@android01 wrote:
@ArisGreek wrote:It would date back to 1986, it may not automatically; but you can call them and ask. If they cannot find a record you just need to show them a statement or find your original card.
Wow. They will actually report it to the CRA's that way? I don't have the statements or the card, but My Experian report shows the full account number from back then. My AAoA is 11 years, but adding a 25 year old line to my credit report doesn't hurt. I guess sometimes being old isn't such a bad thing!
If for no other reason, this is why I always recommend getting some sort of (ahem) bare-bones AE card to young people, even if they turn around and close it a year or two later. As long as they hang on to the account number, they can jump back in a decade later, and unless AE changes their policies, they'll have an old new card. Hanging on to that old opening date can do amazing things for your credit history. And it affects AAoA, too --one card with 25 years on it makes it older, two makes it a lot older, and three...
Of course, I'm a "member since" 2008. 
If you already have an AmEx and you want to add another, wait until January. For instance, if I got another card today, it would have an opening date of Dec 2008. But if I wait two weeks until the new year, it will have an opening date of January 2008. That's 11 extra months of history in exchange for waiting two weeks. 
By the way, for the newer members reading this thread, American Express is the only bank we know of that does this. And it doesn't work for AmEx branded cards that are issued by USAA, or BofA, or Macy's, or anyone else. It only works for cards that actually come from American Express.
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Of course, I'm a "member since" 2008.
So am I. And I know I won't find any old and forgotten Amex card in any of my drawers.
Plus, i feel old and cranky, too .
@Anonymous wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Of course, I'm a "member since" 2008.
So am I. And I know I won't find any old and forgotten Amex card in any of my drawers.
Plus, i feel old and cranky, too
We'll need to get together and compare how far we walked to school and up how many hills, barefoot, in the snow.
" I don't have the statements or the card, but My Experian report shows the full account number from back then."
The number on your EX report isn't the same as your account number, but it can be used to locate your account. They use some other number on your credit report. If you can provide them with this full number, they should be able to locate the account. Depending on the CSR you get, they may not understand this, but they should be able to investigate and find the account. I had an account opened in 1998, closed in 2004, and I didn't have the account number. When I asked to have it backdated, they couldn't find me in the system searching on my social. I gave the rep the number from my EX report and he told me it wasn't my account number because it had too many digits and he didn't know what to do with that number. He said they would investigate and see if they could locate the account.
A few days later, they updated my online account with member since 1998, I received a new card, and it reported as opened in 1998 on my credit report. If you search the forums, there are some other posts that discuss the full number on your EX report in more detail and I believe they discuss a different department within Amex to speak to if you are having trouble.
Starting Score: ~500 (12/01/2008)
@haulingthescoreup wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@haulingthescoreup wrote:Of course, I'm a "member since" 2008.
So am I. And I know I won't find any old and forgotten Amex card in any of my drawers.
Plus, i feel old and cranky, too
We'll need to get together and compare how far we walked to school and up how many hills, barefoot, in the snow.
And don't forget that WE LIKED IT....
