topic Re: Getting into Amex Family in Credit Cards

Getting into Amex Family

Herb8108 — Sat, 01 May 2021 01:22:18 GMT

I'm curious I've been doing my research on Amex I been eyeing them for a while. Although in my current situation I'm nowhere close to being able to confidently apply. But I'm wondering what does it really take to get into Amex they have a lot of rewards and benefits across all there cards I really would love to get my hands on the Gold, The everyday Cash, Bonvoy Brilliance, The Delta sky miles. I travel a lot and it would be great to reap there benefits etc. But what scores have you guys gotten approved at? I know there's a pre-qual area on there site and I've tried it a few times knowing there won't be anything on there for me but I'm curious on there qualifications

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Anonymous — Sat, 01 May 2021 01:34:54 GMT

@Herb8108 wrote:
I'm curious I've been doing my research on Amex I been eyeing them for a while. Although in my current situation I'm nowhere close to being able to confidently apply. But I'm wondering what does it really take to get into Amex they have a lot of rewards and benefits across all there cards I really would love to get my hands on the Gold, The everyday Cash, Bonvoy Brilliance, The Delta sky miles. I travel a lot and it would be great to reap there benefits etc. But what scores have you guys gotten approved at? I know there's a pre-qual area on there site and I've tried it a few times knowing there won't be anything on there for me but I'm curious on there qualifications

Maybe ask you question in Credit Cards 💳 section for optimal responses? 🙏🏻

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Horseshoez — Sat, 01 May 2021 01:44:47 GMT

@Herb8108 wrote:
I'm curious I've been doing my research on Amex I been eyeing them for a while. Although in my current situation I'm nowhere close to being able to confidently apply. But I'm wondering what does it really take to get into Amex they have a lot of rewards and benefits across all there cards I really would love to get my hands on the Gold, The everyday Cash, Bonvoy Brilliance, The Delta sky miles. I travel a lot and it would be great to reap there benefits etc. But what scores have you guys gotten approved at? I know there's a pre-qual area on there site and I've tried it a few times knowing there won't be anything on there for me but I'm curious on there qualifications

Unless you have some derogs and/or burned AMEX in the past, the threshold for getting a basic AMEX card isn't all that high. The flipside is folks like me, not only do I have a Chapter 13 on my record, I burned AMEX for some significant money in that bankruptcy; AMEX has a long memory for such folks, so even if we look squeaky clean on our credit reports, we won't be getting back in any time soon.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Herb8108 — Sat, 01 May 2021 01:51:07 GMT

Ouch I'm sorry to hear that so they don't forgive basically

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Horseshoez — Sat, 01 May 2021 02:06:12 GMT

@Herb8108 wrote:
Ouch I'm sorry to hear that so they don't forgive basically

I have heard various things about what might be called a tiered AMEX forgivness policy:

Bankruptcy, and you didn't burn AMEX: I've heard 5 years and 1 month and 7 years and 1 month, depending upon the source.
You burned AMEX in a bankruptcy but still opted to pay them back in full even though you weren't required to: see the line above.
You burned AMEX and then payed them back after your account had been closed/charged off: I have heard this is on a case by case basis.
You burned AMEX, for some significant money, say $10,000 or more: in this case, even 20 years may not be enough to get back in the door.

In reality, YMMV holds true here. For my part, I'm not counting on getting back in any time soon, if ever. That said, it looks like the job I'll be starting on the 10th comes with a Corporate AMEX card, so I'll at least have one in my wallet.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Herb8108 — Sat, 01 May 2021 02:09:47 GMT

What's YMMV? Sorry I don't know any of the abreviations used in the group

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Horseshoez — Sat, 01 May 2021 02:12:06 GMT

Sorry, YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary.

Here's a link which outlines many (but far from all) of the appreviations you'll encounter on this site:

https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/User-Guidelines-General/Common-Abbreviations/m-p/88458#M23

Re: Getting into Amex Family

manbuckets — Sat, 01 May 2021 02:12:11 GMT

@Herb8108 wrote:
What's YMMV? Sorry I don't know any of the abreviations used in the group

Your mileage may vary

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Anonymous — Sat, 01 May 2021 14:58:56 GMT

@manbuckets wrote:
@Herb8108 wrote:
What's YMMV? Sorry I don't know any of the abreviations used in the group
Your mileage may vary

Which is a phrase from very old car ads, as a legal disclaimer to their cited optimistic miles per gallon figure. Just checking now, e.g. Toyota uses "Your mileage will vary for many reasons, including...." so maybe it's time for YMWV!

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Horseshoez — Sat, 01 May 2021 15:10:33 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@manbuckets wrote:
@Herb8108 wrote:
What's YMMV? Sorry I don't know any of the abreviations used in the group
Your mileage may vary
Which is a phrase from very old car ads, as a legal disclaimer to their cited optimistic miles per gallon figure. Just checking now, e.g. Toyota uses "Your mileage will vary for many reasons, including...." so maybe it's time for YMWV!

LOL, not *that* old, it seems like just yesterday when I started hearing that phrase in the 1970s when gas lines were long and fuel economy suddenly became important.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

jmcmillan — Sat, 01 May 2021 17:14:35 GMT

As @Horseshoez mentioned, getting an Amex isn't all that difficult if your credit is decent. I'm surprised they have a reputation of being a super conservative lender. They approved me with OK credit when others like Discover and Citi wouldn’t approve me for a card. Hell, I think even Capital One refused to give me a Venture card at the time. The only time Amex becomes difficult is when they get spooked by your spending and ask for your tax transcripts. They did this to me, and I refused to provide this documentation, so I closed the card. A few months later, I applied for the same card and they approved me again lol.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Herb8108 — Sat, 01 May 2021 18:04:29 GMT

Wow that's crazy I never applied but that's because I want to make sure everything looks picture perfect I don't want to get inquiries unless I'm sure they will approve me, everyone I've spoken to has let me know how strict they are and not to apply unless everything looks really good but then I've spoken to people with scores in the 640 range and heard that they have gotten approvals from them.

