both skymiles and hilton cards?
 

I currently have the Delta Skymiles Amex card. Would American Express let me have the Hilton card as well? Wise or dumb move?

i don't see why not? I have three american express cards. Blue, Cash rebate, Delta SkyMiles card.

I have the Delta card and the Hilton Amex. I only got the Delta card for the bonus points and free first year. When I got it though, Amex gave me a real low credit limit and told me it was because I had another card.

You can have as many Amex cards as you qualify for. But you can only have so much credit from the company, so each card may be limited in purchasing power. But I've heard they'll let you move the credit limits around from card to card.

Also, Gary Steiger (FT handle pgary) says he alternates every year between Delta and Starwood, taking advantage of fee free first year offers.

I find it simplest and most advantageous to just stick with the always free HHonors Platinum card.

You could probably increase your total Amex LOC faster by getting a new card than by trying to get an increase on the DL Amex. For Amex, I have the DL and Starwood cards. Normally I keep most of my LOC on the Starwood and just keep enough credit for the always-double-miles stuff. But when there's a promo on the DL card, I shift most of the LOC to it. I think I've shifted my LOC 7 times this year.

Shifted LOC from Hilton Amex to DL Amex but could not do it again a month later.CSR said only every 6 months. Do I try again?

A little different, but I had this experience as posted in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum57/HTML/005161.html

In part: "...I applied for the HH one. Got it, but they would only approve the HH for the cash back credit limit of a measly $5k. Didn't care, though, as I use this card only at Costco...

Had the HH a year and decided to go for the Delta with the big, big bonus(es) and savings bond deal of recent. Applied online and was told "need 30 days decision". Received a letter 10 days later denying me the card and I called to find out the scoop. I was told I could open a Delta card, but only if I was willing to transfer part of my credit line from the HH card. I remembered reading on FT about asking for an increase on an existing card, so they transferred me over to that dept. A rep asked me how much I wanted/needed and 2 minutes later, I was given a "raise" to 20k which I split between the 2 cards. Go figure!"

Absolutely. If the next CSR gives you the same routine, ask to talk to a supervisor. I made two LOC transfers last month - the first one was to transfer the remaining LOC on my Starwood card to the DL (before paying the balance), the second was after my Starwood statement closed, I paid the balance over the phone and transferred the rest (except for $100) to DL. Ran into a problem on the second transfer (see below).

Yeah, they're kinda hosed up over there, but glad it worked out for you. After my second transfer request went through (after several phone calls), my combined LOC was $8K lower than the prior month - I figured they did this because I was such a pain in the ___. Called again - now my combined LOC is $8K higher than the previous month. I'm not calling back on this one.

[This message has been edited by singlemalt (edited 11-05-2002).]

I have a Delta Skymiles AmEx, a Hilton Honors AmEx, a Starwood SPG AmEx, an AmEx Blue, and an AmEx Business Platinum. So in answer to your question, you certainly can have more than one. I've often moved LOC between my personal accounts but it's not allowed to/from the corporate account.
By far the easiest way to get a credit line increase on a particular AmEx card is to respond to one of their solicitations for a new card. As soon as it's received, move all or part of the LOC to the card you wish to increase.