topic Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info in Credit Cards

AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 16:48:07 GMT

Hi all,

I've found great info on the forums here and figured I'd share my recent experiences with getting back in with AMEX.

Bad things happened, I didn't pay on a green charge card, etc etc, we all know what leads to this. Went to collections, I ignored for about 2 years. Roughly $3k owed. Finally responded to the letter from the collection agency (that mentioned the oasis specifically), and paid off the balance in full. Was then approved for the Optima Oasis for roughly a third of what was owed - $900. This was June of 2017.

I used it, and used it often. Looking at the info online, I put over $17,000 on it in the year (actually 13 months) I had it. I travel often for work, so often paid more than once a month to be able to use it often for hotels, flights, etc. I did try to apply for SPG business card about 6 months in, but immediate rejection with the "active recovery product" message.

I knew I was roughly a year in, but couldn't tell exactly. No email saying "Congrats, you've done your year of pennance" or anything, so I called the support line and asked last week. CSR told me that I'm past a year and:

The Optima Oasis can be left open, it won't impact future applications
I can now request CLI's on it and transfer limits to/from it
There is no need to close it to apply to other AMEX cards

My EX was 652, income $130k, so I immediately applied for Hilton business card (due to travel patterns). Got the "call us to confirm" and was worried. They asked a couple of questions, said should get notification in 24-48 hours.

I was worried that would be a no, but why not find out for sure? Only thing on the pre qual page was basic hilton, cash magnet and delta blue. Applied to personal Platinum, immediate accept. YAY!

The next day I got email that the Hilton business was approved for $3k SL.

tl:dr - use optima, keep it good for a year, you can then apply "as normal" for AMEX cards. NO NEED TO CLOSE IT.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 17:09:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Hi all,

I've found great info on the forums here and figured I'd share my recent experiences with getting back in with AMEX.

Bad things happened, I didn't pay on a green charge card, etc etc, we all know what leads to this. Went to collections, I ignored for about 2 years. Roughly $3k owed. Finally responded to the letter from the collection agency (that mentioned the oasis specifically), and paid off the balance in full. Was then approved for the Optima Oasis for roughly a third of what was owed - $900. This was June of 2017.

I used it, and used it often. Looking at the info online, I put over $17,000 on it in the year (actually 13 months) I had it. I travel often for work, so often paid more than once a month to be able to use it often for hotels, flights, etc. I did try to apply for SPG business card about 6 months in, but immediate rejection with the "active recovery product" message.

I knew I was roughly a year in, but couldn't tell exactly. No email saying "Congrats, you've done your year of pennance" or anything, so I called the support line and asked last week. CSR told me that I'm past a year and:
The Optima Oasis can be left open, it won't impact future applications
I can now request CLI's on it and transfer limits to/from it
There is no need to close it to apply to other AMEX cards
My EX was 652, income $130k, so I immediately applied for Hilton business card (due to travel patterns). Got the "call us to confirm" and was worried. They asked a couple of questions, said should get notification in 24-48 hours.
I was worried that would be a no, but why not find out for sure? Only thing on the pre qual page was basic hilton, cash magnet and delta blue. Applied to personal Platinum, immediate accept. YAY!
The next day I got email that the Hilton business was approved for $3k SL.

tl:dr - use optima, keep it good for a year, you can then apply "as normal" for AMEX cards. NO NEED TO CLOSE IT.

Thanks for sharing, OP! This motivates me to pay off my AMEX.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

19eighty5 — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 17:02:53 GMT

Congratulations!

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 21:39:41 GMT

Congrats on getting back in with Amex and very nice double approvals!!!

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Adkins — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 21:53:40 GMT

Nicely done, OP! Congratulations!

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Medic981 — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 00:22:05 GMT

Well Done! Sounds like you are well on your way!

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 06:59:48 GMT

Congrats! I’m mid way through the process of getting my card - the old account shows paid, and there’s a new, yet unindentied account when I login to AMEX website. Question: is the optima trade line backdated?

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 15:41:38 GMT

yes, my oasis showed 15 as start date and my new cards also show that.

Now have - personal plat, hilton business and I just got the delta plat.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

FinStar — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 15:52:21 GMT

IIRC, only the Member Since date on the plastic is updated to reflect prior or existing relationship with AMEX. Any new CCs (or recovery products such as the Oasis Optima) are not backdated on any CRs.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

K-in-Boston — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 17:04:06 GMT

@FinStar wrote:
IIRC, only the Member Since date on the plastic is updated to reflect prior or existing relationship with AMEX. Any new CCs (or recovery products such as the Oasis Optima) are not backdated on any CRs.

Correct. On the cards themselves and in your online account, it will display the earliest year that you appear in the Amex system. When reported to the credit bureaus, the actual date that the account was opened will be reported (or for AUs, the date that they were added to the account, which differs from other lenders who report the entire account history).

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 18:12:11 GMT

Thanks for the info. There’s a lot of conflicting info online about backdating, but I suspect people are getting confused about the plastic date and the tradeline date.

I did the right thing to pay off the old debt. However, my score tanked 55 points when they updated the tradeline to “paid after charge off” 😬. FICO and VantageScore really should update their scoring models to something that doesn’t penalize you for cleaning up your past.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

K-in-Boston — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 18:53:34 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the info. There’s a lot of conflicting info online about backdating, but I suspect people are getting confused about the plastic date and the tradeline date.

I did the right thing to pay off the old debt. However, my score tanked 55 points when they updated the tradeline to “paid after charge off” 😬. FICO and VantageScore really should update their scoring models to something that doesn’t penalize you for cleaning up your past.

The conflicting info is due to the fact that Amex backdated the year all accounts were opened until just a few years ago. For example, if you were an authorized user at some point in your life on your parents' Amex card that was opened in 1975 and you opened a brand new card on August 1st, 2014, it would be reported to the credit bureaus as opened on August 1st, 1975. Unfortunately, they went to the other extreme where nothing is backdated.

If the tradeline was still reporting before you paid it and it is now just reflected as paid, the act of paying it shouldn't cause a change in FICO scoring. If paying it caused it to begin reporting again when it wasn't before, then yes that would be expected. VS3 is another story altogether.

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Kinglord — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 20:38:46 GMT

Can someone share an image of what this card looks like?

Re: AMEX Optima Oasis recent info

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 20:56:29 GMT

If you look at the first page or two of this thread, there’s an image.