How to lower AmEx APR? (not via a temporary offer)

[unsungivy]

Hey all, looking for some feedback about if this is possible, and if so, how to get 'er done.

I was able to recently get BofA to lower my rate on my older card to match that of my new card, while the very nice lady at AmEx was willing to offer me a "12 month" lowered APR deal for my 19 year old card, she said that being able to permanently lower your APR was not "an offer that was ever available".

Is this true? Are you stuck with your AmEx APR for the life of the card? (I know I have heard that Chase will never lower them, but I hadn't heard that regarding AmEx.) If there's a way to get it lowered... how?

Looking for feedback and user experiences, thanks!

[FinStar]

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@unsungivy wrote:

Hey all, looking for some feedback about if this is possible, and if so, how to get 'er done.

I was able to recently get BofA to lower my rate on my older card to match that of my new card, while the very nice lady at AmEx was willing to offer me a "12 month" lowered APR deal for my 19 year old card, she said that being able to permanently lower your APR was not "an offer that was ever available".

Is this true? Are you stuck with your AmEx APR for the life of the card? (I know I have heard that Chase will never lower them, but I hadn't heard that regarding AmEx.) If there's a way to get it lowered... how?

Looking for feedback and user experiences, thanks!

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It is very rare to obtain a lower APR by request from AENB -- that much is true. Otherwise, you'd be seeing a plethora of successful DPs on these forums. It used to be a thing when AENB allowed it. So, the only way you can get it lowered is maybe try again at some point and ask them or if they automatically do so on their own. So, if it doesn't happen, it is what it is. It shouldn't distract from other benefits that your card already offers.

Other than that, if you have a PIF discipline, the APR is really a non-event.

[Remedios]

They will on occasion increase your APR to bring it in line with current market, unrelated to the changes made by fed. 

So, if they aren't increasing it, you're in luck already. 

[unsungivy]

I do PiF... now. But for quite a few years due to financial situation I was carrying quite a balance. I am in a much better circumstance to avoid that in the future, but seeing as this was one of the cards I carried a balance on for years, I naturally want to get all my APRs as low as possible in case I ever have to carry a balance again. Future-proofing myself.

[OmarGB9]

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@unsungivy wrote:

I do PiF... now. But for quite a few years due to financial situation I was carrying quite a balance. I am in a much better circumstance to avoid that in the future, but seeing as this was one of the cards I carried a balance on for years, I naturally want to get all my APRs as low as possible in case I ever have to carry a balance again. Future-proofing myself.

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IMO, a better plan would be to look for/acquire a plain vanilla, no-rewards, low interest rate "platinum" card from a CU such as Penfed or NFCU for just such emergencies. 

[NRB525]

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@OmarGB9 wrote:

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@unsungivy wrote:

I do PiF... now. But for quite a few years due to financial situation I was carrying quite a balance. I am in a much better circumstance to avoid that in the future, but seeing as this was one of the cards I carried a balance on for years, I naturally want to get all my APRs as low as possible in case I ever have to carry a balance again. Future-proofing myself.

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IMO, a better plan would be to look for/acquire a plain vanilla, no-rewards, low interest rate "platinum" card from a CU such as Penfed or NFCU for just such emergencies. 

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Generally, any card that offers decent rewards for spend is going to have an APR that would discourage carrying a balance on that card. So my opinion of a better strategy is to have another card, such as Discover or many of the CU cards, where there is either a low BT fee, or no BT fee and a low APR. 
1) Spend on the rewards card
2) Transfer amounts to the Discover or CU card to take advantage of the low APR and also separate this carried balance from the rewards card with ongoing new charges. 

The other thing to do is to see what rate AMEX offers you on a Plan It situation. This enables you to isolate specific large charges on the card, the monthly fee can be a pretty good APR in the first few months, and then you are likely to pay it off in a few months anyhow. This also keeps new charges from polluting your grace period and running up high interest charges that are difficult to stop. If it turns out you need to carry longer, then see 1 --> 2 above. 

[HeavenOhio]

It's all temporary, but AMEX is constantly offering me either 0% interest, low interest, or $0 Plan It. I'd simply work with those. I never bother because I always pay in full.

[unsungivy]

I'm not looking for a temporary solution. I'm looking for a permanent one. It bugs my OCD to have cards with non-low APRs, even if they don't end up carrying a balance ever.

[K-in-Boston]

It's been 5 years since I received a lower APR permanently.  When I opened up my Starwood Preferred Guest card in 2017, that was my 4th Amex card but first one in 15 years, and I received something like 17.24% on it.  I hopped on chat when I received the card and asked them if they could lower it to be in-line with my Blue and the POT APR on my Gold and Platinum cards which was 14.24% at the time, and they did so.  So "not an offer that was ever available" definitely isn't true, but as others have mentioned it doesn't appear to be something happening these days.

For long-term future-proofing, having a card with consistent low/no APR balance transfer offers would definitely be more ideal.  APRs and creditworthiness aren't always in Sync.  I have a BoA card with a fairly absurd limit and yet the APR is still like 20%.

[Remedios]

Lowest APR on any rewards card is still bleeding money.Carrying balance for any significant period of time on 14% vs 20% might buy a person a few months before going under, and if balance is carried really short term, then difference is close to negligible. 

If you're making contingency plans, you'll need to look elsewhere, CUs have low interest cards, so if you qualify for lowest rate, it can be yours "just in case card"  

As far as OCD (a rather debilitating disorder), you'd close your cards by now if APRs weren't identical, going up/down in certain increments, or something like ending in even/uneven numbers, so it cannot be OCD related unless we're talking about web version. 

I do wonder at times how those who really have OCD feel when mentioned in this context. Then I answer myself.