I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but unless the old Amex chargeoff is paid off I don't see them opening any gates for many more years.
@Kforce wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
My takeaway is they are NOT a relationship based bank if you either, don't have very good credit, or don't have very high income and spend.
In my opinion NO financial institution is "relationship based".
They function on profit and numbers, you are and always will only be a number.
Get cards that benefit you and don't try and build a relationship.
Eh, I think there are still a few, mostly credit unions, but for the most part you're right. I learned that over the 2 years I've been on here.
@Kforce wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
My takeaway is they are NOT a relationship based bank if you either, don't have very good credit, or don't have very high income and spend.
In my opinion NO financial institution is "relationship based".
They function on profit and numbers, you are and always will only be a number.
Get cards that benefit you and don't try and build a relationship.
This. I agree with Brians view without the good income/spend lenders will take less chance on a person. In these tuff times even with a good credit score , banks will not help unless they see you dont actually need it
Credit can be frustrating but at end of day, they decide our fates based off their criteria. One thing ive learned here, doesnt pay to try and get a lender to loosen up. If they dont meet ones expectations, move on to the next. At least we have some choices .
Thanks for sharing your story. Regardless what we think about the data points, having the perspective of what people are actually experiencing can help readers to temper their enthusiasm. There can seem to be tendencies with some of these aspects of credit, but few hard and fast rules.
Sorry to hear about the limits and frustration you've had with AMEX.
On the bright side, congrats on the approvals for the cards you requested. Hopefully you see continued gradual improvements in your overall portfolio. Using the points to actually travel feels good once you start getting out there 
Just to add another anecdotal experience that has differences and similarities to the OP's experience. I will start off with just the DPs, then add my thoughts.
I could write a much longer version of this, but basically, I had bad credit or no credit for years until last spring, when I started rebuilding from nothing. My first account in 10+ years was a $300 Citi secured card, opened last April.
I also could write the long story (it's a weird one) of getting my Amex Gold Card, which I was surprised to receive last July. But not really relevant to this thread, I don't think.
So anyway, last August, I had a one-month history with my Amex Gold Card (positive, as far as it went), and on exactly my one-month anniversary, I saw that I was preapproved for several cobrand cards. I applied for Delta Gold and was approved with a $1,000 limit. The next day, I also got a Hilton Aspire with a $3,100 limit. I think those are the respective minimum limits for those cards, based on the size of the annual fee. So, I was barely in, but I was in.
Flash forward to this spring. Bear in mind, my profile has looked weird the whole time. It still looks weird. But by this spring, I had no new accounts or inquiries on Experian since last September. I had opened an Apple Card in December, but that only shows on TU, so I don't think Amex noticed. Early this year, the week that Chase raised the CSR annual fee, I got a Platinum Card. I had been waiting for a CSR, but decided the Platinum was now a better deal for me, since I am in the CAP program, so it costs me $400/year net. Once I made that decision, I decided to have a spree. I got a Citi American Airlines card (the $100/year one), which had an $11,000 CL, and then went to Costco and joined, and signed up for the Citi Costco Visa, and was approved in the store with a $9,500 CL. I then applied for an Amex Delta Platinum, which was approved with a $20,000 CL, and an Amex Blue Cash Everyday, which was approved with a $10,000 CL. I was pretty surprised by the approvals and the CLs, but was also aware I was really pushing my luck, and was at risk of an AA. So, I hunkered down at that point for a while.
I then made my situation worse with Amex's computers by having a payment returned. What happened there is, I'd just opened my Navy Federal account, and tried to use it to pay my Amex. I was surprised to see it denied, because I hadn't realized that you can't use a savings account for a linked payment. There was money in the NFCU account to pay the bill, it just doesn't use ACH. I immediately paid it with my other account, the same evening. But in Amex's computer, I got dinged for a returned payment the same as if a check bounced.
Having said all that ... I am now not quite 14 months in with Amex, and, I have never received a CLI from Amex, either. I've tried regularly, starting around Thanksgiving last year. The last time I applied for one, two weeks ago, I got a demand for tax transcripts. I have strong opinions about data privacy, and I ignored the request. So I guess I won't be getting a CLI from Amex any time soon, unless/until they forget about that request.
I'm ok with that ... I have quite a bit of CL across my Amex cards, thanks to my approvals this spring. Lack of getting a CLI will probably just cause me to move CL from the cards I use the least, and close them. I've already closed one (the Delta Gold, duplicative with the Delta Platinum) and I will probably downgrade the Hilton card in a month or two. I want to give some breathing room after closing Delta Gold before I do that.
Overall, I can't complain ... I mean, I have over $33k in aggregate Amex CLs, plus Platinum and Gold. But inability to get a CLI is a downer, and I find the tax transcript demand to be strange ... what would it tell them that they don't already know at this point, after a year of seeing use patterns and payment patterns? I think they've weaponized it as a way of forcing you to stop requesting stuff, moreso than for actual useful data.
