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I think I'm over American Express

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CreditPacMan
Established Contributor

Re: I think I'm over American Express

I've had the BCE for 3 years now .. still stuck at $1000. They find it easier to approve me for new accounts ( 3 in the past 6 months .. Detla Platinum , Hilton HHonors and Everyday) also with small limits ( all at $1000) than to increase my limit on one card!

Current Cards:
Message 31 of 49
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@medo wrote:

I have pathetic limits as is.  I got both the BCE and ED in November, $1000 and $500 respectively.  

 

AMEX has not been willing to give me CLI's despite demonstrating good use and timely payments of the full balance depsite the 0% interest period.  

 

 I honestly would not mind closing both cards but I feel it is too early to make such a decision.  I feel like AMEX puts themselves on a higher level than other lenders, for no reason other than their name.  

 

Maybe I'm saying this out of anger, IDK, but I don't sense that me and AMEX have a reasonable relationship as I do with Chase or Discover even.


Hang in there Medo -- keep it in perspective. YOU got approved by Amex to enter their family - more than someone who is still clamoring to come to the Amex party. Yess, your limits are low but keep on paying your other cards on time (as well as your Amex cards) and in time your scores will rise and Amex will reconsider. They just want to make sure you have a long relationship with them. November 2014 is not a long time since your were approved. Give it at least a year. 

 

Message 32 of 49
Ghoshida
Valued Contributor

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@medo wrote:

I have pathetic limits as is.  I got both the BCE and ED in November, $1000 and $500 respectively.  

 

AMEX has not been willing to give me CLI's despite demonstrating good use and timely payments of the full balance depsite the 0% interest period.  

 

 I honestly would not mind closing both cards but I feel it is too early to make such a decision.  I feel like AMEX puts themselves on a higher level than other lenders, for no reason other than their name.  

 

Maybe I'm saying this out of anger, IDK, but I don't sense that me and AMEX have a reasonable relationship as I do with Chase or Discover even.


Hello OP.

 

I got my BCE in November of 2013. It took AMEX 11 months (i.e. October 2014) to give their first increase. $1k became $2k. The CLI button always failed me in the months in between. I knew my credit had become better. In a week, I tried 3X again and got it to 6k. 6 months from that, hit again, purposefully asked for 15k, and got it as well.

 

When you start with low limits with AMEX (or even Chase for that matter), you're in a pretty risky bucket according to them, just good enough to get a foot in the door.

This happened with me for mutiple lenders. Sometimes, it takes more than 6 months to get that first SP CLI. 

 

With regards to using / chucking the card, ask yourself this:

 

(1) Does this card meet your needs? Does it have great rewards? Can you use it whenever and wherever you want to?

(2) Honestly, are you better creditwise? Will your credit get you other, similar league cards?

 

You should get the answer. 

 

My oldest card is from my CU. It sits at 2k while I have 15k AMEX and 11.5k Discover and other cards in the middle. I made on HP request 2 years ago (almost) and no dice. In the first year, I spent almost 15k on that card, got close to 1% CB, and no CLI. I almost never use that card anymore. Am I over with them? Not really. They are a local CU. They may give me better auto loans than the big banks.

 

I agree with the AMEX hype thing; their CSR is mediocre, their chat reps sometimes are more ignorant than Cap One reps, their rewards post 2 months after the purchase, and their rewards aren't that great either. I have the BCE and all my comments are with respect to that. If you want to leave them because of these reasons, good for you. But don't get worked up because of CLI only. It's not your fundamental right; it's not personal. It's their business. So it's yours. 

 

If you don't like them, move on. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that sticking there has some benefits as well.

 

Message 33 of 49
medo
Frequent Contributor

Re: I think I'm over American Express

Thanks everyone for your responses.  I think I wil just SD both cards for a bit and use my BBVA card a bit more as a replacement, then after a few months put it back to action.  I realize that my ability to obtain a CLI as based on my creditworthyness, however as you can see from my sig, I have plenty of other credit from lendors, low utilization, high income etc and yet I cannot get something reasonable with them.

 

However, reading all the comments kinda put the brakes on, so to speak.  I'll keep them around for at least a year.  If in December no progress, then I'll drop them.

