In May, I applied for and was instantly approved for the Amex Plat (under the 100K MR sign up offer). I charged roughly $6K on that card over the month of June as I was making travel plans for late Summer and early Fall.
Wanting to take advantage of a 50K MR sign up offer on the PRG (even more prepaid travel to charge), I applied for that card in late June and was instantly denied. The reason given was that I had a "high outstanding balance" on my other Amex charge card. At the time of application, I hadn't even closed my first billing cycle with Amex and hence hadn't paid down that balance.
I paid it off, submitted a request for recon three days later and heard back in roughly a week. Denied again, for the same reason.
I was a bit puzzled, waited three days, and submitted a new application online this morning--instantly approved! Thought this might be a worthwhile data point for anyone thinking of applying for a second Amex charge card!
Scores are 720-740 for TU and Experian. No HP either time.
