topic Re: Ready to app for the BCE?! in Credit Cards

Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:45:00 GMT

I recently pulled my experian report from experian.com and it was a 747. My oldest account is 2.7 years, and my AAOA is 1.8 years. I have a discover card and a citiforward. My utilization has been pretty low. But i DID carry a balance on my citiforward not too long ago, and that's one reason im not sure whether or not i should app for the BCE yet. When i pulled the report it did show i have 0 balances on the two cards, but I had a high balance on the Forward for 1,188/5200.

Thanks guys!

Update: OH and 1 inquiry from Citi last september. and a loan currently in repayment.

no lates, no baddies.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

omskillet — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:54:08 GMT

@gngo2007 wrote:
I recently pulled my experian report from experian.com and it was a 747. My oldest account is 2.7 years, and my AAOA is 1.8 years. I have a discover card and a citiforward. My utilization has been pretty low. But i DID carry a balance on my citiforward not too long ago, and that's one reason im not sure whether or not i should app for the BCE yet. When i pulled the report it did show i have 0 balances on the two cards, but I had a high balance on the Forward for 1,188/5200.

Thanks guys!

Update: OH and 1 inquiry from Citi last september. and a loan currently in repayment.

no lates, no baddies.

Sounds like a no brainer to me. AAoA might be the only thing could hold you back but I don't think it will in this case.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:58:09 GMT

Since he/she pulled a FAKO and not a FICO, I wouldn't say it is a no brainer. FICO could easily be 100 points lower. Credit history looks a little light. Personally, I would get a charge card first and app for BC in 6 months. But up to OP.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:01:15 GMT

Is it fako if I pull it directly from experian ?..I even paid for it?!!

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:03:35 GMT

No place to pay for a Experian FICO score. So Yes, even if you paid for it. Better to get EQ FICO score from here. Assuming your credit reports are the same, an EQ FICO score will give you better idea what your EX FICO might look like.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:08:31 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Since he/she pulled a FAKO and not a FICO, I wouldn't say it is a no brainer. FICO could easily be 100 points lower. Credit history looks a little light. Personally, I would get a charge card first and app for BC in 6 months. But up to OP.

I agree. i would def go for charge card first then app for the bce in about 6 months

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:45:05 GMT

Oh that's so weird. It was that credit monitorig thing. But I'll try to pull one from here then. Thanks for the info!!!

i just read that someone got the zync and bce right after the same day?...something i should or shouldnt do? o.0

also, does it mean anything if it says i was pre-approved for the "amex green, gold, blue sky, gold delta, and blue"?

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 04:59:09 GMT

ive changed my mind..i don't have a good personal income since ill be going to school in the fall and i'll be leaving my temp job soon. =(

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

nada9188 — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:07:42 GMT

@gngo2007 wrote:
ive changed my mind..i don't have a good personal income since ill be going to school in the fall and i'll be leaving my temp job soon. =(

@I'll have to share my story/situation with you. I was approved last November. 25k income. Two credit cards discover 1 yr @$750 wells fargo 2.5yrs @2200. Only other thing I had was an auto loan. Balance of 15k at application. At the time according to freecreditrepot my fako was 730. My approval letter for bcp said my ex fico was 761. I am confident you will be approved. Edit: Amex can't see that you carried a balance my cr has high balances reporting and I never carried a balance. I also indicated student working on my application. It was an instant approval.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

CreditPacMan — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:17:20 GMT

I'd go ahead and apply. I got approved today and my score is lower than yours.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:34:15 GMT

I will take the more conservative approach. Since you have been reading the forums here, I am guessing you have read about AMEX backdating. I would suggest that you go for the Zync or Green that you are pre-approved for. Keep up all your payments, go after no more cards, keep util below 5%. Then one year and one day after you get whatever AMEX card you go after, apply for the BCE. Your AAoA will be one year older, you will have no inq and a year of history with AMEX. If income is a concern of theirs, they would be more likely to approve you this way. Plus you may even get a pre-approved for BCE sometime between now and then

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

nada9188 — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:38:10 GMT

I did not have ANY Amex "preapprovals" prior to applying. OP, what is your income.. Myself and another poster both have experience with the Blue cards, and are quite sure you will be approved.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:52:23 GMT

@nada9188 wrote:
I did not have ANY Amex "preapprovals" prior to applying. OP, what is your income.. Myself and another poster both have experience with the Blue cards, and are quite sure you will be approved.

Your approval can't and doesn't guarantee the OPs approval - case in point, another member of the forum with very little history was approved for a BoA card where as I was denied with a score of 718, a much longer AAoA and a 4 year history of checking with them. Every case is different... and it may be in the OPs best interest to further evaluate their own needs and wants prior to apping just for the sake of apping.

