Mission to Platinum Amex

[Anonymous]

Hi! I am new here, but there seems to be great info on these forums.

I was wondering if I could get some help/advice (warning novel length post ahead)

My ultimate goal is a platinum AMEX card. My wife is a flight attendant and we travel regularly. Her coworker has the AMEX platinum card and invited us into the lounge on one of the trips we went on together. It was a really nice perk. It also has the credit for global entry/precheck. 

I know I'm nowhere near qualified for the card at the moment, but I'm trying to make a gameplan to get there. 

Here is a little bit in my history. I had a credit card or two 20+ years ago and my credit was average. I then got divorced and my credit took a hit. I stayed away from credit like the plague out of fear and naivety for over a decade. I bought my brand new Alfa Romeo last June by paying cash.

My current wife and I needed credit cards for this trip we went on in early 2016. It turns out we needed the cards because it was one of those time share deals and we sat through the presentation and declined their offer. Our cards were prepaid 1st progress cards ($300 for me $200 for her). We paid them off and requested to close them, but never got them closed or our deposit back. Like I said, I was naive, so I figured we could just spend up to our deposit amounts and call it good. Nope. 

I am an Agis preferred customer but found out I could only utilize the benefit of skipping the line if I had an actual credit card linked to the account and not a debit card. I received an offer for the cap1 quicksilver card and applied. I was approved! Shortly after, I went on that trip with my wife and her coworker and enjoyed the lounge. 

I decided to look at my credit profile, and I'm shocked I was approved for the Quicksilver card. (Not the Quicksilver One or Quicksilver for good credit, the regular Quicksilver card requiring excellent credit the one with the into offers, etc)

(If I recall correctly) my scores were EX: 569 TU: 573 EQ: 592, or in that ballpark. 

I had a collections account for a card I never opened in the amount of $1,040, a charge off for the 1st Progress, collections for Verizon (I ported my number out and they immediately put me in collections for the balance remaining on my phone lease). My active accounts were my PayPal credit line and the Quicksilver. (400 SL and 300 SL respectively). My utilization was at 30%, although they were actually $0 and hadn't been updated. 

I spoke with my brother who is a CPA and he said to dispute the $1,040 and anything that didn't look right. 

So, I went to Experian and saw the "boost". I did that and my score went up 59 points and after another account for boost posted, it went up another 6 points. I then did the dispute. 

That was 1/31 of this year. The dispute has finished and the collections for $1,040 is no longer on any of my accounts. 

I also paid off the Verizon bill of $541 before I knew about "pay for delete". That is now showing as a paid account formally in collections. 

My scores today are EX 665 TU 600 and EQ 613.

My plan is to see if I can do "pay for delete" on the charged off 1st Progress card, and get a second card to generate a higher overall credit limit and to get more positive notes on my account. 

The credit score detractors say missing non mortgage loan activity. Is that something I should get if I have no reason to? I don't see the need for one other than to have that show up on my report. (Is paying a ton of interest on a loan I don't need worth potentially raising my score)

Should I get another card with capital one, or should I apply elsewhere?

I know Credit one is kind of a subprime company, but would getting their co-branded AMEX help me later in getting a real AMEX?

Any recommendations on cards, strategy and how long do you think it would take to get a platinum AMEX?

**As a side note, I pay my card and credit line off the day it posts to my account**

Thanks for the help!

[K-in-Boston]

It wouldn't be at all unheard of to be approved for the Amex Platinum Card with your current Experian score as long as you have no previous bad experiences with Amex.  Do keep in mind that with any charge offs and other delinquencies on your credit reports, Amex will likely keep you on a very short leash for spending ability if approved.

Getting an Amex card on the Amex network that is not actually issued by American Express has no bearing on your relationship with them; it would be no different than grabbing a Visa or MasterCard from the same lender.

Adding any additional cards just to have open trade lines should be reconsidered.  Give thought to what you spend money on and what cards would be beneficial with rewards and/or perks.  Much of what you are asking would likely be better handled in the Rebuilding Your Credit subforum.  For the loan; definitely look at the Share Secure Loan (SSL) in the Personal Finance subforum.  If done with the right lender, it would cost very very little for a score boost for possibly 3-5 years.  Credit mix is an important factor.  Also if you are paying all of your revolving cards to $0, you may be receiving an All Zero penalty;  having $0 across the board reporting will result in a score loss as it's riskier to be using no credit than to be using it responsibly.  Make sure at least one card is reporting at least $5 or so every month on your credit reports; does not mean you have to carry the balance and pay interest.