I really like Amex, and based on card approvals and CLs, I guess they kind of like me, at least did this spring, but just posting because I'm another example of somebody who can't buy a CLI from Amex.
@NRB525 wrote:Thanks for sharing your story. Regardless what we think about the data points, having the perspective of what people are actually experiencing can help readers to temper their enthusiasm. There can seem to be tendencies with some of these aspects of credit, but few hard and fast rules.
Sorry to hear about the limits and frustration you've had with AMEX.
On the bright side, congrats on the approvals for the cards you requested. Hopefully you see continued gradual improvements in your overall portfolio. Using the points to actually travel feels good once you start getting out there
Regardless of my limits, they're still valuable as of now. It's just an annoyance trying to use the ridiculous limits that I've shown are way too small for me. it's become so much of a pain that I've simply started using other cards with high enough limits.
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:Thanks for sharing your story. Regardless what we think about the data points, having the perspective of what people are actually experiencing can help readers to temper their enthusiasm. There can seem to be tendencies with some of these aspects of credit, but few hard and fast rules.
Sorry to hear about the limits and frustration you've had with AMEX.
On the bright side, congrats on the approvals for the cards you requested. Hopefully you see continued gradual improvements in your overall portfolio. Using the points to actually travel feels good once you start getting out there
Regardless of my limits, they're still valuable as of now. It's just an annoyance trying to use the ridiculous limits that I've shown are way too small for me. it's become so much of a pain that I've simply started using other cards with high enough limits.
I'm not really surprised that they haven't raised your limits to be honest. Your on the razor's edge in regards to your spending in relation to your income. Spending 3 to 5k a month on amex cards when you make 70k a year with your partner making 46k a year probably causes the algorithms to give your profile a bunch of red flags along with your prior credit history. You have very little to nothing left if your spending around 5k a month on those incomes at the end of the day. I know you have your doubts about the algorithm and aren't happy about the situation but just going off the info you provided you basically spend all of your income with all of your money going right out the door as soon as you get it. Well at least you do when you closer to 5k than 3k in spend in each month.
Yes you have 19k in a schwab brokerage and 12k in bank accounts for a total of 31k which is okay but if your spending 5k a month on credit cards and if you and your partner lose your job your going to be flat broke in 6 months. Considering the current state of affairs in the world I can see why Amex is being conservative here especially considering you are rebuilding your credit history. I'm not trying to be mean saying that and you are doing better than most since you do have 6 month give or take runway (don't know how many bills you have that you can't or don't pay with credit cards) so you defintitely do have positives it's just that Amex might not be willing to take any chances.
@Anonymous wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
@NRB525 wrote:Thanks for sharing your story. Regardless what we think about the data points, having the perspective of what people are actually experiencing can help readers to temper their enthusiasm. There can seem to be tendencies with some of these aspects of credit, but few hard and fast rules.
Sorry to hear about the limits and frustration you've had with AMEX.
On the bright side, congrats on the approvals for the cards you requested. Hopefully you see continued gradual improvements in your overall portfolio. Using the points to actually travel feels good once you start getting out there
Regardless of my limits, they're still valuable as of now. It's just an annoyance trying to use the ridiculous limits that I've shown are way too small for me. it's become so much of a pain that I've simply started using other cards with high enough limits.
I'm not really surprised that they haven't raised your limits to be honest. Your on the razor's edge in regards to your spending in relation to your income. Spending 3 to 5k a month on amex cards when you make 70k a year with your partner making 46k a year probably causes the algorithms to give your profile a bunch of red flags along with your prior credit history. You have very little to nothing left if your spending around 5k a month on those incomes at the end of the day. I know you have your doubts about the algorithm and aren't happy about the situation but just going off the info you provided you basically spend all of your income with all of your money going right out the door as soon as you get it. Well at least you do when you closer to 5k than 3k in spend in each month.
Yes you have 19k in a schwab brokerage and 12k in bank accounts for a total of 31k which is okay but if your spending 5k a month on credit cards and if you and your partner lose your job your going to be flat broke in 6 months. Considering the current state of affairs in the world I can see why Amex is being conservative here especially considering you are rebuilding your credit history. I'm not trying to be mean saying that and you are doing better than most since you do have 6 month give or take runway (don't know how many bills you have that you can't or don't pay with credit cards) so you defintitely do have positives it's just that Amex might not be willing to take any chances.
I stated I'm not reporting my other investment or retirement accounts. Me and my wife's salary is underreported in case they ever want to do a FR (we don't include bonuses). I didn't include her savings. And, we have about $600k in lien-free equity with our house.