topic Re: AMEX 3X CLI question. in Credit Cards

AMEX 3X CLI question.

dmjohnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 14:09:49 GMT

Hey all, Just a quick question about the AMEX 3X CLI after 61 days topic. Yes, I have read what I can in the guide for it, but I have not found a straight answer from anyone in there. I have the Delta gold and the BCE card, both at $1000, my 61 day mark is in exactly 2 weeks for the Delta, and a little over that for the BCE (Was approved for the BCE before even receiving my Delta card.) question is, have people had luck geting the CLI carrying a balance? I used it to buy plane tickets a couple days after receiving it, trying to get up to the $1000 spend to receive my Delta Miles (which btw, were in my account about a week later.) Ran the card up, and paid $75% of it off, ran it up again and just paid about 75% off again. Just curious if this will show them "Hey, I will spend more money with you if you raise my limit" or if this will be bad and should wait a bit to hit the button. I got approved with lower end scores, 640 ish at the time of approval for both cards. due to a recent vacation and not wanting to spend all my personal money while gone, utilization went way up, about 80%, but just made big payments on all of my cards to cut that back down. Just wanted to hear some of your guys input!

Btw, yes, I know if I am approved for the CLI I can not get one on my BCE after the 61 day mark, but that is okay, as I got an email from AMEX after apporval that an auto CLI is in order after 5 on time payments.

Also, new on the credit journey and Income is between $40k and $42K ( I get paid hourly, but get extra pay for writing technical articles for my company, the more articles, the more money I make, just depends on how hard I want to work lol).

Let me know, thanks!

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 14:20:19 GMT

Yes

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

K-in-Boston — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:11:12 GMT

Having a balance on the card shouldn't be an issue, but having another card on Amex's version of "credit steps" gives me pause as to whether a CLI is likely or not, particularly if your EX FICO 08 score hasn't increased considerably. Of course that doesn't mean it won't happen. Best of luck!

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Gregory1776 — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:19:37 GMT

Five on time payments means five months my friend. You won’t get 61 days because of your lower score, SL, CR, etc.. Check five months from now. Remember if they auto increase your limit either you can triple that limit.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Gregory1776 — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:23:14 GMT

I carried near 50% of my cl for 3-4 months and got my CLI 3X!

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:29:53 GMT

Based on the information you provided I would be very surprised if you're given a 61-day CLI on your Delta Gold...you'd be better off waiting until 180 days have elapsed to establish a payment record with Amex and to allow your FICO scores to recover/increase from the hit it must have taken from opening two accounts in quick succession (inquiries and reduced average age of accounts).

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

dmjohnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:37:29 GMT

I appreciate the input guys! I too, am skeptical about the increase and do not think that I have very good odds in my favor. But, the way I understand it is if I am denied the CLI, I can re try again in 90 days correct? Unless I am reading it all wrong, that is the way I understand their system. If that is the case, I could wait until the 180 day mark, and then try for the increase, or I could go for it, and if I am denied I have to wait 90 days, that will put me roughly 1 month before the 180 day mark, so it really wouldn't hurt me any to try, again, if I am thinking about this correctly. (I have been known to over think things).

If that is the case, I can just hit the button with a grain of salt, and if approved great, if not, can't really say I am surprised, and have no room to be upset about it. I got myself into the mess I am in credit wise. I take responsibility for what I created and now I have to live with the consequences for a while.

Again, thank you all for the indirect help for the last 5 months. I was a lurker until last week when I decided to take the plunge and actually pay for my scores, after I found out CK was a joke. I was naive.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:49:42 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
Based on the information you provided I would be very surprised if you're given a 61-day CLI on your Delta Gold...you'd be better off waiting until 180 days have elapsed to establish a payment record with Amex and to allow your FICO scores to recover/increase from the hit it must have taken from opening two accounts in quick succession (inquiries and reduced average age of accounts).

There is no need to wait until 180 days to try. Doesn’t accomplish anything to wait. Try at 61 days and if you’re denied, you can try again in 90 days and so on. As CLI requests are SPs, there is no harm whatsoever in trying as soon as you’re eligible. Not really going to change the timing schedule in any meaningful way.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

simplynoir — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:52:08 GMT

@Anonymouswrote:
@Anonymouswrote:
Based on the information you provided I would be very surprised if you're given a 61-day CLI on your Delta Gold...you'd be better off waiting until 180 days have elapsed to establish a payment record with Amex and to allow your FICO scores to recover/increase from the hit it must have taken from opening two accounts in quick succession (inquiries and reduced average age of accounts).
There is no need to wait until 180 days to try. Doesn’t accomplish anything to wait. Try at 61 days and if you’re denied, you can try again in 90 days and so on. As CLI requests are SPs, there is no harm whatsoever in trying as soon as you’re eligible. Not really going to change the timing schedule in any meaningful way.

