No Welcome Offer for Hilton Honors AmEx card

[villemiami]

This is the first time this happened to me. I applied for the Hilton Honors AmEx card over the phone. I was approved for the credit card but not for the welcome offer! So I refused it and the rep said that my credit score won't be impacted.

I would like to know why this happened. 

Here are the 3 credit cards I had with Amex inthe past:

1) Gold Delta Skymiles , in 2018 for 1 year, then I downgraded it to Blue, and closed it 1 year later in 2020.

2) Platinum from 12/21 to 12/22

Is it because the 3 credit cards I had didn't last more than 1 year so I am classified as someone doing credit card churning?

[Gunnerboy]

Yeah, you're probably in pop-up jail, but didn't know it since you app'd over the phone.

[pip3man]

The downgrading and closing of the accounts is most likely the culprit in your situation. But if it's any consolation to you, I was denied the 185K SUB for the Bonvoy Brilliant but here's the kicker, it was my first AMEX Marriott card and I was technically a "brand new" returning customer with no history for them to make that determination. I'd say though I applied and was approved for 4 cards in a 10 day window so that could have been a factor and the Brilliant was my last application. Needless to say, I still accepted it without the bonus cos I found it valuable.

[villemiami]

I applied again for the Hilton Honors, but this time on Hilton web site. I got this message: " you are not eligible to receive the welcome offer. In determining eligibility, we considered your history with credit card balance transfers, your history as an American Express Card Member, the number of credit cards that you have opened and closed and other factors.".

So same thing, I refused to accept the card and there is no impact on my score.

[Varsity_Lu]

AmEx doesn't do churning.

[dfwxjer]

You signed up for 2 SUBs,  kept the cards the bare minimum amount of time, and closed/downgraded to avoid additional annual fees. Straight to pop-up jail for you. 

[villemiami]

In fact, when I downloaded my Delta card to Blue, I didn't get a SUB. After 1 year, I thought to myself that I didn't make the right choice, I should have closed my Delta instead of downgrading to Blue, so I could later apply for a Blue and get a SUB for it. So I was upset at my move and decided to close the Blue.

Anyway, 10 minutes before applying, I applied for a Wyndham Rewards Earner® Plus Card and I was denied. If you look at the credit cards I had lately, you can see that in 2025, I got 3 new credit cards, so it's probably too much for Amex.

When can I re-apply for an Amex card with good chance of success?

[villemiami]

I received an email from Barclays saying: " we are unable to approve you for a Wyndham Rewards® Card account for the following reason(s):
– The number of bankcards opened within the last 24 months".

I didn't know that the Wyndham credit card was Barclays, and the rule is: "6 or more credit cards opened in last 24 months => denied".

I opened 7 credit cards in the last 24 months.

This means that starting August 2025, I will be able to apply for the Wyndham credit card if I want to.

But for Amex, I don't know when.

[Patient957]

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@villemiami wrote:

Is it because the 3 credit cards I had didn't last more than 1 year so I am classified as someone doing credit card churning?

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The rule of thumb that I have heard (no personal experience) is that as long as you wait until the second annual fee hits, you can safely close the account without ending up in pop up jail.

Did you cancel or downgrade any before the 2nd annual fee hit?

[villemiami]

No, I checked my credit history. My memory was wrong. I had the Amex Platinum from 12/2021 to 01/2023. I had the Gold Delta Skymiles from 03/2018 to 03/2020, I downgraded it on 03/2020 to the Blue Delta and closed it on 04/2024.