How do Amex Charge Cards Work

Anonymous · ‎01-13-2018

@Anonymous wrote:
I recommend going to Amex site for offer.
Prequalifed does not mean approved. IMO I would wait and improve scores.

BEVO7:

Are you assuming that I received the prequalification thru the mail?

I check for prequalification offers about once each week or so. I noticed yesterday AMEX online had me prequalified for the AMEX green card only.

Is that what you mean? Check the online prequalifications?

How certain are these? What are the odds?

Thanks for your help!

Anonymous · ‎01-13-2018

My data points:

Burned Amex over 10 years ago on their secured card although the security deposit paid the delinquent account in-full.
Never had a prequalified Amex offer even with EX > 700. Not one.
Cold apped for BCP in November, instant $2000 approval but never saw prequalified offers.
In December, I started seeing preapprovals ONLY on credit cards, NEVER on charge cards.
In January, I am preapproved for everything (I think) -- sometimes if I check if I am preapproved, the card will completely disappear from the site for 1-2 weeks (can't even see the card if I wanted to).

Amex charge cards are for responsible people who have enough in their payment checking account or savings account BEFORE making a charge. NEVER make a charge assuming you can pay it with a future check. I have seen at last 20 people in the past year who got into massive financial trouble over a $1000 balance because they charged work stuff to a charge card and their reimbursement didn't come in time. Don't do this, ever.

If you need the card for work, make it REQUIRED that you build a stronger savings balance. In fact, if you use a charge card for personal needs, don't charge more than your emergency fund can cover -- and if you have to use that, don't do any new charges until you replenish your savings balance.

Amex MR points can be VERY beneficial but not for everyone. I'd say that 80% of people get no benefit out of MRs, and of the remaining 20% who can, probably 80% of those don't have enough in checking/savings to cover their charges. So maybe 1 in 25 people benefit from the MR points and can use it without payment anxiety or stress.

I want the Platinum card but I am waiting to see if I can get CSP instead. CSR would blow away Platinum, but CSP would let me horde URs until CSR comes around. If I don't get CSP by June 2018, I will snag Platinum, but I also want to maximize benefits!

The Green card is pretty meh, but it has its place for those who just want a charge card to test out.

longtimelurker · ‎01-13-2018

I would caution against getting an Amex JUST for prestige or to get the foot in the door. There is very little real prestige with Amex. If I were a meaner person (OK, actually I am) I would be amused by a fairly common meme here:

a) Person with relatively poor credit record applies for an Amex charge (sometimes the Plat)

b) "Wow I got approved, I have arrived"

without making the connection "If I get approved with a poor record, maybe other people do as well, and so that card doesn't indicate much"

As for foot in the door, I am firmly of the belief of applying for the card you actually want, no point in getting the wrong card from the issuer just in the hope that one day you can get the right one. IMO, there is very little evidence that this really helps, if the "right" card has higher underwriting, wait until things improve and you are just as likely to get it. Many of us here never had a relationship with a particular issuer before getting the desired card.

K-in-Boston · ‎01-13-2018

There have been some great responses here, but I'll chime in on a few things.

@Anonymous The underwriting criteria appears to be the same for all Amex charge cards. Other than a signup bonus there is no real reason to have an Amex Green Card. Using the $100 airline credit on Premier Rewards Gold negates the difference in annual fees, and the PRG earns more rewards for some types of spend. For occasional spend, there's not a whole lot of a point in having these two cards, though, as the annual fee would still eat into those rewards. Platinum is another beast entirely - while it's not difficult to get, you really do need to take extensive advantage of the perks in order to justify the $550 (or $725 in my case with an authorized user) annual fee. And for about a year or so, the majority of applications for personal credit or charge cards from American Express from those already having primary accounts (not authorized user) with Amex have resulted in a soft pull only, whether approved or denied. Prior to this, it was commonly reported that it would be a SP if denied and a HP if approved. My last HP from Amex was 16 years ago, and I got the SPG and Delta Platinum cards last year. And the online prequalifications from Amex are usually pretty solid. If it's a revolving credit card with Amex, if the APR is a single figure (like 15.49%) rather than a range (like 13.49%-25.49%) they are even more solid.

@Anonymous Authorized user status means absolutely nothing to American Express when evaluating a primary user, and it is not taken into consideration. Unless you are the primary account holder of the corporate card, it will make zero difference in any decisions Amex makes.

@Anonymous Lots of great points. I still think you're the world's greatest most-unconventional candidate for the Platinum card.

Anonymous · ‎01-13-2018

K-In-Boston...

Along with all of the other responses above, thanks for chiming in. You guys are awesome, and I wasn't expecting quite so much good information regarding AMEX charge chards when I made this post.

Glad that I did.

As for what I should do, go for it, or wait...I think I'm going to wait a bit!!

Thanks!

Anonymous · ‎01-14-2018

I was pre-approved for the Gold Rewards charge card a few weeks ago. I decided to go with it because it’s AMEX and also I wanted a charge card to pay all of my monthly bills.

So far, so good! I had to hit spending $2k in the first 3 months to get the bonus and I hit that this month alone 😎

Anonymous · ‎01-14-2018

Just give it a little more time and you will see Amex prequals for better options

drboxing · ‎01-14-2018

The AMEX charge cards must be paid in full. There are types of charge cards that carry various benefits.

MrDisco99 · ‎01-14-2018

One thing I’ll add about the green card is that you may be able to upgrade it to a PRG or Plat after a year. Upgrades usually come with a decent bonus so it would be like getting two bonuses on the same account.