topic Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question in Credit Cards

Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 19:15:43 GMT

I've been searching and having a hard time wading through everything so I thought I'd just post my own thread.

I check the pre-qual sites pretty regularly. Just tried Amex again this morning and for the first time ever it came back with 3 different card "offers". They were the Gold Card, Blue Cash Preferred and the PRGC. Was trying to figure out if anyone had experience or an opinion on how solid these are. I realize they are not "pre-approvals" because there is not a set APR, specifically on the BCP.

My Ex FICO is currently 659...could be better which is why I was surprised to have something pop up on their prequal site since I've never seen anything. Any insights??

The BCP shows a $250 signup bonus which is pretty appealing! What say the experts???

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

SOGGIE — Tue, 26 May 2015 19:25:48 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I've been searching and having a hard time wading through everything so I thought I'd just post my own thread.

I check the pre-qual sites pretty regularly. Just tried Amex again this morning and for the first time ever it came back with 3 different card "offers". They were the Gold Card, Blue Cash Preferred and the PRGC. Was trying to figure out if anyone had experience or an opinion on how solid these are. I realize they are not "pre-approvals" because there is not a set APR, specifically on the BCP. To each his own, but I don't have a desire for cards with an AF.

My Ex FICO is currently 659...could be better which is why I was surprised to have something pop up on their prequal site since I've never seen anything. Any insights??
Others with a similar score have reported being approved for the Blue Cash Preferred.

The BCP shows a $250 signup bonus which is pretty appealing! What say the experts???

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 19:59:46 GMT

I don't really want an AF either, but with a $250 signup bonus it would basically cover 3 years of AF and I'd still get the rewards. I was mostly just curious as to whether their prequalify site was a good indicator or not. Either way, thanks for your response!

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 21:40:10 GMT

GL !!

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Tue, 26 May 2015 22:56:51 GMT

If it helps you at all, I got approved for the BCE with Ex score of 689. I got a low starting limit and a high APR.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2015 00:42:04 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
If it helps you at all, I got approved for the BCE with Ex score of 689. I got a low starting limit and a high APR.

Dang annipoo! You said low starting and high APR! I had a 720 EX and got $1500 SL. But to be fair - that was almost twice what my other bank card limits were combined so I'll take it.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2015 01:56:12 GMT

Mine is the highest limit I have also for majors. Only my Walmart and Amazon are higher than what they gave me.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 13:59:38 GMT

So I decided to app for the Premier Rewards Gold due to the 50,000 bonus. I know I probably shouldn't have, as I'd imagine its a card that requires a pretty good score. But in a moment of excitement and without really thinking, I put in my info and hit submit. It was DECLINED

So I guess I answered my own question from the OP that even though you get an offer by filling out the pre-qual link, it doesn't necessarily mean you're gonna get an approval. My next question would be: If you app for a particular card from a company/bank and are declined, can you recon and ask if you would qualify for a different product? In my case, could I call and see if I could get something like the Everyday or Blue Cash cards (assuming they aren't as difficult to get)??

Thanks in advance for any help!

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

takeshi74 — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:06:27 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Was trying to figure out if anyone had experience or an opinion on how solid these are.

No prequals from any creditor are solid regardless of how myFICO users may state otherwise. It always depends on when the prequal was performed and what changed in one's credit profile since the SP.

@Anonymous wrote:
So I decided to app for the Premier Rewards Gold due to the 50,000 bonus. I know I probably shouldn't have, as I'd imagine its a card that requires a pretty good score.

Incorrect. Their charge cards are generally easier to qualify for.

Do not rely on prequals, preapprovals, etc. Select cards that suit you based on your needs/wants and apply when your credit is in proper shape.

@Anonymous wrote:
If you app for a particular card from a company/bank and are declined, can you recon and ask if you would qualify for a different product? In my case, could I call and see if I could get something like the Everyday or Blue Cash cards (assuming they aren't as difficult to get)??

Nope. If you were denied for the PRG you would probably be denied for the ED or BC cards as well.

Review your reports, look at the denial letter as a starting point and work on the issues with your credit.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:08:51 GMT

Yeah, I fill out pre-qual for all the sites on a weekly basis. I had never had any offers from AMEX, it always said "sorry, no offers were found". So....I got pretty excited when Tuesday morning I filled it out and it came back with Amex Gold, BCP and PRG. The bonus on the PRG was 50k points so I thought it was too tough to pass up.

Oh well. But I'm still wondering, in general, if you apply for a certain card and are denied, can you call and ask if you would be approved for any other card they offer? Or do you have to do a brand new app and another HP?

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:09:53 GMT

Sorry! Apparently I didn't read your entire response. Thanks for the info

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

CreditCuriosity — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:26:45 GMT

Sorry for the denial.. You are deffinetly on the borderline of approval, but they saw something they didn't like in your porifle.. Have 3 Amex's with EX score around 665-670ish

Keep in mind the score isn't what really matters it is jsut a gauge, but you credit as a whole profile

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:55:43 GMT

Appreciate the condolonces.....these denials are a kick in the gut sometimes!! Just when you think you're making progres...

But yes, my profile is less than stellar. I have absolutely zero debt now. No collections. But I have a TON of late payments and prior negatives. In Feburary, I paid off almost $180k of student loan debt that was in default. And since it went to default, it had already changed hands a few times so my 14 original tradelines for the loans had expanded to about 33 negative tradelines.

The good news is that paying all of those off and clearing out a few old collections, I've gone from about 520 on EX to 659 in a pretty short time. Was approved for a $2k Freedom back in April which was my only approval so far. Long road ahead waiting for all that bad info to fall off though.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

CreditCuriosity — Thu, 28 May 2015 14:57:00 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Appreciate the condolonces.....these denials are a kick in the gut sometimes!! Just when you think you're making progres...

But yes, my profile is less than stellar. I have absolutely zero debt now. No collections. But I have a TON of late payments and prior negatives. In Feburary, I paid off almost $180k of student loan debt that was in default. And since it went to default, it had already changed hands a few times so my 14 original tradelines for the loans had expanded to about 33 negative tradelines.

The good news is that paying all of those off and clearing out a few old collections, I've gone from about 520 on EX to 659 in a pretty short time. Was approved for a $2k Freedom back in April which was my only approval so far. Long road ahead waiting for all that bad info to fall off though.

wow the is a huge chunk of change... I owe 40k in SL's still at a low APR%, so just taking my time on them.

Re: Amex Pre-Qual Question

Anonymous — Thu, 28 May 2015 15:06:57 GMT

Yeah, long story. I paid about 40k of it myself and borrowed the other 140k rest from my dad. When they all went to default, they had an additional 60k in collection fees tagged on to them. Only way to waive or get rid of the collection penalties was to pay off in full. If I consolidated to get out of default or rehabbed them, the collections would capitalize and roll into the new loan.

In hindsight, I might have been better off doing one of the long term repayment plans, and possibly have some of the balance forgiven after 20-25 years. But I kinda had a financial awakening early this year and decided to just wipe them out completely. Loan from pops was a much better interest rate than the 6.8% mine were locked into as well.