How should I go about unsecuring my cards and applying for an AMEX?

[murdoc01]

Greetings. I've been working on my credit for a little bit over two years now and am please to report that I've gotten rid of all delinquent accounts through the advice of many of you on the board. I went from upper 400s to a 672 with Experian. My Equifax score is a 646 (not sure why), but I'm still working on it.

I am now in need of some advice as to how I should approach unsecuring some of my cards as well as getting an AMEX.

My profile is as follows:

CREDIT CARDS

BofA Secured: 3,000, opened 11/2012

CapitalOne Secured: 2,000, opened 12/2011

PNC Secured: 2,000, opened 5/2012

CreditOne: 525, opened 5/2012

FirstPremier: 450, opened 12/2011

OrchardBank: 400, opened 12/2011

My credit card utilization is at about 85% (I'm working on it)

LOANS

Personal Loan: 3,000, new (2/2013)

Personal Loan: 1,500, paid in two months (12/2012 - 1/2013)

Car Loan: $10,838, paid in ~ two years (7/2009 - 8/2011)

Student Loans: $107K

The bad items on my credit report are:

SallieMae, US Dept of Ed, and ACS/Wells Fargo: 120 days late in 6/2010 (all now current) and a repossession from 11/2008 with a zero balance.

Now I'm looking into the next wave of credit. Here are my short term goals:

1. I really want to get an AMEX Charge Card. I think that I need to pay my balances down first.

2. I would like to unsecure my BofA card. I am thinking about calling, but am not sure.

3. I would like to unsecure my CapitalOne card, but I am not sure if I will lose the history.

4. I would like to replace my secured PNC card with an unsecured one, but am not sure if I will lose the history.

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[BornSupercharged]

Goal 1 - You could try applying for the AMEX Green, with your score I think you will get approved. Since it's a charge card is must be PIF, so they dont risk losing as much money vs. giving you a credit card. And it's a foot in the door with AMEX. But as you mentioned, it might not be approved because you have very high utilization. 

Goals 2, 3, 4 - call them all and ask them directly. 

But what I would do if I were you, is pay down the card that has the highest utilization. Once you're at about 50% total utilization, (down from your current 85%), I'd apply for the AMEX Green and call in for goals 2,3,4. Or if you have patience, wait until you're at <10% utilization on all cards. That'd help your score and improve your odds of getting approved by removing a negative factor (one less reason to deny you). 

[murdoc01]

Thanks much. One thing that I am learning is that patience is very important when making decisions as to whether or not to submit a credit application.

I agree that I should probably pay these balances down. I used the credit score simulator and reducing my credit card utilization to 10 percent would add about 30 points to my score.

[BornSupercharged]

That'd put you ~700 with EX, high enough that you should get approved for the Green with no problem (pending income, address, etc etc). If you have the willpower to remain in the garden until you've got them down to 10%, you should be good to go!