topic Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card in Credit Card Applications

No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 00:44:23 GMT

This is the first time this happened to me. I applied for the Hilton Honors AmEx card over the phone. I was approved for the credit card but not for the welcome offer! So I refused it and the rep said that my credit score won't be impacted.

I would like to know why this happened.

Here are the 3 credit cards I had with Amex inthe past:

1) Gold Delta Skymiles , in 2018 for 1 year, then I downgraded it to Blue, and closed it 1 year later in 2020.

2) Platinum from 12/21 to 12/22

Is it because the 3 credit cards I had didn't last more than 1 year so I am classified as someone doing credit card churning?

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Gunnerboy — Fri, 02 May 2025 01:07:09 GMT

Yeah, you're probably in pop-up jail, but didn't know it since you app'd over the phone.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

pip3man — Fri, 02 May 2025 01:17:34 GMT

The downgrading and closing of the accounts is most likely the culprit in your situation. But if it's any consolation to you, I was denied the 185K SUB for the Bonvoy Brilliant but here's the kicker, it was my first AMEX Marriott card and I was technically a "brand new" returning customer with no history for them to make that determination. I'd say though I applied and was approved for 4 cards in a 10 day window so that could have been a factor and the Brilliant was my last application. Needless to say, I still accepted it without the bonus cos I found it valuable.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 01:39:28 GMT

I applied again for the Hilton Honors, but this time on Hilton web site. I got this message: " you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer. In determining eligibility, we considered your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors.".

So same thing, I refused to accept the card and there is no impact on my score.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Varsity_Lu — Fri, 02 May 2025 09:54:11 GMT

AmEx doesn't do churning.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

dfwxjer — Fri, 02 May 2025 13:00:16 GMT

You signed up for 2 SUBs, kept the cards the bare minimum amount of time, and closed/downgraded to avoid additional annual fees. Straight to pop-up jail for you.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 18:06:25 GMT

In fact, when I downloaded my Delta card to Blue, I didn't get a SUB. After 1 year, I thought to myself that I didn't make the right choice, I should have closed my Delta instead of downgrading to Blue, so I could later apply for a Blue and get a SUB for it. So I was upset at my move and decided to close the Blue.

Anyway, 10 minutes before applying, I applied for a Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card and I was denied. If you look at the credit cards I had lately, you can see that in 2025, I got 3 new credit cards, so it's probably too much for Amex.

When can I re-apply for an Amex card with good chance of success?

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 18:14:55 GMT

I received an email from Barclays saying: " we are unable to approve you for a Wyndham Rewards® Card account for the following reason(s):
– The number of bankcards opened within the last 24 months".

I didn't know that the Wyndham credit card was Barclays, and the rule is: "6 or more credit cards opened in last 24 months => denied".

I opened 7 credit cards in the last 24 months.

This means that starting August 2025, I will be able to apply for the Wyndham credit card if I want to.

But for Amex, I don't know when.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 18:31:26 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
Is it because the 3 credit cards I had didn't last more than 1 year so I am classified as someone doing credit card churning?

The rule of thumb that I have heard (no personal experience) is that as long as you wait until the second annual fee hits, you can safely close the account without ending up in pop up jail.

Did you cancel or downgrade any before the 2nd annual fee hit?

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 20:14:35 GMT

No, I checked my credit history. My memory was wrong. I had the Amex Platinum from 12/2021 to 01/2023. I had the Gold Delta Skymiles from 03/2018 to 03/2020, I downgraded it on 03/2020 to the Blue Delta and closed it on 04/2024.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 21:06:24 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
No, I checked my credit history. My memory was wrong. I had the Amex Platinum from 12/2021 to 01/2023. I had the Gold Delta Skymiles from 03/2018 to 03/2020, I downgraded it on 03/2020 to the Blue Delta and closed it on 04/2024.

Wow, okay. So much for rules of thumb.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 21:17:16 GMT

Right now, the balance on my Air France credit card is $3492, and credit limit is $7700. Could it be the reason I was denied the SUB? Or is it because I opened 3 credit cards in 2025?

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:25:39 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
No, I checked my credit history. My memory was wrong. I had the Amex Platinum from 12/2021 to 01/2023. I had the Gold Delta Skymiles from 03/2018 to 03/2020, I downgraded it on 03/2020 to the Blue Delta and closed it on 04/2024...

Right now, the balance on my Air France credit card is $3492, and credit limit is $7700. Could it be the reason I was denied the SUB? Or is it because I opened 3 credit cards in 2025?

I'm guessing it has more to do with closing the Platinum after just over 1 year. I think sometimes Amex can be slow in posting the AF. If you opened in Dec 2021, you would expect the 2nd year AF to likely post in Jan 2023 ish. If somehow you cancelled days before it posted, then that could be the issue. Just cutting the cancelation too close to the 2nd year AF.

This is of course all speculation, but based on the data provided, that's where I'd put my money.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 21:55:32 GMT

In my credit report, I see that the Amex Platinum was opened on Dec 25,2021 and was closed on Jan 26,2023. Do you think that the AF posted or no? Unfortunately, I don't remember.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:03:44 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
In my credit report, I see that the Amex Platinum was opened on Dec 25,2021 and was closed on Jan 26,2023. Do you think that the AF posted or no? Unfortunately, I don't remember.

See this post, discussing same thing:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-Annual-Fee-Timing/m-p/6739883/highlight/true#M1862572

Some people wait until the close of the next statement before canceling to avoid clawback or popup jail.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:07:51 GMT

If that can help, I retrieved an old email of my Amex Platinum, dated 1/13/2023, saying: "Statement Balance: $173.24
Minimum Payment Due: $40.00
Payment Due Date: Thu, Jan 19, 2023".

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:23:07 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
If that can help, I retrieved an old email of my Amex Platinum, dated 1/13/2023, saying: "Statement Balance: $173.24
Minimum Payment Due: $40.00
Payment Due Date: Thu, Jan 19, 2023".

So based on the due date, your statement cut was likey 12/25/22 ish. And apparently this statement did NOT have the platinum AF, since it was only $173. So your AF would have hit at the very end of your next statement, which would have been 1/25/23 ish.

So if you canceled before Jan 25, then you likely canceled before the 2nd AF hit. But even you canceled between the 25th and 31st, you're still cutting it very close, maybe too close.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:41:04 GMT

I cancelled on the 26th, let say it was one day after the AF, is it OK or no?

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

Patient957 — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:52:27 GMT

@villemiami wrote:
I cancelled on the 26th, let say it was one day after the AF, is it OK or no?

I don't know, but as mentioned above, see this post:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-Annual-Fee-Timing/m-p/6739883/highlight/true#M1862572

Many people wait until the next statement cut after the AF posts to be on the safe side.

I think unfortunately your case is a lesson for others to be careful and play it safe with Amex cancelations.

I don't think popup jail lasts forever, and you can always keep checking with no ding decline. I hope you get out soon.

Re: No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

villemiami — Fri, 02 May 2025 22:58:21 GMT

Let say the statement and the annual fee posted on January 25th, if I wait Febraury 25th to cancel, then the annual fee won't be refunded because I thought that people have 30 days to cancel after AF post, in order to have the AF removed. Am I wrong?