BCE DECLINE! Have a few questions...

[Revelate]

Pretty much what enharu said; Z, you likely obtained the Gold with some signup bonus and that costs Amex some amount of money, as does keeping the account open unused, though the core point that enharu made is likely the most important: any credit extension that is made and is not used at all, is effectively dead capital that the lender is better off recycling to another user.  It's why cards get closed for inactivity, otherwise they'd stay open basically forever (marketing / cost of acquisition >. cost of automatic statement generation and utterly marginal storage overhead, almost assuredly).

From your statements you're better off with Chase, nobody can fault you for making use of the Freedom/CSP combo for your primary spending... even I'm headed down that route probably in another year or so assuming I can meet the minimum underwriting standards for the CSP at that point.  

Simply don't expect Amex to reward you for that behavior; I think you may want to try the two step, either Delta or BCP, and then 13 months later or whatever PC to the BCE if that's the goal card.  That may be a shorter walk than continuing to apply for the BCE... or maybe you get it on the next try, I can't predict Amex's behavior in this case other than to say they know you're spending the bulk of your money with their competitor, and you'll likely have to earn their business in some form or fashion... a card with an AF that you're paying in the first year, might be enough to get them to make the credit extension.  I may be wrong in your acquisition tactics, but I don't think I'm mistaken in how Amex views you as a poor customer, and until your spending habits change, not certain their viewpoint is going to.

It's not personal, it's just business; just as you've made the rational decision (and correct one in my opinion) to wrap your arms around Chase, Amex is doing the same regarding your applications.  Really if you just are looking for the rewards, a BOFA 1-2-3 Cash is probably a shoe-in for you.  

FWIW my post was probably ruder than yours, no worries .

[zeusta20]

AHHHH! Gotcha!

That makes a whole lot more sense. Thanks Enharu, lexie, and Revelate...all that makes a lot more sense to me now.

Well, I truly do want to get in with an amex revolver. Specifically for the cash back. I know that I earn more with Chase,  but my main tactic was to use the 3% cash back on gas purchases during the quarters that the freedom doesn't offer the 5%. I wanted the BCE specifically for gas and groceries as well. That way I'm maximizing every little category out there. If i'm not going to get 5% from my Freedom, then I might as well still maximize my earnings and get 3% cash back. I guess I'll just wait it out. The new quarter just started anyways, so i'll be using my freedom for all gas purchases. Hopefully by the time October comes, where I no longer get the 5%, i'll be able to finally get in with the BCE. Only time will tell...

[enharu]

If getting 3% is your only priority, I would recommend you just use your CSP instead and not bother with BCE. Since you fly united / southwest a lot, you can transfer CSP points over. If redeemed the right way, each UR point is essentially at least 3 cents per point, making it an effective 3.21% (factored in 7% dividend) cashback card in the worst case scenario. Well, the other way to look at it is that the BCE gives you 3% back as cold hard cash while the CSP is a little more complicated with having to redeem it for a flight to make redemption value on par. But at the same time one can easily can more than 3ccp with UR points.

Now, if you are talking about BCP instead which has 6% cashback for groceries, then that's a better deal than using the CSP.

[Open123]

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@zeusta20 wrote:

Gosh...I wish they did! Is it possible for Amex to recon??? Or do they normally just stick to what the first decision was?

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Ordinarily, Amex would only reconsider a decision if the credit report they used to evaluate your application was inaccurate.

With Amex, it's all about spending.  Their business model is first and foremost a "spend-centric" one.  Charging an annual fee, tightly controlled risk with the NPSL (lack of transparency), and the chance to build their internal risk scores for potential cardmembers is why I suspect they offer the "charge" card so much more liberally than their revolvers.

More so than any other issuer, Amex (like Amazon) gathers comprehensive data on everything you can imagine; this ranges from spend amount, geographic location, avg spending and payment frequency, types of charges to where you charge, and many more. This makes up their internal risk, transactional, and behavioral scores, not to mention their income and asset scores.

For new cardmembers, initially with the charge card, all they have on you is the amount you spend, where you spent it, and what you spent it on. If you're on the "fringe," these factors may play a part.

PS - Of course, I'm sure there's someone out there who applied for the Green, got the fee waived, never used the card, etc...only to be approved for a $25K CL for a no fee revolver, but in "general," the above is true.