What’s the problem AMEX?

[JoeRockhead]

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@NAVYCHOP wrote:

Maybe I'm starting to come out from the woods.. I still have a preset limit on my Platinum but I wanted a Hilton Aspire card to have the perpetual diamond status when I stay at Hilton.   I was turned down a few months ago for a CLI request on my Delta card because I had a preset limit.  I have been told you can't apply for new cards with a preset limit, but after receiving an invite for a pre-approved gold card I pulled the trigger and applied for the Hilton Aspire card.  It was instantly approved with a meager $5k CL which I don't care about.  My Hilton status was immediately upgraded to Diamond.  It all came through despite the spending limit on the Platinum card.

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Nice, congratulations on the upgrade and approval @NAVYCHOP 

[NAVYCHOP]

Just to close the loop on this, after about five years AMEX reinstated my NPSL with the current monthly statement that generated for my Platinum card.  I did have a period of high utilization on other accounts and a period where I used the POT for a single period in my life when I felt it was better carrying balances before liquidating assets to bring myself back on a PIF basis.

For others in a similar situation here are some data points I experienced between 2018-2023:

--started with a 35k POT

--ran POT up from early to mid 2019 to about 15k balance with NPSL on account

-started in early 2020 to receive comment on statement that I had a "pre-set line" of $18,3k when my POT was ratcheted back to that limit

-then in mid-2020 I received the statement comment that I had a "pre set spending limit" of $18.3k (is preset spending limit the same as "preset line" and a change in terminology or more restrictive, no one at AMEX could tell me)

- a month later I paid the POT in full and made it inactive 

-the following month after paying off POT I received a restrictive preset spending limit of $4k

-in late 2021 the preset spending limit increased to $7k

--in Jan 2023, preset limit went to $10k

-- after having a FICO 8 score over 800 for 8 months in 2023, the card returned to NPSL this August.

The whole time I had preset spending limits, I was charging about $120k annually and just had to pay down the balance multiple times per month.

interestingly, the whole time AMEX had low preset spending limits on my Platinum card, they never lowered my $40k limit on my DL Reserve card.

[direct007]

The more I read about Amex, the more I wonder why people even want to deal with them.  It's the only card that basically feeds on people's egos that feel the need to want something that is supposedly exclusive, charges high fees for this "privilege" of carrying their card and gives their card members friction along the way.

I've never had any of this BS with any of my Visa or Mastercards, they are accepted at more places and I have more credit than I could ever use on my existing cards.  Maybe if you are mega rich and need a card with a multimillion dollar credit limit, it could come in handy, but for the other 99% of the world, I see no redeeming factors.

[MudkipsRKooL]

same could be said for mastercards  2-3 decades ago. Just a "flex" card. High fees, late fees. Non-activity fees, u name it lol. And AF for no reason at all except "clout".

[dms1979]

I have been getting amazing Plat offers lately, 100k and even a 125k offer. I cancelled it a few years back due to lack of travel and the benefits really going downhill.

I am on the cusp of deciding if I want to upgrade my Surpass to Aspire or just apply for the Aspire on top of the Surpass to get the bonus and benefits. One thing I do not like about the Aspire is losing the grocery spend points (6x on Surpass) which can be considerable. I have been using my Surpass exclusively for a few months and boosted my Hilton points considerably.

[swankytiger]

@dms1979 Have you gotten the SUB for a standard HHonors card? The No AF card. 

I think the standard advice for churning SUBs and Upgrade offers is to apply for each of the 3 cards to get the SUB's then once you have gotten them downgrade the surpass to the base card to get the upgrade offers.

For the grocery spend the base card is 5x vs the surpass' 6x, you dont need the extras the surpass has since the Aspire covers all of them. So you lose out on a bit of points but there isnt that much difference.

So apply for the Aspire and get the SUB, then apply for the base card and get the SUB, then downgrade the surpass to the base card and move the credit limit to the aspire or one of the base cards and close the other base card unless you want to hold for upgrade offers on both base cards. You would be at your 3 of 4-5 AMEX credit card limit in just hilton cards though. 

My current move is going to be using the base card as my main spender for Groceries/Gas and then grab the Aspire for Dining/Hilton 

[dms1979]

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@swankytiger wrote:

@dms1979 Have you gotten the SUB for a standard HHonors card? The No AF card. 

I think the standard advice for churning SUBs and Upgrade offers is to apply for each of the 3 cards to get the SUB's then once you have gotten them downgrade the surpass to the base card to get the upgrade offers.

For the grocery spend the base card is 5x vs the surpass' 6x, you dont need the extras the surpass has since the Aspire covers all of them. So you lose out on a bit of points but there isnt that much difference.

So apply for the Aspire and get the SUB, then apply for the base card and get the SUB, then downgrade the surpass to the base card and move the credit limit to the aspire or one of the base cards and close the other base card unless you want to hold for upgrade offers on both base cards. You would be at your 3 of 4-5 AMEX credit card limit in just hilton cards though. 

My current move is going to be using the base card as my main spender for Groceries/Gas and then grab the Aspire for Dining/Hilton 

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Not a bad idea on that strategy. Hmmm, let me think about it. The main thing is what to do with the Surpass once I have the Aspire. The base Hilton might be the way to go

Get Aspire, land the bonus. Apply for base Hilton card, get that bonus, PC Surpass to that card or cancel the Surpass alltogether? 

[swankytiger]

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@dms1979 wrote:

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Not a bad idea on that strategy. Hmmm, let me think about it. The main thing is what to do with the Surpass once I have the Aspire. The base Hilton might be the way to go

Get Aspire, land the bonus. Apply for base Hilton card, get that bonus, PC Surpass to that card or cancel the Surpass alltogether? 

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@dms1979 you have it correct and your options once you get the sub for the base are basically PC the surpass to the base and hold it for an upgrade offer or move the credit limits between the other cards and close it.  I would move the limits around and close it unless you want to do the whole hold multiple aspires for multiple free nights thing.