AU impact

[Anonymous]

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@K-in-Boston wrote:

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@BmoreBull wrote:

I wish I knew this before....

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You will definitely have an account opening date equal to the date you were added.  Amex actually backdated accounts to the first year you were known in their system until about 5 years ago (so if you had an account in 1985, then opened a new one on the 1st of July, 2014, it would report as opened on the 1st of July, 1985).  When they stopped backdating, they took it to the extreme of not even inheriting the history of an existing account.

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This is SO helpful to know about AMEX in particular because I was planning on reapplying to them to reactivate an account of mine from 25 years ago once I got my score up high enough so as to raise my AAoA with something that's mine. 😂😭😂 Now I realize the best possible case scenario will be adding only 5 years. It's still likely worth it for me. However, not the parade of roses 🌹 and a crown 👑 25 years would have been. Sooooooo good to know.

Thank you all for chiming in with the AMEX idiosyncrasies to educate us all. 🙏🏻

[K-in-Boston]

@Anonymous if a delinquent account is reinstated (Amex does sometimes extend offers to reopen accounts if the balance is paid, here is a recent example) the original opening date would be restored.  However, the examples we usually see are ones that were charged off within the past few years, so it would be rather surprising to see an example from decades prior.

Otherwise, I'm a bit lost on the "the best possible case scenario will be adding only 5 years" part as opening a new American Express account or being added as an AU will result in the date either of those events take place as the date that will be reported as the opening date to the credit bureaus.  Your Member Since date shown online and on your card would still remain 199x as long as you are matched up in their system to your previous accounts, but that is purely cosmetic.