CLI advice

[Anonymous]

Looking for advice on building my CLI or an additional card.  Spend is about 7k a month always paid in full.  95% on the Amex rest on the discover.  Just a tiny bit on BOA just keep it open as it's my oldest account. 

The Amex has been at 35k for years.  Reading on here I see that's the ceiling until you do an income verification.  Is there a downside to request a CLI and they want verification can I just decline it or I'm stuck going through? 

discover denied a CLI a few months ago.  

no changes in my total credit line for at least 3-4 years even with high Fico decent spend and income.  Do I need to let some balances carry to get them to give me an increase? 

maybe a new card to get the line higher? I don't like to travel so would only want a cash back.   

also have Sheffield financial 15k, Jared's 5k paid off, and greensky was 20k paid.  These where 0% for 4 years things but I think they count as credit cards? If I never charge on them again I guess they will be closed eventually? Any impact on credit from that? 

[K-in-Boston]

$35k as a ceiling for income verification with Amex is a widely perpetuated myth.  There are many people here who have gone above that without being asked.  There are also many others who have been asked at much lower amounts.

If you ask and are presented with a 4506-T request, you can continue forward and as long as your 2018 and 2019 federal returns are in agreement with your stated income you should be fine.  If you do not wish to provide that information, you can simply back out.  You will get a paper 4506-T in the mail from Amex's El Paso address and it is optional to complete, no adverse action would happen as a result of not filling it out - it is voluntary.  You simply would not receive the CLI.   You can also ask for a lower amount after backing out if you so choose.  If you are consistently spending $80k+ annually you should not have issues going higher with Amex.

As for Discover, there is no rhyme or reason.  Just keep asking.  Zero/Moderate/High balance before statement cut, complete non-use, high usage, low usage, doing a balance transfer and carrying it or paying it off quickly - all of these work to get a Discover CLI and also none of them work to get a Discover CLI.

[AllZero]

For AmEx, perhaps try the BBB approach with incremental request?

Amex ceiling hit: $59.9k w/o IV

Amex CLI to $55k w/o IV

[Curious_George2]

You should consider asking BofA too. If you view their site on a desktop (not mobile) and navigate to your card account page, there's probably a "Request a credit line increase" link under the Card Details heading. They do soft pulls for these requests. I have found them to be very generous on a card with similar age and (non-) use as yours. You can ask for as much as you want and they will give what they are comfortable with. Good luck!