Background: Until recently, I never though I'd apply for this card. I got a promotion at work and I will be traveling at least twice a month if not a lot more. My airport also has a Centurion Lounge 
. I do not currently have any Amex cards. I was going to apply for the Schwab version since I am already a member with them; but then saw the 100K offer was only for targeted members and I wasn't one of them. I figured I'd get the regular Platinum, then apply for the Schwab after the first year and keep that one permanently. I understand that you can only get a bonus once per card in your life, I'd try to get the best ones I could. Current salary is $48K, new salary will be $65K.
Credit: 4 cards, 822 score. I added one in May from my local credit union because they have my favorite college football team on it. Last time before that I opened a card was 2014. I have 17 years of credit history and my card ages are 14 years, 9 years, 5 years, and 0 years from this season. I currently do not have a car loan or a mortgage payment.
Confusion: I've never had any Amex card before. Just reading about how the MR work, and the sites that calculate value on them were enlightening and headache inducing at the same time. I did receive a Platinum mailer offer roughly 3 years ago with a 60K offer. Which at the time, I had no use for. Now that I feel I can use the card, I went to look at the prequal site (which I've never done before) and punched in my info on Amex wondering if I could get a 100K offer, or the 75K at worst. They only offered me..... the Gold, 50K points for 2K spend, and the regular every day. I scratched my head a little over this considering my previous offer in the mail and that was the same salary I currently have that I received the mailer with.
Questions: 1) Should I have put my new salary even though I am not getting promoted until November 1st? If I went back and did that, would that raise red flags with Amex? 2) Did I upset them by not accepting that previous mailer? 3) How often should I retry the prequal offer? Would that just irritate them? 4) I've read that once you get a card with them it is tough to get the 100K offer on the Platinum. Is that true? 5) What would make me more appealing to Amex and for that card specifically?
Any tips and advice would be appreciated!
I just want to add that I've been lurking a couple months on the forums. My friend at work mentioned this site and I've been working to educate myself further on the topic of credit. I've always been responsible and never had an issue with it, but there is a large amount of information I have been completely unaware of and uninformed about in my little bubble. I like being able to peek behind the curtain and see Oz. Definitely is fun to learn about all of this.
If you're pre-approved for the gold, you're pre-approved for the Platinum. One of the benefits of the Schwab is there's no AF for the first year, while all the others bill it your first month.
There's a website, someone will post it, where you can prequal for the 100k.
Amex will offer you 3 cards they think would be good for you, but the underwriting is basically the same for all the charge cards, so if approved for one, approved for all. Incognito isn't important until you're an existing member and trying to get a higher sub than what is offered in your account.
@FinStar wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:If you're pre-approved for the gold, you're pre-approved for the Platinum. One of the benefits of the Schwab is there's no AF for the first year, while all the others bill it your first month.
There's a website, someone will post it, where you can prequal for the 100k.
AFAIK, the Schwab Platinum does not have the first year AF waiver. Where do you see that? In the past, the Ameriprise version of the Platinum card used to have the first year waived, but that is no longer the case.
https://www.americanexpress.com/us/cardmember-agreements/all-us.html
FeesAnnual Membership Fee
$550
Ah, that's right. Thanks for the correction. Too bad they don't waive it anymore
