Keeping Amex happy on the Delta Reserve (see message 10)

[W261w261]

I have 3 Amex cards: a 4 yr 1k EDP that has seen mucho spending, particularly in the last year, plus 2 brand-new cards, a Gold and a Delta Reserve 5k.  Gold SUB is 60k, Delta is 80k. Gold SUB spend is $4k/6 mos, Delta is 5k/3 mos.

The bad news is I'm about to spend 9-10k on medical treatment for one of my dogs (he fell out of bed and probably herniated a disk in his neck).  The good news is in one fell swoop I can dispatch the SUB's on both of the new cards  * if I can get the charges through *.  NB: although I am prepared to max out the Delta card and put a whopper of a charge on the Gold, it would only be for a few days - I would pay them off immediately.

I think I need a strategy here.  On the Delta card, I could call Amex and get a pre-approval for a charge that will go to the card's limit. So that would take care of the card's SUB if they'll let me do it.  I would think that I should be able to achieve that. On the Gold however, running a 5k charge might be more difficult.  I could call Amex and offer to essentially pre-pay it, if they would accept a 5k payment on a card with nothing due. I could push the  "check my spending power" button, which I haven't done because I can't believe the answer would be yes.

I do have a little flexibility on the timing of the charges, so I could do say 2k on the Gold, wait a couple of days, pay it, do another 2 k etc. But I don't thing I would have time to  wait til the charges clear, so the result is the same, getting Amex to accept a payment against a zero balance with pending charges.

Although spending 10k on a pooch is major ouch-country, it is what it is.  If I can walk away with my bonuses earned and therefore a better shot at getting Delta Silver Elite status that will run through December of 2022, the pain will be less.  What do you guys think on how to get these through Amex?  Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Paging @K-in-Boston for some well-honed Amex expertise on this one. He's one of your best bets for Amex strategy and may be able to assist. I think you're right in planning it out and that speaking with Amex beforehand rather than just doing it is much safer.

[NichelleN]

In my early days with Amex I had some large charges I wanted to run through. I used the check my spending power to check and it came back with an amount that served the purpose. It definitely worked.

[FinStar]

What is the highest transaction amount you've placed on EDP?  What's the average spend in ~12 months?

The Gold card might be tricky since it's relatively new and you haven't established any transactions or payment history.  Worse case scenario, they can probably allow the charges (or a good portion of them), if you pre-pay the amounts.  This is something that may require you to contact them in the event that the Check Spending Power tool denies the full amount of your potential transaction(s) on each of the new cards.

[K-in-Boston]

If you were to put all of it on Delta Reserve would that impede your ability to later hit the spending on the Gold Card?  You mentioned status, are you planning to meet both the MQD Waiver at $25k and the Status Boost for MQMs at $30k this year on the Reserve?  If so, that would be a good head start, and you could consider pushing a payment through with no balance prior or seeing if you can perhaps make a $5000 payment and then maybe a few days later make an additional one on that card.  Amex will let you charge right up to the limit, and usually a bit beyond.  You can always hit the Check Spending Ability even on revolvers just to make sure a charge will be approved beforehand.  And funds are available again immediately after payment.

With the Gold Card, it doesn't hurt to hit the Spending button if you really plan to make a purchase to see if it will be approved.  The only thing that gives me pause is the previous $1k limit card.  If you were to split it between the cards, I would probably use Gold first so that any computerized decisions would not also be based on authorizations on your other card.

[W261w261]

On my EDP, I average about 3k/mo spend, so I'm always making payments. I try to keep the balance at zero for AZEO. Turned down for CLI in Jan, but my score was 80 points lower then. 690 now. So Gold/Delta Res or not, I'm not yet an Amex high-level customer.

