Closing AMEX Gold/Opening AMEX Blue Cash

[ACsteel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@LS2982 wrote:

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@webhopper wrote:

If I were you I would try to get the BOA tradeline removed, since you were 16 at the time, you shouldn't have had an account with your name on it...

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Thats an excellent point there!

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Is this something that I would do through BoA, or through the credit bureaus? Sorry, I'm new to this game. And whoever it is, should I just explain that it was an authorized user account when I wasn't even a legal adult and had no control over the bill pay? Something along those lines?

And this has been posted in another thread, but just in case someone misses that one and sees it here, I applied for the BCE card, but I didnt get instant approval so I have a feeling I may be denied. Should I try for the Chase Freedom (or another recommendation) before I get a possible rejection from AMEX?

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Before you try, call AMEX directly and ask, I myself did not get instant approval but when I called I found out not only was I approved but I was with a very generous CL.  If you did get rejected try chase freedom, however I'll warn you that they are not that easy of an approver as well. 

As an alternative, one card that I like and I prefer over the freedom is my chase amazon, I get 3x pts on amazon purchases (which I do a lot of), 2x pts on restaurants (which btw also includes fast food and other small places), 2x points on gas ,2x pts drug store (use all the time in walgreens), 2xpts office stores (office max), and 1x pt everything else (keep in mind the point conversion for paying bills/ gift cards is 1pt:1cent ). Also through these forums it seems users had an easier time getting the chase amazon.  If you still have an itch for the rotating categories(which I do not prefer over static categories) of the Freedom you MIGHT, not sure, be able to PC it in the future to a freedom card.

[Anonymous]

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@angelnyc wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Where did you get that he would have to spend 35k annually to make back the AF? MR points can easily be redeemed for 2c each, even if they were only 1c each you would only have to spend 17.5k to earn the AF back at only 1ppd.  

The whole point in the PRG is to earn more than 1ppd, you can easily earn the fee back with under 10k in spend in the right categories.  Significantly less than that if you can find a good redemption value for the MR points.

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OK let me provide a very specific example.  Let's say you have your PRG card and for year 1 you did not travel anywhere (3x points) and you use mass transportation (2x points for gas, we are also assuming you use a better card for supermarkets like BCE or any of the better options out there).  That means all your purchases fall under the 1 point category for the PRG.

Let us talk about PURE CASH b/c that is what the MAJORITY of people want = ).

You would have to spend 20,000 dollars for 20,000 points to get a 100 dollar AMEX gift card.  That is .005% percent cash back for each dollar spent in the aforementioned way (yes, quite laughable).

I am making the assumption the OP wants cash back, also keep in mind the OP doesn't even have a PRG he has the regular gold card which means he will only ever get 1 point per dollar spent.  Using the above example OP has to spend 25,000 dollars to make his 125 back, that is just to break even (oh and keep in mind amex only does specific denominations for their AMEX gift cards, you can not liquidate points to the tee).

Now if you want to help OP out by providing how OP can beat the annual fee and make out lovely, please provide specific examples and scenarios that you think this college student would be interested in.

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If you are wantng straight cash back you can sell your points online,  I just pulled up the first broker site and they are buying MR points for 1.4 cents per point.  This would mean you would only have to spend 6786$ yearly on the green card or 12,500$ for the PRG (only 9375$ if 25% of your spend is on gas and assuming no spend for airfare)

I'm sorry but people don't get AMEX Charge cards for cash back, they get the card for the ability to spend above and beyond average credit lines and becasue of the value of the MR points for travel.  If you don't like AMEX it's easy to bash their card but in all reality the AF can be easily justified (especially for the Green card).

[Alcibiades]

There are two general rules when evaluating whether or not to pay for an Amex charge card

1) Generally, the more you spend, the more valuable the reward structure of Amex charge cards are

2) Membership Rewards points are more valuable when used for booking travel by transferring to partner airlines and hotels

It doesn't seem like the OP spends a whole lot, and he hasn't seemed to express interest in transferring points for travel. Based on those two, he may not get a lot of out of the Gold Card, so he could be better off cancelling versus paying the fee. The Amex credit cards do given you benefits of extended warranty and such, so you do get a lot fo the benefits back with the Blue Cash.

