Mar 30, 2015, 7:53 am
Last edit by: TravelingZoomer
American Express typically allows USA cardholders to have a maximum of four credit cards, plus an unspecified number of charge cards. Personal and Business cards count against this cap. Some individuals have more credit cards if opened before the cap was instituted. Anecdotal evidence indicates the limit may have been raised to five in early 2016.
Edit: As of May 19, 2020, Amex has confirmed the limit is four lending (credit) cards, and ten charge cards. Source
Centurion, Platinum, Plum, Gold, and Green are charge cards.
American Express issues both charge and credit cards for three co-brand partners:
All others are credit cards. This includes all variants of Everyday, Blue, and many discontinued cards. It includes all co-branded cards currently issued for:
Edit: As of May 19, 2020, Amex has confirmed the limit is four lending (credit) cards, and ten charge cards. Source
Centurion, Platinum, Plum, Gold, and Green are charge cards.
American Express issues both charge and credit cards for three co-brand partners:
- Charles Schwab
- Morgan Stanley
All others are credit cards. This includes all variants of Everyday, Blue, and many discontinued cards. It includes all co-branded cards currently issued for:
- Delta
- Hilton
- Lowes
- Marriott
Amex USA 4 or 5 "Credit" Card Limit.
Dec 21, 2019, 3:58 pm
#496
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,904
I've been told the AMEX BBP is a credit card even though it acts like some sort of hybrid. If I include that, then I have 6 AMEX credit cards. Yes, I'm not including my charge cards.
Dec 21, 2019, 4:07 pm
#497
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
My AMEX Gold is up for renewal, but I'm going to cancel. I have yet to have cancelled any cards that are under a year old. Furthermore, I actually put spending on my cards; both credit and charge. Across all of my credit and charge cards, I probably put in close to $25k for 2019. Not sure if it's a lot or not, but AMEX can't say I don't put any spending on my cards and just going after the welcome bonuses. I want the Aspire not so much for the welcome bonus, which would be nice, but I want it for the extra points and status for my Hilton stays.
Meanwhile, they have denied bonuses to people who opened too many Amex cards too quickly.
Yes, certainly doing spend on all of them helps, but we don't know if it's a guarantee.
So while I wish you luck, I've never heard of anyone getting 6 Amex credit cards in one year (not counting transfers of HH cards from Citi to Amex a couple years ago) before, so I think this may be uncharted territory.
The official limit is 5 last we heard, so I don't even know how you were able to get to 6, and if you cancel just one, you get to 5, so I don't know if cancelling just one would make it possible to apply for another credit card, it's conceivable that you may have to cancel 2 credit cards to be able to apply for 1, if they're now going hold you to the limit of 5.
Dec 21, 2019, 4:12 pm
#498
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,904
You're getting two things confused. Amex hates even more when you cancel in less than year, and can do worse things to you than just deny bonuses in that case.
Meanwhile, they have denied bonuses to people who opened too many Amex cards too quickly.
Yes, certainly doing spend on all of them helps, but we don't know if it's a guarantee.
So while I wish you luck, I've never heard of anyone getting 6 Amex credit cards in one year (not counting transfers of HH cards from Citi to Amex a couple years ago) before, so I think this may be uncharted territory.
The official limit is 5 last we heard, so I don't even know how you were able to get to 6, and if you cancel just one, you get to 5, so I don't know if cancelling just one would make it possible to apply for another credit card, it's conceivable that you may have to cancel 2 credit cards to be able to apply for 1, if they're now going hold you to the limit of 5.
Meanwhile, they have denied bonuses to people who opened too many Amex cards too quickly.
Yes, certainly doing spend on all of them helps, but we don't know if it's a guarantee.
So while I wish you luck, I've never heard of anyone getting 6 Amex credit cards in one year (not counting transfers of HH cards from Citi to Amex a couple years ago) before, so I think this may be uncharted territory.
The official limit is 5 last we heard, so I don't even know how you were able to get to 6, and if you cancel just one, you get to 5, so I don't know if cancelling just one would make it possible to apply for another credit card, it's conceivable that you may have to cancel 2 credit cards to be able to apply for 1, if they're now going hold you to the limit of 5.
Dec 21, 2019, 4:30 pm
#499
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
American Express is not interested in individual circumstances. Five is the maximum number of credit cards, it's not a suggested number or a typical number.
Business and Personal both count. Blue Business Plus is unambiguously a credit card. You just need to use the cards that you have until you can safely close one.
Business and Personal both count. Blue Business Plus is unambiguously a credit card. You just need to use the cards that you have until you can safely close one.
Dec 21, 2019, 4:33 pm
#500
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,934
Amex USA 4 or 5 "Credit" Card Limit.
Ie, if Amex lets you get to 6 once, maybe that's a mistake, but if they let you get to 6 twice, maybe that's a change in policy.
Thanks.
Dec 21, 2019, 4:36 pm
#501
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,904
American Express is not interested in individual circumstances. Five is the maximum number of credit cards, it's not a suggested number or a typical number.
Business and Personal both count. Blue Business Plus is unambiguously a credit card. You just need to use the cards that you have until you can safely close one.
Business and Personal both count. Blue Business Plus is unambiguously a credit card. You just need to use the cards that you have until you can safely close one.
Dec 21, 2019, 8:58 pm
#502
Join Date: May 2015
Location: LAX, BUR
Programs: AS,AA,JB, HH Gold, Starriott Titanium Elite, Hyatt Explorist, Global Entry
Posts: 1,933
Dec 21, 2019, 9:19 pm
#503
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: OZ *G; HH Diamond;
Posts: 1,644
Similar to this:
BBP July 20xx
HH converted from Citi
Dec 23, 2019, 7:51 am
#505
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,959
Jan 17, 2020, 7:53 pm
#506
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 176
I wonder if this is what is happening to me. I have 3 amex cards, one of those is the normal hilton card. Im trying to either get the surpass or the aspire(or both eventually) and they say I dont qualify for the sign up bonus for some reason? Anyone had this happen?
Jan 17, 2020, 8:16 pm
#507
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Truth or Consequences, NM
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, UA Silver, Mobile Passport Unobtanium
Posts: 6,195
Amex (USA) restricts bonus based on number of accounts opened/closed (June 2018)
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/ameri...ation-process/
Apr 1, 2020, 11:14 am
#508
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 88
I am now thinking about freeing up one of my Amex slots (5 cards already) and then applying for the Amex Marriott Bonvoy business card. How long should I wait after I close a card to apply? Should I do it on the same day or it doesn’t matter, thanks.
Apr 1, 2020, 12:08 pm
#509
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,904
I waited a month before applying and then I was approved.
Apr 1, 2020, 2:49 pm
#510
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 33
Even if you have 5 cards already, you can go ahead and apply. You will get an "Application under review" message. Then call the AMEX application line. At that point they will note that you have the max number of cards and will ask which one you'd like to cancel. There may be some questions related to credit allocation between cards. This happened to me several months ago and it worked smoothly... as long as you've abided by other AMEX application rules related to timing.