Massive cut in credit limit

[cove]

We actually increased our credit limits by 80k as I have been attracted to getting Air New Zealand and Malaysian points for the family. With QF pulling NZ to LAX we are losing an easy way of going to Los Angeles on points in J.
Amex have been asking questions so I referred them to the Platinum and Centurion threads on travel insurance.
Other than a reserve Bank issued card I keep in reserve we use each credit card at least once per quarter so it becomes less likely that a credit limit reduction will be attempted by the lender.

 

[wassie]

I'd agree there is def something up with Amex. Ive had an Amex of one kind or another for around last decade. At present I have the Qantas Ultimate rewards and applied for an Edge with a request to close the Qantas Ultimate & transfer the balance.
My application got rejected and when I queried why, initially (as usual) they wouldnt tell me so after speaking to the superviser they 'suggested' it may have to do with a missed payment in December - as result of being overseas and it was literally only a few days late. My usual spend is around $5-10K/month and not always paid in full so they actually make some money out of me, but always paid in full of every couple of months.

A bit peeved, I said no problem, but please proceed to cancel my Qantas Ulitmate. As expected retentions came back offering to wave the $450 fee (as per last time) for this year so I said Ok - who am I to knock back a free flight! Was told to re-apply in 3-6 months time. But once I have booked my flight I'll be calling and saying goodbye to Amex - really cant be bothered as personally I feel they are really more hassle than they are worth these days given the plethora of so called ' platinum' cards available today.

 

[Simo]

I'd agree there is def something up with Amex. Ive had an Amex of one kind or another for around last decade. At present I have the Qantas Ultimate rewards and applied for an Edge with a request to close the Qantas Ultimate & transfer the balance.
My application got rejected and when I queried why, initially (as usual) they wouldnt tell me so after speaking to the superviser they 'suggested' it may have to do with a missed payment in December - as result of being overseas and it was literally only a few days late. My usual spend is around $5-10K/month and not always paid in full so they actually make some money out of me, but always paid in full of every couple of months.

A bit peeved, I said no problem, but please proceed to cancel my Qantas Ulitmate. As expected retentions came back offering to wave the $450 fee (as per last time) for this year so I said Ok - who am I to knock back a free flight! Was told to re-apply in 3-6 months time. But once I have booked my flight I'll be calling and saying goodbye to Amex - really cant be bothered as personally I feel they are really more hassle than they are worth these days given the plethora of so called ' platinum' cards available today.

Platinum CC's have lost there shine now.

I have seen 18 and 19 year old's with them.

Not that there is anything wrong with that if they meet the criteria.

 

[vitagen]

Platinum CC's have lost there shine now.

I have seen 18 and 19 year old's with them.

Not that there is anything wrong with that if they meet the criteria.

Perhaps they are supplementry holders from their folks or older siblings?

 

[cove]

Yes I got my teenage children supplementary Amex Platinum cards when they went off on sports tours without us.

 

[wafliron]

I'd agree there is def something up with Amex. Ive had an Amex of one kind or another for around last decade. At present I have the Qantas Ultimate rewards and applied for an Edge with a request to close the Qantas Ultimate & transfer the balance.

My application got rejected and when I queried why, initially (as usual) they wouldnt tell me so after speaking to the superviser they 'suggested' it may have to do with a missed payment in December - as result of being overseas and it was literally only a few days late. My usual spend is around $5-10K/month and not always paid in full so they actually make some money out of me, but always paid in full of every couple of months.

That just seems silly :-/

I have no historical experience with Amex to compare, but they certainly appear to be applying quite restrictive acceptance guidelines at the moment. I'm a pretty damn good credit risk (except, perhaps, for high existing credit limits), and the initial soft limit on the Plat charge card I applied for last month was only $9k :-( Still, managed to put ~$90k through it in the first couple of weeks (about $70k of that prepaid), then applied for the complimentary Plat Reserve card and was rejected completely!

The application has been sent back for manual review (and apparently the large amount I've put through / prepaid on the Plat charge will stand me in good stead with their manual review team), but I still can't fathom how I was a "reject" for the Plat Reserve card in the first place.

 

[cove]

If you would like an account manager with American Express wafliron you could PM me. It might speed up the process in becoming more than an "Aspiring points fiend". Credit limit giving is a separate area to account management but they can help in a number of ways.

 

[wafliron]

If you would like an account manager with American Express wafliron you could PM me. It might speed up the process in becoming more than an "Aspiring points fiend". Credit limit giving is a separate area to account management but they can help in a number of ways.

Thanks - PM sent. I'm not quite ready to graduate from "aspiring" yet... but I'm getting there

 

[cove]

Hope what I have sent you works.....we need success stories in this thread!!

 

[Foreigner]

If you would like an account manager with American Express wafliron you could PM me. It might speed up the process in becoming more than an "Aspiring points fiend". Credit limit giving is a separate area to account management but they can help in a number of ways.

The account manager, called 'relationship manager', is good single contact to have at Amex but he has no authority to set limits, so far as I'm aware. I have one such manager and before each conversation, I go over the identification ritual and notice by him that the call may be recorded...

My experience with Amex has been very positive and I'm reminded that the 'limit' is to a large extent based on the volume of transactions put on the card...a running balance over 12 months is key reference. So, as spending increases, so does tolerance by Amex. Review is not uncommon.

For personal cards, tolerance of close to $200k can be anticipated.

 

[cove]

I agree with you Foreigner. Credit is a separate division.