How much to use charge card?

[boomhower]

If you don't have any other rewards cards run everything through it.  I put everything on credit cards.  Mainly for two reasons, one for the consumer protections offered and two to keep my bank account safe.   Plus you get rewards on the money you are going to spend anyways.  Just make sure you only spend what you can afford to pay every month.

[LS2982]

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@boomhower wrote:

If you don't have any other rewards cards run everything through it.  I put everything on credit cards.  Mainly for two reasons, one for the consumer protections offered and two to keep my bank account safe.   Plus you get rewards on the money you are going to spend anyways.  Just make sure you only spend what you can afford to pay every month.

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Big +1

[Jake0215]

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@Open123 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

I think Amex really, really likes to receive their payments as soon as your bill cuts. I've heard that it raises your internal score with Amex. 

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The charge cards are really net 30 pay accounts.  From the old days, every bill was due in 30 days.  They kept tab by a paydex score where the sooner you pay within the 30 days, the higher your score in this area.

I think Amex definitely has an internal paydex score type of thing for their charge cards.  Ideally, pay a day or two AFTER the statement cuts.  Technically, you have until the close of the next statement to pay (the full 30 day cycle), but it'll lower your paydex (or Amex equivalent) score.

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You learn something new every day! What about paying before the statement cuts? I've yet to have a balance report. Is this helping or hurting the internal score?

[Anonymous]

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@Jake0215 wrote:
You learn something new every day! What about paying before the statement cuts? I've yet to have a balance report. Is this helping or hurting the internal score?

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@espnjunkie wrote:

Amex also said each six months they individually review accounts and take into account what your average monthly payment is. The higher that payment, the higher your internal limit will be. So it makes the most sense to only pay off your charge card once and in full each month.

If you know of a potential creditor who uses TU98 then pay before the balance reports. If not, don't worry about it as it does not factor into utl.

[webhopper]

Here is how my AMEX has been handled since I got it in Feb.   I got it right before a work trip to Tampa and I checked my spending ability on the card, approved for a 2k internal limit:

I charged a total of 3522 during the first month.  I made payments totalling 2282 before the statement cut. I paid the remaining 1265.00  3 days before the payment was actually due.

Next cycle: I checked my spending ability at 3k, approved for 3k.  I charged a total of 3017 so far.  I made payments of $400 so far mid-cycle.  Will pay again when reimbursement hits. Balance now is about $2600. 

I like the flexibility of the charge card to put work expenses on there and then pay when reimbursed.  These work expenses were screwing up my Util% on my revolving accounts. I'm happy with my internal limit thus far.  If I end up having a more expensive trip come up, then I'll check my internal limit for a higher amount, but 3k seems sufficient for now. I'm putting that card to work and liking the results so far.

[espnjunkie]

If possible just pay off your charge card once a month when they give you a payment due date. This raises your average monthly payment amount which they factor in when considering giving you a spending limit raise.

[JenniferinFL]

Wow, I love this forum. Thanks for all the great information..

What's scary is we've been using our bank debit card for everything for years now; online purchases, shady looking gas stations, everywhere. Didn't even realize it was anymore risky then using a regular credit card.

Now I realize I've just been lucky that we haven't had to deal with fraud on a bank account.. Eek..

I think once this comes in I'll go ahead and remove our debit card as a payment option from our various accounts and set the zync up instead.

Should I be able to look up the internal limit after the card arrives?

[webhopper]

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@JenniferinFL wrote:

Wow, I love this forum. Thanks for all the great information..

What's scary is we've been using our bank debit card for everything for years now; online purchases, shady looking gas stations, everywhere. Didn't even realize it was anymore risky then using a regular credit card.

Now I realize I've just been lucky that we haven't had to deal with fraud on a bank account.. Eek..

I think once this comes in I'll go ahead and remove our debit card as a payment option from our various accounts and set the zync up instead.

Should I be able to look up the internal limit after the card arrives?

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What I did was use the "Check Spending Ability" on the AMEX website.  I plugged in the amount I thought I needed, it said "Approved" so I rocked and rolled.  Now don't go hitting it multiple times, just use it once to check the amount that you think you might spend in a month. Otherwise, you could call customer service and ask them to look it up.

[LS2982]

I'm scared to hit that button!! Want to but too chicken!

[Anonymous]

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@LS2982 wrote:
I'm scared to hit that button!! Want to but too chicken!

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Amex has alot of faith in their computer system and they internal limits that they assign. The attitude you should have is I'm responsible enough to make the proper decisions regarding this card. When you start poking at that spending limit button your saying I'm not quite sure if I can do this or not... In the words of my favorite sneaker company Just Do It! After a few months Amex will see how you spend and your internal limit will hover well above your average spending.

If your going on vacation:

If you book through Amex travel webpage. I think they cross reference trips booked through their travel site so they get a little heads up that your going on vacation so there isn't really a need to call them to tell them your going to spend out of your normal patterns.

If you book through any other means it a nice courtesy to let them know you will be spending out of your normal patterns so they can notate your account.