American Express Membership Rewards - Cannot transfer credit lines between cards as of 10-1-2008

Hi,

Just got off the phone with AX and was trying to reallocate credit lines between two cards but the phone agent told me that, as of 10-1, they can no longer transfer limits between cards.

I'm annoyed because I would have moved some of the limit from my DL card to the SPG card if I had known that!

Anyone else have any issues with this recently?

It was actually Monday, October 6. I noticed over the weekend that Amex had taken down the online tools to do this. I called Sunday afternoon for my re-allocations.

It was actually Monday, October 6. I noticed over the weekend that Amex had taken down the online tools to do this. I called Sunday afternoon for my re-allocations.

Wished I'd noticed that (or they had given notice). Now I've got 2 cards that I won't really use anymore that I have 25K+ in credit lines on.

I found out when I changed my credit limits on October 6th and they told me it was the last day they could do it, but they mentioned that supervisors were still able to adjust credit limit

Darn I just wasted a call.

Just tried to switch some credit line between SPG business and personal - the CSR said something to the effect of 'We're sorry, but as of October 6 we dont allow any credit line swaps between cards anymore'. I asked if it was permanent, the CSR said "until further notice"

didnt you need manual approval once you reached $25K anyway?

didnt you need manual approval once you reached $25K anyway?

No. I made my SPG card 27k in May with the online tool.

And no longer allowing reallocations is idiotic.

I just tried moving CL between two Citi Amex cards and the CSR said she could not.

No. I made my SPG card 27k in May with the online tool.



doh. i seem to recall that being said somewhere. i should have gone higher.

I saw a thread on the fact that American Express was no longer allowing Credit Limit transfers from 10/06 onward. Well unfortunately I didn't see it until10/08. Someone said you could still call in to AMEX & get a supervisor to do it for you if you were lucky. So I immediately called AMEX to try to transfer (not increase) credit limits between my Delta AMEX, HHonors AMEX, & SPG AMEX to a personal utility maximizing solution.

I was unable to get any limits transferred after quite some time on the phone. What annoys me the most about AMEX is the complete & utter lack of letting their customers know IN ADVANCE of major changes to their accounts. The customer service rep argued with me that I surely must have been notified both by email & by snail mail well in advance of these changes, but that I probably just missed it because I get so much mail & thus get careless about American Express notifications.

Uhm okay lady, NO. I definitely would have remembered seeing anything remotely associated with American Express indefinitely doing away with one of the greatly underrated advantages to americanexpress.com compared to other credit card websites.

I am signed up to receive literally just about every possible alert, newsletter, bonus offers, in both email & "snailmail" form from American Express & I can say with certainty that I never got anything regarding this change. That aspect aside, what really frustrated me is that the customer service rep basically accused me of blindly throwing away all mailings from AMEX & deleting any and all emails. She again and again claimed that I did receive advanced notice I must have simply just been careless.

Reminds me of the time AMEX put a complete freeze on all 4 of my AMEX Credit Cards halfway through an international trip, prior to which I notified AMEX of my travel/spending plans, including exactly when and where I would be. Turns out they had indeed notified me in advance of their impending Financial Review, hence why my $40,000 in combined spending power went to $0 when I was halfway around the world. How did they notify me of the F. R. might you ask? Email? Nope. Cell phone # on profile? Nope. They "notified me in advance" by sending out snail mail to a physical address in which was somewhere on my American Express Profile it was clearly noted that I would not be at that address(or that Country...) for a minimum of 9 days.

Sometimes AMEX just baffles me in the way they do things. For such a big, popular company, with a long history and a great rewards program, how come some departments/services just do certain things with LARGE implications on good ole "Joe Plumber' without personally notifying him, or without any attempt to publicize their contract changing actions??

Im going to stop ranting already, (probably about 5 paragraphs late), but Holey Smokes AMEX, put yourself in your customers shoes & think about how irate you would be if things just started changing unexpectedly (mostly features & benefits vanishing before your very eyes..."

I just tried moving CL between two Citi Amex cards and the CSR said she could not.

I just called in to cancel one card (with a $30K limit), and asked to reallocate some of that credit to my SPG Business Amex (just opened, with a paltry $3K limit).

DENIED


So yes, looks like Amex credit limit movement is just frozen.

I went through this last week. Their systems have been modified to specifically not allow reallocations. The frontline reps and supervisors are totally powerless.

Typical Amex. :rolleyes:

I don't completely understand this decision. If I closed one of my cards and transferred its limit to another one I just opened, I would have less credit then I do now and it would be less of a risk to AMEX. Now, I'm not talking about transferring the limit on top of what I already have (for example, $10,000 from the old card on top of the new card's $2,000 for a total of 12,000). I just want the $10,000 from old card substituted for the $2,000 credit limit on the new card. The old card is Blue so there is no annual fee so canceling it does not harm AMEX's profitability.

I have had no late payments, finances charges, etc. on any of my AMEX accounts (or any credit account, for that matter) so, in the end, this is very annoying.

so, in the end, this is very annoying.

After the bailout, I feel the same way...:rolleyes:

Which I'm sure some folks are doing given the general credit squeeze.

As for Amex being abusive to their best customers, check out any of the many threads on their financial review process.

