Is There Something 'Magic' About Amex?

[coldfusion]

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@CreditPuppy wrote:

@Anonymous 

Yep, what Allzoero said.  Though, there IS something magical about AmEx - 1 HP for life.  As long as you have an open tradeline with them, all other apps and CLI's are SP. 

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@CreditPuppyI don't know who told you this "1 HP for life" tale, but it's not correct.   There is no guarantee that an existing cardholder won't take a HP when applying for another card and there are multiple members here that can confirm this through their own personal experience.

[tcbofade]

So, no.  There is nothing magic about them, and the CRA's don't care at all.

Amex works great for some, not so well for others.

DW has two, I have one, and neither of us have been very impressed with them.  No troubles either, but nothing impressive.

If there is an Amex out there that works for you, by all means, get it and enjoy it, but don't expect any magic out of it.

[MrZero]

CRAs don't care about who is on your report, they only care about what is on it, just like the potential lenders.

[Iusedtolurk]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@CreditPuppy wrote:

@Anonymous 

Yep, what Allzoero said.  Though, there IS something magical about AmEx - 1 HP for life.  As long as you have an open tradeline with them, all other apps and CLI's are SP.  Oh, and there is the 3x CLI, too.

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@CreditPuppy while this often happens, it should not be stated as fact - many people do actually end up taking a HP on additional cards. It's a YMMV situation even though it mostly holds true.

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Oh wow I was just about to respond that having a 1 HP for life is really great news but I should have known by now that there are always exceptions to the rule and that YMMV statement is always a factor.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm just curious where you got the idea or thought that an Amex card could possibly be better for a credit file / Fico score than any other account type.  All of the answers you've received in this thread thus far are very good.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I understand that CRAs look favorably on a profile that has a mix of different types of credit. But among revolving credit lines, do CRAs particularly like to see an American Express card? That is, given two otherwise identical credit profiles, will the profile with an American Express card (properly managed, of course) get the higher FICO score?

I'm in the market for a new credit card, and I wonder if I should choose American Express over others to make a more positive impression on CRAs.

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No magic to it. For me because I had an account with them years ago, when I get my CS strong enough to qualify, with some work, I theoretically can get the account then to age back retro 5 years. No more with Amex. If you have anything like that, 5 more years of age in your profile could be a good thing depending on your unique DP's. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[CreditPuppy]

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@coldfusion wrote:

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@CreditPuppy wrote:

@Anonymous 

Yep, what Allzoero said.  Though, there IS something magical about AmEx - 1 HP for life.  As long as you have an open tradeline with them, all other apps and CLI's are SP. 

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@CreditPuppyI don't know who told you this "1 HP for life" tale, but it's not correct.   There is no guarantee that an existing cardholder won't take a HP when applying for another card and there are multiple members here that can confirm this through their own personal experience.

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Maybe it is YMMV?  I have applied for 5 tradelines,  several CLI's and have only 1.  I did such because of watching Brian Jung, Credit Shifu, Ask Sebby (YT credit content creators).  Brian Jung has even stated that when applying, an HP should not be taken into account since you will only get 1 HP from AmEx.

[KatSoDak]

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@CreditPuppy wrote:Maybe it is YMMV?  I have applied for 5 tradelines,  several CLI's and have only 1.  

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One what?  HP?  How can that be if you have applied for 5 tradelines?

[Anonymous]

You should take those YouTube "gurus" with several very large grains of salt. Many will pass off individual experience as scripture, and many have just been flat out wrong in a lot of ways. That "one Amex HP" statement from Jung would be such a fallacy. If you really want to know, ask on this forum.

My experience has mirrored yours - one HP for six cards. Many others have incurred multiple HPs from Amex.

[Anonymous]

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@KatSoDak wrote:

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@CreditPuppy wrote:Maybe it is YMMV?  I have applied for 5 tradelines,  several CLI's and have only 1.  

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One what?  HP?  How can that be if you have applied for 5 tradelines?

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Amex will often SP existing card members for additional cards.

Often. Not always.