@daybreakgonesXe wrote:Not sure if this has been mentioned before: but your account creation date is also coded into a string of numbers on the paper where the card(s) are attached when you receive it in the mail.
I'd take a picture, but I'm not sure exactly what the other numbers represent and would rather not have it out in the public forum in case someone is able to decipher it! Part of it looks like partial account numbers! :X
But anyways, when you receive your card(s) in the mail, right above where the cards are pasted on should be a line of numbers, above the first folded crease in the letter. As you make your way through them, it should read similar to this:
0002222 0002222 (3333333333) 0002222 (3333333332) 08/06/13 0000BOR0000000000 NEW ACCOUNT 2
This date for me matched the date you can find online before the first statement cuts as described in the thread!
Just a "quicker" way to figure out your member since date; saves the extra step of logging into the account just figure this piece of information out!
MAJOR PROPS!!!
I dug up my Platinum and PRG card snail mails from January in the archives today to validate this and you are right on the money!! I will wait for more datapoints to corroborate this before adding it to the sticky but for now you have found a 4th way to find out the account opening date 
Well done grasshopper.
@wHiTeSoL wrote:I looked at my letter, and it says 8/8/2013 but when i called in a gentleman said 8/7/2013
Can you please confirm this information again using the other 2 methods posted in sticky. For some reason I think this is standing out as an anamoly. In fact if possible call and speak with another CSR and ask for the account opening date.
A big request to the forum members to help us confirm or deny this. When members post about Amex approvals, please remind them to check for this information and post back in their threads 
@MustangSaluki wrote:
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:Not sure if this has been mentioned before: but your account creation date is also coded into a string of numbers on the paper where the card(s) are attached when you receive it in the mail.
I'd take a picture, but I'm not sure exactly what the other numbers represent and would rather not have it out in the public forum in case someone is able to decipher it! Part of it looks like partial account numbers! :X
But anyways, when you receive your card(s) in the mail, right above where the cards are pasted on should be a line of numbers, above the first folded crease in the letter. As you make your way through them, it should read similar to this:
0002222 0002222 (3333333333) 0002222 (3333333332) 08/06/13 0000BOR0000000000 NEW ACCOUNT 2
This date for me matched the date you can find online before the first statement cuts as described in the thread!
Just a "quicker" way to figure out your member since date; saves the extra step of logging into the account just figure this piece of information out!
MAJOR PROPS!!!
I dug up my Platinum and PRG card snail mails from January in the archives today to validate this and you are right on the money!! I will wait for more datapoints to corroborate this before adding it to the sticky but for now you have found a 4th way to find out the account opening date
@wHiTeSoL wrote:I looked at my letter, and it says 8/8/2013 but when i called in a gentleman said 8/7/2013
Can you please confirm this information again using the other 2 methods posted in sticky. For some reason I think this is standing out as an anamoly. In fact if possible call and speak with another CSR and ask for the account opening date.
A big request to the forum members to help us confirm or deny this. When members post about Amex approvals, please remind them to check for this information and post back in their threads
Add me to the data point 2 apps same day both have the same date showing ...confirmed
@MustangSaluki wrote:
@daybreakgonesXe wrote:Not sure if this has been mentioned before: but your account creation date is also coded into a string of numbers on the paper where the card(s) are attached when you receive it in the mail.
I'd take a picture, but I'm not sure exactly what the other numbers represent and would rather not have it out in the public forum in case someone is able to decipher it! Part of it looks like partial account numbers! :X
But anyways, when you receive your card(s) in the mail, right above where the cards are pasted on should be a line of numbers, above the first folded crease in the letter. As you make your way through them, it should read similar to this:
0002222 0002222 (3333333333) 0002222 (3333333332) 08/06/13 0000BOR0000000000 NEW ACCOUNT 2
This date for me matched the date you can find online before the first statement cuts as described in the thread!
Just a "quicker" way to figure out your member since date; saves the extra step of logging into the account just figure this piece of information out!
MAJOR PROPS!!!
I dug up my Platinum and PRG card snail mails from January in the archives today to validate this and you are right on the money!! I will wait for more datapoints to corroborate this before adding it to the sticky but for now you have found a 4th way to find out the account opening date
@wHiTeSoL wrote:I looked at my letter, and it says 8/8/2013 but when i called in a gentleman said 8/7/2013
Can you please confirm this information again using the other 2 methods posted in sticky. For some reason I think this is standing out as an anamoly. In fact if possible call and speak with another CSR and ask for the account opening date.
