Best timing to Check Spending Power on AMEX

[HHH71]

I was talking to an Amex rep after I got my platinum card. I told him I had heard that using the spending power could have a negative result. He laughed and said no, that's what it's for. I said so I can check as much as I want and expect nothing negative? He said yes. Now I don't really trust customer service reps, they are often poorly trained and unaware. But I do believe him that you can use the feature without worry of a negative consequence. I still think if you overuse it, some flag would be raised. I've had the card 4 months and only checked it once out of curiosity. I put $40,000 in and it said approved. I'm not sure how the algorithm works, some multiple of your spend over a period of time.....

[UncleB]

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@ChargedUp wrote:

You can also check your Pay over Time limit if you want an idea what Amex is comfortable with. Mine is still sitting at $35K, so I know I have at least that available on Gold.

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Just FYI, your Pay Over Time limit is how much they will let you pay over time, it's not (necessarily) how much they'll approve at any one time.

My own POT limit is also $35k, and I'm extremely confident they would shut me down long before I even got close to charging that amount in a month.

Of course for some people the POT might be the same as their spending ceiling, and there are many on here who have a spending limit higher than their POT limit.  If one is in doubt or has problems with accessing the online tool they really should make a quick call to Amex to know for sure.

[UncleB]

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@HHH71 wrote:

I was talking to an Amex rep after I got my platinum card. I told him I had heard that using the spending power could have a negative result. He laughed and said no, that's what it's for. I said so I can check as much as I want and expect nothing negative? He said yes. Now I don't really trust customer service reps, they are often poorly trained and unaware. But I do believe him that you can use the feature without worry of a negative consequence. I still think if you overuse it, some flag would be raised. I've had the card 4 months and only checked it once out of curiosity. I put $40,000 in and it said approved. I'm not sure how the algorithm works, some multiple of your spend over a period of time.....

A member who used to be an Amex customer service rep clarified here:  https://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-The-Check-Spending-Power-tool/m-p/5480016#M161800... 

Basically playing with the tool isn't going to directly cause a Financial Review, but once you're locked out (due to multiple requests) the account is flagged for a look by Responsible Lending, which is the group that does FRs.

[NRB525]

Got the auto repairs done, swiped for $9k no issues.

Used the $0 fee Plan It to set up 12 monthly payments. Offer was 3 months, 6 months or 12 months.

Saved a $868 Plan It fee over the 12 months if I were charged for that. 9.5% general funding amount, which isn't bad, although the actual interest rate is higher because the balance declines over the 12 months, monthly fee stays the same.