Btw, you joined the forums on my birthday last year. Coolio, that would explain why you weren't at my party I suppose. ;-)

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:08:58 GMT

thanks for all of the insight guys! i really appreciate it. if history really seems like a problem, i can wait a little longer. My income is currently 36k/year. I spoke with an Amex rep and she said a lot of students apply even without incomes and get accepted. But even then, its true it does vary by each person. I'm just not sure if the zync is worth the inquiry. It gets me into Amex, but other than that I think my Forward is better. I was thinking of apping for the Freedom, but even then its a bit like my Discover More..so i guess in the end, i'll just wait to let my cards grow some more.

thanks again everyone!

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 06:47:40 GMT

@gngo2007 wrote:
thanks for all of the insight guys! i really appreciate it. if history really seems like a problem, i can wait a little longer. My income is currently 36k/year. I spoke with an Amex rep and she said a lot of students apply even without incomes and get accepted. But even then, its true it does vary by each person. I'm just not sure if the zync is worth the inquiry. It gets me into Amex, but other than that I think my Forward is better. I was thinking of apping for the Freedom, but even then its a bit like my Discover More..so i guess in the end, i'll just wait to let my cards grow some more.

thanks again everyone!

you chicken! lol just messing with you. most of us cant keep our fingers from hitting the apply button so in your case if you dont need credit now dont apply seems right. in all honesty if you app with amex they pull experian. you have discover and citi who did they pull eq or eq and tu? either way i would do what another suggested and get the zync then in a year do the app for bce and have it backdated. or if you dont feel like applying dont apply. you have a nice set of cards to start with now

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:34:02 GMT

gngo2007,

This Saturday I was approved for the BCE. I am a student and only work about 20 hours a week. I put my income as 13,500. I don't know if this matters, but I also put I have checkings, savings, retirement, and other investments. I am not sure exactly how to calculate AAoA, but my oldest account, which is closed is about 3.6 years old and I have Citi Forward about .9 years old (always below 10%, credit limit 5500). I also have a student loan from about .7 years old (no payments made yet) value is 3k. 3 inquiries in the last year.

I don't know my credit limit yet, I hope the card to arrive by Friday.

My score in March 2012 was EX Fico 736.

I am still learning how credit works, so I don't know what difference they may see. Possibly if you loan is too large or your oldest account isn't old enough.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:06:11 GMT

man. now i really want to jump on it..

i have a question. say i were to play it safe and apply for the zync..get approved..can i apply for the BCE right after, and would that be considered one inquiry? o.0 i saw somewhere that someone did that on google..but i just wanted to be sure. Or what about if i applied for the BCE and got denied, could i apply for the zync ?!

and yes..im totally being a chicken =T

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

Anonymous — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:09:29 GMT

@gngo2007 wrote:
man. now i really want to jump on it..

i have a question. say i were to play it safe and apply for the zync..get approved..can i apply for the BCE right after, and would that be considered one inquiry? o.0 i saw somewhere that someone did that on google..but i just wanted to be sure. Or what about if i applied for the BCE and got denied, could i apply for the zync ?!

and yes..im totally being a chicken =T

Yes to all the above. As long as you do both apps in the same day it will be a single hard pull with AMEX. You can do Zync first or BCE first, or the other way around. Since you want the BCE and just thinking of Zync to build history with AMEX. Do the BCE first, if you fall short then go after Zync for a back up plan.

With the way BCEs are getting approved, I wish that had been my first app choice when I went on my spree 2 weeks ago. I think I would have been approved.

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

gngo2007 — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 05:06:47 GMT

i'm such a little girl about app-ing..haha but anyways, i will REALLY apply next week for the BCE. However, I'm not sure I need the chase freedom anymore since i have the discover card which seems to be kind of the same thing. i was thinking of signing up for the walmart card [for the free TU to keep track of my stuff =D] or the southwest card. inputs? but chase did just offer me a free 100 bucks for opening the chase freedom after my first purhcase...

also, i'm going to be goin back to school in the fall, and was possibly considering private loans[since they have lower interests then the grad plus loan] and was wondering if this would have any affect on the rate i may receive? Thanks guys =)

Re: Ready to app for the BCE?!

-Cain- — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 05:22:40 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@gngo2007 wrote:
man. now i really want to jump on it..

i have a question. say i were to play it safe and apply for the zync..get approved..can i apply for the BCE right after, and would that be considered one inquiry? o.0 i saw somewhere that someone did that on google..but i just wanted to be sure. Or what about if i applied for the BCE and got denied, could i apply for the zync ?!

and yes..im totally being a chicken =T
Yes to all the above. As long as you do both apps in the same day it will be a single hard pull with AMEX. You can do Zync first or BCE first, or the other way around. Since you want the BCE and just thinking of Zync to build history with AMEX. Do the BCE first, if you fall short then go after Zync for a back up plan.

With the way BCEs are getting approved, I wish that had been my first app choice when I went on my spree 2 weeks ago. I think I would have been approved.

If the poster gets denied for BCE, poster will not be able to then app for Zync. The application would be canceled, and poster would have to wait 30 days to reapply for another AmEx card. Zync is said to be easiest to get, charge is usually easier than revolver, so it may be best to go Zync first, then BCE.