Let's please remember to always remain friendly, supportive and respectful. Given the data points with all of the Amex threads here, the 61 day CLIs are so common they really can be almost expected in many cases. I know I've had my share or surprises with lenders when I compare myself to others. Use the card as you have been, keep the payments on time and try again in 91 days. 2 years from now the disappointment will be a long forgotten memory when you're sitting on a $20k credit line. 
Hey T8K , keep ya head up
. It hsppens to the best of us and you've come along way. Some great advice here so far. Remember you are just starting the journey and in a couple more months as your history grows with Amex, and all your recent successes age some, youll find Amex likes you alot i can just feel it lol. . We all want some instant satisfaction but sometimes its that 40 minute play that brings much more satisfaction then the 2 minute drive
. It hsppens to the best of us and you've come along way. Some great advice here so far. Remember you are just starting the journey and in a couple more months as your history grows with Amex, and all your recent successes age some, youll find Amex likes you alot i can just feel it lol. . We all want some instant satisfaction but sometimes its that 40 minute play that brings much more satisfaction then the 2 minute drive
+1 above
This experience should motivate you to keep doing what you're doing and + better. When the time comes again, AMEX will see how you've been taking care of your card/s
Thank you for the info and advice, zipperhead.
I am in no rush, I assure you.
I am just excited that at 39, I have finally taken the advice that my mom had given me years ago and am seeing positive results.
It's not me thinking I earned an increase or even need an increase. I am on disability for an anxiety disorder and my PenFed CC is already at my yearly income.
My mom was in a bad car accident when she was 13 and was low income until her passing a few years ago. She took great pride in her excellent credit and was most proud of not ever being late on one bill since she was 18 after getting her first CC from Mervyn's.
She was proof to me that you don't need a large income to have good credit and was quite vocal for years about me paying my bills on time.
I have finally been doing that the past few months and got caught up in the excitement of building credit limits.
Being that my income is so low, I realize I'm not going to have $400k in credit. I do not live beyond my means anymore. My goals are actually to get high scores to be able to one day afford a mortgage and get my own home.
My mother was able to secure a 30yr mortgage with a 2% APR or whatever it is for homes. Her payments were just over $200 a month. And she secured that in 2000. Not terribly long ago, though I know things are different now, especially after 2008.
I'm just excited for my future. And I know that credit is quite important for everything now from jobs to homes to just about everything!
So again, I apologize if I came across a certain way. And I am very thankful for everyone's input here.
Truly appreciative.
I am in no rush, I assure you.
I am just excited that at 39, I have finally taken the advice that my mom had given me years ago and am seeing positive results.
It's not me thinking I earned an increase or even need an increase. I am on disability for an anxiety disorder and my PenFed CC is already at my yearly income.
My mom was in a bad car accident when she was 13 and was low income until her passing a few years ago. She took great pride in her excellent credit and was most proud of not ever being late on one bill since she was 18 after getting her first CC from Mervyn's.
She was proof to me that you don't need a large income to have good credit and was quite vocal for years about me paying my bills on time.
I have finally been doing that the past few months and got caught up in the excitement of building credit limits.
Being that my income is so low, I realize I'm not going to have $400k in credit. I do not live beyond my means anymore. My goals are actually to get high scores to be able to one day afford a mortgage and get my own home.
My mother was able to secure a 30yr mortgage with a 2% APR or whatever it is for homes. Her payments were just over $200 a month. And she secured that in 2000. Not terribly long ago, though I know things are different now, especially after 2008.
I'm just excited for my future. And I know that credit is quite important for everything now from jobs to homes to just about everything!
So again, I apologize if I came across a certain way. And I am very thankful for everyone's input here.
Truly appreciative.
@Total80sKid wrote:
I'm totally bummed.
Today was day 61 and I went online and requested my 3x CLI from my $1k SL to $3k.
Got the 7-10 day message.
I just called and spoke with a CSR and they listed off several reasons. It was a long list and I was quite surprised as all of my scores now are over 700, my score from AMEX is 694, about 10 points higher than when I was approved.
Some reasonings were:
Not enough time with AMEX (seems inaccurate)
Too many new cards
Balances too high (told them I recently did a BT and moved all of my high balances to my new PenFed card, but 2-3 days ago moved $3.3k of that balance to Discover, giving me two cards under 49% UTI while all my other cards have a zero balance).
There was more, but the list was so long and I was so taken back I can't recall, but the above was the gist of it.
I know the not enough time isn't right cuz people here get the increase all the time on their first AMEX.
I have used the card religiously for two months and always paying it down before a balance reports.
It's been at a $0 balance for a few days now.
I asked the CSR if they can do a recon and he said he'd send it to the UW I believe for review and he said he would notate about why the PenFed card is high and how I did BT's, etc.
Also had him mention how at $1k, AMEX is now one of my lowest cards and said I had been approved for a Discover at $7k and my PenFed at $10.5k.
What are the odds I will be successful?
I knew this was a possibility, but I am stubborn and feel like I'm being penalized for doing the right thing and now want to start using cards from companies who seem invested in me and my progress like Discover and PenFed.
Blah.
Sorry for rambling.
Hi T8K, I totally understand where you're coming from. Remember I told you that back in May my request was also denied. I also felt disappointed. But what I did instead is to use those 90 days to show them that I deserved it and put all of my spending (conservative) on that card, paying it off in full leaving small balances to report at statement cut each month and seemed to work to my advantage this time around. That frustration will pass, you will soon realize that you are still getting a lot more from using the card and come November you would finally get your approval. It's also great that Discover seems to like you enough to grow your account. Still waiting for them to give me a yes on a CLI, but that's ok (UPDATE! Tried my luck requesting a CLI from Discover, inspired by your thread and got a $500 increase. 
. Don't sweat it too much.
I was approved for 10k SL. and on my 61 day CLI, i requested 3x but got denied (which i expected). Requested lower to about 20k ish and got countered with 14.1k i was bummed it wasnt the CLI that i was hoping for but 40% isnt too shabby after all.
Try again next time, im sure they'll be nicer to you
my 181 day is coming up too, sometime next month so im kinda excited for that 