Hello all!
I am trying to get a CLI from #American Express SkyMiles Delta Reserve. I tried doing it online and got a 7-10 review message. The Vantage score I see on their website (Vantage score) is significantly lower than the FICO Score 8 on MyFICO due to some updates to my file. I chatted with a rep and they said I need to talk to the credit department. So I called the credit department and the rep said my request was denied and they would send me a letter. When I mentioned that the score AmEx shows is lower than my actual she gave me a fax number to send an updated copy of my Experian report to them with the score they are showing
My questions:
- Can't AmEx just pull the report electronically without having me get it from Experian? It seems odd I need to pull my own report, print it, and fax it to AmEx.
- The rep couldn't/wouldn't tell me what version of the FICO score they were using to base credit decisions on. She said, "we don't need to get into technicalities...scores range from at the low end XXX, to at the high end XXX." The rep was rather rude and it was a very frustrating call, to say the least as she wouldn't or couldn't answer my questions.
- I thought there was an AmEx policy or rule that the annual fee on a card cannot be 50% of a credit line. The card I have was an upgrade from the previous product (Delta Gold) but the credit line was never increased.
For background I would like the credit line increased to a reasonable amount to be more in line with some of my other cards that are between $4000-$7000. This card has a $1000 limit for what it's worth. I don't intend to run up the card, just help my credit utilization.
MyFICO is showing:
- Score 8 EQ705, TU708, EX701 updated 7/14/2021
- Bankcard Score 8 EQ702, TU699, EX692 updated 7/9/2021
AmEx is showing on the web/app:
- Vantage 3.0 TU647 updated 7/15/2021
Any thoughts on this situation, and suggestions on how to get a CLI from AmEx?
It has never been increased, card is from 2018. No lates, no overlimitor close to limit. I am wondering if I should just end up closing it due to the low credit line.
FWIW, I am also looking at closing other cards with a credit line of $1200 or less now (i.e. Merrick, Credit One, store cards) as I no longer need them and they generally do not give you a CLI.
Thanks much for the clarification on my second question. To be clear my FICO score is higher than any of the FAKO scores, so I am surprised they were referring to that score when I talked to them on the phone.
@Remedios wrote:If you have no negatives (lates,charge offs, BK), what's keeping your scores supressed?
I'm not saying 700 is bad score, just that on a clean file without really high utilization they should be higher.
I do have negatives, that have been dropping off starting with in the last few months and the score has been increasing as a result. I had a 39 point increase at the end of June due to a decrease in outstanding balances, and derogatory account removal. In mid-June I also received a 45 point increase for a similar reason. I also have been working hard to pay down any outstanding debt such as installment loans, or balance transfers, etc. My current spouse added me as an authorized user on a variety of his accounts, and we did some balance transfers of outstanding installment loans, or other credit lines to help pay things down faster. I am almost out of the woods from when my former spouse left me with a whole lot of debt and I signed up for Freedom Financial and did a debt settlement over 9 years ago.
My card portfolio is all over the place in terms of cards and limits (these are my own not the Auth accounts):
Major Card/CL
- CreditOne AmEx - $800
- CreditOne Visa - $950
- AmEx Delta Reserve - $1000
- Wells Fargo Platinum Visa (oldest major; never had a CLI) - $1200
- Merrick Bank Visa - $1400
- Williams Sonoma Visa - $1500 (as a side note just got a message that this card is transferring from Comenity to Capital One on 8/23/2021)
- Capital One Quicksilver One MasterCard - $3000
- Apple Card from Goldman Sachs MasterCard - $4000
- Discover Card - $4100
- Caesars Rewards Visa (newest card) - $7000
- BMW Precision MasterCard - $8500
- AmEx Platinum Card - ?
Retail Store Card/CL
- BP - $300
- Walmart - $400
- Kohl's - $700
- Von Maur - $700
- JCPenney - $800
- Amazon Prime - $1300
- Crate & Barrel - $1400
- West Elm - $2500
- Target RedCard - $2600
- PayPal Credit (Bill Me Later) - $2900
- Macy's Platinum (oldest card) - $3300
- Nebraska Furniture Mart - $4500
Credit Scores showing in various apps:
App - Score/Type/Last Update
- AmEx - 658 (from App)/FICO Score 8 from Experian/June 7, 2021
- CreditOne - 572/Vantage 3.0/June 12, 2021
- Wells Fargo - 687/FICO Score 9 from Experian/July 3, 2021
- Discover - 706/FICO Score 8 from TU/July 7, 2021
- MyFICO - EQ702, TU699, EX692/Bankcard Score 8/July 9, 2021
- MyFICO - EQ702, TU649, EX640/Bankcard Score 5, 4, & 2/July 9, 2021
- MyFICO - EQ705, TU708, EX701/Score 8/July 15, 2021
- CapitalOne - 647/Vantage 3.0/July 16, 2021
- BCU - 647/Vantage 3.0 from TU/July 16, 2021
- Liberty Financial (ETFCU) - 647/Vantage 3.0 from TU/July 16, 2021
- Merrick Bank - ??? (App states they have not received a FICO for my account from TU/Experian and to go to Annual Credit Report to pull my information)
My goals are:
- Increase available credit to lower overall utilization.
- Continue to make payments before due dates and work on paying everything in full (the majority of these accounts do not have balances by the way)
- Add more travel rewards and perks cards to my portfolio. I would love to get a Chase United Visa Quest or Club card as I fly on United and Star Alliance primarily. But Chase is hard to get and with the 5/24 rule (among others) I'm not ready yet.
- Closeout the Merrick Bank and CreditOne accounts. I am thinking I can do that now, however, I am a bit hesitant about doing that at the moment as that would increase my overall utilization with the disappearance of $3150 in available credit. Hence I would like the increase on the AmEx Delta Reserve to help mitigate that.
Any thoughts or suggestions on what I should do and when or my approach would be greatly appreciated!
Hello,
you've several accounts; with regard to advice on requesting CLI and/or padding with a new card, a timeline of related actions (approval, last CLI, etc) would be helpful.
There are various lender 'rules' on when new actions can occur and other such tidbits that would be good to take into account when reshaping your credit accounts... hence, additional information you can provide will scale up the depth of recommendations others can offer you.
If utilization is your #1 thing, I failed to see what your overall and/or per card utilization among the post(s). If that (util) is truly a impediment to your profile, please gather as much info you feel comfortable with and offer it for others to help form better advice.
FWIW: it does seem odd that anyone at AMEX would actually allow/utilize a customer provided credit report. (?!) ..anyone ever hear of such a thing before?
I haven’t much success with Amex I have Amex blue cash everyday 2k credit limit And Amex everyday 500 limit I got these in 2017 I still had a 9 year old bankruptcy on my report My first mistake I should have waited until it fell off before applying I was told no cl increase with the bankruptcy on my credit report Once it aged off still no increase I guess now that I’m thinking about it This is now my lowest limit card I closed my 10 year old secured Capitol card 200 Limit this month 10 years perfect payment history no baddies other than the bankruptcy they never upgraded it I’m at a lost with Amex I just don’t think I’ll ever get a increase with them I might close the 500 limit card this month I had high hopes for Amex It has fizzled I’m Curious to know what you decide to do with yours
