@wmr0919 wrote:
Gotcha so I'm going to just pull the trigger and apply for that today. Will wait until I can hopefully get some replies to my other questions as well. Also thank you so much for the reply and insight.
@wmr0919 wrote:
1) Should I just hold off until my Experian is higher then 705 for Amex Blue?
As said above, 705 is high enough for approval on an Amex core revolver, but cc issuers approve profiles, not scores, so it would depend on the details of your EX report, your income, etc. However, see my next answer to your question about Experian Boost.
Also, is the "Amex Blue" that you're interested in Blue by American Express or a different card? If the former, does a 1x MR earning revolver have more value for you than one of their cashback cards?
2) I recently did use the Experian boost which netted me around 40 points. If Amex does check my credit for pre-approval, or a full application, would this actually be useless and I'm just applying at a 775?
To my knowledge, Amex does not use boosted scores. (I don't know of any lender that does.) If 705 is your boosted score and 665 is your EX8 w/o boost, I would probably hold off as the mid 600's is low for an Amex core revolver approval.
3) My score has jumped a ton in the past two weeks, is there a chance that I'm not getting pre-approval offers from AMEX because they aren't using a live score?
I'm not sure how Amex does the SPs for pre-apps if you're not already a cardholder, but I think a good rule of thumb for SP-related credit stuff is to give it a month or two after positive changes report if you want to be sure. Regardless, the actual application will use an HP that pulls your current report and score.
4) If I wanted to take advantage of my TU score (786) and get multiple cards at once, should I just apply for multiple cards in the same day?
How you will want to space out multiple apps will depend on the strength of you profile, what lenders you are apping with, and how you want to manage meeting any SUBs. You can look at what lenders are partial to pulling TU here. As said above, that a lender tends to only HP TU doesn't mean that they necessarily will in your case or that they will not look at the other bureaus, but it can still give you an idea of where you want to target your apps. What are you looking for in cards to add to your profile, other than being from issuers that pull TU?
5) I'm looking at trading my car in for a lease (with a lower payment) since my APR is high. Should I do that before or after I apply for cards that pull TU?
If it were me, I would probably do the car lease first, since terms on an auto loan would have more of a financial effect on me than terms on a credit card. But whether and how much cc apps prior to an auto app would affect terms would probably depend on your overall profile and how much of a spree you went on.
EDIT: Found a thread discussing that AMEX has two different pre-approval pages. Upon trying the other option, it says I am pre-qualified for the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass card. I'm not too interesed in this card personally but I feel like this has to be a decent sign. Is this card easier to get then the AMEX Blue?
The conventional wisdom is that Amex co-branded cards are easier to get than their core revolvers, but the lack of preapproval for a core revolver does not necessarily mean that you would be denied if you apped. From what you've said here, I'm not sure that you would be approved for a core revolver yet, but they had no preapprovals for me when I apped for my BCP and I was still approved. If the Blue card that you're looking at is one that you've been wanting and you're willing to spend the HP, you could still app and see what happens, tho you might only get a marginal $1k approval.
