AMEX Gold - went from not being approved to pop up jail. Why doesn't AMEX like me?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to figure out why AMEX doesn't like me and decided to give one more attempt using a benefit from my corp card to get a AMEX Gold 60k + $100 yearly credit.  Hit pop up jail.

Currently have:

- Relatively high income (not disclosing on here but it should not be a factor)

-790 credit score

- Last year opened an installment loan for a vehicle instead of paying cash.  Paid off ~$45k of $56k balance, but balance hasn't updated in Experian yet.  Using loan to help with credit mix since I don't have a mortgage.

- <2% credit utilization

- 2/24 cards opened

- 7 hard inquiries including prior AMEX attempts (3 between 3/21 and 11/21) and car loan (needed to apply twice since vehicle delivery was delayed)

- no late payments/report discrepencies/bad karma

- last AMEX (Blue) opened in 2006 closed in 2019.  sat dormant for years.  Also had one personal and one business SPG and one personal HIlton AMEX (opened and closed each card within 12 months of opening) back in 2011/2012.

Chase and BoA have no problem giving me cards, and Citi was handing them out like GrAAvy until i gave that up in mid 2019.

I know most of the responses will be guesses but did chasing AMEX partner card subs almost 10 years ago, plus closing the 16 year old dormant card kill me with them?  Other than that maybe they are looking at the Citi AA cards I was chasing in 2018/2019?  I have seen much worse behavior than mine get AMEX cards with no problems even when many of the SUBS people were chasing were AMEX's.

Do I need to open up a Blue Cash or some other no fee card and start dumping some spend on it?  Otherwise I can just give up on AMEX and stick with my CSR/BoA Alaska combo.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Your issue was probably closing the 3 Amex within 12 months. It's recommended you keep an Amex open at least 1 year, preferably 2, to avoid looking like a sub chaser. The good news is it's usually temporary. Problem is nobody really knows how long they'll flag you for.

[bigseegar]

Yep closing those cards esp the ones within a year is what did it. Amex doesn't like that at all.

[Anonymous]

That's what I started thinking, but will they really hold a grudge from 9-10 years ago?

My denials last year were "too many new bank card accounts".  Maybe I'm past that and am back to being denied the bonus.  

Would getting a no fee card with small bonus help?

[OmarGB9]

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@Anonymous wrote:

That's what I started thinking, but will they really hold a grudge from 9-10 years ago?

My denials last year were "too many new bank card accounts".  Maybe I'm past that and am back to being denied the bonus.  

Would getting a no fee card with small bonus help?

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Oh yes. In some cases, they hold a grudge for decades...

As for the second bolded part, I doubt it. Time is all that will probably help at this point. 

[Anonymous]

So interesting update.  I decided to roll the dice and apply for a Everyday card to at least get a small SUB and if all else fails I will have a no fee card.  Not looking forward to wasting spend on it, but maybe it can help me reestablish a relationship with them.

I was approved instantly with a >$30,000 limit so they deem me credit worthy, but something still won't allow me to get the higher tier cards like Gold or Plat.  

I decided to call in and verify my card history with AMEX to make sure I didn't pickle away some brain cells somewhere and forget that I had a Gold card in the past.  All AMEX can see is my 2 cancelled corp cards, one SPG Biz (they called it Bonvoy Biz), and the Blue/Everyday card that I cancelled 2 1/2 years ago after it was dormant for a long time.

Still not sure what is going on here, but I will start funneling $1000 or so of spend to my new AMEX for the next 3-6 months and see if that helps fix things.  If anyone has advice on how much I should spend on the card and how long to wait before trying the Gold again I'd appreciate it.

[FinStar]

As the OP has provided an update on their approval, this thread is now locked and closed to new messages.

OP - just place any ordinary or organic spend on your new CC and you can re-evaluate  things on future AmEx applications in the future. There isn't a magic formula or target amount you'd need to spend. Feel free to create a new approval thread in the Approvals subforum if you wish to do so.