American Express Membership Rewards - Creit limit issue

I have a $1200 credit as balance on my statement.Then I made $2000 purchase and $800 payment.
How much can I spend now? $2K? wrong.
Correct answer is 0.
If you used up all your credit limit any of the payments and the fact that you had a beginning credit would not help.
Any ideas?

You are correct, AmEx balances are not dynamic and they only reset them once per month. No matter how much advance money you pump into your account you cannot spend more per month than the credit limit. Best solution is to get a big credit limit and use Visa/MC when you hit the wall.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by clanson:
You are correct, AmEx balances are not dynamic and they only reset them once per month. No matter how much advance money you pump into your account you cannot spend more per month than the credit limit.</font>

Could someone please clarify what happens in this situation?

- You have a $5000 credit line.
- At the beginning of the billing cycle, you have a $2500 balance.
- Halfway through the billing cycle, you make a $2500 payment.
- The next day, you charge $2500.

At this point, can you charge $2500 more, or are you locked out until the end of the current billing cycle? Note that in the above case, the account doesn't start out with a credit balance, nor does the desired total amount of monthly charging exceed the credit limit. The question is, assuming the above situation, does a payment restore available credit as soon as it's posted, or does this not happen until the end of the billing cycle?

You still have another $2500 because it's not really a credit limit but a spending limit per month.

How do you find out what your 'pre-set spending limit' is with AMEX? Since they always say they dont have a classic credit limit, Ive really never know what my 'limit' is with Amex. Is there a way to inquire this?

Call and ask. Works for me.

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daniel baker -- dbaker-flyertalk@ityt.com
Reliable, fast, and unmoderated forums at ITYT. (http://www.ityt.com/forums/)

While it's true that each account has a pre-set spending limit, I've paid my account off mid-month and been cleared to charge once again. My experience has been that if you pay off the ENTIRE amount owed and not just a portion of it and return your account to a zero balance they will free up your spending line once again. Not sure if this is unique to me but I have done this several times. Note that I've only done this with the charge cards and not the Optima credit cards.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gaucho100K:
How do you find out what your 'pre-set spending limit' is with AMEX? Since they always say they dont have a classic credit limit, Ive really never know what my 'limit' is with Amex. Is there a way to inquire this?</font>

I was referring to, and I assume that the original poster was as well, to an Optima-type card that is a revolving charge account with a specific credit limit, just like most MasterCard/Visa accounts.

Regarding the orignal Amex charge cards, they advertise "no pre-assigned credit limit." Their computer maintains a dynamic amount that it will approve at any given time, but this can change from month to month along with your spending and payment history.

However, some charge cards in fact do have a pre-assigned credit limit. I have such a card. Of course, it didn't start out that way. The first month I got my card, I apparently charged much more than they expected me to. As a result, I got a letter in the mail asking for supplementary bank and credit references. After providing this information, they sent me a letter informing me that the my no pre-assigned credit limit charge card now had an assigned credit limit, and they told me specifically what it was.

Just got my first statement - I charged 4000$.
Then why did they later change their mind not to allowing to charge more than 2K?
very strange

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by kanebear:
My experience has been that if you pay off the ENTIRE amount owed ... they will free up your spending line once again ... Note that I've only done this with the charge cards and not the Optima credit cards. </font>

You are correct that this only applies to charge cards, not credit cards.

For example, if you have an Optima and you charge your total credit limit on Day 1 of your billing cycle and pay it off on Day 2, you still won't be able to charge again until the next billing cycle.

The oddity of this policy is that most Visa cards reset your limit as soon as you make a payment. Using the example above, if you charged your limit and then paid it off the next day, you would again have your entire credit limit available. So if you have enough money in the bank, Visa cards effectively have no limit.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Family flyer:
For example, if you have an Optima and you charge your total credit limit on Day 1 of your billing cycle and pay it off on Day 2, you still won't be able to charge again until the next billing cycle.</font>

I hate to beat this dead horse some more, but what about this situation: On Day -1 of the billing cycle (that is, the last day of the previous cycle), you charge your total credit limit. Then, on Day 2 of the current cycle, you pay it off. Since you haven't charged anything during this cycle, and you've paid your balance down to 0, will you be able to charge up to your limit again during this cycle, or are you locked out until the next cycle?

To put it another way, what I'm trying to find out is if payments don't get added back to the amount you can charge until the end of the cycle (as one person implied above), or is it that they get applied immediately just like Visa/MC, but there's a separate issue of not being able to charge more than your credit limit during any one cycle?

