Amex Advice

[jbsilva21]

So I was just approved for Delta Gold. I was feeling confident and apped for BCP and got denied. However I also have prequalified offers on their website and seems that I am “prequalified” for Amex Green or Gold charge card. Should I and if so which one? If not why? Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I would strongly suggest looking at the benefits/perks of the charge cards to see if they would be useful to you vs getting our opinion. I would say PRG because that would fit my spend habits better, but that might not be an asset to you. IMO 

[oldman425]

I really love my Amex Gold. 

[jbsilva21]

To be honest, I am not sure if it is a fit. Thing is I only use 1 card now and pif each week. I only charge between $1000 to $2500 at most. Only time I really carry a balance is vacation spend for 2-3 months. My goal is to get one of the Blue Cash cards, so is having the Delta and keeping in good standing for 6 months good enough or would having and using a charge card be a better/faster way to build a good internal score with them?

[bourgogne]

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@jbsilva21 wrote:

To be honest, I am not sure if it is a fit. Thing is I only use 1 card now and pif each week. I only charge between $1000 to $2500 at most. Only time I really carry a balance is vacation spend for 2-3 months. My goal is to get one of the Blue Cash cards, so is having the Delta and keeping in good standing for 6 months good enough or would having and using a charge card be a better/faster way to build a good internal score with them?

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unless ones has a $500 card weekly payments are overkill.  setting up a good patten is to use the card and pif it monthly.  if its a low cl card then max it out and pif as needed.  if you already have amex cards then pre-quals are moot to some extent as its generally a sp to app any card and sometimes a hp when you get it and sometimes not.  figure out what you want and app for it and if your profile supports it you will get it.  getting mr based cards makes little sense if you are looking at a blue which is cash for the future.  green is a zero imo and the prg is fine I guess for what it is.  I look at amex cards from a sub perspective but that is just me.  the only afs I have are a csr and ihg which mostly pay for themselves.  chargers are a snap to get, revolvers not as much with amex.  my advice is to have a clean file, zero bal with amex, low, like 1-2% overall and 720+ when apping for a amex revolver.  who needs a low sl and a wait every 6 months to wait for a possible cli?  better to come out of the gate with the best possible outcome.  imo

[jbsilva21]

Thank you for your sound advice. That’s why I love this forum!

[Anonymous]

What's your EX FICO8 score?

[bourgogne]

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@jbsilva21 wrote:
Thank you for your sound advice. That’s why I love this forum!

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@Anonymous is sounds @ 4:53a!  lol -- my advice after making a bunch of mistakes is don't collect cards, only get cards that serve a purpose.  cash, miles, mr/ur - figure out what world you want to be in and surround yourself with products that make sense.  i have a nfcu, penfed, cap1, ed, ihg, etc. that just sit in a zip lock. ~$150K of worthless cards.  well the ihg give me a free room a year, and the ed is a mr placeholder, but you get my point.  99% of my spend is an fu/csr deal.  the ink i have for cell insurance and shipping.  the freedom when a 5% cat pops up.  figure out if you want travel or cash and pursue it.  never be late.  there you have it, the key to credit haha.  take care

[jbsilva21]

Approved with 644 FICO EX. I think I am going to wait until I put some time on this Delta card and then go for the Blue Cash. The only reason I make the weekly payments is I get paid weekly and my Citi card has a low limit. I had been paying down balances that I let run up so I am around 45% UTL. I am trying to get in the habit of PIF and my wife and I have been really sticking to a budget which we have never done in the last 19 years. I don't even use the other cards anymore which is another reason I would like to get some other cards to replace those limits so I can close out the secured card and First Premier card. I know...that sounds horrible in an Amex thread. 

[Anonymous]

The BCP is a much tougher card to get than the Delta is, I believe.  So getting your FICO scores up higher will likely help, as will showing Amex good usage on your current card.  Do you have any other high utilization bringing your scores down or have you been practicing PIF+AZEO on your most recent credit bureau pull?

Is that 45% utilization across all limits or just the citi?  Please see my signature link below about why I don't like people posting just one utilization number as it isn't helpful for us to assist you.

Getting your utilization to AZEO should help you gain some points or even many points.  Amex soft pulls monthly to update your free FICO8 EX so it may take as long as 2 months to get Amex to notice an AZEO utilization level.