Amex Offered me an optima card if I pay balance off. Is this real?

[aquatic1]

Congrats! I was offered the same a few years ago. I paid them back and got my card. Have been faithful to it ever since. For me, it has not increased. But, I am ok with that for now.

[Anonymous]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

The only reason you might be denied for Optima is if you are in Bankruptcy. Otherwise Optima is legit and almost guaratneed approval. You need to pay the previous balance in full to qualify for Optima. If you settle for less than full amout it does not qualify you for Optima. Check with Amex / Collection Agency you are dealing with about Partial Payment.  Your new limit will be about 1/3 of the orginal amount you paid off. After 12 months having Optima in good standing and if your credit improves during that 12 months you might be able to apply for other Amex Products.  If you want to get back into Amex Family this  is a very good offer.

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They did provide me with a partial payment option, but it says I will not get the Optima card if I take that option. It's like they covered all their bases lol. I'm gonna go ahead and pay it in full. I'm just super shocked that I even got this offer. I worked so hard to clean my credit and Amex was my goal. I finally did it then fell on hard times. Happy I'm getting a 2nd chance. 

[Anonymous]

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@aquatic1 wrote:

Congrats! I was offered the same a few years ago. I paid them back and got my card. Have been faithful to it ever since. For me, it has not increased. But, I am ok with that for now.

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Were you able to at least apply for a new Amex product after? Did they approve it? 

[Red1Blue]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Were you able to at least apply for a new Amex product after? Did they approve it? 

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Things might have changed over years. My personal experience. I had Amex in 1995 and it went bad in 1998. I paid it off in full around $10k and got Optima with CL $5k in 2004. After 1 year, I was able to do a product change of my Optima card to Plantinum. I was able to apply and get approved for other Amex products. In 2018 my Amex Platinum and Amex Gold went bad due to my unavoidable situation. I made a 24 month installment plan and paid 9 months so far. They offered 1/3 of my original balance as CL for new Optima. Once I pay them off full I'll get Optima card with $800 CL ( That is 1/3 of the balance of higest balance card I have now ). I could have paid it off all at once. I have decided to extend the time so I can pay off other negative CO and Collections so when I apply for Optima my report looks lot decent. Again for $800 limit card not sure if I have to do all. I am not looking for new credit at this stage in my life. I have decided to clean up my report so it looks good. It really does not matter to me if I have Amex or not but I have decided to clean things up and I am taking my own time. Hope this answers your questions. 

[Anonymous]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

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Things might have changed over years. My personal experience. I had Amex in 1995 and it went bad in 1998. I paid it off in full around $10k and got Optima with CL $5k in 2004. After 1 year, I was able to do a product change of my Optima card to Plantinum. I was able to apply and get approved for other Amex products. In 2018 my Amex Platinum and Amex Gold went bad due to my unavoidable situation. I made a 24 month installment plan and paid 9 months so far. They offered 1/3 of my original balance as CL for new Optima. Once I pay them off full I'll get Optima card with $800 CL ( That is 1/3 of the balance of higest balance card I have now ). I could have paid it off all at once. I have decided to extend the time so I can pay off other negative CO and Collections so when I apply for Optima my report looks lot decent. Again for $800 limit card not sure if I have to do all. I am not looking for new credit at this stage in my life. I have decided to clean up my report so it looks good. It really does not matter to me if I have Amex or not but I have decided to clean things up and I am taking my own time. Hope this answers your questions. 

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Yes It did help, thank you very much. Wouldn't you get the optima guaranteed regardless of what your credit look like though if they offered it? I'm going with the 12 month payment plan but I'm going to pay it off in 3 months. I just rather give myself a little breathing room just in case. 

[Anonymous]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

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Things might have changed over years. My personal experience. I had Amex in 1995 and it went bad in 1998. I paid it off in full around $10k and got Optima with CL $5k in 2004. After 1 year, I was able to do a product change of my Optima card to Plantinum. I was able to apply and get approved for other Amex products. In 2018 my Amex Platinum and Amex Gold went bad due to my unavoidable situation. I made a 24 month installment plan and paid 9 months so far. They offered 1/3 of my original balance as CL for new Optima. Once I pay them off full I'll get Optima card with $800 CL ( That is 1/3 of the balance of higest balance card I have now ). I could have paid it off all at once. I have decided to extend the time so I can pay off other negative CO and Collections so when I apply for Optima my report looks lot decent. Again for $800 limit card not sure if I have to do all. I am not looking for new credit at this stage in my life. I have decided to clean up my report so it looks good. It really does not matter to me if I have Amex or not but I have decided to clean things up and I am taking my own time. Hope this answers your questions. 