The main exception is if you need the spending tradeline and don't have access to enough other credit. In that case, a charge card could be valuable.

[Anonymous]

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@angelnyc wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@LS2982 wrote:

---

@webhopper wrote:

If I were you I would try to get the BOA tradeline removed, since you were 16 at the time, you shouldn't have had an account with your name on it...

---

Thats an excellent point there!

---

Is this something that I would do through BoA, or through the credit bureaus? Sorry, I'm new to this game. And whoever it is, should I just explain that it was an authorized user account when I wasn't even a legal adult and had no control over the bill pay? Something along those lines?

And this has been posted in another thread, but just in case someone misses that one and sees it here, I applied for the BCE card, but I didnt get instant approval so I have a feeling I may be denied. Should I try for the Chase Freedom (or another recommendation) before I get a possible rejection from AMEX?

---

Before you try, call AMEX directly and ask, I myself did not get instant approval but when I called I found out not only was I approved but I was with a very generous CL.  If you did get rejected try chase freedom, however I'll warn you that they are not that easy of an approver as well. 

As an alternative, one card that I like and I prefer over the freedom is my chase amazon, I get 3x pts on amazon purchases (which I do a lot of), 2x pts on restaurants (which btw also includes fast food and other small places), 2x points on gas ,2x pts drug store (use all the time in walgreens), 2xpts office stores (office max), and 1x pt everything else (keep in mind the point conversion for paying bills/ gift cards is 1pt:1cent ). Also through these forums it seems users had an easier time getting the chase amazon.  If you still have an itch for the rotating categories(which I do not prefer over static categories) of the Freedom you MIGHT, not sure, be able to PC it in the future to a freedom card.

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I was just approved today for the BCE! I did what you said actually, I called and the guy put me on hold and then congratulated me with an approval! He didn't tell me my CL, even when I asked he said it would be in my envelope. With this approval, do you think my odds are better for the Freedom?

I was thinking about the Amazon card actually. I too do a lot of purchasing on Amazon, in fact I have a Prime account. I will certainly look into that!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@angelnyc wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

---

@LS2982 wrote:

---

@webhopper wrote:

If I were you I would try to get the BOA tradeline removed, since you were 16 at the time, you shouldn't have had an account with your name on it...

---

Thats an excellent point there!

---

Is this something that I would do through BoA, or through the credit bureaus? Sorry, I'm new to this game. And whoever it is, should I just explain that it was an authorized user account when I wasn't even a legal adult and had no control over the bill pay? Something along those lines?

And this has been posted in another thread, but just in case someone misses that one and sees it here, I applied for the BCE card, but I didnt get instant approval so I have a feeling I may be denied. Should I try for the Chase Freedom (or another recommendation) before I get a possible rejection from AMEX?

---

Before you try, call AMEX directly and ask, I myself did not get instant approval but when I called I found out not only was I approved but I was with a very generous CL.  If you did get rejected try chase freedom, however I'll warn you that they are not that easy of an approver as well. 

As an alternative, one card that I like and I prefer over the freedom is my chase amazon, I get 3x pts on amazon purchases (which I do a lot of), 2x pts on restaurants (which btw also includes fast food and other small places), 2x points on gas ,2x pts drug store (use all the time in walgreens), 2xpts office stores (office max), and 1x pt everything else (keep in mind the point conversion for paying bills/ gift cards is 1pt:1cent ). Also through these forums it seems users had an easier time getting the chase amazon.  If you still have an itch for the rotating categories(which I do not prefer over static categories) of the Freedom you MIGHT, not sure, be able to PC it in the future to a freedom card.

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I was just approved today for the BCE! I did what you said actually, I called and the guy put me on hold and then congratulated me with an approval! He didn't tell me my CL, even when I asked he said it would be in my envelope. With this approval, do you think my odds are better for the Freedom?

I was thinking about the Amazon card actually. I too do a lot of purchasing on Amazon, in fact I have a Prime account. I will certainly look into that!

