Thread: Best time to apply for Gold Preferred?

Hello everyone!

I currently hold an Amex spg rewards card and love it! Customer service is exquisite. I have only had the card for about 2 weeks and noted that except from small vendors the card is accepted everywhere! I had a question about the Amex Gold Preferred card ... ( the 3-2-1 card they show in commercials!).

I have read and researched and also chatted with an Amex rep online that this card is one of their best rewards cards to have in tandem with another (such as spg).

My credit profile:
7-8 years of credit history
Transunion Score: 712 (myfico.com)
Equifax Score: 756 (myfico.com)

The Spg card is my first Personal Amex ever. I had a corporate Amex at my previous job but currently my firm does not issue Amex cards unless we have about 6-10 weeks of travel every year. I was surprised that my spg card had a v. low initial credit limit of $1,000. On inquiry, the amex rep said that this was their practice since the economy had started wavering and that with time they do bump it up. She recommended and also other members of this forum recommended calling and doing a credit line increase within 60 days. I hope they approve it as I want to cash in on the 30,000 points !!!

Now to the main question - In tandem with the Spg, I would like to get the Amex Gold Preferred card and wanted to ask all of you:
1. What is the best time to apply for it?
2. Are there any promotions that I should be aware of (that are temporary or expiring soon)
3. What is the least or best amount of time I should wait before applying for another amex card?
4. When they do this application - is it a hard or soft pull as they already did a hard pull for the spg card.
5. Is it very hard to be accepted for this card?
6. If I transfer the points accumulated on this card to Starpoints and already have Starpoints from my Spg then would it basically be like filling one bucket from two sources....

Thank you all for your time and I await your responses!

Best,

RM

Congrats on your SPG card. After 61 days you can request a credit line increase online. Generally the rule of thumb is to ask for 3x your current limit.

As far as apping for the Premier Rewards Gold Card...the best time would have been the same day as your SPG since it would have resulted in only one inquiry.

Otherwise, may I suggest you wait until January? The reason, it sounds like you are trying to get optinum rewards on your SPG. Focus on that first.

If you wait until January 2012 for the Premier Rewards Gold card it will be backdated to 2011. So it will appear that you opened the PRG card on 1/11 and you instantly have a 1 year old account reporting on the bureaus.

Of course, maybe you will find that you like your SPG so much that you won't want the PRG card. Best to only apply for credit that you need.

Good luck!

I have to agree with cc congratulations on getting the starwood preferred guest. when you say 6 to 10 weeks, does that mean from the last time you put in an application or you can't put in an application until after 6-10 weeks after you come back?

question 1. since you're using the gold premier for business I would ask your supervisors. true while your on business when you have some personal time, you can charge some drinks and not submit them to the company, but for the most part like hotels, dinner etc I would ask your supervisors.

question 2. promotions I think you get 25,000 points just for signing up.
[note by moderator: view the latest Gold Card promotion here]

question 3. well this isn't a walmart charge card, I'm going to say this is 1 of the hardest cards to get.

Originally Posted by CC Deville

Congrats on your SPG card. After 61 days you can request a credit line increase online. Generally the rule of thumb is to ask for 3x your current limit.

As far as apping for the Premier Rewards Gold Card...the best time would have been the same day as your SPG since it would have resulted in only one inquiry.

Otherwise, may I suggest you wait until January? The reason, it sounds like you are trying to get optinum rewards on your SPG. Focus on that first.

If you wait until January 2012 for the Premier Rewards Gold card it will be backdated to 2011. So it will appear that you opened the PRG card on 1/11 and you instantly have a 1 year old account reporting on the bureaus.

Of course, maybe you will find that you like your SPG so much that you won't want the PRG card. Best to only apply for credit that you need.

Good luck!

Thank you for your kind words! I am very grateful and happy to be an Amex member. Some people don't think it is a big deal, but ever since I entered adulthood I always wanted it. I like your advice and think I may stave off applying till about Jan 11. I did not realize that Amex backdated to the previous year of joining - so for eg. it would see that I was a member since 2011 (making me a 1 year history or something like that?)

Thank you again for your advice!

Best,

RM

Thank you for your comments. I greatly appreciate them!

I wanted to know what the best practice was to wait before applying for another amex card if already recently becoming a member such as my self. I have had my spg for about 2 weeks and was going to wait till about the 61st day to apply for a Cr. line increase and then possibly request information on the Amex Gold Preferred Rewards card.

If I do end up using either of these cards for work - I will definately ask my boss as to what the preferred method of payment is and which card I would be authorized to use. I did see her using her spg rewards card the last time we were in Germany so I assume I would be safe using that card. I am not sure if the Gold Premier rewards card carries higher fees internationally so I will def look into that!

Thank you again!

Best,

Raj

Originally Posted by RM4PointRewards

Thank you for your kind words! I am very grateful and happy to be an Amex member. Some people don't think it is a big deal, but ever since I entered adulthood I always wanted it. I like your advice and think I may stave off applying till about Jan 11. I did not realize that Amex backdated to the previous year of joining - so for eg. it would see that I was a member since 2011 (making me a 1 year history or something like that?)

Thank you again for your advice!

Best,

RM

Hi Raj,

Yes, Amex backdates to your original "Member Since" date. So if you open subsequent accounts, they appear to be opened the month you open the new account with the original year of your first Amex (provided you didn't default on the previous account or that it has been so long that they don't have record of it anymore). I found this out quite by accident when I opened my Amex Blue in 2008 and found that it reported as opened in 1999 (when I opened a Gold card). It is one of the many excellent things about Amex!

Congrats again on your new card and let us know how the CLI goes.

Let me get this clear, my first Amex card was open in 2006, on 2008 i got a Platinum card, and on the plastic it showed "Member Since 06", that was good, for different reasons my card was cancelled in 2009. Now in 2011 i applied for a new card, and the plastic shows "Member Since 11" but when i talked to AMEX Customer Service, they told me the that I am still a card member since 2006, but the plastic will show the year when i open the new account.

Could any one explain me how this works?

Thanks
br

Originally Posted by 4Runner

Let me get this clear, my first Amex card was open in 2006, on 2008 i got a Platinum card, and on the plastic it showed "Member Since 06", that was good, for different reasons my card was cancelled in 2009. Now in 2011 i applied for a new card, and the plastic shows "Member Since 11" but when i talked to AMEX Customer Service, they told me the that I am still a card member since 2006, but the plastic will show the year when i open the new account.

Could any one explain me how this works?

Thanks
br

For various reasons the account was closed...closed in good standing? As long as it was closed in good standing there is no reason why you can't get this cleared up. First of all, make sure the new account reports on your bureau as opened in 2006. If so, then call again and let them know that you want the new card to reflect your Member Since 06 date. If they give you any trouble (which they shouldn't) ask to speak to a supervisor. Or better yet, call the Amex backdoor number and speak to someone that way.
This can happen from time to time, but normally they have a system in place to catch these things. Sounds like you may have spoken to a lazy or new CSR the first time. Give it another try and see what happens.