using Amex Travelers Cheques back then and using a single credit card only when necessary speaks to a time when financial tools were less about perks and more about practicality. Recognize things are different today but I believe his financial principles are timeless. I believe the trick is to do both-- be like your dad and use credit wisely like many on this forum, but unfortunately most Americans don't.

I hope your post about him will be a reminder that being financially savvy doesn’t always mean chasing points (like me), rewards or trends—it can simply mean being intentional, avoiding debt, and sticking to principles that ensure stability and security and a happy life. He truly sounds like a great person that I'm sure I would've loved getting to know.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 11:37:09 GMT

I already have all the perks of Delta Reserve. I only wanted the 100k skymiles points as I'm accumulating them for free flights and upgrades when my Diamond status isn't The highest priority on the flight. I don't use the Delta Lounges as it's too crowded with all the Amex card holders. I prefer the Private Suites Lounges-- a bit more costly but worth it to me since there's one in my home based airport where I regularly fly from.,.. maybe I'm missing out on garnering points through spending on the AMEX card. Then you're right I should consider a lower card. I'll take that into consideration if I come back to obtaining AMEX in the future. Thanks for your advice. It was sound advice in my opinion.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 11:47:02 GMT

You're right! I've been stuck in my ways since they've always worked well for me in the past, but in these modern financial times, if you want the benefits of a higher end charge or credit card, you gotta Play Ball!! In baseball metaphor, you can't hit home runs while sitting on in the bench. Doesn't mean I'm going to run out and get all crazy kinds of debt and apply for various cards, but I get your point.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 12:17:26 GMT

Loved you post!

That's exactly what I was thinking to do if I return to Reapply to AMEX. Go for Gold with the 70k points. I have bank relationships for ordinarily things, but my card is with CU. And they offered to issue a new card with cli but I would have to close the existing account. I politely declined. My $1500 card worked well over the years with reservations for rental cars and hotels. I'm Emerald with Enterprise and Platinum with Marriott, so I guess that helps.

I didn't have to have AMEX but was thinking I needed another card and AMEX fit the bill with my high spending habits and I pay everything out of pocket anyway and didn't carry debt. But it was the points that motivated me to apply. And your recommendation of getting the 70k with Gold was really the logical choice. I was looking at the 100k Delta Skymiles eye candy/marketing scheme with Delta's limited time offer (wink) and ignore the more rational choice of Gold. After all, 70k points is better than 0 points! It'll be a few months before I reapply with AMEX as I've got a certain British sports car arriving in January 2025 that I ordered and I'll be dealing with that first. My goal is to accumulate 1M Delta Skymiles to have available. Yes I do travel that much.

Thanks for your advice. I think it was the rational choice and I appreciate the words of wisdom.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

sjt — Mon, 11 Nov 2024 21:18:06 GMT

How long have you had the credit card for? Can you request a CLI?

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

FicoMike0 — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:50:34 GMT

In envious, I've always wanted an Aston Martin.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 05:59:10 GMT

It's been about 5 years that I've had the same card with the $1500 limit with about .03 utilization max. Yes, I can request an cli but they wanted to close this account and reopen a new account. I didn't want to do that... I wanted to keep it open because I wanted to show longer history on the cc account. Don't currently plan to ever close the account. I'll just get another card with a higher CL instead.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 06:02:43 GMT

They are great cars for sure!!

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

NAVYCHOP — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 02:38:09 GMT

Another option might be obtaining the AMEX charge card with a SUB, even if only a green card and giving that card some spend. Since I always pay in full, I love the charge cards because high spend one month does not adversely affect my FICO scores like high credit utilization on a normal charge card does. You can also move the membership rewards points into Sky Miles, although I prefer moving them to Virgin Atlantic or Air France/KLM, as a foreign carrier round trip business class award ticket can still be had for 150k or less while I expect Delta to want about 500k. Once you have built up some spend on the charge card, it would be easy to apply for the Delta Reserve Card. AMEX won't do a hard pull on the reserve card application if you are an established customer with a charge card.

I personally have the Platinum card but also maintain the Delta Reserve along with my million miler status to help me with upgrade priority. Like you, the lounge access does not matter to me. In my case, I bought a lifetime World Club now Sky Club membership when I was a college student 35 years ago. In your case, if you are not interested in the Delta lounge access or Priority Pass through the Platinum card, you might find the Gold card a

good fit with with the 3x restaurant point bonus. Even with the Reserve card, I often put airline ticket charges on the Platinum as it yields 5x rewards points per dollar compared to only 3x with the Reserve status. Since I have a multi million miler status, I don't care about whether I collect MQDs.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Sun, 17 Nov 2024 14:45:37 GMT

Thank you for the detailed insight—this is incredibly helpful! I agree that an AMEX charge card, especially with a welcome bonus (SUB), could be a smart option. As a million miler and high end traveler , I think you understand my situation clearly.

I'll pursue the Gold Card or Platinum option later next year. And, your insight in mileage usage with Air France/KLM/VA is excellent advice as well ( I'm already a Flying Blue member). I haven't looked into World Club membership. Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that too as Personal Suites only have limited locations for now.

I mostly wanted to bring attention to Amex applicants that AMEX considers ones existing credit card limits for new applicants since that was news to me and I hadn't seen it discussed on the forum before.

Again, I will follow your excellent advice and recommendations. Many thanks!!

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

MBCLA — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 01:00:30 GMT

I reapplied for the AMEX Platinum and was approved NCL. I have the same credit limit on my only credit card from my CU as last year.... The reason for Delta Reserve denial was low credit availability on existing card. Although it's been a year later and my FICO 8 bumped up a little at EQ 850 TU803 and EX835 this go around which may have made the difference for them to overlook my limited $1500 CL on the CU card. I'm not sure I'll reapply for Delta

Reserve. Don't see any additional advantages over the AMEXPlatinum.

Re: Amex Delta Reserve Denial low credit card limit

Zoostation1 — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:18:50 GMT

@Berk My dad is almost 79 and when I was a kid tended to use cards sparingly, mostly for special financing offers and only occasional purchases. He's always maintained very good to excellent credit, but unlike your example or the OP, he started using CCs more as he got older and became a convert to using credit cards for a majority of his spend (I'd estimate 80% of his not mortgage or utility spend) and pushed me to start rebuilding and using credit cards in place of debit for both security and rewards purposes.