American Express Membership Rewards - Advice for Newbie with PRG 50k offer

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to get some advice as I got a targeted PRG offer in the mail for 50k MR points for $1k spend in 3 months, and no annual fee for the first year. Any input would be much appreciated.

I'm a relative newbie to the credit game, with only two cards:

*CapOne: $750 limit, 8 months,
*Discover: $4000 limit, 1.5 months

As per what I have researched, I keep my total utilization at < 10% and I pay off in full every month. I have been meaning to get into the points game, and MR seem to be up there.

My dilemma is that I am worried even with the targeted offer, would I still be able to get the PRG card? I don't want to risk getting denied for it and add another hard pull, but it does look like a good deal.

I am also trying to evaluate how it fits into my long-term strategy. Ideally, I want to get the Chase SP card as I do a lot of travel internationally, and most of my spending is dining and travel. With such a short credit history, I figure I might try the Freedom card first later down the line, but then again having the Amex PRG might boost my "legitimacy".

Then again, my company pays for airfare directly so I don't get that 3x points (though they reimburse FX fees), and I don't think I will be able to spend $30k by EoY to get the 15k MR bonus.

Any thoughts about this? What I am trying to do is maximize my points haul, but not necessarily at the risk of the long-term. Right now I am considering just getting the card and just apply for Blue card before the end of the year and then cancel before the fee is due so that I keep the relationship with Amex.

Thank you in advance for your input!

wait isn't the blue card free?

you should see where discover pulls from when in your state..

most likely that capitol one pulled all 3...

My guess is that you are probably worrying a lot about nothing.

First, you should know your credit score. If you don't, you can sign up for one of the services that lets you check it, then cancel within the week they usually give you before you are billed, or go to www.creditkarma.com which is not authoritative but reasonably accurate.

Amex charge (as opposed to credit) cards don't count against your available credit, since there is no credit limit. If you want to keep your outstanding due down, just pay the bill a week before the statement. I have a couple of financial programs that download my credit cards, and every time I owe Amex money, I send them some, so that by the time my statement is cut, I usually owe them nothing or very little.

Credit cards are not like a job, where you are going to get scrutinized and asked "Why did you change jobs so many times?" The cost to your credit score of a credit pull is only about 3 points. Yes, you want to get your average age of account and age of oldest account up, but only time can do that.

I don't think you need a "long-term strategy." The only thing I have really noticed is that people have trouble getting too many cards from the same issuer - you might have trouble getting 4 or 5 Chase cards in a short time period. They targeted you for the Amex offer so they probably think you'll qualify, 50K is a great deal right now, the spend requirement is very low, and I really doubt this will interfere with getting a Chase card later.

As for Chase, when you apply, go for the SP. If they turn you down, call and see if they'll approve you for a lower limit, or if not, then for the Freedom card. It's really not going to hurt to ask. In my case, I did actually get turned down for a Chase card, even though my credit score is about 800. Turned out that I got a SP card in January with a $25,000 credit limit ($500 would be plenty for me) and then they didn't want to give me a Hyatt card, but when I called, I said "Just reduce the SP credit limit" and they did and I got the Hyatt card no sweat.

One good thing these days is that with all the affinity cards, I don't think you even have to "apologize" for getting multiple cards and cancelling. If it were only about points, maybe someone would say "You're just a points hound." But I would say (if anyone asked) "Look, I have my loyalty cards for the grocery store, Saks Outlets, Talbots, I'm not in it for the points, I just want free bag check, priority boarding, etc., and if the airline is going to say I have to get their damn credit card to do it, that's what I'll do. It's not my fault that they throw in the points, what do you want me to do, give 'em back?" But it doesn't matter, nobody's ever asked. In fact, I have been churning Amex cards, and just yesterday when I called about something else they said "Mr. Redtop, would you like a Business Platinum card, with 50,000 bonus points?" (I said no, but I might grab one later.)