Amex charge card & overall credit ceiling

[red259]

Let's say you are at your max overall credit with Amex and one of your cards is a charge card. Since your charge card does not have a traditional credit limit (or at least on you can see) how much credit would you free up by closing the charge card? If the spend button says you can get approval for 20k  would that translate to 20k being freed up on account closure?

[jamesdwi]

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@red259 wrote:

Let's say you are at your max overall credit with Amex and one of your cards is a charge card. Since your charge card does not have a traditional credit limit (or at least on you can see) how much credit would you free up by closing the charge card? If the spend button says you can get approval for 20k  would that translate to 20k being freed up on account closure?

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Charge cards have a much lower risk profile, since they are only for a month, Closing the card may not get you anything with AMEX and may hurt your internal score, Since AMEX is not a fan of carying a balance on revolvers long term, having extreme CL's on amex cards really aren't all that useful, how hard would it be to pay down 20k in 6 months, unless you are baller status it may be better to have a large limit with a bank that is more friendly carrying a balance, but this is true for people that have a shorter relationship with AMEX. 

YMMV

[red259]

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@jamesdwi wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

Let's say you are at your max overall credit with Amex and one of your cards is a charge card. Since your charge card does not have a traditional credit limit (or at least on you can see) how much credit would you free up by closing the charge card? If the spend button says you can get approval for 20k  would that translate to 20k being freed up on account closure?

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Charge cards have a much lower risk profile, since they are only for a month, Closing the card may not get you anything with AMEX and may hurt your internal score, Since AMEX is not a fan of carying a balance on revolvers long term, having extreme CL's on amex cards really aren't all that useful, how hard would it be to pay down 20k in 6 months, unless you are baller status it may be better to have a large limit with a bank that is more friendly carrying a balance, but this is true for people that have a shorter relationship with AMEX. 

YMMV

I don't see why closing a charge card would hurt my internal Amex score, although I do agree it may not help. I find the value in high Amex lines to not so much be to use them (I agree Amex is not pro balance carrying), but instead with the 3x cli policy it helps me with overall credit util and the high limits help me get high limits from other lenders. 

[longtimelurker]

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@red259 wrote:

. I find the value in high Amex lines to not so much be to use them (I agree Amex is not pro balance carrying), but instead with the 3x cli policy it helps me with overall credit util and the high limits help me get high limits from other lenders. 

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I am always somewhat sceptical about "high limit with X helps me get high limits with Y" type stuff, but I would think it would be (even) less true with Amex.  WE know that it is relatively easy to get high limits from them, and I'm sure other issuers must know that too.  So like with a super-high limit from say NFCU, if issuers do pay attention (rather than making their own determinations based on institution guidelines) I would expect these limits to be somewhat discounted.

[jamesdwi]

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@longtimelurker wrote:

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@red259 wrote:

. I find the value in high Amex lines to not so much be to use them (I agree Amex is not pro balance carrying), but instead with the 3x cli policy it helps me with overall credit util and the high limits help me get high limits from other lenders. 

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I am always somewhat sceptical about "high limit with X helps me get high limits with Y" type stuff, but I would think it would be (even) less true with Amex.  WE know that it is relatively easy to get high limits from them, and I'm sure other issuers must know that too.  So like with a super-high limit from say NFCU, if issuers do pay attention (rather than making their own determinations based on institution guidelines) I would expect these limits to be somewhat discounted.

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AMEX limits do tend to be a bit higher, but I do believe they help. NFCU seem to be ignored by prime lenders see too many people around here with 20k on one or more  NFCU card(s), followed by 2k on capone, and 3k on chase.  

[Anonymous]

This isn't scientific or anything but I noticed when I closed my gold card, my spend power on the everyday went up around 5k more. It could have been a coincidence but now I'm able to spend around 12 over the cl with no problems. I'm hoping it gives me an increase next go around.

[Anonymous]

Oh, as Amex reps have told me, having one Amex card is generally less risky than multiple in the eyes of Amex.

[hyp0luxa]

I'd like to make a point re: high limits infuencing other lenders.

I have a Chase Freedom almost 1Y old, started at 2k now at 5k.

5 Months ago got NFCU 20k

Applied for CSP 2 weeks ago, approved for 16.8k. I have no other cards with 5 digits.

Higher limits beget higher limits.

[longtimelurker]

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@hyp0luxa wrote:

I'd like to make a point re: high limits infuencing other lenders.

I have a Chase Freedom almost 1Y old, started at 2k now at 5k.

5 Months ago got NFCU 20k

Applied for CSP 2 weeks ago, approved for 16.8k. I have no other cards with 5 digits.

Higher limits beget higher limits.

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MANY people have reported here that a second Chase card will often have much higher CLs than the first (so if you want an increase, don't ask for a CLI, get a new Chase card).  So this is part of the problem, every case has confounding factors.

My SM app (second last card) got a 5K limit, less than 1/2 of my second lowest limit and 1/10th of my highest.  So high limits beget lower limits.   About the same amount of evidence.