AmEX & general CC question

[MidnightVoice]

On my new Blue I PIF even though there is a 0% APR for a year.  I want a good relationship with them, I want to get much higher CLs, but I am being very patient before asking (My EX has gone up 50 points since I got the card, but I am NOT asking for a CLI until after 7 months)

[Anonymous]

Smart move- I am not eligable for a CLI until June-

I PIF all my AMEX cards as well-

I have 0% on my WAMU and Blue cash-

I don't have any balances to transfer/carry except Kay's that is at 0%.

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MidnightVoice wrote:

On my new Blue I PIF even though there is a 0% APR for a year.  I want a good relationship with them, I want to get much higher CLs, but I am being very patient before asking (My EX has gone up 50 points since I got the card, but I am NOT asking for a CLI until after 7 months)

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[Anonymous]

I would love to PIF but like I said before these cards are to purchase items needed to build our house before we get reimbursed for them.  I'm mainly concerned about the $12,000 of cabinets that will probably have a 8 week lead time and then another 4 weeks before we get them installed and the inspector out to see that they are installed to cut us the check.  I think our plan will be to use the card and try to be seen favorably before hand and then when we max out the card make decent payments towards it, in hopes Amex doesn't take our 0% away.  On a side note, I still don't see how it is fair/legal to do what they are doing, as long as I make min payments on time, I'm not defaulting or going against the contract, but I'm sure there is some loop hole in the contract that allows them, but it's still crappy of them.  You can have it if you don't use it, like banks, if you don't really need a loan they'll give you as much as you want.

[MidnightVoice]

First, if you going to max out and Amex and carry a balance for a while, call and tell them what you doing so they get a nasty surprise.  I call when there is going to be a big charge.

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ashas wrote:

  On a side note, I still don't see how it is fair/legal to do what they are doing, as long as I make min payments on time, I'm not defaulting or going against the contract, but I'm sure there is some loop hole in the contract that allows them, but it's still crappy of them. 

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Fair, maybe not, but legal, perfectly.

I knew what Amex was like before I got the card, and I decided on balance that I still wanted it.

[Anonymous]

Your concern should not be whether they will raise the APR on you, as they often do much more than that.  Do a couple of searches here for the phrases "Amex F/R", "Financial Review", and "Chasing Balances" and you can read a few threads about what they like to do to cardholders who carry balances for a long time.

No, it's not fair, but if you wanted a card to carry a balance on for a while, Amex was probably not the best option.