I'm not sure if this is what you're asking, but I'll give it a shot -

On an Optima card-
Today you charge $10,000. Tomorrow your statement closes. The day after, you make a $10,000 payment. As soon as the $10,000 is credited, that $10,000 is available to be charged again.

You made the charge and payment in two separate statement periods, and the amount of your payment is available to be used.

I'm not sure what happens if you make a payment before the statement period closes.

d

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Doppy:
I'm not sure if this is what you're asking, but I'll give it a shot -

On an Optima card-
Today you charge $10,000. Tomorrow your statement closes. The day after, you make a $10,000 payment. As soon as the $10,000 is credited, that $10,000 is available to be charged again.

You made the charge and payment in two separate statement periods, and the amount of your payment is available to be used.</font>

Yes, this directly answers my question. So, it appears that the first sentence of clanson's post above is not really true. The balances are in fact dynamic, as long as you don't in aggregate try to charge more than your credit line in a single billing cycle.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve M:
I was referring to, and I assume that the original poster was as well, to an Optima-type card that is a revolving charge account with a specific credit limit, just like most MasterCard/Visa accounts.

Regarding the orignal Amex charge cards, they advertise "no pre-assigned credit limit." Their computer maintains a dynamic amount that it will approve at any given time, but this can change from month to month along with your spending and payment history.

However, some charge cards in fact do have a pre-assigned credit limit. I have such a card. Of course, it didn't start out that way. The first month I got my card, I apparently charged much more than they expected me to. As a result, I got a letter in the mail asking for supplementary bank and credit references. After providing this information, they sent me a letter informing me that the my no pre-assigned credit limit charge card now had an assigned credit limit, and they told me specifically what it was.</font>

Steve, thanks for sharing your experience. Im wondering, which of the charge cards do you have Gold/Green/Plat? Also, was the assigned limit they informed you over or below what you charged the first month?

Since AMEX just issued me a green card without asking ANY questions (they did this because Ive had an AMEX account in three countries outside the US since 1989), I was hoping to send in my financial information to Amex before they even ask hoping that they would at least give me a Gold Card. Would you mind sharing where you sent the information to? Thanks.

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Gaucho100K

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Steve M:
or is it that they (payments) get applied immediately just like Visa/MC, but there's a separate issue of not being able to charge more than your credit limit during any one cycle?</font>

For Amex credit cards, such as Optima, the above post is correct. Payments are applied as soon as you pay your bill - within 48 hours if you pay online.

But as mentioned in the second part of the post, you can't charge more than your credit limit during a cycle - even if you immediately pay off the balance.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Family flyer:
The oddity of this policy is that most Visa cards reset your limit as soon as you make a payment.</font>
However ... I just received a notice that my Visa card will starting charging $15 for phone payments that are assisted by customer service reps. Payments made through the automated system are still free.

Just shows that even with Visa cards it pays to read the fine print for phone transactions.

My experience is actually to the contrary. I was hosting a conference in Orlando and wanted to put the whole thing on my AMEX but new it would exced my limit. I spoke with a CSR who told me that the spending limit resets once payments are received. I send in payment for around $10k and had no problems going about that amount over my spending limit.

Bringing this forward to see if Steve M can respond to my question.

(I thought I had already responded to these questions, but I must have had browser problems)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gaucho100K:
Steve, thanks for sharing your experience. Im wondering, which of the charge cards do you have Gold/Green/Plat? </font>

Corporate Platinum. I realize that how they decide how much credit to give you differs with the corporate products. But, it's my understanding that the underlying issue of charging substantially more than they expect triggering a manual credit review is the same for the personal cards.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Also, was the assigned limit they informed you over or below what you charged the first month? </font>

It was well below my first month's charges. What was most disappointing is that the limit they assigned me would prevent me from buying many international First or Business Class airline tickets, and the 2-for-1 International Airline Program was the main reason I chose a Platinum card! I pointed this out, and they said that they'd be willing to approve charges larger than my limit on a case-by-case basis if I called the credit department in advance.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Since AMEX just issued me a green card without asking ANY questions (they did this because Ive had an AMEX account in three countries outside the US since 1989), I was hoping to send in my financial information to Amex before they even ask hoping that they would at least give me a Gold Card. Would you mind sharing where you sent the information to? Thanks.</font>

Based on my experience with this situation and what I've heard from others, there's no longer any assumption that a gold card will have a higher credit limit than a green, or a platinum more than a gold. As far as I can tell, the decision of how much credit they grant you has nothing to do with the type of card. The only requirement for getting a Gold or Platinum card, assuming that you meet the base credit qualifications for a regular green card, is a willingness to pay the higher annual fee.

