exploreaswego

I've been an AMEX card holder since 2013.
My payments are always on time, and all my cards are in good standing.

I started with a corporate green employee card that the company filed under my name at my first job out of college.

All my new cards were signed up online via a logged in account.
2014 - signed up for blue cash preferred, got instant approval - no hard pull
2014 - I left my company, so the corporate card was closed - no effect on my credit report, if anything the corporate card gave me an opportunity to build a good standing with AMEX
2017 - instant approval for SPG card again - no hard pull
2018 - decided to bite the bullet and sign up for the platinum bis card, again instant approval online - no hard pull

Maybe you should mention that you are an existing member or try signing up via the AMEX account page being logged in, so the system recognizes you. I guess based on my case, this stands true to AMEX no hard pull policy for existing customers.

eajusa

I truly believe Amex has certain guidelines for whether they do a hard pull. This year I suddenly was approved without a hard pull.
I would have no idea what the criteria is for this. All I know is that I have been a customer for several years and have missed no payments.

jiaogulan

Yeah, something is going on.

I finally read the article from the first post and it says they'll only hard pull you if their initial looking at your app is positive, saying the old line we've been hearing for a long time, that they won't hard pull you if they're gonna decline. That's nice ... but this new development of straight up approving people without EVER doing a hard pull is much nicer.

krazykanuck

I'm sure there is some policy, but I haven't been able to figure it out. An Amex cardholder since 2008, I've applied and been approved for 4 Amex cards in the last 12 months. 2 have resulted in HPs (Ameriprise Gold and Mercedes Plat) while 2 have not (Green and Delta Gold). The only thing I can think of that 2 co-branded cards caused HPs while the green and Delta didn't. With Amex's super close relationship with Delta maybe they don't have to exercise the same level of vetting as maybe their agreement with other co-brands requires? I don't know I'm just kind of spit balling here for ideas and trends.

jiaogulan

It's all over the place. They HP'd my Delta Gold in Summer 2016 and my Delta Platinum in January 2017. Did not HP my Hilton card in Sept 2017.

I'll get back to this thread when I get my AMEX Plat. Just waiting for a time I can get a 100K bonus link working, or at least a time when I can fully make use of the Uber credit. But I am not expecting a HP for this one. I'll also maybe jump on the Hilton Aspire, but not 100% yet.

Unless I am missing them, I am surprised it took this long for FlyerTalk to have a thread on this topic. Pretty damn impactful in my opinion. But there are 20 threads critiquing the tie choices of the AMEX CEO.

RumPatrol

I did Amex personal platinum and PRG at the same time when I got the 100K and 50K targeted offers, approved for both instantly with one hard pull. Just got auto approved for the Delta Platinum after a targeted offer and it also had another hard pull. I assume it is because Delta Platinum is credit while the other two are charge. Just another data point. I was thinking about a second Amex credit card soon if I can find a decent offer for one so we'll see if I get a pull then.

jiaogulan

Thanks for sharing.

Are you a fairly new, if not very new, customer to AMEX?

I'm guessing the first 2 charge cards only had 1 HP since you did them at the same time and the Delta Plat got another HP not because it was a charge vs. credit thing.

fliesdelta

In 2012, I was a green card holder (since 1986!) and got the Delta Platinum, it incurred a hard pull. In 2013, I got a corporate card through my employer, with personal responsibility, got a hard pull. In 2014, I got the Ameriprise Platinum, got another hard pull. So, the last three Amex cards each resulted in a hard pull, as I expected.

Out of curiosity, I just called Amex and asked if I'd get a hard pull if I applied for the SPG Amex, the CSR said yes.

4sallypat

Amex member since 1993 and no HP when recently upgraded to Platinum card...

eajusa

Happy

HPs on all Delta targeted offers recently, both biz and personal. AMEX customer since 2000.

michael_v

I have been able to get Amex cc in the past without hard pulls. I applied for the Mercedes-Benz Platinum on Friday, approved instantly but received a hard pull on Experian. I am not complaining, I just find it surprising.

Drewm33

In my experience, whether I am logged in to my account when I apply is the determining factor on whether there is a HP or not.

Initial amex app - HP
phone app- hp
logged into my account for biz or personal - no hp

I am assuming if you apply for Mercedes plat or Schwab plat or Ameriprise gold/plat then you aren’t logged into your Amex account during the application, hence the hp

AndyGator87

I was going over my reports making a 24 month log of everything when I thought the numbers were off with applications (22) inquiries (18), approvals (20) and rejections (2).

In my case, only Barclay and Synchrony pull TransUnion. No banks pull Equifax (only the cable company and my apartment complex show as inquiries). So I decided to further investigate Experian, which Amex, Chase, Citi and Bank of America all pull when I apply.

Amex applications in last 24 months:

-June 2016: Approved for Amex Everyday card without hard pull
-January 2017: Approved for Amex Delta Platinum with a hard pull
-April 2017: Approved for Hilton Surpass without hard pull

tl;dr: DP indicating HP for all Delta cards

I'll report back on April 10. I'll log into my account for Delta Platinum Biz application to test Drewm33's theory.

Kacee

Schwab did Equifax hard pull when I signed up for their High Yield checking.