@W261w261 wrote:I have 3 cards with Amex: ED->EDP, Gold and Delta Reserve. Regularly pre-approved for most all the rest of the cards they offer, but with low credit limits ( I apped the BCP in January, got approved for 1k, and closed it the next day in a fit of pique). I have not had a CLI on the EDP card ever (since 2016). Pretty high spend on the Gold and EDP (82k new points since Jan 1), 300k total pts incl 120k in SUBs since Jan 2021. Score 730. New cards 4/6 mos, 5/12, 10/24. Last 2 approvals USAA 12k, PenFed 7.5k.
I try for AZE2 but miss it frequently - I have some AU's that don't get with the program. Util 1%. AAoA 9 years. Income 100++
Then there's the history. I paid off a long-held Cap1 CO last February. That's the only baddie within the past 24 mos. Other than Cap1, last late was 4-5ish years ago, and there were some 120's back then, all paid. No collections. I did burn Amex for, I can't remember exactly, around 40k in BK7 in 1989.
So I seem to be on a Amex permanent short leash in spite of my pretty good stats. I'm wondering why this is? Perhaps when the CO ages past 24 mos it might help? I know it's going to follow me until May of 2025, but I'm not clear on whether when it hits 24 mos there might be a benefit to me. Or perhaps the new accounts might be holding me back? I'm definitely headed for the garden except maybe for some Navy Fed CLI action in a couple of months. Maybe a year of relative quiet will convince Amex that they can loosen up a bit? Or perhaps I have the mark of Satan on my file and I'm doomed to wander in low-stakes pergatory forever?
I think you know why you're not doing great with them. You've laid out the reasons yourself. So if I were you I would stop thinking Amex and concentrate on other things, or on gardening. I don't think it quite rises to the level of having the mark of Satan on your file, or being doomed to wander in purgatory forever, but that's some pretty good writing 
@W261w261 wrote:I guess I'm asking whether there is one particular thing that is holding me back. I'm hoping it's the CO. Maybe in Feb of '23 when it goes past 24 mos I'll get a little relief. Orrrrrr, I'm like the cheating husband that the wife forgives, but doesn't forget.
I have plenty of other cards I get use for DD. But I also have visions of using 400k MR pts, suitably multiplied, along with around 150k Delta miles to go somewhere exotic. Plus, and this is pretty shallow I know, I love flashing the Gold Card, although the one that gets the most notice is the purple Delta Reserve. I don't use that much because it has basically no rewards except the Delta lounges, the cell phone insurance, high rental car limits, and the free yearly companion certificate up to 1st class.
Since you've been so honest, I'll go ahead and throw in a confession of my own. When I got the Amex Business Platinum, I think my primary motivation was the prestige. I thought that when I picked up the tab at a business lunch my guest would be more impressed by that than by my Capital One Spark card. Then I learned that (a) I didn't pick up the tab very often; usually the people I lunched with would have mistrusted me if I did, thinking I was trying to get something from them; usually we split the lunch, or they -- being more moneyed than me -- picked up the tab; and (b) when you buy someone lunch they don't care what you pay with.
The only card I ever pulled out which ever got a reaction from anyone was my Synchrony Marvel Spiderman card... that card often got me a smile from the cashier or wait staff Now that was worth something.
