topic Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait? in Credit Cards

Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:06:08 GMT

Here's my situation. After some CC research, I've decided I'd like to apply for an Amex Blue Cash Preferred card to use on my everyday purchases, etc. I have pulled my Experian credit score and it is 771. I believe this is my highest score of the 3 as the other two are between 730 & 750 for some reason.

However, I'm not one to open credit cards frequently. I currently have a little of 30% utilization of total revolving credit lines of about $11K. I've also recently financed a new truck and refinanced my home, so there are 3 inquiries in the last few months. The only other negative on my credit report is a 30 day late payment in early 2005 that is getting ready to drop off.

Should I go ahead and apply for the Amex now, or should I lower my utilization and apply after the first of the year?

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:08:48 GMT

where did you get your EX fico from ?

id wait to lower your util but if your FICO is not FAKO, id say go for it

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:12:05 GMT

That's from Quizzle, although it should be accurate. When I financed my truck they showed me the score they pulled from all 3 bureaus and the EX score was right at 770 at that time (Ocotber).

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:39:27 GMT

Franky i would try to knock down your util. i was scared to apply for amex when i had a high util... id say wait til under 10% but your fico is much higher than mine was when i was approved so YMMV

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

pizzadude — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:26:16 GMT

If your only negative is a 30 day late and ~30% util with a few recent inquiries, then I think you should go for it. I would be very surprised if AMEX turned you down.

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:29:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
That's from Quizzle, although it should be accurate. When I financed my truck they showed me the score they pulled from all 3 bureaus and the EX score was right at 770 at that time (Ocotber).

Quizzle gives you FAKO's, not FICO's. The reports are fine, though.

This is true of all the credit monitoring services --they DON'T give you all three FICO's.

eta: the Experian score pulled for your truck loan might have been a standard FICO score or an auto-enhanced FICO score. The auto-enhanced scores are often higher, because the score range is different (up to 950, I think it is.) But it can vary a lot.

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 04:00:21 GMT

I would wait until I got my util down. If you applied now you would probably get approved, but your APR/CL might not be as good as if you apply with a lower util.

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 13:58:29 GMT

Thanks all. I think I just have an itchy trigger finger, but I succeeded in resisting the urge to apply. Going to wait a couple of months to get the utes below 10% and have the 30 day payment drop off my report in January. Hopefully patience will result in higher CL.

Re: Amex Blue Cash - Should I apply now or wait?

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:09:19 GMT

I don't know how many CC's you have, but aside from getting your util down, I'd suggest having only one CC reporting a balance when apping for the AmEx, I've read a lot of posts about AmEx and denials, and one common reason for denial from AmEx is..........

"Too many accounts with a balance"

Just a thought.

I think you are making the right decision by waiting till the 30 day late falls off as well.

Best of Luck, and Happy Thanksgiving!!