The Definitive Amex 3X CLI Guide

[Washin17]

I have the Delta card and was approved for 1K last september.  I tried for the 3X CLI at 60+ days and was denied.  Im currently waiting for them to generate a new FICO score for me.  I will admit that I never paid the account off until the last statement and my score at the 60 day mark was below my app'd score.  It has risen back to 689.  Hopefully that will be enough.  Since this is my first CLI do you always 3X or able you able to try for more? 

[Anonymous]

Hey folks. I was recently approved for an AMEX Delta Platinum and a Blue Cash Everyday, both with $10,000 starting limits. I think these are pretty great SLs considering they denied me twice last year for the Delta card and only gave me a $1000 limit on the Hilton card I got. My question is do they usually do the 3x CLI at 61 days for decent starting limits like that or do people usually see that kind of increase on smaller SLs? I'd love to see these cards grow to $30k but that just seems far fetched to me. What say you folks that are more experienced with them than I? Are they THAT generous?

[Anonymous]

Not sure but would also like to know. However I believe you would probably trigger a Financial Review which I have read is a big PIA. From what I’ve read you will usually trigger it if one card gets above 25K or a combination of cards exceeds 35K. While I’m sure your income would verify I would hate to give them access to Tax documents bank statements and such. It just seems like such an invasion of privacy.

[Shadowfactor]

Yes, it’s quite normal for Amex to give such generous limits. There are tons of data points on the forum of people going from 10k to 30k. Some even higher.

My girlfriend got a big increase from 13k to 22k She probably could have asked for more but she doesn’t even use close to 2K of the credit line and didn’t feel like she needed any more then 22k so that’s all she requested.

Financial review and income verification are two completely different things. FR will result in the closure of all Amex accounts if not complied with. IV does not result in that, they simply won’t grant the request for the CLI.

Requesting high credit limits is more prone to IV requests, but Amex will let you back out and try a lower number if you don’t want to provide IV.

Yes higher credit limits probably do come with a higher risk of FR but if you can prove what you put down. It’s honestly not a big deal IMO.

[simplynoir]

Please don't confuse a financial review with a proof-of-income/income verification request. FR is when your income/spending is in question due to questionable purchases/payments, purchase patterns, etc and AMEX request financials to continue using your cards; failing the review can result in reduced spending limits and in cases where you fail to comply complete closure of your accounts. IV/POI is when AMEX just needs to check your reported income with the IRS before possibly providing a CLI.

To answer the OP's question it all depends on what your credit looks like from a score/income/debt perspective. The better it is the better your chances of CLIs. Requests can trigger IV/POI but there are ways around that if you don't feel like providing it. For more info check the guide dedicated to this.

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Card-Applications/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/18110...

[HeavenOhio]

Financial review would be a non-concern. However, it's possible that one could be asked for income verification, which is much less onerous. If IV is requested and you don't want to provide the paperwork, simply hit your browser's back button and try a lower amount. I believe that BBS backed out 21 times with one CLI request. A week later, he received 21 rubber-banded IV forms that he could safely ignore or use as bathroom wallpaper.

Keep in mind any recent CLI requests as clocks are determined based on all cards. If you've been approved for a CLI on any of your cards, you need to wait 181 days to ask again. If you've been denied, you need to wait 91 days. If you ask too soon, it doesn't count as a denial, and the clock isn't reset.

Back to the original question, 10K to 30K seems reasonable enough. If it's too much, AMEX will likely counter with a lower amount. But if you're not comfortable with that, ask for 20K and figure on asking again in six months.

Also, because the clock is based on all cards, make sure you choose the card on which you'd most like to see the increase.

[pokerpro]

I have the starwoods card at 40K limit

no review or income verification ever requested

[Anonymous]

My 61 day mark comes up this month. Excited to try but probably won't ask for 3x($30k) because it will go over that 25k mark where AmEx will ask that 4506T.

Question about this "High internal risk score due to income on file to overall credit across amex and non-amex accounts ratio being too low."

Any idea what that ratio is? My current part time salary is $28k. Total credit I have is $13,101.

[HeavenOhio]

@Anonymous, it doesn't seem like 25K is much of a magic number anymore.

The reason for your high internal risk score is a mouthful and certainly isn't worded clearly. Where did you get it? My gut says that it's simply saying that your income is a bit low, but I can't be sure.

I don't think I'd ask for a CLI to over 100% of my income, at least on the first try. Maybe you want to ask for 20K and not be surprised with a counter.

[Anonymous]

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@HeavenOhiowrote:

@Anonymous, it doesn't seem like 25K is much of a magic number anymore.

The reason for your high internal risk score is a mouthful and certainly isn't worded clearly. Where did you get it? My gut says that it's simply saying that your income is a bit low, but I can't be sure.

I don't think I'd ask for a CLI to over 100% of my income, at least on the first try. Maybe you want to ask for 20K and not be surprised with a counter.

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I got that high internal risk thing from the first post of this thread