Amex and Discover - Which app first?

[Anonymous]

In about a month, my credit report will be cleared of my last baddie.

And shortly after, I'll be off to Asia for a long-term assignment.

I'm hoping to app for a Delta Amex (it'll be my first Amex) and a Discover card.  Haven't figured out which flavor of Discover yet.

Does it matter who I app with first?  I'll have to have both apps in within a few weeks of each other at most.

[LS2982]

I would go back to back AMEX first. With it being your 1st you may want to go charge card then revolver later.

[spengbab]

If it helps, Discover charges no fees for transactions in a foreign country. I know if you go to China, Discover has an agreement with one of the major payment networks over there. But there are a lot of mom and pop stores so cash is always helpful. Amex charges 2.7% I believe.

If you plan on spending a lot, the motiva sounds good. I have the More card and I love it. Discover and AMEX are very good companies. You will be satisfied with them. I got in with AMEX with no credit card history and a credit score of 641. I got in with Discover with a credit score of 652. 

[boomhower]

Amex, they are far and away a lot pickier than Discover.  If your looking for something to use overseas and your credit is up to snuff the Capitol One Venture is worth a look.  Pretty decent rewards and no foreign transaction fees.

[LS2982]

@spengbab Congrats on getting in with no CC's! Thats a achievement!

[trumpet-205]

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@spengbab wrote:

If it helps, Discover charges no fees for transactions in a foreign country. I know if you go to China, Discover has an agreement with one of the major payment networks over there. But there are a lot of mom and pop stores so cash is always helpful. Amex charges 2.7% I believe.

If you plan on spending a lot, the motiva sounds good. I have the More card and I love it. Discover and AMEX are very good companies. You will be satisfied with them. I got in with AMEX with no credit card history and a credit score of 641. I got in with Discover with a credit score of 652. 

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Problem with that is US based Discover card has yet to have EMV. Which means in Europe it is not widely accepted.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, I apped for my Discover card a week before I apped for AMEX.

But I would have probably done it AMEX, followed by Discover on the same day, if I did it all over again.

[h4ldol]

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@boomhower wrote:

Amex, they are far and away a lot pickier than Discover.  If your looking for something to use overseas and your credit is up to snuff the Capitol One Venture is worth a look.  Pretty decent rewards and no foreign transaction fees.

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One of the seemingly few good things about Capital One is that they don't charge foreign transaction fees for any of their cards.  Their Cash Back card looks good too, with no quarterly limits and a 50% year end bonus on cash back earned during the year (which sounds too good to be true -- essentially 1.5% cash back then).

[Anonymous]

Wow - Thanks for the great input.

When my last baddie falls off, I think my FICO will be in the upper 700's.  (It temporarily dropped off earlier, but came back, and this was where my score was without it.)

Cap One has me blacklisted.  If they ever forgive me, I'd like to try for their Venture card.

I'm currently a Delta Platinum Medallion member, so I'm really hoping AmEx Delta will take me. 

So, I'll shoot for the AmEx Delta first.  If I don't get in, I'll try for a charge.  Then I'll app for Discover same day.

Have got to do some homework to decipher which Discover will work best.....still not sure how much charging I'll be able to do in China.

[trumpet-205]

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@h4ldol wrote:

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@boomhower wrote:

Amex, they are far and away a lot pickier than Discover.  If your looking for something to use overseas and your credit is up to snuff the Capitol One Venture is worth a look.  Pretty decent rewards and no foreign transaction fees.

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One of the seemingly few good things about Capital One is that they don't charge foreign transaction fees for any of their cards.  Their Cash Back card looks good too, with no quarterly limits and a 50% year end bonus on cash back earned during the year (which sounds too good to be true -- essentially 1.5% cash back then).

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Same thing. Capital One has yet to adopt EMV standard. Which means it is not foreign friendly.