 

I feel having a higher CL is required to keep my interest.  The rewards do not necessarily justify keeping the card.  If it were Chase and they were only willing to give me $1000 or so, I would keep them still without a fuss just because I really enjoy the rewards since it fits my lifestyle.  With AMEX - it does nothing for me as far as satisfaction of rewards.  So to keep my interest, I need the higher CL.  It's the value that I was hoping to get out of the card moreso than the rewards.

 

I'll hang in there and be patient.  

 

Thanks all for keeping me grounded.

Message 34 of 49
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@Anonymous wrote:
I'm fine with whatever the limit on my Plat is, charged 3k in less than 30 days and no problem. They do take a while to credit payments. My first payment shows that they have received it but it isn't reducing my outstanding.

Also changing my MSD (not on my CR) to reflect my former card is still being worked on, 2 weeks later...

Hmmm, that's odd. I got approve for both the Delta Skymiles and PRG on the same day. Got on chat. Requested cards with my new MSD ('86) and they sent both  by UPS overnight mail. YMMV but they have been good to  me. Smiley Very Happy

Message 35 of 49
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@altayar wrote:

I've had the BCE for 3 years now .. still stuck at $1000. They find it easier to approve me for new accounts ( 3 in the past 6 months .. Detla Platinum , Hilton HHonors and Everyday) also with small limits ( all at $1000) than to increase my limit on one card!


Have you reviewed your reports lately?

 

There must be something hiding in between the lines for Amex to bump you up. 

Message 36 of 49
CreditPacMan
Established Contributor

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@Anonymous wrote:

@altayar wrote:

I've had the BCE for 3 years now .. still stuck at $1000. They find it easier to approve me for new accounts ( 3 in the past 6 months .. Detla Platinum , Hilton HHonors and Everyday) also with small limits ( all at $1000) than to increase my limit on one card!


Have you reviewed your reports lately?

 

There must be something hiding in between the lines for Amex to bump you up. 


They site 'low internal score' every time they deny me a CLI. I've been carrying a balance for a while but I always pay way more than the minimum payment. I do have a lot on inquiries and accounts in the past year .. but even before that I didn't get any CLI.

Current Cards:
Message 37 of 49
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I think I'm over American Express

"Also, the frozen reports probably have something to do with it. This is why I wouldn't freeze my reports. It causes too much grief for too little benefit IMO, but YMMV."

 

Frozen reports have nothing to do with not getting a CLI. I have my reports frozen and requested a 3x CLI after having the ED card for like 3 months, and was approved. However I have had my Gold card for a little while now so that might have helped also.

Message 38 of 49
Ghoshida
Valued Contributor

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@Anonymous wrote:

"Also, the frozen reports probably have something to do with it. This is why I wouldn't freeze my reports. It causes too much grief for too little benefit IMO, but YMMV."

 

Frozen reports have nothing to do with not getting a CLI. I have my reports frozen and requested a 3x CLI after having the ED card for like 3 months, and was approved. However I have had my Gold card for a little while now so that might have helped also.


+1

 

 

Freezing report DOES NOT hamper one's chances of SP CLI. 

 

I have got CLIs by Chase (auto), Barclay (auto and SP), Discover (auto and SP), Cap One (EO SP), US Bank (SP), and, relevant to this thread AMEX (auto and SP). Multiple times on certain cards as well. While my big 3 reports are frozen.

 

It keeps app-o-mania away. Not everyone has super-strong will-power. 

 

It also keeps ID-theft scare away. Peace of mind.

 

Yes, pre-approval gets screwed up once in a while. But that's why I froze reports, so that I don't app. Added benefit, no temptation. 

And some folks have problem getting FAKOs e.g. from CreditSesame. Anyway they're moving to TU I last heard and I'm getting that VantageScore from CreditKarma so I'm fine. 

Message 39 of 49
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: I think I'm over American Express


@JustBPatient wrote:

As pointed out earlier, WE as the community feel sometimes its our right to get CLI's.  I am guilty of this assumption as well.  IMO I would keep at least one of your two cards, maybe hit the 13month mark and combined the limits.  I think its a good idea to have variety in your portfolio.  So having AMEX in the mix even if you only use it occasionally is worthwile in the long run.  They will come around, just takes time.  Its a marathon not a sprint!!


Can you combine limits with Amex? I'm not sure if you can. I know you can do that with Chase but dunno bout Amex.

Message 40 of 49
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