Question regarding requesting a CLI with AMEX

[cws-21]

As many of you know, American Express indicates "Please specify your desired Credit Limit" when an individual is attempting a SP credit limit increase. I often attempt to increase my total line of credit for my Blue Cash Preferred to $10,000 higher than it is at the time of the request. My request is almost always declined initially, probably because my current credit limit is relatively high (currently $40,000). However, I am able to request a smaller increase, which is how I have always been able to get some sort of increase. My question is how many times can I make a request and get declined? Can I request $10k, get declined, ask for $9k, get declined, and continue on until I get to the number AMEX is comfortable with or would so many requests trigger something I don't want triggered? As always, I appreciate the help.

[Taurus22]

I was under the impression Amex had a $35,000 cap before you have to start providing forms...? Am I incorrect on this? 

[coldfusion]

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@Taurus22 wrote:

I was under the impression Amex had a $35,000 cap before you have to start providing forms...? Am I incorrect on this? 

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Over the last several years data points showed it a common threshold that got a 4506-T request back but it isn't anyhere near being a hard rule.  Others reported different thresholds, some higher and some lower.

[coldfusion]

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@cws-21 wrote:

As many of you know, American Express indicates "Please specify your desired Credit Limit" when an individual is attempting a SP credit limit increase. I often attempt to increase my total line of credit for my Blue Cash Preferred to $10,000 higher than it is at the time of the request. My request is almost always declined initially, probably because my current credit limit is relatively high (currently $40,000). However, I am able to request a smaller increase, which is how I have always been able to get some sort of increase. My question is how many times can I make a request and get declined? Can I request $10k, get declined, ask for $9k, get declined, and continue on until I get to the number AMEX is comfortable with or would so many requests trigger something I don't want triggered? As always, I appreciate the help.

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I can't answer your question directly but you're probably taking an unnecessary risk as AMEX will counteroffer if they are willing to give some, but not all, of what you asked for. A straight-up denial without even a 4506-C request means they aren't willing to consider giving you any increase at the moment.

[cws-21]

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@Taurus22 wrote:

I was under the impression Amex had a $35,000 cap before you have to start providing forms...? Am I incorrect on this? 

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Not for me, @Taurus22. I'm at $40,000 and I have never provided any forms though it may be different for others.

[cws-21]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@cws-21 wrote:

As many of you know, American Express indicates "Please specify your desired Credit Limit" when an individual is attempting a SP credit limit increase. I often attempt to increase my total line of credit for my Blue Cash Preferred to $10,000 higher than it is at the time of the request. My request is almost always declined initially, probably because my current credit limit is relatively high (currently $40,000). However, I am able to request a smaller increase, which is how I have always been able to get some sort of increase. My question is how many times can I make a request and get declined? Can I request $10k, get declined, ask for $9k, get declined, and continue on until I get to the number AMEX is comfortable with or would so many requests trigger something I don't want triggered? As always, I appreciate the help.

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I can't answer your question directly but you're probably taking an unnecessary risk as AMEX will counteroffer if they are willing to give some, but not all, of what you asked for. A straight-up denial without even a 4506-C request means they aren't willing to consider giving you any increase at the moment.

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This has also not been the case for me, @coldfusion. In the past, I have, for example, requested $10k, been denied, immediately asked for $9k, been denied, immediately asked for $5k, and had it approved. I was just wondering how far I could go with it given, if $9k has not been approved, and $5k has been, I wonder if $8k would have been. Additionally, AMEX has never given me a counteroffer, only approved at a certain amount (such as $5k). Furthermore, I have never been denied a CLI with AMEX, though, as I have mentioned, it has taken some trial and error.

[Anonymous]

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@cws-21 wrote:

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@cws-21 wrote:

As many of you know, American Express indicates "Please specify your desired Credit Limit" when an individual is attempting a SP credit limit increase. I often attempt to increase my total line of credit for my Blue Cash Preferred to $10,000 higher than it is at the time of the request. My request is almost always declined initially, probably because my current credit limit is relatively high (currently $40,000). However, I am able to request a smaller increase, which is how I have always been able to get some sort of increase. My question is how many times can I make a request and get declined? Can I request $10k, get declined, ask for $9k, get declined, and continue on until I get to the number AMEX is comfortable with or would so many requests trigger something I don't want triggered? As always, I appreciate the help.

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I can't answer your question directly but you're probably taking an unnecessary risk as AMEX will counteroffer if they are willing to give some, but not all, of what you asked for. A straight-up denial without even a 4506-C request means they aren't willing to consider giving you any increase at the moment.

