topic Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP in Credit Cards

One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 16:56:16 GMT

All,

I need to pay DW hospital bill tht will be almost $4500, and was thinking of putting it on my Amex BCP to get some cash back, then paying that amount as soon as it posts. Normally my balance is around $1500 which I PIF each month, but I run 1500 - 2800 through per statement. I have never had a charge over $300. I am wondering if this will spook AMEX and cause any issues (spending limit decrease, etc.). My SL is $23,500, so no issue there. Anyone have experience with this? I plan on calling Amex ahead of time and letting them know the charge is coming.

Thanks

(Edit to add SL)

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

NRB525 — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 16:57:11 GMT

With a $22k limit?

Should be no problem.

Hopfully everything is well with DW.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 17:14:29 GMT

Thanks for the response. Things are better now with DW.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

wasCB14 — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 19:07:40 GMT

Glad to hear she's better.

~20% is no problem. Amex will sometimes even let customers spend beyond the credit limit. I once went to 300% utilizaton on a business card. When the statement closes, though, the minimum due will include the excess amount for the customer to get back under the CL.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 22:16:22 GMT

It shouldn't be a problem. But if you want to be sure, you can either call them ahead of the charge. Or use that "Check Spending Power" button in your account page.

Since it's a Medical bill, they shouldn't blink an eye over it.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

TheBoondocks — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:14:15 GMT

What's a DW? Don't worry bill lol?

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

wasCB14 — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:21:30 GMT

@TheBoondocks wrote:
What's a DW? Don't worry bill lol?

Dear Wife

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/m-p/88458

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 00:47:52 GMT

I cannot speak for Amex but I would expect that you would be fine.

If you have the Amex BCP and Citi LL Bean card AND you are certain to shop at LL Bean later anyway, then consider putting the bill on whichever card statement closed most recently in order to maximize short-term cash flow..... maximize time until you have to pay.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 01:44:55 GMT

Thanks all for the responses. I will be calling Amex before I do it.

@Anonymous wrote:
If you have the Amex BCP and Citi LL Bean card AND you are certain to shop at LL Bean later anyway, then consider putting the bill on whichever card statement closed most recently in order to maximize short-term cash flow..... maximize time until you have to pay.

I would put it on BCP to get the cash back. I don't shop at Bean as much as I used to, but that is my oldest card and has benefits for when I do shop there.

Thanks

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 01:49:08 GMT

I called Amex before I paid for a $1300 bill from an autobody shop. I would have done it with any lender actually.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

NRB525 — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 04:28:28 GMT

I don’t think I have ever called a bank to ask if I could do a large charge. Some random examples:

In late 2013 I put a $4,500 transmission charge on a $10k CapOne Platinum which has history from 2003, but had not had any charges at all for ten months.

In June we put at $14,000 charge on an AMEX Hilton Aspire card with a $17k Limit.

Oh, I did have to call AMEX after trying to put a $7k IRS tax deposit charge on a new Platinum earlier this year. But that was more likely a problem with the tax payment service because it would not go through on their website. Even after calling AMEX I had to call the tax payment service to give my card info over the phone to get it done.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

lcab — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 21:29:29 GMT

I recently moved and put several large charges on both my Amex Gold and Magnet--including nearly $6,000 to Atlas Van Lines. I hopped on the Amex chat feature a week or so before I moved to alert them that several large charges would be coming through. They thanked me for the heads up and I did not have any issues.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

CluelessJohn — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 22:26:14 GMT

Check your BCP offers. I looked earlier today and have one that gets you $10 on individual transaction of $1000 or more. Can use the offer 3 times. Maybe you can get the hospital to work with you on dividing that $4500 into 3 pieces. $30 is $30.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 22:31:26 GMT

Thanks Icab. That is what I am planning on doing

@lcab wrote:
I recently moved and put several large charges on both my Amex Gold and Magnet--including nearly $6,000 to Atlas Van Lines. I hopped on the Amex chat feature a week or so before I moved to alert them that several large charges would be coming through. They thanked me for the heads up and I did not have any issues.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 22:33:46 GMT

@CluelessJohn wrote:
Check your BCP offers. I looked earlier today and have one that gets you $10 on individual transaction of $1000 or more. Can use the offer 3 times. Maybe you can get the hospital to work with you on dividing that $4500 into 3 pieces. $30 is $30.

I was just looking at the offers earlier today and did not see that offer. Thanks for the heads up.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 02:24:22 GMT

@bergrides wrote:
All,
I need to pay DW hospital bill tht will be almost $4500, and was thinking of putting it on my Amex BCP to get some cash back, then paying that amount as soon as it posts. Normally my balance is around $1500 which I PIF each month, but I run 1500 - 2800 through per statement. I have never had a charge over $300. I am wondering if this will spook AMEX and cause any issues (spending limit decrease, etc.). My SL is $23,500, so no issue there. Anyone have experience with this? I plan on calling Amex ahead of time and letting them know the charge is coming.

Thanks
(Edit to add SL)

I paid a hospital 3400 with my everyday Amex card. The card was relatively new at the time and had a balance of 4800, and a CL of 25K. I didn't call them and ran the charge through and was approved. Your credit line in most cases is the amount you can charge without asking for permission. If they need to verify, they will get in touch with you. They have advanced fraud detection now which will result in fewer contact verifications.

BTW, before you pay, ask the hospital if they will give you a discount for paying in full, AND send you a statement that you are paid in full and will receive no more charges for the services in the future. I did, and they gave me a 10% discount. Much better than the reward dollars you'll still get on the charged amount. It's like cashing in on a Amex offer. That was $340 off my bill. And I never got those dreaded bills for "other services" months later.

Re: One time large charge on Amex BCP

bergrides — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:05:13 GMT

I paid a hospital 3400 with my everyday Amex card. The card was relatively new at the time and had a balance of 4800, and a CL of 25K. I didn't call them and ran the charge through and was approved. Your credit line in most cases is the amount you can charge without asking for permission. If they need to verify, they will get in touch with you. They have advanced fraud detection now which will result in fewer contact verifications.

BTW, before you pay, ask the hospital if they will give you a discount for paying in full, AND send you a statement that you are paid in full and will receive no more charges for the services in the future. I did, and they gave me a 10% discount. Much better than the reward dollars you'll still get on the charged amount. It's like cashing in on a Amex offer. That was $340 off my bill. And I never got those dreaded bills for "other services" months later.

Thanks. I planned on asking for a discount for paying in full and asking for a receipt that says paid in full.