Originally Posted by
kebosabi
Let's just say my credit ain't good enough to get an AMEX card yet
I've actually applied for the Starwood AMEX several months ago and they rejected me because "I don't have enough credit history." Checked my FICO score and it was over 720 at the time, but one of the "negative" factors was that I only have seven years of credit history. So I guess paying my student loans, my Citibank AA Mastercard, and car payments on time don't mean jack to AMEX!
Getting a credit card these days with AMEX is a luck roll if you don't have prior history with them. I'm relatively young (21) and have only 2 years of credit history. I applied for the Starwood and the the Blue Cash cards on the same day last month. I got accepted for the Starwood but the Blue Cash offer rejected me as I have "insufficient credit reporting history".
Originally Posted by
ESpen36
Two important things for building your credit history: get a cell phone account and utility bills in your own name (and SSN) as soon as possible!
This is a myth. Cell phone accounts and utility bills do not report to the credit agencies. Unless you are delinquent on your accounts then they'll appear as negative items under collections.