topic Re: One thing I really like about amex in Credit Cards

One thing I really like about amex

purebulldogs — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 22:35:28 GMT

Amex seems to really grow when we do regardless of the card (not counting the one to get back in with them).

If I can only afford $500 a month and they know it, my limit will probably stay at 500.

Now if my income grows a lot, my scores increase, amex will most likely raise the credit limit even on the same card.

The opposite of the cap one platinum card that's in a bucket no matter how high the score or income gets to. Once a crap card always a crap card with capital one I guess.

Reminds me of when Amex credit writers told me I could spend as much as I can show I can afford. I said a million dollars? They said if you can show you can afford to pay it back, sure.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

SPChaser — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 22:54:43 GMT

Agreed. Amex, with an improved profile, you definitely can be rewarded for that; however, the problem comes, especially as DW found out, you have to wait till their internal numbers reflect your improved credit profile, which can take months.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 22:56:08 GMT

It goes a little deeper than that. If you went from 500 to 1MM spend you would be put into financial review. All your accounts would be frozen until you satisfy their requirements.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

SPChaser — Sat, 09 Jul 2022 23:40:54 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
It goes a little deeper than that. If you went from 500 to 1MM spend you would be put into financial review. All your accounts would be frozen until you satisfy their requirements.

Oh for sure, that's going to certainly happened. Amex would be searching for them bags of laundered money

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Remedios — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 21:48:20 GMT

Also, before we get into idolizing and idealizing, let's remember that some of Amex $500/$1000 cards do not grow for some when acquired during times when credit report wasn't that good.

A new card may be approved with decent limit and it will grow, but "old" one might be forever stuck.

Also, get a brand new late and see who's first to CLD/Close, same with utilization.

Amex is by far most reactive and fastest to react given how data driven they are, and they usually get it right before anyone else does. When Amex starts looking away and pinching their nose, stuff 'bout to happen with those profiles.

When Amex is your BFF, they are a good BFF to have.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

UncleB — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 05:04:39 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
Also, before we get into idolizing and idealizing, let's remember that some of Amex $500/$1000 cards for not grow for some when acquired during times when credit report wasn't that good.
A new card may be approved with decent limit and it will grow, but "old" one might be forever stuck.

Also, get a brand new late and see who's first to CLD/Close, same with utilization.

Amex is by far most reactive and fastest to react given how data driven they are, and they usually get it right before anyone else does. When Amex starts looking away and pinching their nose, stuff 'bout to happen with those profiles.

When Amex is your BFF, they are a good BFF to have.

Oh yes... Amex giveth, and Amex taketh away, LOL.

It seems like those who are patient and take it slow with Amex tend to do OK. Those who come out of the gate swinging for the fences sometimes get tripped up, and just like @Remedios mentioned they can get squirrelly over things that don't bother other lenders.

In the last five years, the only AA (adverse action) I've had was actually with Amex. Several years ago I did an app apree (yeah, I know) and my scores dipped into the 750s, which triggered an APR increase on my Everyday card; none of my other lenders even blinked. Not the worst outcome, but it reminded me that they keep a close watch on things.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 01:58:29 GMT

@purebulldogs Yes, I will always remain a loyal customer. The American Express prestige is unparalleled.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Adkins — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 05:34:43 GMT

@Remedios wrote:
Also, before we get into idolizing and idealizing, let's remember that some of Amex $500/$1000 cards for not grow for some when acquired during times when credit report wasn't that good.
A new card may be approved with decent limit and it will grow, but "old" one might be forever stuck.

Also, get a brand new late and see who's first to CLD/Close, same with utilization.

Amex is by far most reactive and fastest to react given how data driven they are, and they usually get it right before anyone else does. When Amex starts looking away and pinching their nose, stuff 'bout to happen with those profiles.

When Amex is your BFF, they are a good BFF to have.

This is me. Now that my lates have aged off, Amex still won't give me a CLI. I wanted Amex to be my BFF but nope. Let's not even get into the Amex Gold fiasco every time I reached 2K spend per month.... 🙄 Amex is great for some, but not everyone. (Which is the case with every lender.)

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:27:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@purebulldogs Yes, I will always remain a loyal customer. The American Express prestige is unparalleled.

Or, depending on your view, pratically non-existent! Anyone with a semi-reasonable credit score can get an Amex charge card. Yes, for many the charging power won't be that great, but they can still hand it to a waiter in a non-dive restaurant. Anyone in retail can see a huge number of these cards, and the idea of "prestige" goes away quickly.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Jnbmom — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:33:35 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@purebulldogs Yes, I will always remain a loyal customer. The American Express prestige is unparalleled.
Or, depending on your view, pratically non-existent! Anyone with a semi-reasonable credit score can get an Amex charge card. Yes, for many the charging power won't be that great, but they can still hand it to a waiter in a non-dive restaurant. Anyone in retail can see a huge number of these cards, and the idea of "prestige" goes away quickly.

