Approved for BCE - Best Practices for growing with AMEX?

[Anonymous]

Hi all, I was approved today for the BCE, my first account with AMEX.  I'm interested in growing this card and upgrading to BCP and beyond in the future.  Curious on best practices as far as account activity for CLIs, upgrades, etc.  For example, charge close to credit limit every month and pay in full after statement cuts, before statement cuts, charge a more conservative amount, etc. etc.?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the approval.  Just be responsible with the card thus, paying on time, abiding by the terms and considtions etc. and you will be fine.  People say Amex doesn't like people carrying a balance but to me it is a myth.

Do what makes you comfortable when it comes to carrying a balance.  As for charging close to the limit, make sure you have the ability to pay it back otherwise, Amex will be spooked out being it a new card.

[Anonymous]

Congrats! Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Right.  I will, of course, be responsible.  My average monthly CC spend is $4,000 - $5,000, which i pay in full 98% of the time.  My quesiton is more on how to behave with the BCE, especially relative to allowing 90% util balances to report on a statement vs paying in full before the statement closes.  I guess this is a question for most CC's in general, although I usually PIF before statement on my Discover IT and have more than doubled my CL in the past 3 years with very little effort.

Just kind of thinking out loud with this thread!!

[Anonymous]

I agree with carrying a balance or paying in full. I received auto increase with a balance reporting and making large payments. Not always pay in full. Either way shouldn't be a problem

[RonM21]

Glad you asked this question. I'm about a couple of weeks from applying for this same card, and it'll be my first AMEX. Like anyone else, I'd like to grow it.

[galahad15]

Congrats!! 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't think charging anywhere near your CL is necessary in order to achieve nice growth.

Say your CL is $10k, no way would most people put $10k through the card per month.  That's $120k per year, so you'd have to be earning probably $200k a year to make that happen.  Sure, there are a few people out there that might be doing this, but the majority I'm sure are not.

I'm putting about $1500-$2000 through my BCE per month (never exceeding 20% utilization, but always PIF) and I expect plenty of growth with that in time.