Flyertalker1

I have 2 amex cards, and have put about 2k total on them over past few months. put well above initial SUB amount when cards were new.

Was told I was ineligible for Amex PRG because of "history of welcome offers, APR, or number of cards opened/closed"

I am 3/24 (1 is amex), but filed a CFPB complaint in past (2018) for denial of Bonvoy points (lack of popup)

...did they flag my account due to history of filing CFPB complaint for being denied welcome bonus?

mia

I would not assume that American Express is looking back only 2 years, it may be 7 years.

Flyertalker1

does amex have a total card limit over x years?

saw recent news about amex limiting number of total Amex & charge cards

mia

I am not aware of a lifetime limit, but if your history includes a number of cards which were opened only for the bonus it could affect your ability to receive bonuses now. Discussion here: Amex USA 4 or 5 "Credit" Card Limit.

Kacee

In its ever-more aggressive quest to block churners, it seems AMEX has tightened its algorithm such that it is now blocking bonuses for existing cardholders who have not engaged in any program abuse. AMEX may well have determined that the savings are worth antagonizing some percentage of its existing customer base; that would not be inconsistent with their overall business ethos, which has always been defined by a certain degree of arrogance (i.e., they need us more than we need them).

Flyertalker1

oh well, not my fault the CSR has better earnings than the Marriott & Delta Amex.

TravelingZoomer

I mean for the majority of people in this thread, it’s true

eponymous_coward

So I am interested in the current incognito bonus on the AMEX Delta Gold (50k, 1k spend), but I am not so interested in heavy use of it given that airfare and dining multiplies are WAY better on the AMEX Gold, even if I transfer. I have zero use for free luggage and though based out of SEA I'm not a DL partisan, more an occasional DL flyer with more action to AS and WN (it would probably go AS, WN, and DL/AA tied for 3rd).

I would likely downgrade to the Blue after year one and keep it alive with an occasional tickle buying a lunch or something (unless there's a super interesting upgrade offer to Platinum). It's also likely the card I'd kill off first if I ran into the 4 card limit.

That being said, if this gets me a popup if I ever want the Schwab or vanilla Platinum, or other Hilton/Marriott cards... I'd want to pass.

I plan on keeping Gold and Green plus a Hilton card long term.

How much danger of being in popup jail am I in if I do this?

sdsearch

For starters, you in big danger of being in popup jail if you ever "sock drawer" any of your Amex cards. One of the things that helps (though does not guarantee) staying out of popup jail is using all of your Amex cards. We don't have enough datapoints for more specificity than that (like how much you have to use them), so please don't ask for an exact formula. Just think from Amex's standpoint: "how can I use this card so that Amex will like me?". (Ie, don't only use each card if it gives you big benefits, and otherwise leave it languishing.)

TravelingZoomer

I'm currently in pop-up jail after downgrading my Delta Gold to Blue, which I sock drawer-ed. Consider putting a monthly subscription on the card after SUB or just stay keen on Amex offers, they're pretty generous from time to time. I'd consider planning out your credit card map a year from you opening the Delta card. If you're going to get all your major SUBs before potentially closing, then I think it's worth it. Keep in mind also, if you downgrade after paying the renewal fee Amex gives you a pro-rated refund, so consider the annual fee an insurance to Amex Pop up Jail.

eponymous_coward

I generate enough travel, grocery and dining spend that I am in NO danger of not using the Gold and Green regularly. It’s the Delta card that would definitely be a “maybe put my iTunes on it or buy lunch once a month, or buy snacks and wifi in a Delta flight” card once the spend bonus was done with. I would likely downgrade to Blue and keep the card open as I am still trying to rebuild credit (I want to boost some overall credit lines).

I get the idea of no sock drawering... and the be honest I mostly want keeper cards with AMEX: probably Gold/Green, Hilton/Marriott and then just put spend on them. I am just not sure if Delta fits in that model. If I was more keen on their card feature sets or DL SkyPesos, I might be more of a buyer.

That gives me some context, then. Like I said, I would be trickling some charges on it. I also have college expenses for the next several years + next year's taxes that I will be able to put on some cards as needed (though I would prefer to use them for SUBs, of course).

Funny thing is I don't actually want to keep Platinum though- I might end up settling on something like Gold/Green/Surpass or Aspire/AMEX Marriott $95 (as the PC downgrade from the $450 one) long term.

bgriff

Up to you of course but IMO it doesn't sound like you are going to be enough of a user of the Delta card for the risk of Amex jail to be worth 50K SkyPesos. There are many other more exciting SUBs out there, including from time to time much more generous offers on the Delta family of cards (especially on the more premium Delta cards, which sometimes have SUBs in the ~80K neighborhood, though with higher minimum spend requirements), so might as well at least wait for one of those if you're going to tempt fate with Amex?

The Delta Platinum card does also now have some okay category bonuses -- they're still not the best cards in any category, but at least they offer some extra value if you were going to be putting some spend on a Delta Amex out of obligation to try to avoid the wrath of Amex.

eponymous_coward

Well, my offers right now in incognito mode are:

Gold: 50k, waive AF 1st year, 1k spend in 3 months.
Platinum: 70k, $100 statement credit for a Delta purchase in 1st 3 months, 2k spend in 3 months, 5k MQMs, second year renewal companion cert.
Reserve: 70k, 10k MQM, 5k spend in 3 months (this is very clearly the weakest offer as a casual DL flier at best)

I don't actually plan on flying DL enough where MQMs are meaningful. The Platinum companion certificate in year 2 for retaining the card would be more meaningful if (like AS's) you could use it for Hawaii.

I guess you could argue the Platinum card is better if you can hit the extra spend and get use out of the companion certificate in year 2. In essence it's $400 for 20k miles and a companion certificate vs. getting Gold in year 1 then downgrading to Blue in year 2. (I do not value the other benefits at all, really.) It would be pretty dicey for me to get a much value out of the companion certificate though, and I value SkyPesos at a penny a point, so it's why I tend to like the Gold offer better.

bgriff

FWIW, I believe it has also been the case that Amex takes very harshly to people who take advantage of offers that Amex does not believe are intended for them, up to and including refusing to give SUBs in the first place. I believe that has definitely been seen when people try to take advantage of targeted offers they were not targeted for; I am not sure if it includes using offers which only show up incognito mode but I would be wary.

eponymous_coward

There would be all kinds of freakout on Doctor of Credit and r/churning were using incognito mode to get better offers to be regularly a bad idea, so I feel pretty confident it's not the case, after doing some checking out.