how long will AMEX do me like this...

[elixerin]

Love AMEX, their services, products, and customer service is rather pleasant in comparison to other banks i've experienced.

Being a rather new Cardmember since Nov 2019 i've since been educated that AMEX is a history lender and adjusts accordingly... However, based on my current situation and what's happening to me with their Flagship Charge card i actually need more insight as to how long this type of behavior might continue for... 

This actually happened to me two months ago in January when i received my first charge card from them (61 days from Nov 2019 revolver approval and after 3x CLI), charged and paid 30k+ within a week to be balance chased from 12 to 7 to basically hard locking me at $3900 when i called CSR to get an explanation i got the wait 6 months to establish more history and "patterns" for your account line.. there were some transactions in Jan where i had to purposely split payments above 3900+ and log on my ph and send a pre-payment right before i was about to initiate the transactions.. a distributor got confused as to why i asked him to split an $8800 charge in two on the same card back to back.. gave any excuse to save from the embarassment of straight up saying the card might get declined.. (this is the same month i charged and sent 30k+ to them) whatever... i'm new.. no history.. JUST be patient, OK.

Feb was nice, charged up to 24k without paying till right after statement cut

Finally, to this month.. it started okay i charged about 8-9k before hell broke loose all over so to purposely (and ironic how it didn't work) avoid eyes and AMEX wand wacking i paid down to under 1k.. this was a couple days ago and since i had put 2-300 on misc. charges, Last night i walk into Walgreens to grab essentials before a county wide lockdown, bleeping $38 charge gets declined on the Platinum card at $1072 balance (couple hundred pending)... CHIP AND APPLE PAY...

at this point i can't tell really if this is a joke or if allowed spending limit actually changes every second and im just simply unable to understand the meaning or the hassle around this... i read alot people on the forums happily mention that they have no issues with any charge card for ANY purchase they need to make in emergency and non-emergenecy alike.. Also mentioning that if a surprise 10k medical bill or other large expense comes after recent history of non spend on that charge card they will have zero worry or second thought as to the transaction's approval.

NEED HELP... what do i do here? beyond the "give time build history" line what other insights do maybe other charge holders have that dont experience such annoyances.  my rage diminished throughout the 2 hour CSR hold lines last night so no csr contact with me.. Messages reply fast but ultimately always post the same account services number.. Really my only want now for having this card is the 300k points i have to cash out before reconsidering my options or something else... who knows.

thanks for the read.

btw since Platinum approval my scores basically remained the same due to how new the accounts are and them just hitting CR's (recent freedom approval has yet to hit), thankfully the small increase in UT was balanced out by age and my scores have beent pretty stagnate at the 700 mark

[K-in-Boston]

Once you have established history with Amex there are usually no problems unless you have derogatory credit history.  That seems like a lot of spend right off the bat if this is the personal Platinum card.

Can't say with certainty when they will loosen the leash, but it will really depend on profile, income and spend.  Does your reported income support spending $30k+ in a single statement cycle?  Do you have existing aged credit accounts with high limits that would support the same amount of spend?  Any negatives on your credit reports?

[Remedios]

You have very short credit history, a baby one. You've been applying for other cards. You've had a lot of activity. 

Amex uses adaptive algorithm and right now you're not making it happy. 

It's not just about your short history with Amex, it's short history in general. 

To put in in a perspective, half the members have cards older than you. 

So, if you're not willing to credit idle you can expect this to continue happening. 

I suggest you take a look at your EX report, a copy of free annual credit report is good for this purpose and see how many SPs you have from them since the approval. 

[elixerin]

Appreciate the quick reply K,

reported income to AMEX is 308k

as for existing aged accounts that's a nope. In November 2019 my TCL was $2000 with 1 year history (2 TL's, no loans)

the November AMEX revolver approval for 4k was double my current reported TCL and now 12k since Jan was my highest line  by 2-4x other two, i just got approved for freedom at 22.5k so we are getting there...

no negatives 

[K-in-Boston]

Like Remedios said, short history is holding you back.  You'll get there, but you need to let your profile settle and age, while giving Amex a track record of making charges and paying them back.  I know that can be frustrating, but it's their game to make the rules for and you have to play by those rules.  Their rewards and products are among the best available in the credit world, so it's often worth any initial aggravation.

Generally speaking, most people running that kind of legitimate spend will have very long credit histories and several very high limit revolving cards.

[Taurus22]

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@elixerin wrote:

Appreciate the quick reply K,

reported income to AMEX is 308k

as for existing aged accounts that's a nope. In November 2019 my TCL was $2000 with 1 year history (2 TL's, no loans)

the November AMEX revolver approval for 4k was double my current reported TCL and now 12k since Jan was my highest line  by 2-4x other two, i just got approved for freedom at 22.5k so we are getting there...

no negatives 

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Holy smokes......what do you do for a living?  Can I come?

[Anonymous]

What you've described is more typical of business use, rather than personal. Personal limits tend to reflect natural spend that comes out of income (or personal expendable profit). Business limits are based on revenue which is often *way* more than an individual income may support.

If you want them to get to know you better then I'd move that sort of spend to business cards and maybe also have a deposit account with them. They may be less wary of someone spending $30k in a week if you have a similar amount in checking/savings there.

[PointsBonus]

....AMEX+TIME= Happiness.

....AMEX+NO PATIENCE+Phone Calls to CSR = A Rocky Start ... 

[TheConstant]

So you're charging 10% of your unnual salary in one week (out of 52), during a time of major liquidity concerns, and where interest rates are at historic lows? And only 5 months history with the creditor?

No, there's nothing you can do besides time. 

You hit internal risk flags with your behavior of spending. You're a flight risk to them. It will probably take another 6 months of consistent spend and paying it off for them

[Anonymous]

If you have a business you might want to consider their business cards. 
I think any bank would flag it as $38k charge isn't something ordinary credit card holder would do.