Good idea on hitting the Gold first. Thx

[W261w261]

@K-in-BostonI spoke to Amex.  Offered to wire 10k onto the Delta card (zero balance currently).  The credit guy said that they don't encourage that kind of thing ( they've done it for me twice, albeit on a much smaller level), but he said he would try to get it done if I really needed it.  He didn't quite understand that I wanted the whole 10k spend to be on the DR card, so he suggested that I should put half on the Delta card and the other half on the Gold.  He said my current spend limit on the Gold is 25k. 

Going for the silver Medallion level,  with the SUB of 20k MQM, I'm essentially good on the MQM sider.  It's the 25k MQD's that present the problem.  With 1/2 of the vet bill, I'll only have 6k.  I can throw another 8k at it with a car repair and some business printing, so I have 8 mos to spend 11k.  That's do-able, just will take a little longer.  I've never been a frequent flyer so that's a good target. 

The whole conversation was very professional [Mod Cut: Not here.] and a good telephone connection.  No wonder Amex wins awards.  

[Anonymous]

Since you'll obviously be using said cards for a few other things too besides this vet bill, I would put less of it on the Gold as that requirement for spend is lower. You could just put $3K on Gold leaving only $1K needed in other charges within 6 months. Then I'd see how much exactly over that you can go on Delta Reserve and put the remaining amount on it.   Since it's a new account I'm not sure that you can even push a payment especially one that's $2K over your CL so that wouldn't be an option and you would have to let the charge post first. 

Perhaps you can speak to the Vet and have them charge to remaining $7K in two installments on the Delta Reserve, one for $4,500 and a second for $2,500 a week or two later so that it gives you time to PIF on the first charge. 

[W261w261]

This is such a mix of good news / bad news. The good news is Amex called me back and said they'll allow me to make a 5k payment on the Delta Res card which has a zero balance, thereby effectively giving me a 10k CL so I could pay the surgeon and keep all the bucks on the DR card, with only another 15k of spend to get to Delta Silver Elite status (already there with the MQM's).

The bad/good news is that Mr. Dog now has melanoma, so he (and I) get a pass on the surgery. I'm going to have to work harder to get to that 25k.

I say kudos to Amex for offering to let me overpay by 5k, even though I don't need it now. They said they'd call me back in a day, and the same guy did call. Gotta love it. 

[W261w261]

I have 3 Amex cards:    

EDP - collected a bonus of I think 20k points after the upgrade from ED card in Jan 21.  ED opened 2016.  1k cemented in.

Gold - opened Apr 11th.  Just about to achieve spend for the 60k SUB

Delta Reserve - opened with the Gold.  Just about to go over the 5k spend for the 80k miles SUB

The Gold will be the go-to for most of my Amex spending, but I stray to Navy for the 1% stuff as the Flagship has 2%.  But still, I have a decent amount of spend to spread around.

I got the Delta card because I wanted the big 80k miles SUB, the lounge access, and, after the first year, the companion certificate that works up through first class, some other stuff, and the ability to crash an $80k rental car (Gold only supports a $50k crash). I happily will pay $550 a year for those. The card itself offers little of interest miles-wise:  3x on ticket purchases, 1% on everything else.  I therefore have no incentive to use it for purchases beginning in about 2 weeks, EXCEPT TO KEEP IT ALIVE, and not get me in some sort of trouble with Mother.  

I intuitively think that if I didn't charge another cent on it until the 2022 renewal date, that Amex would be....disappointed, perhaps in a way that Michael Corleone would understand. I don't want that. But neither do I want to throw 2x, 3x, 4x points away unnecessarily on the Delta card when I could get them on either of the two others.

A related issue, now that I think about it, is the EDP card.  I did get the 20k points in maybe Feb, but since I re-directed my spend to the Gold+Delta cards, the EDP has been living with the socks.  With its 1k limit seemingly screwed to the ground, it's moderate advantage over the Gold in points multiplier (assuming 30 uses/mo for a 50% point increase) is pretty marginal. Plus, well, its not pink, doesn't go clink, and is not as much fun when you pay for a drink.

So, how do I handle this with the Delta?  Thank you.