Thread: How to get an American Express card?

I have recently started my credit. I have only 1 credit card with a small limit of $300.. I have been paying my balance off in full because I heard that would help my credit a lot... I am hoping that in a couple of months I establish some type of credit but im just not sure how long that would take and if its enough to establish good credit with just one credit card... I eventually want to have well enough credit to get pre-approved for an American express card. But like I said I just dont know how long that would take... Please give me some good on advice how to get one... Thank you!

Apply for a Zync or Green card, I can guarantee you will not be approved for an AMEX Credit Card anytime soon. My credit score is ~735 with perfect credit history, low/no balances on cards, decent age on accounts and I was denied the Amex Blue Sky, and Amex Blue (even though I have AMEX green).
I recommend you get a Zync/Green and keep it for a year (these are charge cards) without carrying a balance then apply for a Citi/Capital One card. Depending on your income you could apply for 2-3 cards (within the same 1-2 days) and possibly be approved, afterwards I suggest waiting at least another year before trying an AMEX credit card. I see no reason for AMEX to decline you after two years of history with them, provided your report shows low balances, on time payments and little/no inquiries.
Good Luck!

You should wait approximately 8 months after activating your first credit card to apply for your first amex card, which should probably be the Zync considering your provided information. Zync is their easiest card to obtain and it will give you some history with American Express, which will help you when applying for one of their credit cards. The earliest I would apply for one of their credit cards would be 6 months after activating the Zync, but it's more likely that you would have to wait closer to a year to be approved for their credit cards.

Is Zync really one of the best to obtain as a starter for a charge card as a way to re-establish my relationship with amex? Will this also increase one's chances of getting approved/upgrade to higher end charge card? Thanks

Originally Posted by ninth

Is Zync really one of the best to obtain as a starter for a charge card as a way to re-establish my relationship with amex? Will this also increase one's chances of getting approved/upgrade to higher end charge card? Thanks

Yes I'm guessing so.

Originally Posted by sandrafig2007

I have recently started my credit. I have only 1 credit card with a small limit of $300.. I have been paying my balance off in full because I heard that would help my credit a lot... I am hoping that in a couple of months I establish some type of credit but im just not sure how long that would take and if its enough to establish good credit with just one credit card... I eventually want to have well enough credit to get pre-approved for an American express card. But like I said I just dont know how long that would take... Please give me some good on advice how to get one... Thank you!

I established credit only 1 year ago (5/2010) with a secured Capital One Mastercard that helped me a lot. After that, I applied for a Reward Zone Mastercard with a toy limit of $100. My Cap One card had a secured limit of $500 and 5 months later, I increased in to $1000.

Amex denied me 3 times for their Zync card. In the meantime, I got approved for a Orchard Bank MC ($300).

Only when my Cap One hit its first anniversary date (May 2011), I tried again with Amex and got approved for the Zync, but as my history is not very old (1 year), they proposed me a limit set at $200 or $500 if I opted in their AutoPay service (they debit my checking account automatically after each billing cycle). I chose the 2nd solution. Also, Capital One approved me for another card (unsecured) at $500.

So, it's just my experience, but hope it will help you. Patience is the best way to establish a good credit. My score now is 677. I always pay on time and mostly in full to avoid paying interests.

My recommendation would be to start with a secured Capital One Mastercard, they don't report as secured (which is a positive thing), and you can choose a limit between $200 and $3000. It's also very easy to increase your limit online later on, by authorizing an ACH debit from your bank account.

The Amex Zync is the easiest Amex card to obtain. Typically you want to have 2yrs of established credit (Revolving credit) to even be consider for a Amex Zync. In addition, your score should be a minimum of 660. Amex will pull EX, if they don't like your EX score, they may pull TU & EQ too. So to get in with Amex, you want to make sure your CR is pretty clean...no baddies L4yrs, lates L2 yrs, and too many inquiries (3 + L6 months). But than again...YMMV. I think it's important to set a goal for the score you want to app like a Amex. Optimize your CR so you are not wasting a hard inquiry. I've seen ppl app for a Zync CC every 6 months, eventually they'll get it on a 3rd try or so but they would waste 3 hard inquiries...instead, be patience, work on getting your score up and have a clean report. App 1 time and get it. Good luck !!