topic Re: American Express Cards in Credit Cards

American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 01:25:46 GMT

This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right?

Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 01:30:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right?

Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

Yes both count in AAoA calculations. As for your second question if you PC a card to another one it will still show the same open date. If you close one of them it will continue to report for 10 years and still count in AAoA

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 01:53:17 GMT

Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring.

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 01:59:57 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring.

You're welcome and you'll be there soon enough.

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 02:55:46 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info...I'm trying to reach your numbers in the next month or two and want to make the right moves. And still take advantage of what those scores bring.

In the next month or two? A 40-65 point jump is no joke, it may take years to get from 760-800 across the board..

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 06:03:02 GMT

Anything under 720 can make some serious swings. The higher the more OCD people get to inchworm 5 points.

Re: American Express Cards

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 06:04:35 GMT

That being said if I hit 720 with baddies intact, and they fell, I'd expect luv

Re: American Express Cards

takeshi74 — Sat, 01 Aug 2015 13:29:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
This is a general question, but it specifically applies to my American Express cards. I have two AMEX cards that I opened in 1999. I assume though both are with the same company and opened in the same year I do get credit for both in calculating my AAOA, right?

All cards whether AmEx or not (and all of the other credit accounts on your report) would factor into your AAoA. What was different with cards issued by AmEx is that they would backdate to the year of your MSD but that has not been the case for some time now.

@Anonymous wrote:
Depending on the answer, would it be ok to merge the two into one account? I'm thinking about asking for one or both of those cards those cards to be upgraded or changed to another card. Will that effect the age of the account?

That's your call to make based on your goals and preferences. There are those who keep every account open for AAoA purposes. There are those that do not bother with it. I'm in the latter camp but I can't tell you which approach you prefer.

As stated above, closed accounts typically continue to report for 10 years and factor into your AAoA. See also the Closing Credit Cards thread linked in the Helpful Threads sticky.