Hoping for a bit of insight here as I'm ready to go for a CLI request on my Hilton Aspire. I'm at the 6 month mark from my last request, and found prior success after running spend through the card just before applying (but which posted on the most recent statement at that time).
My statement period just closed and reported about 10% utilization from some Christmas vacation spend, and is now paid in full (as I regularly do). I've put new charges on the card and am back at about 12%. If I go for the CLI right now, will Amex see the new spend in addition to the posted statement balance, or should i wait until the next statement to close in Feb? I'm trying to show warranted usage, so I was a bit bummed that the recent charges didn't post in time to make it on the January statement.
Hoping to throw a hail Mary pass and request to bump from 17k to 32k, which would bring me to a total exposure of 35k to 50k with Amex. One can hope. I welcome any advice, thanks!
I think your strategy is spot on. AMEX likes sensible spending. I'm sure they can see your spend, posted or not, if for no other reason than any pending transactions are immediatey deducted from your CL.
@PullingMeSoftly wrote:Hoping for a bit of insight here as I'm ready to go for a CLI request on my Hilton Aspire. I'm at the 6 month mark from my last request, and found prior success after running spend through the card just before applying (but which posted on the most recent statement at that time).
My statement period just closed and reported about 10% utilization from some Christmas vacation spend, and is now paid in full (as I regularly do). I've put new charges on the card and am back at about 12%. If I go for the CLI right now, will Amex see the new spend in addition to the posted statement balance, or should i wait until the next statement to close in Feb? I'm trying to show warranted usage, so I was a bit bummed that the recent charges didn't post in time to make it on the January statement.
Hoping to throw a hail Mary pass and request to bump from 17k to 32k, which would bring me to a total exposure of 35k to 50k with Amex. One can hope. I welcome any advice, thanks!
I wouldn't worry about the spend. Amex is easy on CLI's. I rarely spend even 3% of my limit, but I don't think they've ever turned me down for a CLI.
@SouthJamaica wrote:
@PullingMeSoftly wrote:Hoping for a bit of insight here as I'm ready to go for a CLI request on my Hilton Aspire. I'm at the 6 month mark from my last request, and found prior success after running spend through the card just before applying (but which posted on the most recent statement at that time).
My statement period just closed and reported about 10% utilization from some Christmas vacation spend, and is now paid in full (as I regularly do). I've put new charges on the card and am back at about 12%. If I go for the CLI right now, will Amex see the new spend in addition to the posted statement balance, or should i wait until the next statement to close in Feb? I'm trying to show warranted usage, so I was a bit bummed that the recent charges didn't post in time to make it on the January statement.
Hoping to throw a hail Mary pass and request to bump from 17k to 32k, which would bring me to a total exposure of 35k to 50k with Amex. One can hope. I welcome any advice, thanks!
I wouldn't worry about the spend. Amex is easy on CLI's. I rarely spend even 3% of my limit, but I don't think they've ever turned me down for a CLI.
Agreed. I didn't spend anywhere near my $6k limit, and I was approved for the 3x CLI up to $18k.
Thanks @JoeRockhead, @SouthJamaica, @OmarGB9, this is helpful feedback, appreciated. Not sure why Amex has been tight with me over the past few years, as I'm batting about .500 with them right now for requests. They have approved cli's twice for me, and denied 2 or 3 requests without counters, citing spend as the primary reason in those cases. We shall soon see how the wheel spin goes!
I agree that AMEX loves to see spend, @PullingMeSoftly, so cycling some extra charges through your card may be helpful. Still, I think it's only one consideration. Many members reported getting asked for income verification above $35K. They allowed me to grow my Marriott card to $75K with no income verification and also relatively low usage comparatively to the limit, and that growth from $15K to $75K happened in the first four months or so that I had the card. (I was never above the four-figure level and usally more in the three-figure level.) That $75K Marriott was my only revolver and I also had one Gold charge card. At $75K, though, I hit a wall. I was just trying to see if they would match my higher $85K to $90K cards. They asked for income verification which I provided via access to banking. Then, they denied it but gave the reason as insufficient spend. I was highly annoyed because they knew my spend without asking for my banking, and I complained about it to customer service. So yes, apparently spend is somehow factored into the mix, but other credit factors or income may be enough for increases up to (some) point. It seems with AMEX that YMMV and sometimes it's hard to predict their response.
Good luck and keep us posted!
@Aim_High wrote:I agree that AMEX loves to see spend, @PullingMeSoftly, so cycling some extra charges through your card may be helpful. Still, I think it's only one consideration. Many members reported getting asked for income verification above $35K. They allowed me to grow my Marriott card to $75K with no income verification and also relatively low usage comparatively to the limit, and that growth from $15K to $75K happened in the first four months or so that I had the card. (I was never above the four-figure level and usally more in the three-figure level.) That $75K Marriott was my only revolver and I also had one Gold charge card. At $75K, though, I hit a wall. I was just trying to see if they would match my higher $85K to $90K cards. They asked for income verification which I provided via access to banking. Then, they denied it but gave the reason as insufficient spend. I was highly annoyed because they knew my spend without asking for my banking, and I complained about it to customer service. So yes, apparently spend is somehow factored into the mix, but other credit factors or income may be enough for increases up to (some) point. It seems with AMEX that YMMV and sometimes it's hard to predict their response.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks for sharing this @Aim_High, always appreciate your insight my friend. Definitely agree that spend is a factor but certainly just a part of the complete profile. You shot out of the cannon with that Bonvoy Brilliant card, and that 75k is amazing considering you received that huge bump up within 4 months of opening the card. Interesting DP regarding income verification and your experience with pushing against the ceiling. About a year ago, I too was asked for IV and provided access to my bank account data, also resulting in a denial (with insufficient spend being cited). All of that started to change this past summer when I finally received a CLI above the initial 3x that I received a long time ago. I was careful about bringing my total exposure to no more than 35k and they didn't ask for IV.
Fast forward to today and......good news
