topic Re: Amex Charge limits in Credit Cards

Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 00:41:17 GMT

What kind of limits does Amex typically give on established Charge cards (specify Green, Gold or Plat). DH has had his 2 months, they shut him down on month 1 when his balance hit 3,200 (totally understandable on first month). 2nd statement just cut with only 1,400 balance, so they never shut him down. We check the avail spend occasionally just for fun and it looks like they would approve 3,000 more at this point for 4,400 max. Just curious as to the limits folks have seen without POT option.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 00:53:06 GMT

I checked right after I got the card to see if they would approve 10k spend and they said they would. Haven't tried to check anymore than that.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 01:01:06 GMT

The last time I checked spending power was in advance of a furniture purchase of roughly 25k. I had 1k in charges to date on my Platinum in the statement period, entered the requested amount, and got the approval. Underneath, it said, "In fact, you're approved to spend $99,500," or something similar.

Basically, it will grow as much as you use it, and then some. I doubt I've ever had more than 15k in charges in a statement period on that card, but my total account (including business cards) has been over 150k after statement cut.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Schwartzinator — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 02:43:43 GMT

Most months it'll approve $17,500. Sometimes it goes up to $25,000. Don't really care as I won't be charging anywhere near that so long as the parentals keep paying tuition 🤞🏽

Re: Amex Charge limits

Viva-LV — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 02:57:17 GMT

Build up some spending history, and it will increase. I don't use my Plat like I thought I would, and my Delta and Surpass cards have much higher limits as a result. Not interested in the pay over time option, so zero balance has become routine. Am Ex wants high usage, and consistent payment history; they will treat you well. Enjoy!

Re: Amex Charge limits

Gregory1776 — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 12:46:52 GMT

When I got my PRG I checked and was able to get a 7000 purchase approved. It's gone down more than half since then. I could not spend more than a grand in a month though...

Re: Amex Charge limits

K-in-Boston — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 14:05:16 GMT

For established accounts, as long as Amex is comfortable in your ability to pay the sky seems to be the limit. The highest I've tried on my Platinum card for a single purchase (via Check Spending Ability) is $75,000 and Amex said they would approve it. My highest balance on that card in 15 years is around $20k or so. Before I got my Starwood card, 95+% of my spend ($4-10k every month for years and years) was on one of the two charge cards, so I've certainly established history with them.

Re: Amex Charge limits

driftless — Mon, 14 Aug 2017 14:20:31 GMT

My PRG, now Platinum, is a year old. I put $3 - 7K through it a month. I have checked for $35K and it was approved, haven't check for higher as I would never use it.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 08:50:56 GMT

I feel like the "check spending" feature for a NPSL card is a red flag in and of itself...

Re: Amex Charge limits

K-in-Boston — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 18:16:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I feel like the "check spending" feature for a NPSL card is a red flag in and of itself...

I wasn't sure which way you meant this, so I'll respond to both ways I think this could be taken. If you were referring to the NPSL, the P is for Preset - they do all have limits in the Amex system that can vary depending on numerous factors. If you meant the button itself, it's been confirmed that it's OK to test it out just a little bit, and for those who need to make a large purchase it can be invaluable to know that their card will not be declined and it makes Amex aware that they should expect a large purchase. In fact, with one of the recent updates it was noticed that they were even offering things like "Congratulations! We'll approve your charge of $15,000. In fact, we'll approve up to $25,000."

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 23:33:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I feel like the "check spending" feature for a NPSL card is a red flag in and of itself...

I use the button at least once a month and haven't had any sort of problem. In the earliest days of my relationship, I also called in for purchases above my 'spending power' and was approved for purchase with a pretty simple conversation, no hard proof of repayment required (Chase denied me for a CLI to make the same purchase, btw.) I take what they say at face value: 1) there isn't necessarily a hard spending limit, but they'll need to review and consider if you're way outside your normal spend and 2) they expect people to use the button so they can make big ticket purchases with charge cards. They also clearly value PIF repayment history for major purchases as evidenced by my account status after little more than a year relationship.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 17:57:53 GMT

Frst month I had my AMEX PRG it cut off at $8500 and was declined, I called and PIF and in the same month the next decline happed almost at the $11K mark, I am now on my second month (first statement cut 8 days ago) and I am up to over $18k now declines or phone calls yet.

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 18:56:28 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I feel like the "check spending" feature for a NPSL card is a red flag in and of itself...

If they don't want you to use it why have it there?

Re: Amex Charge limits

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:45:40 GMT

When you use this function, you are telling the system that you WILL be using your card for that purchase within 8 days. Don't play with it!

Re: Amex Charge limits

mitchblue — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 20:50:31 GMT

For me, $10,000 yes, $20,000 no. So somewhere between.. I wouldn't use it over and over again.

Re: Amex Charge limits

K-in-Boston — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:10:17 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
When you use this function, you are telling the system that you WILL be using your card for that purchase within 8 days. Don't play with it!

Thank you for confirming this. For some reason I was under the impression that you had previously stated that occasional use was OK; it's possible that I may have previously attributed that to you, so please accept my apologies if that's the case.

Re: Amex Charge limits

UncleB — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:31:42 GMT

I've taken @Anonymous's previous advice to use the 'button' as a way to let the Amex system know a larger-than-usual purchase was coming (both on my PRG and revolvers), and so far it's worked like a charm... the charges were drama-free.

Also, the OP's question was directed at people who didn't have POT on their account, but really the question about NPSL 'limits' applies to everyone equally (POT or not). My own POT is $35k, but I am quite sure that Amex would cut me off well before I ever got to that amount. Actually, it's only recently that I've seen people with a POT amount lower than $35k (that seemed to be the 'default' amount for a while).

Re: Amex Charge limits

ExplicitElicit — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 22:45:20 GMT

I'm not sure how this button works or calculates. I average ~10K month through the card however the platinum has become my daily card for most expenses. I was showing a buddy of mine and we did 100K and it said it would be approved but I don't think I've ever had a statement balance over $20K so not sure how they calculated that number.

Re: Amex Charge limits

K-in-Boston — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 23:47:49 GMT

It's a very YMMV thing. Yes $35k used to be the standard on POT and I was surprised to hear about so many people getting lower lines now. For some people in practice Amex would cut off well before that, for other they'll let you go far beyond. ExplicitElicit, I think my highest statement balance on one of my charge cards was around $25-30k (don't have a credit report handy to look up high balance) and when I did hit the button for Check Spending $75k would be approved. It comes down to their confidence in your ability to repay.