I understand you have the AMEX Optima Platinum. What was your credit situation when you applied? I'm interested in knowing things like: inquiries in past 6mo/12mo, age of oldest tradeline, age of newest tradeline. Thanks
RE: LadyC and those with AMEX I have always had more than the norm for inquiries, that's the main reason my credit score is so low. When I applied for the Platinum, I was declined, and the secured dept overrode that decision because of my history with my secured card. I was declined originally because of my inquiries and my balance to credit limit ratio. My oldest trade at the time was Macy's 6/98 and my newest at the time was my Auto Loan 06/00. The majority of my accounts were only a year old at the time. I do know Amex is pretty much strict about you having a 2 year credit history and no more than 3 inquiries in the last 6 months, and definately not a high balance to limit ratio. LadyC
RE: LadyC and those with AMEX That;s pritty cool ladyc My credit history is very similar to yours. macys in 4/98 and a car loan with 6/00 had the secured card for a 3+ years Many inquries and alot of accounts opened reciently. I notice Amex reviews my report every once in a a while with a soft inquire saying amex account review. Appart from that I have other trade lines over 2 years old . I know if i apply now I'm gonna get a deniel . What was your balances like when you applied ? Any dergs ?
RE: LadyC and those with AMEX I spoke with a rep with AMEX before, and she said that the 2 year history isn't an issue for those with clean credit records (no/never derog: late, BK, etc.) However, the inquiries will play an even greater role, as will balance to ratio, # of new accounts, etc. In fact, my denial from AMEX in August for Blue was basically for those reasons above: too many inquiries, too many new accounts, too many accounts with balances, and proportion of loan balance to loan amount too high. By April, I will have 0 inquiries in the past six months, all accounts at least 180 days old, max. of 1 account with a balance of less than 15% of credit line, and my car loan either completely paid off, or owing less than 15% of the original loan amount. In April, my oldest trade would be my car loan, opened in 12/99, so it would be 16 mo. old. I would have 2 CC's with 14 mo. history, a store with 11 mo., and two more CC's with 6 mo. history. I will end up closing one of the CC's prior to applying, making sure that it is properly reflected on the reports beforehand...
RE: To Newcomer 2 My balances were very high, about 26,000 in revolving debt, plus my auto loan. I've never had any derogatives, nothing but all those dang inquiries. Also, you're right about Amex checking your credit report with soft inquiries. The are really nosey. My hubby is an "AU" on my account, and they are checking his credit also, about every month. My main goal is to get them to increase my Platinum limit, to a true platinum limit of at least 5000. They said I have to wait 6 months for another review, so I'll give it a try in March. So Newcomer, are you saying that you have a secured Amex account that's 3 years old? If so, have you ever tried to get them to unsecure it?
RE: To Dave It's sounds like you will be a Shoe In for the Blue. I don't know why different Reps tell people different things about their qualifying criteria, as for as the 2 year history not being for those with clean credit records, because both myself and my hubby's record was clean. I don't know, different folks-different strokes. I hope that you get it, I don't see no reason you wouldn't.
RE: To Lady C Yup I've Had thier secured Optima for over 3 years I think it;s about 4 now ! And during that time I've applied to Amex regular More than once, Every time I got denied . I notice they always pull Experian on me. Which is my worse becasue it's got a paid collection 2 years old for $70 dollars ! the other 2 are clean and all of them have 12 accounts with perfect pay and my wifes auto loan, about 2 are closed and i'm gonna close some more .I've also disputed the collection and hope it;s gonna dissapear soon I'm waiting ! I wasn;t in the country when it took place. I've never put an extra deposit over the 200 for the secured .And Definatly over my fair share of inquires. So i'm waiting till april to apply. Those amex guys are hard to budge
A few tips You probably already know this, but in case you don't, here goes: 1. Amex "New Accounts" reps are authorized to manually reverse Optima Platinum denials. So if you were declined for that card, call them. That's especially useful if your application was borderline. 2. Once you have their Optima Platinum you can also have the blue and almost any other lending product. You can do it even though they don't do product transfers from Opt Plat to Blue. I did. 3. This is much like the Citibank thing. The Platinum Select is harder to qualify for than the Aadvantage, but once you get the Aadvantage, they'll normally transfer it to the Plat Select, upon request. There are many shortcuts in the credit industry, you just have to know how to use them. Saar
RE: So apply for Opt. Platinum OK, am I seeing this right? I should apply for the Optima Platinum card? Actually, I was looking at that or Blue!! Either would be fine, as both are loaded with benefits.
RE: So apply for Opt. Platinum If your credit is quite good, apply for the Opt Plat and call 3 business days later to discuss it with Amex New Accounts. Assuming you're approved for it and later want another lending card, there's a way to do it even if the rep tells you they don't do product transfers to the card you want. It has been discussed in an old thread on CardWeb, and worked for me. Saar
