Wondering if I should close my AMEX..

[ariesdreamer]

I have the Delta and the Starwoods cards. I've had the Delta since August and the Starwoods since November. I'm just waiting for my payment to go through sometime in the next few days so both accounts will be paid in full.

After hearing all the horror stories about AMEX, I'm leery about keeping it now. If I keep it, should I charge something small and PIF every month? I've been through their FR as well and I didn't mind that too much. I guess I'm afraid that if I don't use the cards after I pay the balances in full, will they close my accounts?? I sure don't want that happening!

Advice, anyone?

[haulingthescoreup]

You've already been through F/R and come out the other side. Presumably you're not doing anything dumb with your cards, either the AmEx cards or others. I'd just keep doing whatever it is you're doing. They must have been OK with it, since you came through OK, right?

When everyone gets a fit of the nerves, you just have to work extra hard to keep a level head. There are a lot of wild theories being posted as to why Joe AmEx got F/R'd, and frankly, some of them don't make a whole lot of sense. I don't see any reason at all for you to worry. Cheer up!

[heirophant]

As a person who just got a Delta Gold card, I am leary of this, too.  But I really like the program and am excited about getting the miles.  Should I ever have a F/R for some ungodly reason (high utilization due to unexpected expenses, a late payment on another CC by accident), what should I expect?  What is their F/R process.  I mean, to get approved, they called my place of work and verified my address.  Anything different in F/R?

Is there a point at which you are somewhat safe from F/R's pending something super-drastic on your CR?

Message Edited by heirophant on 02-08-2008 03:55 PM

[ariesdreamer]

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haulingthescoreup wrote:
You've already been through F/R and come out the other side. Presumably you're not doing anything dumb with your cards, either the AmEx cards or others. I'd just keep doing whatever it is you're doing. They must have been OK with it, since you came through OK, right?

When everyone gets a fit of the nerves, you just have to work extra hard to keep a level head. There are a lot of wild theories being posted as to why Joe AmEx got F/R'd, and frankly, some of them don't make a whole lot of sense. I don't see any reason at all for you to worry. Cheer up!

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Thanks! Have you ever heard of them closing an account for no activity at all? I honestly don't want to use the cards...just for emergencies or something...

[haulingthescoreup]

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@ariesdreamer wrote:

Thanks! Have you ever heard of them closing an account for no activity at all? I honestly don't want to use the cards...just for emergencies or something...

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I've never heard of it, but that's probably because when people here on the forums finally get one, they melt the plastic with use!

I just don't think that AmEx is as nutty as everyone fears. (Pause to move with laptop and beer under the dining room table.) If it makes you feel better, can you put a tank of gas on each once a month? Or if you're like me and fill up once a week, two tanks a month per each.

I sometimes think that we obsess so much here about finding some magic formula to keep AmEx happy (and get CLI's) that we wind up shooting ourselves in the foot. (Feet?) In other words, in an attempt to stay out of trouble, we wind up creating trouble that we would never have had if we had just puttered along, doing boring middle-class American things, paying off our cards, and not frightening the horses.

[Anonymous]

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heirophant wrote:

As a person who just got a Delta Gold card, I am leary of this, too.  But I really like the program and am excited about getting the miles.

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How did I miss this post until now?  Always good to see a brother in arms, so to speak.

I need a bumper sticker that says "I heart my Delta Skymiles card."

[Anonymous]

ariesdreamer wrote:

Thanks! Have you ever heard of them closing an account for no activity at all? I honestly don't want to use the cards...just for emergencies or something...

YMMV on this one since they may have changed their policies, but just wanted to share my experience in this area.

I had a Green Charge Card I opened in 1994.  After using it only a few times, it sat idle for long time, and when I went through my "irresponsible credit period," I eventually completely forgot I even had it.

I finally got a notice from Amex that they were closing my account due to inactivity.

In 2004.

So, in my experience, 10 years of inactivity seems to be the breaking point.

[Anonymous]

Easiest way to keep a card 'active' use right after the statement dat and PIF before the next statement date (the 'payment reports to the CRAs (I have a;list of all payemnts on one CR along with balances each month). It's used, it's acive and they get money from the transaction fee (and you get the util %)

[MidnightVoice]

For cards I don't use month I have a monthly charitable deduction of scorewatch taken out evey month.  I then know exactly how much will be taken out when and I can PIF whenever I want to

[BetterTomorrow]

I've read a lot about FRs on this and other forums. Personally, I believe it's triggered by you, the card holder. If you have applied a lot of different credit cards in short amount of time, most likely, you will get FRed. If you ask for CLI often, most likely, you will get FRed. But who really knows, I've had my Delta for a month and charged up around $2000. I plan to PIF every month and I'll just wait for them to increase my limits. Hopefully this will keep them happy. But if they decide to FR me for no apparent reason, I will not hesitate to cancel the card...