Help with AMEX cards

[Anonymous]

I am 22 years old and am fairly new to credit, so all of your knowledge has been very helpful! I was recently approved for the Amex BCE with a 6k limit and I will request 18k on day 61.

I'm curious about everyones' thoughts on Amex charge cards. While the BCE has good cash back rewards and no annual fee, I'm pretty interested in the membership rewards offered by the charge cards. On one hand, my spending habits and lifestyle may not justify the AF on these cards because I don't travel extensively at this point in my life. However, I do love to travel and hope to do so a lot more in the future.

I'm considering applying for the PRG within the next year to get the 25k point sign up bonus since the annual fee is waived in the first year. Near the end of my first year I would request to "downgrade" to the Green Card in order to lower my AF (and hopefully keep the 25k bonus points... does it work that way?). Would there be any benefit to applying for a charge card prior to my 61 day 3xCLI with my BCE or would it be better to wait? I am in no hurry.

I also have a Chase Freedom with a $2,100 limit and a Discover It (recently converted from Discover More) with a $3,500 limit.

Thanks for all of your help!

[youngandcreditwrthy]

I don't have any charge cards, but it might be a better idea to app after the 3xcli! Just my .02!

[Kenny]

First off, great job on your current set of cards! I hope your income will support your limits, just keep that in mind when you have all of that extra limit and you want to go shopping sometimes!

If you're going to app for another amex card... Yes, do it after your 61 day CLI. Also, remember to do the app in a private browser so that you can fully get your bonus points! I believe that you are able to downgrade it after one year, but your experience may vary. The Amex 3x CLI thread is a pretty good one, I'd read that:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if you have them!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice!

I acknowledge that my income probably wouldn't support my spending if I were to spend based on my credit limits but I'm comfortable with my limits because they allow me to keep utilization down. I appreciate someone else that is concerned with some level of frugality!

I'm leaning towards holding off on a charge card for now. It makes more sense to earn cash back for free than it does to earn membership rewards for $100+ per year and a hard pull.

[watch44]

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:
If you're going to app for another amex card... Yes, do it after your 61 day CLI. Also, remember to do the app in a private browser so that you can fully get your bonus points! I believe that you are able to downgrade it after one year, but your experience may vary. The Amex 3x CLI thread is a pretty good one, I'd read that:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if you have them!

---

Why does it matter waiting 60 days if it's just a SP once you already have an Amex card? And aren't charge cards easier approvals anyway? BTW, what's a private browser? 

Sorry for hijack, OP. I'm just looking to get a charge card too.

[B335is]

Any new app/approval may hurt your chance at getting the full 3x CLI.

I would app for PRG in January to get full backdating.

[Kenny]

---

@watch44 wrote:

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:
If you're going to app for another amex card... Yes, do it after your 61 day CLI. Also, remember to do the app in a private browser so that you can fully get your bonus points! I believe that you are able to downgrade it after one year, but your experience may vary. The Amex 3x CLI thread is a pretty good one, I'd read that:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if you have them!

---

Why does it matter waiting 60 days if it's just a SP once you already have an Amex card? And aren't charge cards easier approvals anyway? BTW, what's a private browser? 

Sorry for hijack, OP. I'm just looking to get a charge card too.

---

Any new trade line approval with Amex will be HP, not sure if that's what you meant or not by the SP sentence. I don't know if the PRG is an easier approval than BCE. (I haven't delved into the world of charge cards with Amex, sadly.) I made the assumption based on if you were approved for 2 amex new revolvers you'd only be able to do an increase on one. Maybe this would not interrupt the OP's 61 day CLI with the revolver, however I personally wouldn't chance it if my goal was to maximize the chances of succeeding. Plus, they didn't seem like they wanted it that much anyway. (It's always better to garden a period of time than to blindly app on a whim.