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Thanks, this definitely helped. I thought they'd approve you for the optima regardless of what your current credit looks like as long as there's no bankruptcy, no? I did decide to go with the 12 month payback but I'm going to pay it back much sooner. I just went with 12 months for breathing room. 

[Red1Blue]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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Thanks, this definitely helped. I thought they'd approve you for the optima regardless of what your current credit looks like as long as there's no bankruptcy, no? I did decide to go with the 12 month payback but I'm going to pay it back much sooner. I just went with 12 months for breathing room. 

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To be honest, I really do not know what derogs they look and what is acceptable to them. I am not in a hurry to get an Amex card. Also with $800 CL they are giving me not going to help much. Also I have 7 collections and $119K in COs. Probably Amex cares or does not care when they approve the Optima Card. I really don't know what is the experience of other people. I know for sure it is a guaranteed card. So I have decided instead of hurrying, time to clean things up and pay off all the derogs/ COs and Collections off my report. That is why I choose 24 months payment plan. I have alredy paid off 9 payments. I probably will pay off the balance sooner that 24 months, but I have decided to buy my self some time.

I got 5 out of 7 collections off my report. I got 4 COs settled and paid off. I have 14 more COs on my report to clean things up. I am making the settlements and pay off the COs and hopefully in the next 6-12 months I should be free of all the COs and Collections. I got my self good secured cards and they are reporting good payment History for last 8 months. Some of the Secured Cards I have might graduate in 12 months. Not sure. Even other wise, at this stage in my life, I have no desire to get new credit. Just clean things and move on and have a quite life with my children.

All the best with your pursuit of Amex Optima Card. I know they came through to me earlier about 12+ years ago and it is a good way to get back into Amex Family. Wish you all the best.

[Anonymous]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

To be honest, I really do not know what derogs they look and what is acceptable to them. I am not in a hurry to get an Amex card. Also with $800 CL they are giving me not going to help much. Also I have 7 collections and $119K in COs. Probably Amex cares or does not care when they approve the Optima Card. I really don't know what is the experience of other people. I know for sure it is a guaranteed card. So I have decided instead of hurrying, time to clean things up and pay off all the derogs/ COs and Collections off my report. That is why I choose 24 months payment plan. I have alredy paid off 9 payments. I probably will pay off the balance sooner that 24 months, but I have decided to buy my self some time.

I got 5 out of 7 collections off my report. I got 4 COs settled and paid off. I have 14 more COs on my report to clean things up. I am making the settlements and pay off the COs and hopefully in the next 6-12 months I should be free of all the COs and Collections. I got my self good secured cards and they are reporting good payment History for last 8 months. Some of the Secured Cards I have might graduate in 12 months. Not sure. Even other wise, at this stage in my life, I have no desire to get new credit. Just clean things and move on and have a quite life with my children.

All the best with your pursuit of Amex Optima Card. I know they came through to me earlier about 12+ years ago and it is a good way to get back into Amex Family. Wish you all the best.

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Thanks 🙏 

[Anonymous]

I have some dats points to add --I burned AMEX for around $3k in 2009. I got the Optima Oasis offer in 2015 and it took me a bit to pay off my balance but, once I did, I got the Oasis card with a $900 SL. I treated it like gold until I rebuilt enough to not really need it.

There was always a rumor that AMEX wouldn't ever approve you for another card as long as you had the Oasis card still open but that's not true. I applied for the Blue Cash Everyday in the summer is 2017 and was instantly approved for $2,800. That card has been my grocery card ever since so I use it often. I just got the offer up upgrade it to the BCP and accepted that. I will say I have never gotten a CLI on it, despite multiple requests.

I actually just closed my Oasis card a few weeks ago. It has an upcoming annual fee and I just don't need the card any more. I've always wondered if the reason AMEX won't approve me for anything else or give me a CLI is because I still had the Oasis card open. I'll find out eventually when I try again. 

Congrats on the Oasis offer!! It's awesome that AMEX does this and it's a legit way to get back in the door with them. Good Luck!!

[Anonymous]

Hey thanks. I actually just got into the program and accepted the offer. Fingers crossed that I actually get the card when I'm done with my payments.