Well shoot, denied AMEX 61 Day CLI

[Jutz]

I kinda forgot to update this when my 7-10 day letter came in.  It ended up being basically for inquiries.  The three reasons listed were:

• Inquiries
• FICO Score
• Length with AMEX

FICO Score is factored into every decision, so that's obvious.  Length with AMEX was past 60 days, so I know that wasn't really an issue.  That leaves inquiries, which makes sense.  I don't have TONS but the bulk of them were from the house and the subsequent mini spree (3 cards) which was all within 60-90 days of the 3x request.  I just wish I didn't have to wait until 90 days for my next request!

Can anyone answer for me...since I didn't get my 3x, will I even be able to get 3x for my next request?  Or will I likely now be relegated to the lower type CLI?

On the plus side, I got some Luv from WalMart and Lowes today, 1100 to 1700 and 2000 to 3000, respectively.

[09Lexie]

The new acct will age more giving them a better pyt history to make their decision. The inq's/score will not be as important as your internal score with Amex.

[Jutz]

So 3x wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for when my 90 days comes up?

[iwazl71]

Amex has denied me as well.  I have over 200k in CL with less than 1% utll and 750 FICOs across the board but still can't get CLI with Amex.  It does not help that I have opened 25 tradelines this year, 3 auto loans, and a mortgage refinance.  Like you, I understand AMEX decisions.

[09Lexie]

I'd keep asking - they will counter . You'd be more upset if you asked for $2000 and could have gotten the full 3x.

[bski]

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@Jutz wrote:

So 3x wouldn't be unreasonable to ask for when my 90 days comes up?

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Yes, it's perfectly reasonable. Things can change very quickly with Amex.

In July, I was denied for a 3x CLI on my BCE which had been at $2k for nearly two years. Like you, I was a bit discouraged, since they didn't even counter offer. However, in September they auto-CLI'd me to $3.2k (don't ask me why). Then in October, I was approved for a CLI to $9.6k.

All that happened within about 95 days, so don't give up hope!

[jgodfrey82]

I am right there with you Jutz. I just tried for CLI on my costco TE in September and was denied. I was trying to go from 6k to 15k and didn't even get a counter. I had 30% or more util with around 50% on that card. I have a zync I pay 4-6k a month on, so I am thinking they don't want me to stop spending on that if they give me the bigger cli on the revolver.

My scores were around 680, I had 7 or 8 inq's and probably only 2 new accounts for the year. Since then I've had 2 more student loans report and 2 lines with nfcu open.
My scores just shot up to 730-760 and my util should be down around 15%, amex will be 10% or under, with 5 or 6 inq's within the year when I try again in January.

Hopefully they will reconsider and give me the 3X, otherwise the card might get paid down low and only used at costco.

[lg8302ch]

Sorry to hear.  I got 6 new cards out of 8 cards total  in the past 12 months and at the time for my 61 day CLI with Amex my highest limit card was 5K so I applied a slightly different strategy. Asked for 2 x CLI to 10K only  and 6 months later tested my waters with 25K and to my surprise it worked. But I know that other lenders (Chase and Discover) are very concerned about my credit extension. No chance Chase would give me another card at this stage or Discover a CLI   .. just hope the 25K will not spook Barclays as my 6th statement is coming up.

[MACFRME]

In regard to having a charge card and a revolver, I just setup autopay on my Green card. I remember that AmEx was asking people who barely met the approval criterion for Zync to sign up for autopay, and thought that this must help one's internal risk score with them. Perhaps having the charge card on autopay will help them come to an easy decision on my CLI request later? We shall see. I will report back my results after I hit the 61 days.

[watch44]

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@Jutz wrote:

Yeah I don't really mess around with AMEX when it comes to payment tricks.  My charge is on auto pay and has been since I picked it up around January.  Most I've done on the BCE was PIF before statement cut to report $0 for my CLI request.

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Do you use your BCE at all or were you counting on your Gold usage to curry favor with AMEX? 

I'm in the middle of reading through the Amex 3x CLI thread so maybe someone else can give us the insider scoop.