Agree 💯 Amex is nowhere near where they used to be . Their charge cards are very attainable including the "platinum " which back in the day was one of those cards , today not so much .

Re: One thing I really like about amex

ottelin — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:51:37 GMT

The average person does not know that AMEX is not that hard to get. Back in 1970 when you plunked down the green card you were immediately treated as an elite customer. As with all issuers just keep the computer happy.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 15:56:10 GMT

@ottelin wrote:
The average person does not know that AMEX is not that hard to get. Back in 1970 when you plunked down the green card you were immediately treated as an elite customer. As with all issuers just keep the computer happy.

Oh well, if you are looking for prestige recognition from the AVERAGE person.....!

Re: One thing I really like about amex

SouthJamaica — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 16:01:30 GMT

@purebulldogs wrote:
Amex seems to really grow when we do regardless of the card (not counting the one to get back in with them).

If I can only afford $500 a month and they know it, my limit will probably stay at 500.

Now if my income grows a lot, my scores increase, amex will most likely raise the credit limit even on the same card.

The opposite of the cap one platinum card that's in a bucket no matter how high the score or income gets to. Once a crap card always a crap card with capital one I guess.

Reminds me of when Amex credit writers told me I could spend as much as I can show I can afford. I said a million dollars? They said if you can show you can afford to pay it back, sure.

I don't consider tham as great as all that, but definitely agree that they are well above average in making credit limit increases accessible.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

AwsiDooger — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 05:49:26 GMT

I've been happy with American Express other than it really panicked during the early months of the pandemic. It was impossible not to laugh. My profile didn't change at all and none of the other companies did anything. Yet American Express found reason to slash my Cash Magnet limit from $13,800 to $1800. And that's where it sits today.

I like the Plan It feature best. It really came in handy during 2019 when I had extensive work done on my older home. I needed foundation, pool, plumbing, ceiling, decking, gutters, roof and several other projects I'm probably forgetting. I couldn't fit all of it on Plan It but lots of it did snuggle to my Blue Cash Everyday card for various durations at 0%. It was great fortune that I decided to get those fixes out of the way in 2019...pre-pandemic and pre-inflation. The Plan It availability played a role in the timing. Then not long after I paid off those projects in full they gave me Plan It again at 0% in December 2021. I loaded lesser amounts this time but total in the $7000 range. I appreciate that every month they give me the exact amount required to stay on track for no interest. Otherwise the card stays mostly dormant other than a few small purchases from the American Express Offers, which I check all the time.

Speaking of those Offers, I'm not much of a streamer but I'm not passing up Peacock for free and Disney Plus at $1.03 per month. That's the bottom line right now. The Peacock Offer is spend at least $4.99 per month and receive $4.99 cash back. It showed up in June and upon activation is good through August. This is the second time that Offer has been available this year, along with February thru April.

The current Disney Plus Offer is spend $7.99+ per month and receive $7.99 cash back for each of the next 6 months. It rises to $9.02 for me due to taxes in Florida. I have never used or seen Netflix and couldn't describe it if my life depended on it, but if they ever have a similar Offer I'll be forced to surrender my ignorance.

Chase Offers are terrific also but it's what-you-see-is-what-you-get. American Express is considerably easier to manipulate. They always want in the neighborhood of 100 unactivated Offers per card. So even if everything on your list looks like garbage, just keep activating them, and especially the ones expiring within the next month or so. That will trigger the system to reload your unactivated Offers up toward 100 level again. Then do the same thing next month. Eventually one or two goodies will pop up.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

bigseegar — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 12:08:03 GMT

@UncleB wrote:
@Remedios wrote:
Also, before we get into idolizing and idealizing, let's remember that some of Amex $500/$1000 cards for not grow for some when acquired during times when credit report wasn't that good.
A new card may be approved with decent limit and it will grow, but "old" one might be forever stuck.

Also, get a brand new late and see who's first to CLD/Close, same with utilization.

Amex is by far most reactive and fastest to react given how data driven they are, and they usually get it right before anyone else does. When Amex starts looking away and pinching their nose, stuff 'bout to happen with those profiles.

When Amex is your BFF, they are a good BFF to have.

Oh yes... Amex giveth, and Amex taketh away, LOL.

It seems like those who are patient and take it slow with Amex tend to do OK. Those who come out of the gate swinging for the fences sometimes get tripped up, and just like @Remedios mentioned they can get squirrelly over things that don't bother other lenders.

In the last five years, the only AA (adverse action) I've had was actually with Amex. Several years ago I did an app apree (yeah, I know) and my scores dipped into the 740s, which triggered an APR increase on my Everyday card; none of my other lenders even blinked. Not the worst outcome, but it reminded me that they keep a close watch on things.

Yep, while I too like AmEx and have 4 of their cards again including the ones I "lost" they most certainly do "Amex giveth, and Amex taketh away, LOL." UncleB! .