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You could call back in and ask for your credit line.

[ACsteel]

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@Anonymous wrote:

---

@angelnyc wrote:

---

@Anonymous wrote:

---

@LS2982 wrote:

---

@webhopper wrote:

If I were you I would try to get the BOA tradeline removed, since you were 16 at the time, you shouldn't have had an account with your name on it...

---

Thats an excellent point there!

---

Is this something that I would do through BoA, or through the credit bureaus? Sorry, I'm new to this game. And whoever it is, should I just explain that it was an authorized user account when I wasn't even a legal adult and had no control over the bill pay? Something along those lines?

And this has been posted in another thread, but just in case someone misses that one and sees it here, I applied for the BCE card, but I didnt get instant approval so I have a feeling I may be denied. Should I try for the Chase Freedom (or another recommendation) before I get a possible rejection from AMEX?

---

Before you try, call AMEX directly and ask, I myself did not get instant approval but when I called I found out not only was I approved but I was with a very generous CL.  If you did get rejected try chase freedom, however I'll warn you that they are not that easy of an approver as well. 

As an alternative, one card that I like and I prefer over the freedom is my chase amazon, I get 3x pts on amazon purchases (which I do a lot of), 2x pts on restaurants (which btw also includes fast food and other small places), 2x points on gas ,2x pts drug store (use all the time in walgreens), 2xpts office stores (office max), and 1x pt everything else (keep in mind the point conversion for paying bills/ gift cards is 1pt:1cent ). Also through these forums it seems users had an easier time getting the chase amazon.  If you still have an itch for the rotating categories(which I do not prefer over static categories) of the Freedom you MIGHT, not sure, be able to PC it in the future to a freedom card.

---

I was just approved today for the BCE! I did what you said actually, I called and the guy put me on hold and then congratulated me with an approval! He didn't tell me my CL, even when I asked he said it would be in my envelope. With this approval, do you think my odds are better for the Freedom?

I was thinking about the Amazon card actually. I too do a lot of purchasing on Amazon, in fact I have a Prime account. I will certainly look into that!

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CONGRATS! NP I'm happy to have helped again   . Yes your odds are probably favorable then to get a freedom, however continue to consider the chase amazon, especially since you have a Prime account (as do I). I will let you know that the interface on Amazon when finalizing purchases is very friendly when using the chase amazon card, for example on your check out it shows you automatically how much of a discount you would get if you wanted to use your points. Those 3x points really add up quickly if you use Amazon and you never have to worry about annual fees or rotating categories, just link your amazon account to that card, and remember when your at a drug store or a restaurant/fast food/diner to use your amazon card.

[Anonymous]

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@angelnyc wrote:

CONGRATS! NP I'm happy to have helped again   . Yes your odds are probably favorable then to get a freedom, however continue to consider the chase amazon, especially since you have a Prime account (as do I). I will let you know that the interface on Amazon when finalizing purchases is very friendly when using the chase amazon card, for example on your check out it shows you automatically how much of a discount you would get if you wanted to use your points. Those 3x points really add up quickly if you use Amazon and you never have to worry about annual fees or rotating categories, just link your amazon account to that card, and remember when your at a drug store or a restaurant/fast food/diner to use your amazon card.

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Great! I will look into both and gather further opinions, but I may just go ahead and go with the Amazon card, and then save my "normal" Chase card for the CSP in a year or two. I actually already have about $95 of built up Amazon dollars with my AMEX Gold. The point conversion is incredibly better than regular gift cards. I only have about 13,000 points and it got me $95 for Amazon, meanwhile 10,000 points is only good for a $50 gift card. I believe it is only for us Prime holders though.

[Anonymous]

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ryanbush wrote:

You could call back in and ask for your credit line.

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Yep, I just did that and they told me it was $2k. Not the greatest, but I guess for my first actual credit card, not too shabby. I think I'm decided on the Amazon Visa, but I think Chase pulls from EX too, and I just got this one for the BCE so I'm not sure if that's the greatest idea, but I would like to get all my apps out of the way now, so I can hit the garden for a while.