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Hi. I have an AMEX Gold rewards card. This was a Green Amex till last month when I upgraded. I have only had this account since November, although my member since date is 1999.
The first month AMEX required me to make an $813 payment mid-cycle in order to avoid charge suspension. So I made the payment. My statement ending balance was $557, which I paid at statement. So I had a total of almost $1400 for the first month in charges.
This month AMEX has not requested any mid-cycle payment and my current balance is about $2036. My statement ending date is 14th, so just a couple days.
QUESTION: What is a good rule of thumb for charging on AMEX? I don't want to accelerate my charges faster than would be wise. I don't want to trigger a financial review (only because I don't want the hassle).
I would like to get this account comfortable with around $5000 to $7500 per month so that I can use if for travel and recurring expenses. How long and at what pace should I "walk up" to that level? Should I do that over 12 to 18 months, just slightly increasing my spending each month, maybe even having similar spending for a couple months here and there?
Thanks in advance for any input.
Your charging allowance should increase by 25% I think it is per month of on time payments.
You should have no problems being at the 5000+ level in under 6 months.
Thanks Creditaddict for the reply.
So, if I understand, I should increase my spending up to 25% from month to month.
So example is:
Mo. 1: $1400
Mo. 2: $2036 (25% of $2036 is $509)
Mo. 3: $2545 (25% of $2545 is $636)
Mo. 4: $3181 (25% of $3181 is $795)
Mo. 5: $3976 (25% of $3976 is $994)
Mo. 6: $4970
Is this correct? Increasing 25% from the previous month, or should I only increase 25% based upon the first month?
This seems like it might be a little agressive, now that I look at the numbers this way. As it stands, I had a CL of around $1000 month 1. CLI to $5000 in 6 months might seem aggressive. So I think I will double the time and go with a 10 to 12% increase just so it doesn't make AMEX look too hard at me.
Thanks for helping me work this out.
I have to admit that their CS is really good.
I lost my wallet on New Year's day and called to report it on the 2nd when I realized what happened. I had a card in my hand the next day.
I did call them last week to ask if I could charge a $1078 amount for something I was doing. She told me that it would NOT be approved. I thanked her and then used an alternate card. My balance was higher than the previous month all ready and since they had required a mid cycle payment the month before, I didn't want to chance a declined charge. She was really nice about it and I was glad I had called rather than try to use it and have it decline.
Thanks again.
I'm a newbie Amex cardholder (Green) and asked the CSR on my first month after my first charge was denied. I received the Green and tried to purchase football season tickets with it in July for about $2500. The charge was denied and being uneducated in the finer points of Amex, I gave them a call. The CSR told me a little differently. She told me my magic limit started at $500 and that it would gradually increase on a basis of 50% based on my spending habits.
So in July-Aug. I spent $180. Then purchased around $547 for August-Sept.. $1387 for September-Oct.. It was this month they blocked the account. I had to call and make a payment in order to continue. I PIF and it was a day or two after the statement cut. $1486 for October-Nov. $1454 for Nov-Dec., and finally $3249 for Dec-Jan. My spending doubled for this month but used the card fine last weekend at a hotel while on business and had no issues. I made sure Sheraton charged the card first for the full weekend vs. waiting until the end of the stay. I didn't bring any CCs and didn't want to search for an ATM. So, as you can see, any % increase isn't set in stone, but I bet I'm in Amex's target site.
Per payments, I PIF the entire balance (not just of what was due) at the time the payment was made. Also have been paying the balance the within a day or two of the statement. This month, the full payment goes out this week in advance of the statement.