I think what most of us that state AMEX is better is because while CIBC (seems to) let you hold 2 of the same card, but they only have 1 card to churn - Aerogold. With AMEX, you really have 4 to 8 cards to churn (depending what value to you) and some of us do hold 4 or 5 of these cards at one time. Along with self / spouse / friend referral bonus, it will build up your points much faster via AMEX over CIBC.
Originally Posted by
markandrew
These two statements are not logically related. A card issuer can be extremely selective over to whom to grant a card but choose not use income as the primary threshold. I know people with much greater than minimum income for Amex cards who have been declined, presumably because of other factors (length of employment, field of work, credit score/history).
Guys, between my wife and I we have been issued 10 CIBC Aerogold card products, and 12 Amex card products, all within the past 2+ years. Conrtrary to what some people believe, CIBC are NOT as easy to get approval for, compared to Amex. In fact, we have been declined by CIBC 3 times even though we far out-distance their minimum required income for their cards, but fortunately have been able to call and successfully overturn their initial decisions. Amex, on the other hand, we have traditionally over the years regarded as being more stringent in their policies in handing out their cards, yet we have never yet been denied.
Short and simply put, based on our FIRST-HAND experience we have had to work a lot harder to get our CIBC cards, than we did for our Amex cards.