So, @purebulldogs before you put them too high on a pedestal let me tell how "forgiving" they are lol. Way back in 2002 I had a brick and mortor business that was my sole source of income that after 10 years of doing very well in buisness it started failing. That eventually also lead to me having to file BK later down the road, even though AmEx was closed before that and thus not included because of what they did. At the time I had, had an AmEx Green Card (which I rarely used anymore) since 1984 and Gold and Platinum since 1994 going back to when Platinum was truly exlusive and by AmEx Invitation only like the Black Card is now. I had always had heavy use and PIF on both of the Gold/Platinum and was never late and always made sure they got paid even during my financial distress. Well, even though I did everything right with them they saw through their credit monitoring and credit profiling what was coming and shut down all 3 cards even though I had a perfect history with them and was probably a year before I file BK. No warning, and like I said never a missed monthly PIF in what was 18 years with them at the time.

They then also took it to their max step and Blacklisted me for the next 19 years just letting me back in last Summer. There's a reason they soft pull every members credit every month. Now I'm not saying they did me wrong at all. Heck they were smart in what they did as they would have probably gotten burned if they hadn't. But trust me while they are good and good to have they aren't the glowing friend you think. If things get bumpy they'll be the first ones to turn their back on you and when they do they have a long memory and won't dance with you again for a long time. Now they did when they finally let me back in show my Member Since date on all my cards as 1994 (not sure why they didn't go back to 1984 unless it was because I never really used that card much or they just somehow missed it).

Re: One thing I really like about amex

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 13:29:41 GMT

@bigseegar Since 1984. That's very impressive. Mine since 1997. Yes, I remember when Platinum was by invitation only. You had to have perfect credit, long history with American Express, and make a certain higher level of income. My uncle whom was successful and with whom I admired had the Platinum. He's the one that inspired me as a young boy to someday earn an American Express card. It wasn't until recently that I learned Platinum was no longer invitation only. I've always stayed with Green. It was my first, and thus has always been quite special to me.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

The_Rooster — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 17:50:44 GMT

@purebulldogs wrote:
Amex seems to really grow when we do regardless of the card (not counting the one to get back in with them).

If I can only afford $500 a month and they know it, my limit will probably stay at 500.

Now if my income grows a lot, my scores increase, amex will most likely raise the credit limit even on the same card.

The opposite of the cap one platinum card that's in a bucket no matter how high the score or income gets to. Once a crap card always a crap card with capital one I guess.

Reminds me of when Amex credit writers told me I could spend as much as I can show I can afford. I said a million dollars? They said if you can show you can afford to pay it back, sure.

I have had the complete opposite experience.

I have had an Amex Gold (and now Platinum) for 2 years.

In that time, I have spent (and paid off) over $150,000 on it.

They STILL decline me every time I apply for one of their credit cards. I've never seen a company so bent on not giving credit to someone that has spent so much money through their card.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

TRC_WA — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 22:55:10 GMT

I won't claim to have Amex figured out because I don't.

I had a $1k Delta Gold from 2015-2017 that I never got a CLI on... in their defense I didn't use the card that much beyond meeting the initial SUB spend because the perks weren't all that great. It was closed by me prior to filing Ch 13 because I wanted to keep the bridge open.

In 2022 Amex gave me the same card with a $10k limit. My "cardmember since" was reset to 2022 and I have a new SUB. Why did they give me a 10x CLI? I have no idea based on their previous actions. Maybe they did it to get me to use the card more... and if that's the case they succeeded. The perks have improved (2x miles at restaurants/grocery) and it's nice to have a card with a $10k limit because I can dump monthly expenses on it (around $3k) and not even care about utilization... and Amex will be happy (I can hope) because I'm using the card.

Will I get a CLI though? Probably not.

"You are denied because you don't use enough of your credit limit."

Re: One thing I really like about amex

GatorGuy — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 23:29:54 GMT

I am a fan of Amex because they have treated me right so far. They have approved me for every card I've applied for and given me multiple generous credit limits. However I am always aware of how quick their infatuation with you can change.

I have seen the many examples of people who have been approved for low limits and never given much if any CLIs. They also will rapidly change course and cut CLs or request FRs. Capital One would also approve someone with a lower credit score. Every lender has their own characteristics which has advantages and disadvantages.

Re: One thing I really like about amex

learningcredit54 — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 13:21:06 GMT

I too hold Amex above other companies as with me they have been very forgiving. I ran into some hardship when I was 25 years old and my Platinum and Blue with them went to default with around 15k across both. After 12 years they recently let me back in and I got my Plat back and added a Gold, Blue Cash Personal, Blue Business, and Business Plat.

While many say Amex has lost their "prestigious" status letting me in the door again has been SUPER helpful. First month they only let me charge around 3k on my charge cards before requesting payments, now I am charging 12k no issue. They also gave me low limits on the Blues (1k and 2k) but its alright as I have other cards to play with as I continue to play by the Amex rules.

And on a more personal note the reason I love Amex so much is that they started as not as a credit card but as a freight forwarder which is what I do. In my mind its like I was destined to have Amex having my back