Secondary Amex Card

[ScarlettHusky]

I'm shooting for status on Delta Air Lines this year. When I posted in a Delta/SkyMiles group on Facebook asking for advice on how I should go about it, a lot of people suggested applying for the Reserve SkyMiles card as a secondary line. While I am open to the idea (I know the AF for both that and my Platinum SkyMiles is $1K a year, but the benefits I would get from having both would work for me), I had a question for y'all about timing. I had let my overall utilization climb a bit, and my scores took a cooresponding hit.

Tax refund season is here, so I was going to make sizeable payments to lower my utilization on my cards. Should I let the new statements cut so that the lower utilization is reflected on my report, or should I just apply for the Reserve card right after my payment? I know that with Amex, second cards tend to be a SP so I'm not too concerned about a potential inquiry. I'm planning a trip to Europe in September, and was hoping to use the new card to pay for the plane tickets.

[ScarlettHusky]

I'm shooting for status on Delta Air Lines. I posted in a Delta/SkyMiles group asking for advice on how to go about it, and a lot of people suggested applying for a Reserve SkyMiles card to compliment my Platinum SkyMiles card. While having both cards would total a $1K total AF, having two $2,500 MQD boosts, 15 SkyClub annually, and having the requirement for gold cut in half out of the gate make it worth it to me. I had let my balances climb a bit across my cards so my scores took a bit of a hit. I was planning on using my tax refund to half my Amex balance and also make sizeable payments on my other cards.

Since your second Amex card tends to be a SP, should I immediately apply after making the large payment on my Amex? Or, should I make the payments and let statements cut so that they're reflected on my report before I do the application? I am planning on a trip to Europe in September, and I would love to potentially use the new card to pay for the tickets. I am also due for a CLI on my existing Amex, so was curious on how I should go about timing that app as well.

[myscoresucks2]

Just curious, do you have any baddies on your report, with your scores in 600's is it your utilization dragging scores down. I am only asking because I have been rebuilding for quite awhile , have 2-3 baddies on reports , scores 739 tu eq 698 ex 680 and cannot get preapproved for any Amex cards, I do have an Amex optima card that I got after paying off my old balances, had it for a couple of years

[tbgothard]

AmEx is most likely going to look at internal account status and their most recent AR pull. In my case, the AR SP

they did was 1 month old one time and then 3 months old another. I can't seem to find a pattern to when they do their AR pulls; which would most likely be what they may use for a new card application on an existing member. So you'd probably be waiting 1-3 months for the updated score from the drop in in util to be pulled by them in the backend. In my case, when I did apply to add a Plat to my existing BCP, they did a HP when I accepted the card. YMMV as so many people say they didn't get another HP when adding cards to their membership. 

[md_rebuild]

I app'd for the SkyMiles Reserve card on August 1st of last year.   Moved all of my spend to it.   Had a $5K limit, typically used 75% of that each month, paying it off to $0 every few days.   It's not Feb, I have silver status, 138,000 miles (there was a 80,000 SUB for signing up and spending $6K in 3 months), and am about $2K from securing silver for all of next year.   I have plenty of miles, vouchers, and 3 guest passes for the lounge remaining for this year.   I say go for it....it will pay dividends (plus the Hertz status is nice too!).    I just wish BWI had a Delta lounge...it's much closer than National.

[cashorcharge]

I don't know if waiting for the statement to cut versus applying right after your large payment will make a tremendouse difference as either way, they'll see your payment patterns/history.  

Yes, the AF's are high...I hold 2 Reserves and the added boost plus transferring the bulk of my spend has awarded me Diamond Status more than once

[pauldc73]

The other unknown variable is the cost of the plane tickets.  Nobody can predict where these will be, but at least if they are purchased early your price is locked in.  Waiting for your additional payments to reduce utilization  and then to report to a credit bureau will take a while.

[MarkintheHV]

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@ScarlettHusky wrote:

When I posted in a Delta/SkyMiles group on Facebook asking for advice on how I should go about it, a lot of people suggested applying for the Reserve SkyMiles card as a secondary line.

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You should move your primary spend to the reserve and keep the platinum as a secondary.  With the Reserve you get 1 MQD for every $10 spend vs 1 MQD for every $20 spend on the Platinum.  I made Platinum Medallion for this year by moving all my spend to my Reserve.

[WeaponizedApe]

Pay, let them reflect on next statement, app should be a SP, (I only had one HP on my 4 AMEX cards). Have you checked your offers in the app? 

[dfwxjer]

I'm going to go against the consensus here, and say that if you're carrying a large enough balance on your existing cards to cause a score decrease then you might want to evaluate if you need $1000+ in annual fees. It doesn't appear your credit profile supports the status you'll gain from the airline and because you already have the Platinum skymiles card you won't be eligible for the Reserve SUB. 

The allure of lounges and upgraded flights is enticing but NONE of the benefits outpace paying interest on a balance one can't pay off each month. Don't fall for the trap, and position yourself to increase your scores and pay off balances in full every month. It *may* have made sense if you were at least getting the SUB but this is just a bad financial decision being justified with additional bad decisions.