Indeed. Better to have two attempts in 5 months than one attempt in 6 months. Just makes sense to increase the odds of getting an increase.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:57:24 GMT

All true; but the OP is in "credit steps" on their BCE which means no CLI before the first five statement cuts/180 days. And let's be honest...the Delta Gold was probably issued without similar restrictive conditions because its a co-branded card and such conditions aren't allowed by the partner. Plus, the OP admits to being new to credit which makes me assume that their scores will take a dent from opening 2 2 new accounts.

@Anonymouswrote:
@Anonymouswrote:
Based on the information you provided I would be very surprised if you're given a 61-day CLI on your Delta Gold...you'd be better off waiting until 180 days have elapsed to establish a payment record with Amex and to allow your FICO scores to recover/increase from the hit it must have taken from opening two accounts in quick succession (inquiries and reduced average age of accounts).
There is no need to wait until 180 days to try. Doesn’t accomplish anything to wait. Try at 61 days and if you’re denied, you can try again in 90 days and so on. As CLI requests are SPs, there is no harm whatsoever in trying as soon as you’re eligible. Not really going to change the timing schedule in any meaningful way.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

dmjohnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 15:59:42 GMT

I think that is the more sensible route. I would like to do it on the Delta card, as we are looking to start traveling more. I have already received my bonus miles and all that, but I would like to be able to use that card more than I do. I love the cash back on my BCE, but I also love the delta miles. For most of my very few adult years, my time was occupied by my race team, and there was never time for travel. Now that I am taking a break from that, we are looking to do more traveling.

Again, thank you all for the input!

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

AverageJoesCredit — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 16:04:27 GMT

There are people who have gotten 3x while on credit steps. Medicgrrl's sister received such an increase while on credit steps so as always YMMV

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

simplynoir — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 16:13:15 GMT

@AverageJoesCreditwrote:
There are people who have gotten 3x while on credit steps. Medicgrrl's sister received such an increase while on credit steps so as always YMMV

Never hurts to try is what we're trying to say.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 16:14:55 GMT

If you go for it, report back

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Caught750 — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 19:33:38 GMT

Credit steps alone does not prohibit a CLI at 61 days. Per Amex in their own email explaining the steps it states "if a CLI is not granted earlier your credit line will be increased to $1,000"

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

dmjohnson — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 19:57:05 GMT

See, thats what I do not have. My email simply says "Find out how you can increase your credit line" then in the context says to make my first 5 monthly payments in time with at least the minumum, account needs to post a balance and pay in time, blah blah. My initial limit at acceptance is $1000, so if anyone else has had any experience, what did your limit go to with this program?

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 02:13:32 GMT

IDK what "credit steps" is, or if I'me even on it with my BCE. When approved, I think it was a SL of 1500. Then after the 61 days I CLI'd to 4200.

Now I'm just waiting for the 181mark to see what happens. Though I did recently(3/17) apply for and get the PRG and Delta Gold cards.

I've heard I can still ask for the CLI on my BCE at 181. But the Delta Gold is not eligible for the 61 day CLI, I'll have to wait 181 days from my BCE CLI to increase it.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 12:53:00 GMT

Here's an example of a "credit steps" e-mail reproduced in its entirety. Pay close attention to the "fine print" at the bottom titled Terms & Conditions. Unfortunately most people only read the main part of the e-mail and ignore the Terms & Conditions and that leads to confusion.

As far as I'm aware, the credit steps auto-CLI is always 2X. When you're in credit steps a CLI request made by the customer before 180 days will be denied. However, Amex - at its discrection - can decide to give an auto-CLI before the first 180 days have expired.

Once you receive the auto-CLI specified in the e-mail you are out of the "credit steps" program and you can then immediately request a 3X CLI. The distinction is that an auto-CLI from Amex - since it was not requested by the customer - does not preclude the recipient from making their own request for a 3X CLI (In other words, the 180 day rule is not in effect).

Here's someone who used a combination of Amex auto-CLI and customer intiated CLI requests to go from $2,000 to $18,000 in five days: AMEX from $2000 to $18000 in 5 days

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

HeavenOhio — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 15:27:34 GMT

Just to clarify, Credit Steps is a Capital One term for a similar program. Since AMEX doesn't give their program a name, we tend to also apply that term to AMEX. That's why it's generally put in quotes. If you were use the term while talking to AMEX customer servicer reps, they'd likely have no idea what you were talking about.

Re: AMEX 3X CLI question.

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 15:31:03 GMT

I don't recall ever gettin an email like that, just one thta said welcome aboard. And confirmation of online accn't creation.

So I should wait for an auto CLI at 6 months, then submit another one myself?