Why are some Amex cards harder to get?

[Anonymous]

I keep seeing all these posts about converting Amex cards and getting a delta card then converting to a blue or clear card?

Why is it that some Amex cards are so much harder to get?

Does it have to do with being primes and sub-primes....(but I thought Amex doesn't have sub-primes)?

[Anonymous]

Amex doesn't necessarily say that they have prime and sub prime- but on their lower level tiered cards, you don't have to meet as strict Fico scores and DTI's.

Just some advice- because you might have a financial review at any time- never fudge the info given to Amex. Actually- one should never fudge the info given to any CC co.- i.e. household income- think I heard Chase was actually doing some reviews too.

[Anonymous]

netpathner, is so right;  I gave our total house income but my actual income was a lot lower.. but i past the review. 

[John060675]

Also, the Delta Skymiles has a hefty annual fee of around $175.  I am sure that is why this one is easier to get.

[Anonymous]

John,

the skymiles is 75.00 a year.  i have the amex gold rewards and my yearly fee is 150.00 

the next fee is the amex charge plati at 450.00 then the black card at 2500 a year

the green card is 95 or a little more.

[Anonymous]

135 for my plat delta skymiles and it wasn't even waived the first year like the gold!

[haulingthescoreup]

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@Anonymous wrote:

John,

the skymiles is 75.00 a year. i have the amex gold rewards and my yearly fee is 150.00

the next fee is the amex charge plati at 450.00 then the black card at 2500 a year

the green card is 95 or a little more.

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OK, I can't stand it any more--all you AmEx hounds, why do so many of you get the charge cards instead of (or as well as) the $0 AF credit cards? Is it just the coolness factor, or are the rewards so huge that you wind up doing better than pure no-fee credit cards?

How much and what kind of goodies do you get that make the AF's acceptable? How much do you have to charge on one each month to make it worthwhile? And since you have to PIF every single month, do you keep a separate savings account to make sure that you can always pay on time?

And the black card with an annual fee of $4500? OMG, what on earth do you get for that? Front-row Springsteen tickets every week for the rest of your life???? inquiring minds want to know

[fused]

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@haulingthescoreup wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

John,

the skymiles is 75.00 a year. i have the amex gold rewards and my yearly fee is 150.00

the next fee is the amex charge plati at 450.00 then the black card at 2500 a year

the green card is 95 or a little more.

---

OK, I can't stand it any more--all you AmEx hounds, why do so many of you get the charge cards instead of (or as well as) the $0 AF credit cards? Is it just the coolness factor, or are the rewards so huge that you wind up doing better than pure no-fee credit cards?

How much and what kind of goodies do you get that make the AF's acceptable? How much do you have to charge on one each month to make it worthwhile? And since you have to PIF every single month, do you keep a separate savings account to make sure that you can always pay on time?

And the black card with an annual fee of $4500? OMG, what on earth do you get for that? Front-row Springsteen tickets every week for the rest of your life???? inquiring minds want to know

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I charge between 5-10K a month on my Gold Rewards card. 80% of these charges are from my employer's monthly traveling expenses. They reimburse me about 5 days before the statement date. I am currently earning 2 points for every $1 spent with Amex partnered companies. I covert the points into Continetal FF miles. Every month I earn roughly 15,000 points. 10,000 miles is enough for me to upgrade from low class seating to business class when traveling between Hawaii and Guam. This is well worth the $150 AF which by the way was waived for the first year.

[John060675]

Ragcajun,

My fee for the Platinum Delta Skymiles is $135.  I should know, because it is on my statement right now.  I mistyped when I put $175, must be the cold weather.

Of course, they have agreed to credit it back to my account when my Blue comes in and is activated. 

[haulingthescoreup]

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@fused111 wrote:

I charge between 5-10K a month on my Gold Rewards card. 80% of these charges are from my employer's monthly traveling expenses. They reimburse me about 5 days before the statement date. I am currently earning 2 points for every $1 spent with Amex partnered companies. I covert the points into Continetal FF miles. Every month I earn roughly 15,000 points. 10,000 miles is enough for me to upgrade from low class seating to business class when traveling between Hawaii and Guam. This is well worth the $150 AF which by the way was waived for the first year.

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Thanks, Fused. So I can see that they are great for corporate cards where you get reimbursed for most of the charges, and your employer lets you keep the points. That makes sense.

How about those of you who have them as personal cards? I think I saw a post from someone who used them for groceries and stuff, but I can't find it now. It just seems like you'd have to churn a lot of charges to make it worthwhile. And I'm still brooding about that black card at $4500/ year...