Have you looked at Amex's prequalification tool yet?  It's not a guarantee, but not completely worthless to check out.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous , welcome to the forums. You're in the right place to learn all you could ever hope to learn about credit.

@K-in-Boston is one of the forum's resident Jedi ninjas when it comes to Amex - his advice will not lead you astray.

I can reinforce the score aspect when it comes to Amex - my Platinum is one of six cards I hold with them (they're the first six listed in my signature below), and is the only one I have gotten with an EX08 score above 700. My others were approved in the 630-640s and at the time I had 2-3 paid derogs on my reports. I'm down to only one now, and was at just that one when Platinum was approved, but over the past year I've read posts by members who have seemed to have a harder time getting approved for Gold than for Platinum. Every profile is different and everyone's experiences can vary, but many people have gotten in with Amex charge cards with scores considerably below 700 and with blemished profiles. 

I would also suggest browsing the Approvals subforum and reading the Platinum approval posts to see how others' profiles have looked when they were approved, to start getting an idea on the current approvals climate Amex is working under.

[Anonymous]

Thank you so much for the reply! I guess I could look into a personal loan to help my score. My PayPal credit line always shows a balance reported until the next cycle typically, although right now the only thing showing is that charge off as a balance. If I handle that one, I will be sure to keep something reported. 

I don't necessarily want to get another card for the sake of another card but my available limit is so small at $700, that I have to make only small purchases to keep utilization at >10%. 

I am pretty new with jumping back on the saddle, but I know hotel rewards would be nice since our flights are free. I'll look into all of your advice! Thanks again for the reply!

Side note: No qualifying offers at this time. Not a good sign. 

[Anonymous]

Off to the approvals sub forum I go! Thanks so much for the reply! Too bad I can't snap my fingers and have excellent credit, but I've heard it's a marathon and nothing a sprint. 👍

I'm excited about this new adventure and don't want to mess anything up (hence the immediate payments). Lol

[Anonymous]

Keep doing the right things and work the derogs, and you will increase faster than you realize. It is a marathon but you may find a few points along the way where you're sprinting

Also, keep in mind that the only time your utilization matters is when the statement cuts and the balance reports to the bureaus. During the cycle you can charge what you like, but make sure it's paid down/off as you prefer a day or so before the statement date so that low use is reported.

[iced]

Once your scores are all over 660 or so and you continue to have a pulse, you'll have decent chances of approval. You're already much closer than you think.

The Platinum is not an exclusive card reserved for special people with flawless credit.

[Anonymous]

My SO is pre-approved for all the charge cards and co-branded Amex cards with a EX 659, but that is his Fico 8 - not boosted. I cannot say that the 65 pts of "boosted" score will actually be counted when you apply.

If I were you, I would just run a pre-approval through Amex, you can do it every so mamy days. Don't waste any HPs until you see some pre-approvals.

Edit: just saw you said no offers from Amex, I can almost bet the "boosted" score is not helping you. It is more of a "feel good" thing than it actually helping you. It also increases your DTI vecause they are more "bills" on your credit report. I personally would steer clear of it, plus without it, you can better track your true progress with your scores and how most creditors will actually view your profile/scores.

Credit One Amex will *not* help you get an Amex. 

I would not get a loan with high interest rates for the sake of it. I would only get a loan you can prepay and reap tge benefits for some time. Worst case scenario, a Self Lender loan. Both me and my SO got one of those and it helped, but nit as much as say a SSL through NFCU or PenFed that can last for years with minimal interest paid. Look through the forums for the SSL.

[BlackOpzFX]

I got the Self Lender 12 months $150 loan too. Got roughly a 15 point boost after 2ish months. I just parked the 12 payments in a checking account and set Self on autopsy. Pretty painless as a set and forget.

[4sallypat]

Have you tried the Amex pre-qualification  page to see what you are eligible for ?

Amex does a SP and will let you know what cards you qualify for.

When I first got my Amex card, it was the green card, then years later they upgraded to Gold, and finally 4 years ago they upgraded to Platinum which I used all the time for travel (Pre=pandemic).