Getting into Amex Family

[jmcmillan]

As @Horseshoez mentioned, getting an Amex isn't all that difficult if your credit is decent. I'm surprised they have a reputation of being a super conservative lender. They approved me with OK credit when others like Discover and Citi wouldn’t approve me for a card. Hell, I think even Capital One refused to give me a Venture card at the time. The only time Amex becomes difficult is when they get spooked by your spending and ask for your tax transcripts. They did this to me, and I refused to provide this documentation, so I closed the card. A few months later, I applied for the same card and they approved me again lol.

[Herb8108]

Wow that's crazy I never applied but that's because I want to make sure everything looks picture perfect I don't want to get inquiries unless I'm sure they will approve me, everyone I've spoken to has let me know how strict they are and not to apply unless everything looks really good but then I've spoken to people with scores in the 640 range and heard that they have gotten approvals from them. 

I also heard that if you apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other they run it as a single inquiry I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard so many different things about them I just don't want to take the chance yet until I get a few more collections off.

[coldfusion]

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@Herb8108 wrote:

Wow that's crazy I never applied but that's because I want to make sure everything looks picture perfect I don't want to get inquiries unless I'm sure they will approve me, everyone I've spoken to has let me know how strict they are and not to apply unless everything looks really good but then I've spoken to people with scores in the 640 range and heard that they have gotten approvals from them. 

I also heard that if you apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other they run it as a single inquiry I'm not sure how true that is but I've heard so many different things about them I just don't want to take the chance yet until I get a few more collections off.

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it's possible to be approved for an AMEX card when cold-apping with an EX FICO 8 score in the 640s but the odds are much better if it is closer to the 680-690 range.  If you have a preapproval and you did not previously burn them the odds of approval are good even with a score in the 640s..

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "apply for multiple Amex cards one after the other" but regardless of the meaning whomever told you that is ill-informed.     The closest reality is that once you have been approved as a cardholder it is likely, but in no way guaranteed, that any given additional application will only trigger a soft pull.   There are multiple members here who can confirm from personal experience that they can and sometimes do hard pull a credit report when an existing cardholder applies for a different card.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

Approved for delta gold with a 641 and super dirty, thick file. Gold and platinum delta approved a year and a half later on the same day with a 625. Product changed delta gold to Delta reserve. Have no idea what score was. They're currently offering me an upgrade from gold to platinum. Scores are just below 700 and I can't get a pre-approval for any core cards. Though, they've basically never pre-approved me for any of their cards.

Also, as mentioned above, I received a HP once on a denied app for gold. All other apps were SP.

[W261w261]

@jmcmillan  If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?

[jmcmillan]

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@W261w261 wrote:

@jmcmillan  If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?

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One of my authorized users essentially got a cash advance by paying himself through PayPal using the card.

[Horseshoez]

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@jmcmillan wrote:

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@W261w261 wrote:

@jmcmillan  If I could ask, what was it about your spending that you believe spooked Amex enough to ask for tax info?

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One of my authorized users essentially got a cash advance by paying himself through PayPal using the card.

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Definitely a Bozo-No-No!  Let me guess, that AU is no longer an AU on any of your accounts.

[W261w261]

I got approved for the EveryDay card about 4 years ago, and I'm sure my score was in the very low 600's.  Eventually they offered me the Preferred version, but the credit line stayed glued at 1k.  It's a great card, all you have to do is use it 30x per month and the points earned during that month are increased by 50%.  So that means 4.5% on groceries (up to 6k), 3% on gas, 1.5% on all else. It's a good foot in the door.  You can live with the low spend limit because they credit payments immediately.  Just don't ever bounce one!  While I had just that Amex card, I diligently worked at paying off all my cards, practiced AZEO, handled a charge-off, went to NFCU and took out a share-secured installment loan, and watched my score move over about 8 mos up to 712.  At that point I apped and got a Gold card and a Delta Reserve card, so I'm playing with the bigger boys and girls now, albeit with a 5k limit on the Delta card, but a spend limit of 25k on the Gold (it's a charge card - pay it off every month).  I still get a thrill when I pull out the violet Delta card, sometimes people comment.  I think of faraway places because of the 80k SUB on it, along with the 60k SUB on the Gold.  Bottom line, it's a great bank to do business with as long as you don't indulge in any funny business.

[jmcmillan]

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@Horseshoez wrote:

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Definitely a Bozo-No-No!  Let me guess, that AU is no longer an AU on any of your accounts.

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You would be correct.

[Herb8108]

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@W261w261 wrote:

I got approved for the EveryDay card about 4 years ago, and I'm sure my score was in the very low 600's.  Eventually they offered me the Preferred version, but the credit line stayed glued at 1k.  It's a great card, all you have to do is use it 30x per month and the points earned during that month are increased by 50%.  So that means 4.5% on groceries (up to 6k), 3% on gas, 1.5% on all else. It's a good foot in the door.  You can live with the low spend limit because they credit payments immediately.  Just don't ever bounce one!  While I had just that Amex card, I diligently worked at paying off all my cards, practiced AZEO, handled a charge-off, went to NFCU and took out a share-secured installment loan, and watched my score move over about 8 mos up to 712.  At that point I apped and got a Gold card and a Delta Reserve card, so I'm playing with the bigger boys and girls now, albeit with a 5k limit on the Delta card, but a spend limit of 25k on the Gold (it's a charge card - pay it off every month).  I still get a thrill when I pull out the violet Delta card, sometimes people comment.  I think of faraway places because of the 80k SUB on it, along with the 60k SUB on the Gold.  Bottom line, it's a great bank to do business with as long as you don't indulge in any funny business.

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**bleep** I would love to be you those cards are highly respected and very important