A big request to the forum members to help us confirm or deny this. When members post about Amex approvals, please remind them to check for this information and post back in their threads
a) Call the number CSR told me it was 8/7/2013
b) Date opened on EQ or TU has not shown up on CR yet
c) Before Statement has been cut 8/7/2013
d) Letter where my card came 8/8/2013
If it matters my HP was also on 8/7/2013 and the email I have with my approval was sent 8/7/2013
@MustangSaluki wrote:Thanks guys. That didn't take very long. Trying to think what it indicates at this point
@@wHiTeSoL @@tinom1234 @@myjourney
Can you also post if you are first time Amex card members or if you have been member before?
New member
@myjourney wrote:
@MustangSaluki wrote:Thanks guys. That didn't take very long. Trying to think what it indicates at this point
@@wHiTeSoL @@tinom1234 @@myjourney
Can you also post if you are first time Amex card members or if you have been member before?
New member
First Personal Card (Corporate card for a year)
Thanks again. At this time I am leaning towards it being the day the cards are ordered/produced physically, only sometimes matching the account opening date. As such cannot include it in the guide else it may confuse readers. We have a good established set of 3 methods (which will always match each other too).
Sorry for the excitement
New member
I thought I'd chime in and do my part for the community. Note that I state dates in yy/mm[/dd] format. Due to the massive and rambling background introduction, I've highlighted AmEx-related events in blue.
As of 13/01 (to set the stage), TLs included:
11/09 USAA secured $5k
11/10 CapOne $500
12/02 Furniture Row (HSBC then CapOne) $3009 -- but neither a penny more nor less -- store card
12/02 FHA 15-yr mortgage
12/12 AmEx Green personal
12/12 WMT $700 store card
...and that was the extent of my history.
USAA won't graduate secured cards, so I thought I'd join PenFed ASAP to prepare for their Pt card. When I realized that they'd pulled EQ with reasonably favorable results (730-something EQ FICO), my little AOR began:
13/01 AmEx BCP $2k
13/01 Barclays Priceline (5% NYOP + 2% everywhere) $1.5k after recon
13/01 BoA 1-2-3 $2.5k after recon
13/01 Chase Freedom $1.5k
13/01 Discover it $1.0k
13/01 PenFed Pt $4k
13/01 Tires Plus $1.2k store card
13/01 USAA Rate Advantage Pt $4k (terminated the secured)
I had a few other HPs 13/01 -- with something like eight or nine on each of EX and TU -- before I was convinced that my luck had run out. 
13/04 Furniture Row CLI to $4.2k store card
13/04 AmEx BCP 3X **FAILED** after the 7-10 message due to excessive risk on internal model ($0 balance; PIF every few days; most likely all the 13/01 HPs on EX!)
I forget whether the Furniture Row CLI success or the BCP CLI fail came first. I believe that it was Furniture Row, as I recall attempting to use the "cheap" way to lower utilization.
13/05? WMT CLI to $800 store card
13/06 Chase Freedom auto-CLI to $1.8k
13/07 Discover it auto-CLI to $1.3k
13/07 WMT CLI to $1.5k store
13/07/16 AmEx BCP CLI to $3.5k after 7-10 message (~$400 balance; PIF >= 1x/month; despite knowing this thread I was too chicken to ask for more)
13/08 CapOne worthless card terminated
13/08/12 AmEx Blue $3.0k (EX FICO = 758)
TU is my "dirtiest" CR, EX is in the middle, and EQ is my "cleanest". I'm being protective of EQ right now, as I'm looking to refi once some storm damage is fixed. The recent Blue: lets me obtain EX CR without using my annual; is a convenient place for automatic bill-to-CC things; helps my AAoA, due to backdating; cost me 1 HP on EX (when I already have around nine or so!); provides an "emergency cushion" 0% APR for six months, although I prefer to avoid using it and thus poking the beast; and allows me a place to park MR [Express] points in case I decide to terminate my Green card and wait for an attractive bonus on Platinum. It also likely will serve as a future CL donor.
Other score-related data points:
I've not been tracking EX closely... but EQ Fico had been 747 in June, gone up to 771 in July as the new accounts aged > 6 months, and then slid to 755 as multiple cards reported balances. (Biggest client was slow to pay in the low-ish five digits, so I decided to let balances hit in case I needed to switch to an emergency cash-flow strategy.)
Total utilization is chronically at 4%-10%. A bit less than $1k (and decreasing by $75/month) balance is on Furniture Row, out of ~$25k aggregate CL, as I most happily shall avail myself of 0% APR from Capital One. I've actually paid it down faster than needed, so as to improve its specific utilization before the refi.
(Edit: Spelled out "Furniture Row" everywhere, as "FR" could be horribly ambiguous in this context!)