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This has also not been the case for me, @coldfusion. In the past, I have, for example, requested $10k, been denied, immediately asked for $9k, been denied, immediately asked for $5k, and had it approved. I was just wondering how far I could go with it given, if $9k has not been approved, and $5k has been, I wonder if $8k would have been. Additionally, AMEX has never given me a counteroffer, only approved at a certain amount (such as $5k). Furthermore, I have never been denied a CLI with AMEX, though, as I have mentioned, it has taken some trial and error.

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I think you're misremembering events.  If you made a request and were "denied" you could not have "immediately" made another request. A denial usually means a 30-day wait before you can ask again.

Generally what happens is that when you make a request that would cause your credit limit to exceed $35,000, the chances increase that you will be asked to sign a Form 4506-T which authorizes Amex to review your tax transcripts.  At that point you can hit the back button on your browser and request a smaller CLI.  Trial and error in these forums has shown that above a $30,000 limit Amex will usually approve a $5,000 CLI without asking for a Form 4506-T.  That's the only way I'm aware of where you can "immediately" ask for a lower CLI, and its the exact method I used to increase my Amex EveryDay limit from $30K > $35K > $40K.

[cws-21]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I think you're misremembering events.  If you made a request and were "denied" you could not have "immediately" made another request. A denial usually means a 30-day wait before you can ask again.

Generally what happens is that when you make a request that would cause your credit limit to exceed $35,000, the chances increase that you will be asked to sign a Form 4506-T which authorizes Amex to review your tax transcripts.  At that point you can hit the back button on your browser and request a smaller CLI.  Trial and error in these forums has shown that above a $30,000 limit Amex will usually approve a $5,000 CLI without asking for a Form 4506-T.  That's the only way I'm aware of where you can "immediately" ask for a lower CLI, and its the exact method I used to increase my Amex EveryDay limit from $30K > $35K > $40K.

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@Anonymous, you're probably right that I wasn't "denied" a CLI, but, rather, my CLI was not approved so I was able to go back and request a lower amount. Thanks for the clarification as it is an important distinction that I failed to convey. So, based on your observations of these forums, I can request a $5,000 CLI, if, for example, a $10,000 CLI request is not approved, but no more is likely to be approved than $5,000? Thanks for the reply.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

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@cws-21 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I think you're misremembering events.  If you made a request and were "denied" you could not have "immediately" made another request. A denial usually means a 30-day wait before you can ask again.

Generally what happens is that when you make a request that would cause your credit limit to exceed $35,000, the chances increase that you will be asked to sign a Form 4506-T which authorizes Amex to review your tax transcripts.  At that point you can hit the back button on your browser and request a smaller CLI.  Trial and error in these forums has shown that above a $30,000 limit Amex will usually approve a $5,000 CLI without asking for a Form 4506-T.  That's the only way I'm aware of where you can "immediately" ask for a lower CLI, and its the exact method I used to increase my Amex EveryDay limit from $30K > $35K > $40K.

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@Anonymous, you're probably right that I wasn't "denied" a CLI, but, rather, my CLI was not approved so I was able to go back and request a lower amount. Thanks for the clarification as it is an important distinction that I failed to convey. So, based on your observations of these forums, I can request a $5,000 CLI, if, for example, a $10,000 CLI request is not approved, but no more is likely to be approved than $5,000? Thanks for the reply.

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No more is likely to be approved without consenting to the 4506-C

[Anonymous]

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@cws-21 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I think you're misremembering events.  If you made a request and were "denied" you could not have "immediately" made another request. A denial usually means a 30-day wait before you can ask again.

Generally what happens is that when you make a request that would cause your credit limit to exceed $35,000, the chances increase that you will be asked to sign a Form 4506-T which authorizes Amex to review your tax transcripts.  At that point you can hit the back button on your browser and request a smaller CLI.  Trial and error in these forums has shown that above a $30,000 limit Amex will usually approve a $5,000 CLI without asking for a Form 4506-T.  That's the only way I'm aware of where you can "immediately" ask for a lower CLI, and its the exact method I used to increase my Amex EveryDay limit from $30K > $35K > $40K.

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@Anonymous, you're probably right that I wasn't "denied" a CLI, but, rather, my CLI was not approved so I was able to go back and request a lower amount. Thanks for the clarification as it is an important distinction that I failed to convey. So, based on your observations of these forums, I can request a $5,000 CLI, if, for example, a $10,000 CLI request is not approved, but no more is likely to be approved than $5,000? Thanks for the reply.

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@cws-21 My personal opinion is that it doesn't make sense to ask for $10K knowing that it most likely will not be processed without the additional information they request (Form 4506-T).

The general consensus is that $5,000 is the amount that would be approved so that's the only request I would make; I wouldn't invite scrutiny by asking for a larger amount or by making multiple requests.  See this thread for a recent example:  Amex BCP $100 CLI to $60k