Amex limits and future apps

[MrDisco99]

Amex has been pretty good to me on limits, more so than any other lender.  Currently, I have:

BCE - $12,000

EDP - $20,000

PRG - NPSL

Green - NPSL

Hilton - $15,000

I want to apply for a SkyMiles card next month.  I heard it's hard to get more than total $35,000 from them, and I'm already well past that.  My income is at $102K and my total utilization is under 1%.  I have some balance on the EDP but I'll have it paid down to zero by then.  I have lots of new accounts and inquiries, but I hear Amex doesn't care about those much.

What's my likelihood of getting approved?  Would it help to lower some of my limits first?

[bhill40]

I would, because more than likely you will get a FR and accounts will be frozen until the review is complete!!

[Anonymous]

---

@bhill40 wrote:

I would, because more than likely you will get a FR and accounts will be frozen until the review is complete!!

---

That’s not true at all.

First this mythical $35K overall limit is another one of the many urban legends about Amex.  Many people, including myself,  have well over $35K in total limits with Amex and have never been FRed or asked to verify income.  Where the $35K limit comes into play is that sometimes (certainly not all the time) if you ask for a limit in an individual card over $35K then Amex may request income verification.

Secondly, and I have stated this many times, but being asked for income verification because you are asking for a high limit is not a Financial Review (FR).  When Amex asks for income verification they do it in one of two ways.  The most common is via form 4506-T which gives them access to your tax returns.  The second is to provide bank statements. You can agree to the request(s) and Amex can either grant you higher limits. Lower your existing ones or do nothing.  Still this is almost always an optional choice and you’ll be able to continue to use your cards even if you don’t provide the tax form.

A FR is a completely different beast and while it may also include a request for income verification it is much more in depth and your accounts are typically locked during the review.  There is nothing optional here.  If you don’t provide whatever Amex requests, then it’s very likely your accounts will be shut down until such time that you provide the requested information.

@MrDisco99  There is no reason to lower your existing limits.  Amex will, if necessary, reallocate limits on their own in order to approve you for another card.  Good luck when you apply.

[Anonymous]

Is there an actual limit to how many cards you can get from Amex? For debate purposes, can an individual literally have every single Amex card?

[Anonymous]

I recently got denied from
Amex for "Inadequate relovling bank card balances" I have 5 Charge (1Platinum Personal, 2 Plum
business, 1 Green Business, 1 Gold Business & 1 Simply Cash Business)

None of them have ever been paid late. Never carry a balance on the Simply Cash. The told me to many inquires and the no bank card balances.

[Anonymous]

I have 6, 1 Personal & 5 Business

[UncleB]

---

@Anonymous wrote:
Is there an actual limit to how many cards you can get from Amex? For debate purposes, can an individual literally have every single Amex card?

---

There used to be a limit on the number of revolvers, but it seems to have been relaxed somewhat from the old 'rules'. 

Here's an article from DoC from 2016:  https://www.doctorofcredit.com/american-express-relaxing-four-credit-card-limit/

Just based on what I've read in various places five revolvers seem to be attainable without too much effort (the limit was once four), with the occasional report of more than five.

[NRB525]

OP you are at 3 Revolvers, should be no issue getting a 4th. I have four plus the PRG.

As to limits, I got approved through the 4 Revolvers and they totalled $37k with no sort of income verification questions. Then went through some minor CLI requests, reallocations of limits, and now am at $50k total across the 4 Revolvers, 2 at $20k and 2 at $5k.