I also heard that if you apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other they run it as a single inquiry I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard so many different things about them I just don't want to take the chance yet until I get a few more collections off.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

coldfusion — Sat, 01 May 2021 18:22:48 GMT

@Herb8108 wrote:
Wow that's crazy I never applied but that's because I want to make sure everything looks picture perfect I don't want to get inquiries unless I'm sure they will approve me, everyone I've spoken to has let me know how strict they are and not to apply unless everything looks really good but then I've spoken to people with scores in the 640 range and heard that they have gotten approvals from them.

I also heard that if you apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other they run it as a single inquiry I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard so many different things about them I just don't want to take the chance yet until I get a few more collections off.

it's possible to be approved for an AMEX card when cold-apping with an EX FICO 8 score in the 640s but the odds are much better if it is closer to the 680-690 range. If you have a preapproval and you did not previously burn them the odds of approval are good even with a score in the 640s..

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other" but regardless of the meaning whomever told you that is ill-informed. The closest reality is that once you have been approved as a cardholder it is likely, but in no way guaranteed, that any given additional application will only trigger a soft pull. There are multiple members here who can confirm from personal experience that they can and sometimes do hard pull a credit report when an existing cardholder applies for a different card.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 01 May 2021 18:33:09 GMT

Approved for delta gold with a 641 and super dirty, thick file. Gold and platinum delta approved a year and a half later on the same day with a 625. Product changed delta gold to Delta reserve. Have no idea what score was. They're currently offering me an upgrade from gold to platinum. Scores are just below 700 and I can't get a pre-approval for any core cards. Though, they've basically never pre-approved me for any of their cards.

Also, as mentioned above, I received a HP once on a denied app for gold. All other apps were SP.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

W261w261 — Sun, 02 May 2021 01:09:07 GMT

@jmcmillan If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?

Re: Getting into Amex Family

jmcmillan — Sun, 02 May 2021 02:25:09 GMT

@W261w261 wrote:
@jmcmillan If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?

One of my authorized users essentially got a cash advance by paying himself through PayPal using the card.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Horseshoez — Sun, 02 May 2021 02:31:59 GMT

@jmcmillan wrote:
@W261w261 wrote:
@jmcmillan If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?
One of my authorized users essentially got a cash advance by paying himself through PayPal using the card.

Definitely a Bozo-No-No! Let me guess, that AU is no longer an AU on any of your accounts.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

W261w261 — Sun, 02 May 2021 03:03:02 GMT

I got approved for the EveryDay card about 4 years ago, and I'm sure my score was in the very low 600's. Eventually they offered me the Preferred version, but the credit line stayed glued at 1k. It's a great card, all you have to do is use it 30x per month and the points earned during that month are increased by 50%. So that means 4.5% on groceries (up to 6k), 3% on gas, 1.5% on all else. It's a good foot in the door. You can live with the low spend limit because they credit payments immediately. Just don't ever bounce one! While I had just that Amex card, I diligently worked at paying off all my cards, practiced AZEO, handled a charge-off, went to NFCU and took out a share-secured installment loan, and watched my score move over about 8 mos up to 712. At that point I apped and got a Gold card and a Delta Reserve card, so I'm playing with the bigger boys and girls now, albeit with a 5k limit on the Delta card, but a spend limit of 25k on the Gold (it's a charge card - pay it off every month). I still get a thrill when I pull out the violet Delta card, sometimes people comment. I think of faraway places because of the 80k SUB on it, along with the 60k SUB on the Gold. Bottom line, it's a great bank to do business with as long as you don't indulge in any funny business.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

jmcmillan — Sun, 02 May 2021 03:14:04 GMT

@Horseshoez wrote:
Definitely a Bozo-No-No! Let me guess, that AU is no longer an AU on any of your accounts.

You would be correct.

Re: Getting into Amex Family

Herb8108 — Sun, 02 May 2021 04:40:56 GMT

@W261w261 wrote:
I got approved for the EveryDay card about 4 years ago, and I'm sure my score was in the very low 600's. Eventually they offered me the Preferred version, but the credit line stayed glued at 1k. It's a great card, all you have to do is use it 30x per month and the points earned during that month are increased by 50%. So that means 4.5% on groceries (up to 6k), 3% on gas, 1.5% on all else. It's a good foot in the door. You can live with the low spend limit because they credit payments immediately. Just don't ever bounce one! While I had just that Amex card, I diligently worked at paying off all my cards, practiced AZEO, handled a charge-off, went to NFCU and took out a share-secured installment loan, and watched my score move over about 8 mos up to 712. At that point I apped and got a Gold card and a Delta Reserve card, so I'm playing with the bigger boys and girls now, albeit with a 5k limit on the Delta card, but a spend limit of 25k on the Gold (it's a charge card - pay it off every month). I still get a thrill when I pull out the violet Delta card, sometimes people comment. I think of faraway places because of the 80k SUB on it, along with the 60k SUB on the Gold. Bottom line, it's a great bank to do business with as long as you don't indulge in any funny business.

**bleep** I would love to be you those cards are highly respected and very important