Credit card mail offers

[Anonymous]

I have a question for the forum
I been receiving Amex and different airline/hotel
You’ve been pre selected mail offers
By my scores are in the rebuild mode
Ex565 tu600 ex591
I been getting these offers for a while and don’t know if there junk mail or real offers

[simplynoir]

They are just advertisements/solications for their credit card products so basically junkmail with your rebuilding project if it's for AMEX and similar cards.

[randomguy1]

Mail offers are good in the sense sometimes they are targeted and you will get a better than published SUB. 

They are not necessarily preapprovals though. 

[Anonymous]

Thank you it’s crazy bc I say your pre approved and I’m looking like you sure lol

[Anonymous]

Is it definitely saying preapproved? Or saying pre-qualifies? There is a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Both

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

If it says pre-approved and nothing has changed on your reports significantly since they sent you that offer, you'll be approved. Pre-qualified means nothing.

[Anonymous]

^^^ this. A prequal simply means you meet some criteria they like but approval depends on a HP and analysis of your report. No promises. Preapproval means you meet criteria and as long as nothing has changed, if you accept it they MUST extend credit.

That being said, you may want to wait. If it’s a preapproval and they extend credit, it’s likely to be the $500 minimum and will be tough to grow. Bringing your scores up, especially Experian, will help a lot with Amex.

[Anonymous]

So what’s a good score to have with Amex?

[Anonymous]

It depends on the card you want. Scores vary based on profile more than anything but generally it seems the cobranded airline and hotel cards can be had at 640-650, charge cards maybe 660-680, and core revolvers around 700 but your overall profile will determine by how much that approval rate and starting limits can vary. Brian and I got in on Delta Gold in the 630s (me) and 640s (him). I also got in on the Gold charge and the BCP at 656. The set of scores I quoted first are general rules of thumb. Your utilization, payment history, and presence or absence of chargeoffs or collections can vary that. And if you have a bankruptcy reporting, Amex won’t touch you until it’s 5 years and one month old.