So why not turn off the BT option? Especially if they are having increased expense getting money to lend via commercial paper?

Still doesn't make sense...

So why not turn off the BT option? Especially if they are having increased expense getting money to lend via commercial paper?

Still doesn't make sense...

How about because BT earns them (I'm guessing, but this is pretty standard) a 3% upfront fee? Why would they want to shut off that very lucrative source of income? :confused:

How about because BT earns them (I'm guessing, but this is pretty standard) a 3% upfront fee? Why would they want to shut off that very lucrative source of income? :confused:

This thread is about moving limits around between cards, not about moving balances around. AmEx realizes no revenue from a limit being shifted about.

This thread is about moving limits around between cards, not about moving balances around. AmEx realizes no revenue from a limit being shifted about.

:rolleyes:

Yes, I know what this thread is about -- the shifting of limits. Also, I am very well aware that there is no revenue involved in shifting limits. However, I was responding to a specific posting by skofarrell, which I quoted, in which he stated:

So why not turn off the BT option? Especially if they are having increased expense getting money to lend via commercial paper?

Still doesn't make sense...

And he, in turn, was responding to modestexpert, who posted the following:

one obvious reason is balance transfers being maxed out

Which I'm sure some folks are doing given the general credit squeeze...

Hence, my comment WAS apropos to a subject already brought up by other posters. @:-)

Hence, my comment WAS apropos to a subject already brought up by other posters. @:-)

Indeed, but it still is irrelevant to the overall theme of the thread, which is that one can no longer transfer a credit line between cards anymore. The fact that two others before you commented about Balance Transfers doesn't make it more appropriate to the discussion. I wasn't calling you out but it doesn't make the discussion any more relevant.

Indeed, but it still is irrelevant to the overall theme of the thread, which is that one can no longer transfer a credit line between cards anymore. The fact that two others before you commented about Balance Transfers doesn't make it more appropriate to the discussion. I wasn't calling you out but it doesn't make the discussion any more relevant.


SBM12...can you please stop being so damn technical?!?!?

Has anyone been successful (by any method, call, write, fax, email, etc) in getting American Express to transfer Credit Limits after the supposed 10/06 change in the system???

I know AMEX has the ultimate say, but is there anything that can be done be done as a cardholder about the fact that AMEX just went ahead and stripped away a valued feature without notifying any of its customers?

Which brings up another question; did in fact anyone receive advance notification that you would no longer be able to transfer Credit Limits between cards starting on 10/06???

Did the agreement you signed with Amex when you got your card say they must let you move balances between cards? I guess not.

Did the agreement you signed with Amex when you got your card say they must let you move balances between cards? I guess not.


Nick W - I fully understand this. Hence why I started my second sentence with "I know AMEX has the ultimate say, but..."

Nick W - I fully understand this. Hence why I started my second sentence with "I know AMEX has the ultimate say, but..."

... then I can't understand why you're upset and looking for '[something] to be done'.

It was very accommodating of Amex to offer this convenient facility, but they weren't under any obligation to do it in the first place, nor to continue doing it, nor to give advance notice about its withdrawal.

I suppose they believed it was good business at the time, and they don't think it is any more.

If its OK with the Thread Police, I can connect the two comments: Citibank for years has not allowed reallocation of credit lines if you were reallocating from a card that had an unattractive BT offer to a card that had an attractive (e.g. 0%) BT offer. Understandable.

If (as is generally reported) Amex is getting squeezed by the turmoil in the commercial paper market, would it make more sense to stop offering BTs altogether?

Amex's move to disable reallocation of lines is still puzzling. What, exactly, is wrong with making your SPG card look like 20K, vs having a 10k SPG and a 10K Blue? :confused:

What, exactly, is wrong with making your SPG card look like 20K, vs having a 10k SPG and a 10K Blue? :confused:

Hard to say. I always wondered why they would only allow my SPG card a ~$50K limit, but would happily raise the limit on my Delta card from $2K to $12K at the drop of a hat, and then allow me to transfer that limit to SPG. My SPG card now has a $120K limit. My guess is that this is the sort of behavior Amex seeks to limit.

Has anyone tried transferring a credit limit to a different card when you close the first card?

Has anyone tried transferring a credit limit to a different card when you close the first card?

Post 12 on this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10532116&postcount=12

Oh terrific. Add me to the list of those who discovered that this feature had been taken away with zero advance notice. And add this to the ever-growing list of reasons why I will most likely be cancelling my Amex card soon. I'm amazed that this company has been able to stay in business and become such a huge corporation with the kind of absolute crap customer service they have.

AMEX never had to tell you they were changing this feature. However, it would have been nice from a customer service stand point. It is understandable they are trying to limit their credit exposure, however, it doesn't make sense to me when they allow you to have two cards with a combined credit limit that is higher than if you were to cancel a card and transfer the limit to another one.

There is a way to transfer credit lines without much hassle. It is by calling a special number that works for Delta Gold AMEX cardholders and possibly other cards. This card apparently allows credit line transfers to/from this card to other AMEX cards. The number for this AMEX department is 800-852-1328. A matter of fact, I just did a credit line transfer this morning without a problem.