Amex best way to boost internal score

[bobbay]

I have a new Amex Delta gold and wanted to know what is the best way to manage the account.  I have charged a thousand or so and the statement will cut first week of march.  Do I PIF before the cut?  Do I pay it down and let it print with a low balance? Do I let it report a higher balance and take a small score hit and PIF post statement cut?

The reason I ask is because I would like to app for Costco TE and want to know the best pattern to show them the next 2 months before I app for Costco.  The primary reason is I will likely need to do an AC system by May and that will be $8k and I would like to put it through the Costco card if I can get it.

[Rhaeny]

Interested in this as well.....awaiting replies 

[NonSufficientFunds]

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@bobbay wrote:

I have a new Amex Delta gold and wanted to know what is the best way to manage the account.  I have charged a thousand or so and the statement will cut first week of march.  Do I PIF before the cut?  Do I pay it down and let it print with a low balance? Do I let it report a higher balance and take a small score hit and PIF post statement cut?

The reason I ask is because I would like to app for Costco TE and want to know the best pattern to show them the next 2 months before I app for Costco.  The primary reason is I will likely need to do an AC system by May and that will be $8k and I would like to put it through the Costco card if I can get it.

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AmEx often looks at reports that are a few months old.  They do this because they know that some customers will pay down their balances, in order to "look good" just before making an application for a new card.

They know that very recent activity is not as reliable an indicator of an individual's credit management behavior, as a random soft-pull during a time when the individual was not actively seeking new credit.

If you have been performing well on your existing AmEx account, and have not been making unusually large purchases, or seeking new credit in recent months, you will probably be approved.

If your application is declined - the letter they send you, will show what your credit score was on the date they looked at it (probably from three or four months ago).

Good Luck

[phonic]

The best way to boost your score is:

1) Use the card. The more the merrier.

2) Pay in full every month. Even on revolvers, Amex doesn't seem to like balances.

3) Rinse and repeat. History counts.

Do this every month and over time your 'score' with Amex will go up. 

Outside of the utilization factor on your CR, there is no reason to PIF before the statement is cut. As it's been discussed, Amex seems to care more about their internal scoring after you become a card member then external information (though recently posted derogatory reports will certainly cause problems). I've never PIF before the statement date on my Amex's and since I just got approved for a 3x CLI to $30k on my BCP, I don't think they seem to care.

Good luck!

[bobbay]

OK.  Thanks for the replies.  As for other months i PIF all the cards every month so they print with $0 bal.  I only run 1 account with a balance and it is a 0% deal for 12 months.  I only have $1k on there.  Everything else shows $0 across the board dispite pushing about $4k per month through cap one QS.

My other concern is that they don't see what I actually put through my cards.  For example other than cap one other creditors just think I dont use my cards but cap one knows I use it like mad.

I think I am hearing to let it print but PIF after the statement cuts.  So I will do that to the extent those numbers report below 10% gross Util. so I dont get a external score ding.