American Express Membership Rewards - Applying for another AMEX...

Quick question...

I currently have the Platinum card, and have it for a few years. Got a great offer for the Delta AMEX (40K bonus miles), and I want to sign up for it.

Will American Express do a credit check for the new application even though I am a current customer?

Thanks

Quick question...

I currently have the Platinum card, and have it for a few years. Got a great offer for the Delta AMEX (40K bonus miles), and I want to sign up for it.

Will American Express do a credit check for the new application even though I am a current customer?

Thanks

Yes, they will do a credit check for each and every new application. Do not forget the Delta AMEX offer has both a personal and business card (2 x 40k), apply for both, you can do so on the same day.

You can apply for a business card if you don't have a business? How does that work?

You can apply for a business card if you don't have a business? How does that work?

I believe most people just put their name under the business name. Just as if you are self-employed with the business and you being the same entity.

I don't mean to hi-jack the post, but I don't see it necessary to open a new thread for my AMEX questions either. Please move this if necessary.

I came to the US 9 years ago, have/had several Visa/MC, but a fairly short history with AMEX. The only AMEX I have had was Citi PremierPass AMEX, opened in 2007 and closed in 2008, and SPG AMEX, opened in 2009 and now kept open.

I really like the AMEX Plat card benefits, especially for my occasional international travel, so I want to start building up my history with AMEX. If I only keep my SPG AMEX, however, will it be sufficient to eventually get a Plat invitation, or should I open a Blue/Green/Gold charge card and put my spend on it instead?

Thanks for all the experts' help with an inexperienced AMEX user. If there is any information somewhere I can read, please kindly point me to that. :)

I really like the AMEX Plat card benefits, especially for my occasional international travel, so I want to start building up my history with AMEX. If I only keep my SPG AMEX, however, will it be sufficient to eventually get a Plat invitation, or should I open a Blue/Green/Gold charge card and put my spend on it instead?

You do not need an "invitation" for the Amex Plt card. If that is the card you want, apply for it. You'll need; 1) a pulse, 2) $450 annual fee, and 3) probably pretty good credit history, in today's climate.

Regards

buschoi

IF you apply for the AMEX Plat make sure you use a link that gets you 25,000 bonus points.

You do not need an "invitation" for the Amex Plt card. If that is the card you want, apply for it. You'll need; 1) a pulse, 2) $450 annual fee, and 3) probably pretty good credit history, in today's climate.

Regards

Experience has shown the following, though not hard-and-fast requirements:

* Have a "lower" card open first. If you cancelled the other Amex cards you got - then choose something else, to start - maybe a credit/co-branded product.

* have, ideally 100k income, when you apply. Not set in stone, but should be relatively painless if you do.

* other general no-brainers like good credit score, no defaults etc. Check your score and try improving it if you are not above 700. It's better not to apply and wait to get the score up, rather than apply and have a rejection on your amex history - this will make it harder to reapply...

good luck.

...a fairly short history with AMEX. The only AMEX I have had was Citi PremierPass AMEX, opened in 2007 and closed in 2008, and SPG AMEX, opened in 2009 and now kept open.

The PremierPass card is issued by Citibank, not by American Express. Their involvment with such cards is to process the transactions, the same as Mastercard and VISA process charges for other cards issued by Citi. As far as American Express is concerned your history with their company started this year.

You'll need; 1) a pulse

^ A good reminder. Let me double-check that.

IF you apply for the AMEX Plat make sure you use a link that gets you 25,000 bonus points.

I will definitely use the link. Thanks. ^

Experience has shown the following, though not hard-and-fast requirements:

* Have a "lower" card open first. If you cancelled the other Amex cards you got - then choose something else, to start - maybe a credit/co-branded product.

* have, ideally 100k income, when you apply. Not set in stone, but should be relatively painless if you do.

* other general no-brainers like good credit score, no defaults etc. Check your score and try improving it if you are not above 700. It's better not to apply and wait to get the score up, rather than apply and have a rejection on your amex history - this will make it harder to reapply...

good luck.

I did tried two times last year to get the Citi Amex Plat to churn TYP but got rejected in both attempts. I have 800+ score, no defaults, below 100k income, and relatively short history with Amex.

