Amex Delta Gold SkyMiles credit card.. apply or no?

[Anonymous]

Hey everyone,

I really want to apply for the Delta Gold SkyMiles AMEX but wanted to see if anyone could assist with if you've been approved or denied, and what your scores and other data was at the time.... my scores are in my signature, and should be increasing in the next few days as a couple of my CC balances are lower and should be repoted to all CRA's. I also received a $2k CLI on my Capital One QS1 yesterday (from $2k -> $4k), along with a CLI of $1,750 on my TJX Rewards card ($250 -> $2k). 

I also have a few other cards - Capital One Secured Card with $900 limit, First Premier Bank, 2 cards, one with an $825 limit, the 2nd with a $400 limit. Chase Freedom with $2k limit, and a USAA Classic MasterCard with a $1.5k limit. My utilization should be around 30 percent.

I'm really trying to get in the door with AMEX and fly Delta ALL the time, so this card would be huge for me. 

Thoughts? Any guidance is very appreciated, or just your approval or denial stories with stats would be great! Thank you!

[creditguy]

Your EX score is probably good enough to qualify but you might end up with a small SL. I'd suggest getting that utilization down to below 10% before applying for Amex. Scores aren't everything and Amex doesn't like higher utilization. Lowering your utilization has the added benefit of raising your scores which in turn can lead to not just approval but higher SL's. So I'd work on that and wait to apply, don't worry it will always be there waiting for when your ready.

[ohreally7654]

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@creditguy wrote:
Your EX score is probably good enough to qualify but you might end up with a small SL. I'd suggest getting that utilization down to below 10% before applying for Amex. Scores aren't everything and Amex doesn't like higher utilization. Lowering your utilization has the added benefit of raising your scores which in turn can lead to not just approval but higher SL's. So I'd work on that and wait to apply, don't worry it will always be there waiting for when your ready.

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@OP, I second @creditguy in terms of utilization. I just app'd on 4/30, instant approval for Delta, but SL only $1k.  My EX Fico 8 is 676, 38% utilization. The thing that is killing me with my UTI is that I have a few closed accounts that I''m still paying off--all open accounts are zero balance except for one, but the closed accounts will not be paid off till next year.

 I'm not sure if it was the UTI that gave me the lower limit or the fact I had an AMEX Blue that recently was paid off through a debt management plan.  It was probably a combo of the two.  I think your scores are there, but you would likely be stuck with a lower limit. Good luck and let us know what you decide to do!

[Anonymous]

If your lower balances bring your score up a little, I'd say go for it. I got approved last week with my EX score being 728 but I only had 6.5 months of credit history and only a $200 credit limit reporting, $1,000 starting limit on the Delta Gold. It seems that 670+ is enough for this card, I heard the Delta card is the easiest AmEx to get.

[Anonymous]

I was approved 2 weeks ago with ex 659 with a sl of $1000. I had 7% uti, aaoa 1yr 11mos, 2 unpaid collections and 2 paid. The next day I received an invitation to apply for green card with 25k bonus I was also approved for.

[Anonymous]

I was approved this past Saturday with ex 645 with a sl of $1000. My uti was about 30%. I'm ok with my sl just bc I'm happy to have my foot in the door.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

[JayTee1]

I'll just add to what a few others have said.  I got the card in early February when I was booking a flight, and my scores were 10-15 points lower than what they are now.  I think EQ was probably the lowest around 630ish.

I was approved with a $1k SL, and was glad to just get my foot in the door.  I haven't been able to get the 61-day CLI, scores too low (645 EX at the time).

AAOA was 2.2 years, util around 14 or 15% of $25k, 20ish inquiries on each bureau, give or take.

[Anonymous]

Thanks so much everyone for the advice and feedback! I'm going to give it a couple days since my utilization should at least update to be a little better, then I'll apply and let you guys know the outcome! 

[Anonymous]

I was approved for the delta gold skymiles card 1 and 1/2 year ago for a 1K limit. My EX was about 660 at the time. I put a lot of spend on the card paying mutiple times a month and at times having to prepay to make purchases.  The 1k limit was a huge burden for me.  Last month was able to PC to the platinum and got a limit increase to 3k.  Life is good. Good luck on your app. 

[Anonymous]

A little update...

My EX score updated to 673 today but my utilization was 35% (a large CLI has not updated yet) and I just really wanted to apply and see what would happen. Well, it went to pending further review and then updated as declined on the American Express application status site. The weird thing is, when I would try to see why that decision was made, it kept saying "Sorry, the application cannot be accessed" and the status line was saying the same. I ended up calling a few hours later and talking to a rep, who didn't tell me a decision either way, just that he was sending it up for manual review and I should hear in 3-5 days.

Thoughts?

Also, I applied for a USAA Cash Rewards American Express and was approved instantly for $1k SL. Yay!