Although there are others who can better speak to your chances of approval given your DP's, I would say that regardless you'd want to look at the value proposition of going for an Amex Delta at this time given your CU.
If you were to get approval, your realized value would be somewhat negated if you don't take advantage of the SUB, which would be hard to encourage when that $ could better be put toward PIF. You could earn a SUB but then be paying interest on your CU, so might as well wait until your balances are PIF.
Looking at the current Delta SUB's (not including personalized offers): Blue 10000 mi for $500 in 90 days, Gold 30000 mi for $1000 in 90, and Platinum 35000 mi for $1000 in 90. Those are some chunks of dough that could be going to PIF.
thanks for the reply
@PullingMeSoftly wrote:Although there are others who can better speak to your chances of approval given your DP's, I would say that regardless you'd want to look at the value proposition of going for an Amex Delta at this time given your CU.
If you were to get approval, your realized value would be somewhat negated if you don't take advantage of the SUB, which would be hard to encourage when that $ could better be put toward PIF. You could earn a SUB but then be paying interest on your CU, so might as well wait until your balances are PIF.
Looking at the current Delta SUB's (not including personalized offers): Blue 10000 mi for $500 in 90 days, Gold 30000 mi for $1000 in 90, and Platinum 35000 mi for $1000 in 90. Those are some chunks of dough that could be going to PIF.
very good points .
I should be very close to paid in full by the end of this month (Some fat guy with a white beard put a bunch of stuff on the discover card but he only comes around once a year).
The sub would be nice but i would like to be getting points for the $300 in plane tickets i have to buy each month.
I typically meet SUB spend by making all my normal purchases with the card (groceries, utilities, gas, etc). And it sounds like you’re going to meet the spend with plane tickets you’re already purchasing with no benefits. So I wouldn’t worry about that SUB spend being extra money that could/should go elsewhere. Unless your plan is something else-but it’s pretty easy to find $333/month of organic/normal spend that you can just run through the new card instead of whatever you’ve been doing.
As for approval chances-what were the reasons for the initial denial? Have those changed? Also-when will Discover be reporting a lower utilization? Over 50% is pretty high for a single card - especially when you’re actively seeking new credit.
Your scores indicate there is a perhaps a possibility of past problems? If so-how recent, any outstanding balances/open collections, etc?
As for approval chances-what were the reasons for the initial denial? Have those changed? Also-when will Discover be reporting a lower utilization? Over 50% is pretty high for a single card - especially when you’re actively seeking new credit.
Your scores indicate there is a perhaps a possibility of past problems? If so-how recent, any outstanding balances/open collections, etc?
Where do you stand on new accounts now?
Based on your listed inquiries, I would have guessed one account opened in January (then the mortgage) but 0 within 6 months of your first Amex app.
Amex isn't particularly sensitive to new accounts and inquiries (not like Chase/BOA/US Bank anyway), but they do tend to be a little picky for those of us with less optimal profiles.
Your AAoA is less than a year and you have lates from 3-4 years ago - Which sounds like a lot of new/not quite seasoned credit. That may be what's giving them pause on new accounts (although I'm not exactly sure what/when the accounts were opened).
The prevailing wisdom is that Amex prequals are pretty solid. So you'll never know for sure unless you go for it. Like you, I was also denied after getting an Amex prequal (eventually approved for a different card later). Hence why I'm asking questions about what may be on your report that Amex is finding disagreeable.
If your profile is shaky (in their eyes), you may be approved - with high interest and a $1K credit line that stays at $1k for a very long time. But those things don't prevent you from earning miles on the plane tickets you're buying.