Private Browser -- a lot of the browser's now offer this. It makes it so that the website you are going to doesn't recognize you by your cookies. With Amex, if you're already a member it can take away any bonus offer from a different party other than their base offer to you. (Such as creditcards.com offer for BCE and BCP 150/250 respectively.) (This can be known as incognito window, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_browsing@ Haha @P0rn mode. :-S)

[youngandcreditwrthy]

Just make sure you aren't logged into Amex when you app for a 2nd , etc. Amex. Lol
That is, if you want the bonus! Haha

[mongstradamus]

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:

---

@watch44 wrote:

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:
If you're going to app for another amex card... Yes, do it after your 61 day CLI. Also, remember to do the app in a private browser so that you can fully get your bonus points! I believe that you are able to downgrade it after one year, but your experience may vary. The Amex 3x CLI thread is a pretty good one, I'd read that:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if you have them!

---

Why does it matter waiting 60 days if it's just a SP once you already have an Amex card? And aren't charge cards easier approvals anyway? BTW, what's a private browser? 

Sorry for hijack, OP. I'm just looking to get a charge card too.

---

Any new trade line approval with Amex will be HP, not sure if that's what you meant or not by the SP sentence. I don't know if the PRG is an easier approval than BCE. (I haven't delved into the world of charge cards with Amex, sadly.) I made the assumption based on if you were approved for 2 amex new revolvers you'd only be able to do an increase on one. Maybe this would not interrupt the OP's 61 day CLI with the revolver, however I personally wouldn't chance it if my goal was to maximize the chances of succeeding. Plus, they didn't seem like they wanted it that much anyway. (It's always better to garden a period of time than to blindly app on a whim.

Private Browser -- a lot of the browser's now offer this. It makes it so that the website you are going to doesn't recognize you by your cookies. With Amex, if you're already a member it can take away any bonus offer from a different party other than their base offer to you. (Such as creditcards.com offer for BCE and BCP 150/250 respectively.) (This can be known as incognito window, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_browsing@ Haha @P0rn mode. :-S)

---

I think you may have been confused. It an sp if you are denied on amex application if you already have an amex card. Any approval will be an hard pull no matter what. 

[Kenny]

---

@mongstradamus wrote:

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:

---

@watch44 wrote:

---

@KennyS2006 wrote:
If you're going to app for another amex card... Yes, do it after your 61 day CLI. Also, remember to do the app in a private browser so that you can fully get your bonus points! I believe that you are able to downgrade it after one year, but your experience may vary. The Amex 3x CLI thread is a pretty good one, I'd read that:
http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/The-Definitive-Amex-3X-CLI-Guide/td-p/1811071

Please don't hesitate to ask any more questions if you have them!

---

Why does it matter waiting 60 days if it's just a SP once you already have an Amex card? And aren't charge cards easier approvals anyway? BTW, what's a private browser? 

Sorry for hijack, OP. I'm just looking to get a charge card too.

---

Any new trade line approval with Amex will be HP, not sure if that's what you meant or not by the SP sentence. I don't know if the PRG is an easier approval than BCE. (I haven't delved into the world of charge cards with Amex, sadly.) I made the assumption based on if you were approved for 2 amex new revolvers you'd only be able to do an increase on one. Maybe this would not interrupt the OP's 61 day CLI with the revolver, however I personally wouldn't chance it if my goal was to maximize the chances of succeeding. Plus, they didn't seem like they wanted it that much anyway. (It's always better to garden a period of time than to blindly app on a whim.

Private Browser -- a lot of the browser's now offer this. It makes it so that the website you are going to doesn't recognize you by your cookies. With Amex, if you're already a member it can take away any bonus offer from a different party other than their base offer to you. (Such as creditcards.com offer for BCE and BCP 150/250 respectively.) (This can be known as incognito window, too. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_browsing@ Haha @P0rn mode. :-S)

---

I think you may have been confused. It an sp if you are denied on amex application if you already have an amex card. Any approval will be an hard pull no matter what. 

---

It's what I stated.