So you mentioned about credit/co-branded product... then I would assume the SPG Amex I currently have will help build up my Amex history and do not need a Blue/Green/Gold charge card (which I don't want to pay the annual fee for the not-so-great benefits, but will pay as stepping-stone if they are the only ways to get to Plat.) Am I right?

I do not want to blindly throw an application, get a hard-pull, get rejected, and make it harder for the future attempts. So I want to do some preparation first.

Thanks all! You are quick! Way to go FTers. ^

^ A good reminder. Let me double-check that.



I will definitely use the link. Thanks. ^



I did tried two times last year to get the Citi Amex Plat to churn TYP but got rejected in both attempts. I have 800+ score, no defaults, below 100k income, and relatively short history with Amex.

So you mentioned about credit/co-branded product... then I would assume the SPG Amex I currently have will help build up my Amex history and do not need a Blue/Green/Gold charge card (which I don't want to pay the annual fee for the not-so-great benefits, but will pay as stepping-stone if they are the only ways to get to Plat.) Am I right?

I do not want to blindly throw an application, get a hard-pull, get rejected, and make it harder for the future attempts. So I want to do some preparation first.

Thanks all! You are quick! Way to go FTers. ^

yes, use the SPG to build history with Amex.

If your income is significantly below 100k, I would not try and later apply directly for the platinum. Wait a bit with your SPG and then (maybe after 12 months) apply for the gold charge card.

Then, after 6 months (yes, this is a confirm cut-off period - amex makes you wait 6 months between applications and/or credit increases or else you stand a good chance of rejection), call up (don't apply online) and speak to "member services" and ask whether they can tell you whether you would be able to upgrade the gold to platinum. They will let you know without doing a hard-pull on your credit report, and also without having a "formal" application appear on your Amex file.

If they say yes, then ask to upgrade to it. They can do that on the phone in a minute or two, if you are eligible.

Experience has shown the following, though not hard-and-fast requirements:

* Have a "lower" card open first. If you cancelled the other Amex cards you got - then choose something else, to start - maybe a credit/co-branded product.



To be clear, my quite personal experience is that until last August (2008) I have never in my entire life applied for, nor carried any product or service provided by American Express. Started with Platinum...

Regards

To be clear, my quite personal experience is that until last August (2008) I have never in my entire life applied for, nor carried any product or service provided by American Express. Started with Platinum...

Regards

In OP's case, he was rejected twice, and has well below 100k income (which is what Amex claims the intended target is).

I'm sure your case was different. We're trying to assist OP here with their particular question.

In OP's case, he was rejected twice, and has well below 100k income (which is what Amex claims the intended target is).

I'm sure your case was different. We're trying to assist OP here with their particular question.

Your original post, in #8, stated, and I quote, "Experience has shown the following, though not hard-and-fast requirements:" followed by the "requirements" Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is a pretty generic, sweeping statement, that you didn't seem to imply was applicable only to the poster.

Furthermore, the poster (buschoi) didn't actual reveal until post #10, after the posting of your requirements, that he/she had been rejected twice by Amex so you didn't know that when posting said "requirements" right?

Regards

So you mentioned about credit/co-branded product... then I would assume the SPG Amex I currently have will help build up my Amex history and do not need a Blue/Green/Gold charge card (which I don't want to pay the annual fee for the not-so-great benefits, but will pay as stepping-stone if they are the only ways to get to Plat.) Am I right?

buschoi, my advice would be slowly ramp up your spend (over the next 4-5 months) and eventually have 90%+ of your monthly credit card spend on the AmEx SPG. Always pay in full and never carry a balance on any credit card. In my experience, monthly spend, ontime payments and not carrying balances are more important to AmEx than just annual income or a high FICO score.

Before you apply for the Platinum Card, pull your Experian credit report and make sure you do not have any negative information. Do not be alarmed if you see AmEx on your credit report for multiple account reviews for the SPG account. AmEx has been known to sometimes pull a cardmember's credit report for account review multiple times a month.

I think it is okay to apply directly for a Platinum card and skip the other charge cards. I would not apply for any other new accounts for the time being. As long as you are spending within your monthly payment means, AmEx will want you as a customer paying the annual fee and generating merchant fees.

Good luck!