Discover / AMEX Pre Approval

[Anonymous]

I got pre-approved for a Discover Chrome Card as well as a Discover It Balance Transfer Card.  I also got pre-qualified for an AMEX Gold Delta Card, Green Card or Gold Card. 

Wondering which pre-approvals are the most reliable as well as which card you would recommend I go with.  The AMEX Delta card is very appealing since I travel quite a bit with Delta, however, I would really like to apply for one that is a pretty reliable approval. 

[PointsBonus]

Discover for me was solid.

AMEX for me was solid as well.

[Anonymous]

^^^ same here. I was approved for every Amex I wanted when using the “you’re preapproved” links. With Disco, a preapproval with a specific listed APR rather than an APR range is solid too. Very few people get these preapprovals and are then denied.

[Anonymous]

Discover showed an APR the AMEX did not (at least I didn’t see) but I used the - pre- approved links.
What one would you recommend I apply for first and then how long should I wait before I apply for the other?

[Anonymous]

It depends on your profile. What cards do you have currently that were opened in the last six months? Neither Amex nor Discover is particularly sensitive to inquiries. Do you have other goal cards that fall under lender rules such as Chase’s 5/24 rule? If not and if you don’t have excessive numbers of accounts opened in the last 6-12 months, get ‘em both. App for Disco first - they like to be your first “big kid” card so don’t let them see your HP from Amex (there’s a chance they’ll give you a better SL if they think they’ll have no competition from another prime lender). Get Disco, then pick your Amex afterward.

[Anonymous]

I have a Citibank Diamond Preferred card and 2 Capital Ones. No inquiries or cards in the last 6 months +
I’m not familiar with the 5/24 rule

[Anonymous]

In that case, you’re good. As for Chase’s 5/24, it basically means that if you’ve opened 5 accounts in the last 24 months, you’ll be automatically declined for their cards.

[FieryDance]

If you decide to go with Discover I recommend the Cash Back instead of the Chrome.  You get 10% Cashback the first year which is unparalleled.  

The Chrome is a very anemic card without any exciting rewards categories. It was also my first big kid card when I first got it over 9 years ago without thinking ahead.  But now it is quite useless except for the age.  I am product changing it but I will never get a chance for 10% Rewards. 

[KJinNC]

By 10%, you mean in the rotating 5% categories plus the cash-back match at the end of your first year, I assume. Right now, restaurants and Paypal are 5%. The other version is always 2% restaurants and gas, which you also double in the first year.

With Amex, my profile is unusual so my experience may not be typical, but, I was "prequalified" for the Amex Delta, applied, and was instantly rejected. I called in and requested reconsideration. A week later, I got a letter in the mail saying they stood by their decision to reject my application. The same day I received the letter, I happened to notice that I was "preapproved" for a bunch of Amex cards including Delta Gold. I applied and was instantly approved. The only two things that had changed were that my Amex Gold card went from just under a month old to just over a month old, and I closed a Cap 1 secured card.

And, still right now, I am preapproved for a number of Amex cards (like Delta Platinum), but NOT prequalified for anything.

So as far as I can tell, "prequalified" and "preapproved" are not based on the same factors and are almost unrelated to each other, and "prequalified" is meaningless as far as what you'd actually be approved for, while "preapproved" is very meaningful. YMMV.

[SEAlifer]

If you use Delta a lot, I think if you can get a sign up bonus you could go for that. If you travel internationally the Delta Amex is cool as it has no foreign transaction fees. The downside is you only get 1 mile per dollar spent on the Delta Amex unless it's a Delta flight then you get 2%. The Discover it, however, has cashback match after your first year, 1% on everything and 5% on pretty useful categories; this year it was grocery stores, then gas stations, right now it's restaurants and in the last quarter it will be Amazon, Target and Walmart. So the first year you're either getting 2% or 10% on everything. Then you can apply for a second Disco after your first year and qualify for the cashback all over again.

Personally I did the Disco first and I'll sign up for the Delta Amex the next time I want to fly with them. Where I'm at I tend to use Alaska Airlines mostly but Delta is pretty anxious to get my as a customer based on all of their targeted marketing.