As far as sending in the information, I no longer have that information. Since they already know most of your credit situation from your credit report, the only thing they ask for is a specific checking account reference, along with a release so that your bank can give Amex account details. I think they look at length of time open and the average balance.

Thanks very much, Steve.

This policy is terrable.
I recently got the Starwoods card, maxed it out within the first weeek, pait in full. Called amex, and I will have NO AVAILABLE credit until the end of my billing cycle!

This appears to me as they dont care if they have your business or anything!

Well, Im going to call Amex later this evening and try to speak to some supervisor about my account. I hope to be able to send them some additional information about myself, have them look at it, and then call them back to get them to upgrade me. Lets see how that goes.... I will report results.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gaucho100K:
Lets see how that goes.... I will report results.</font>

Please do Gaucho100K!

The first time my Plat. is denied due to some "limit" (this should be tested within the next week or two), I am going to give them an ear full and downgrade back to the green; and of course send my spending elsewhere.

-Dan P.

I have to agree with Steve M here.. I had all the cards Green/Gold Rewards and now Platinum and I have had the same limit w/every card. According to a few CS reps I have a maximum limit of 15K per month, and if I wish to go over that limit, I would have to contact Amex to approve an additional amount of credit.

OK, I called Amex yesterday evening very late, at approx 2300hs EST. Since the US based service centers were gone for the day, I was linked to an Amex center in Hong Kong, where I was taken care of by a supervisor from the Credit Department.

I explained that I wanted Amex to have more complete information/records on my financial status, and asked where I could send hard copies of this information. To my surprise, the agent said that they dont want hard copies, they only need me to relay them some basic information by phone, and that they would directly input it into the system.

The only information I was able to have them input was:

- estimated annual income
- employer information
- years with employer

The agent told me that she was not able to process any other informatio such as other bank references, etc. In any event, after she collected that info, she wanted to transfer me immediately to the Platinum phone application hotline. However, before doing that I asked her about the application process. The friendly agent then suggested that it would be best for me to wait 2 weeks until my billing cycle ended and I had paid the outstanding balance in full.

(to be continued) http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Gaucho100K:
How do you find out what your 'pre-set spending limit' is with AMEX? Since they always say they dont have a classic credit limit, Ive really never know what my 'limit' is with Amex. Is there a way to inquire this?</font>
Yes, use their own buzz words.

Call & ask them what is the exposure limit for your charge card.


Saar

If you use the AMEX website, when your account info is displayed, there is an option to ask whether a given purchase amount would be approved.

Thanks for the lingo clarification, Saar.

Dave, are you saying the website has like an interactive hit & miss approval routine that will tell you what purchase amount would be approved at a given time?

Yes, they do have such a site...

1.) Log in to your account

2.) Click on the link that says, "Platinum Card@XXXXX"

3.)On the right hand side of the page click, "See if your card..."

&gt;DrivingRain

DR-- will the site have this even if you only have a lowly Green card...?

Yeah, the will my card be approved and why was my card declined features are available to all charge card holders.

The problem with the hit and miss is that the system sometimes thinks that the requests are cumulative.

I called to see if a charge would be approved a little while back. The next day I found out that the charge was going to be larger than I had expected, so I tried the automated system again. It transferred me to someone to discuss the issue.

The rep seemed to think that the system added the two amounts together. Example: you check to see if you're authorized for $1000. It's approved. You check to see if you're authorized for $2000. Now the system thinks you want to use $3000 in the next 15 days.

I don't know if that was an isolated incident, or if that's the way it works. Maybe it was different becaused I called on two consecutive days, instead of doing both in the same session.

d

I have a related problem. I got AMEX Starwood three months ago with an absurdly low credit limit. I did nothing about it for three months and when I did request that they raise the limit I was told that they would only do it after six months. However, AE stated if I had questioned my limit at the time of the issuance of the new card then they could have "considered" it. I asked and they confeirmed that if I closed this card and submitted an application for another card that I could ask for a higher limit if I was disatisfied with the limit. This makes sense?

[This message has been edited by marksec (edited 03-22-2002).]

The Green Personal card has this feature, and as far as I can tell it did not make the inquiries cumulative.

I high balled a number which failed, then I kept decreasing in $1000 increments until it was accepted, than increased in $100 increments, to get as close as I needed to...

hehehe, Not that I would ever spend that much money in a one moht's time, but I was curious.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by marksec:
they confeirmed that if I closed this card and submitted an application for another card that I could ask for a higher limit if I was disatisfied with the limit. This makes sense?</font>
You need not close the existing account. Once you get the new account, ask for a credit line re-evaluation. Then, you can also combine the two accounts to get an ever higher credit line for the card you wish to keep.


Saar