topic Re: AMEX Gold Card Approval in General Credit Topics

AMEX Gold Card Approval

Myia_omg98 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 00:27:10 GMT

Hey,

I hope I haven't been bamboozled again! I was just approved for the personal AMEX gold card with an offer of 75,000 bonus points. Before I logged into my account with AMEX (took like 20 seconds), the original offer was 90,000 bonus points with a minimum spend of $6,000 in 6 months. Why was I suddenly deemed unworthy of the full 90k points?

I have never received AMEX bonus points, like EVER. Even when I applied for the Hilton Honors card thinking I would get 80,000 Hilton Honors Points for spending $3,000 in 3 months, but AMEX denied giving me the points in 2022. This was before AMEX started the warnings/alerts of potentially not receiving points during the application process. They did not provide a reason why I did not receive the points, I just moved on to other lenders and banks. I'm terrified this will happen again with the Gold Card.

Plus any AMEX Gold Card tips on capitalizing with the increased AF would be appreciated!!! I have the No Spending Limit version.

My Stats:

Equifax: 749
Experian: 744
Transunion: 740
Hard Inquiries, respectively - 3 | 2 | 7
Utilization: 5%
Income: $62k
Used Auto Loan: $20k @ 5.25% NFCU (42 months left)
Student Loans: $17k @ 3.5-5.5% (only made 6 months of payments) [lots of given deferments]
No Mortgage

CARDS: CL, Balance

NFCU - $33k
AMEX HH $0 AF - $17k
Chase FF - $13k
Discover IT Chrome - $11k
US Bank Plat - $10k, $5k (0% APR til Jan26)
Discover IT CB - $6k
Apple Card, PenFed Plat & Power Cash - $3.5k (x3)
Gemini - $2.5k
AMEX Delta Skymiles - $2.4k (I guess they don't like me)

Total $105,400, 12 cards

Re: AMEX Gold Card Approval

Aim_High — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 02:01:36 GMT

Welcome to My FICO Forums, @Myia_omg98.

AMEX Bonus offers are more complicated than those from many other lenders.

AMEX has the "pop-up jail" you mentioned where you might be ineligible for their SUB. A lot of other lenders won't have a pop-up but they make their standards more straightforward if you read the full disclosure. For an example, Chase has a ONE Sapphire card bonus once no less than 48 months apart. There are many other examples. AMEX, meanwhile, has other algorithms that take many other factors into account such as how many recent SUBs you've earned with them or how many new cards you've opened.
AMEX has multiple offers at the same time! If you navigate to their application pages repeatedly over several weeks, you might see different offers. And you always see the warning that if you navigate away from the current webpage, the offer may no longer be available. They seem to be tracking which offers get the desired response.
In addition to the multiple offers available to the general public, they may send special targeted offers to existing customers. For example, I was one of a handful of customers who recently got a 250K MR SUB on a Business Platinum card while the general offer was 150K MR.

The offer you EARN is based on what was displayed on the webpage at the time you applied. If you were eligible for the 90K MR offer but for some reason applied where the 75K MR offer appeared, that is probably the offer you would earn. In my case with that special MR offer on Business Platinum, I was having trouble accessing the special web link I was mailed for my application. I was directed to call the application hotline number. But that representative told me she would be unable to give me that same offer, she only had the standard offers. However, she forwarded me to a customer service agent who assisted me in getting the special offer during my application.

If you have a question or concern about the promotion you received, I would call customer service ASAP and try to get it straightened out. At the least, they should be able to tell you which promotional offer applied to your application.

Re: AMEX Gold Card Approval

Myia_omg98 — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 04:43:09 GMT

Thank you!! @Aim_High

Your knowledge was so helpful. I wasn't aware of Chase's Sapphire rule, the next card I was looking to get is the Preferred because of their SUB, but my offer is an expiration offer and I believe I have until Nov24.

I called AMEX and the rep just told me I have to wait 72 hours and then call back to get confirmation on if I'm allotted the 75k or 90k points.

Re: AMEX Gold Card Approval

Aim_High — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 16:05:33 GMT

@Myia_omg98 wrote:
Thank you!! @Aim_High

Your knowledge was so helpful. I wasn't aware of Chase's Sapphire rule, the next card I was looking to get is the Preferred because of their SUB, but my offer is an expiration offer and I believe I have until Nov24.

I called AMEX and the rep just told me I have to wait 72 hours and then call back to get confirmation on if I'm allotted the 75k or 90k points.

Glad to help, @Myia_omg98, and that AMEX CSR gave you some clarification on your SUB.

The 48-month Sapphire card restriction was just one that came to mind. There are many other examples. The trick is to carefully read the legal disclosures on the links on the card page or displayed at the bottom. Hyper links for "Offer Details" or "Terms and Conditions" are always important to consider. Also, look for the footnotes and read the fine print at the bottom of the application page. Here's just a few other examples.

CITI has a once-per-48 months policy on SUBs for American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards.

AMEX and Chase both have lengthy stipulations on earning multiple SUBs on Marriott cobranded credit cards. (For example, even if you received a SUB from Chase, AMEX may not award a SUB on an AMEX Marriott card. Sometimes, you're not even allowed to have certain other cards open at the time of application to prevent a SUB.)

Wells Fargo has disclosures on the Active Cash card that state you may be ineligible for promotional APRs or SUBs on a card if you have that same card type open or if you've acquired the same card within 48-months. They also state you may not be eligible for a new Wells Fargo card if you've opened another Wells Fargo card in the past six months.