"My First Approval After BK Dropped!"
TrueEarnings® Card from Costco and American Express Review
Written by: artinsocal on 2010-03-18
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artinsocal's review: 
I got approved after having a BK drop off last month. My Experian has 1 current car loan, never late, 2 1/2 yrs old. And I have a 9 year old paid off car loan. I also have a 5 year Mervyns card which will be paid off this month. I also have 1 negative paid off Niagara waters collection which was $60 and 1 year old. If anything I thought this one negative would deny me from getting this card. My Experian score was 700 at the time of applying. I had my Experian frozen at the time so Amex initially declined me due to not being able to get a credit report but after I called them and unfroze it they had me wait on the phone while they ran it and only asked me what my annual income was and how long employed. 1 minute later she said I was approved with a $1200 limit. Boy was I surprised!
I got approved after having a BK drop off last month. My Experian has 1 current car loan, never late, 2 1/2 yrs old. And I have a 9 year old paid off car loan. I also have a 5 year Mervyns card which will be paid off this month. I also have 1 negative paid off Niagara waters collection which was $60 and 1 year old. If anything I thought this one negative would deny me from getting this card. My Experian score was 700 at the time of applying. I had my Experian frozen at the time so Amex initially declined me due to not being able to get a credit report but after I called them and unfroze it they had me wait on the phone while they ran it and only asked me what my annual income was and how long employed. 1 minute later she said I was approved with a $1200 limit. Boy was I surprised!
10 Comments
Comment 1 by wanderer
Re: American Express 
on 2010-03-19
Congrats! Does that feel good or what? BK goes away and you land a big one. Yes!
on 2010-03-19 Congrats! Does that feel good or what? BK goes away and you land a big one. Yes!
Comment 2 by eldarwen
Congrats! on 2010-03-19
Congrats on the approval! I don't shop at Costco enough to warrant a Costco Amex. But my Amex Blue Cash and Amex Platinum suit me just fine.
on 2010-03-19 Congrats on the approval! I don't shop at Costco enough to warrant a Costco Amex. But my Amex Blue Cash and Amex Platinum suit me just fine.
Comment 5 by joeyman
Re: on 2010-03-20
Z0mgosh am I jealous! I want this card so bad. My scores are 714, I just don't feel I have enough history to apply yet (1.5 yrs).
on 2010-03-20 Z0mgosh am I jealous! I want this card so bad. My scores are 714, I just don't feel I have enough history to apply yet (1.5 yrs).
Comment 7 by artinsocal
Updated Info On My BK on 2010-03-24
My BK was discharged 4/2000. The BK fell off beginning of this month (March) 2010, without me having to contact anybody. They must either have someone keep track of these or they just automatically fall off. One thing I noticed that was a little odd was I used to have a Amex card back in 1986 but closed it. When I got the new card it said on the from member since "86". I just found that interesting. The only other card I wanted besides this was a Visa or MC and my bank just send me a Platinum Visa yesterday with a $2300 limit. So for now that's all I need. Good luck with everyone trying to get this Amex from Costco!
on 2010-03-24 My BK was discharged 4/2000. The BK fell off beginning of this month (March) 2010, without me having to contact anybody. They must either have someone keep track of these or they just automatically fall off. One thing I noticed that was a little odd was I used to have a Amex card back in 1986 but closed it. When I got the new card it said on the from member since "86". I just found that interesting. The only other card I wanted besides this was a Visa or MC and my bank just send me a Platinum Visa yesterday with a $2300 limit. So for now that's all I need. Good luck with everyone trying to get this Amex from Costco!
Comment 8 by colonative
Re: Member Since 86 on 2010-03-24
That is one of the many great things about American Express. They backdate any new account to your original Member Since date. I had an Amex Gold that I opened in 1999 and closed it in 2005. In 2008 I opened an Amex Blue. Although the Blue card does not have a member since date on it, when I log in online it says "Welcome ColoNative, Member Since 1999." More importantly, they report the Blue as opened 9/99 on all three credit reports. Amex just did you a very valuable service. Now you have a 1986 tradeline reporting on your bureaus.
on 2010-03-24 That is one of the many great things about American Express. They backdate any new account to your original Member Since date. I had an Amex Gold that I opened in 1999 and closed it in 2005. In 2008 I opened an Amex Blue. Although the Blue card does not have a member since date on it, when I log in online it says "Welcome ColoNative, Member Since 1999." More importantly, they report the Blue as opened 9/99 on all three credit reports. Amex just did you a very valuable service. Now you have a 1986 tradeline reporting on your bureaus.
Comment 10 by artinsocal
Credit Limit Raised! on 2011-01-11
So after having this card for exactly 10 months now I called the 800 # and followed the automated instructions to raise my CL. My limit was $1200, and I didn't want to request an enormous limit which would have probably triggered a hard inquiry so I only asked for a $2000 limit. After waiting about 5 seconds the automated voice said I was approved and no hard inquiry. Amex allows you to request a limit increase every 6 mos.
on 2011-01-11 So after having this card for exactly 10 months now I called the 800 # and followed the automated instructions to raise my CL. My limit was $1200, and I didn't want to request an enormous limit which would have probably triggered a hard inquiry so I only asked for a $2000 limit. After waiting about 5 seconds the automated voice said I was approved and no hard inquiry. Amex allows you to request a limit increase every 6 mos.
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Disclaimer: This content is not provided by American Express. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. Review content is powered by Finance Globe.
