American Express and credit limit increases?

2ilent8cho
2ilent8cho Posts: 97 Forumite
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in Credit cards
Can anybody give any insight into how American Express deal with credit limit increases? I got my first ever Amex card this month (BA Premium) but the limit is not great (its the lowest of any of my credit cards) Its only £1500 , i have spent £1800 on the card already after just 2 weeks by paying some of it off so i can spend again.

Do they offer them automatically normally? or do i have to request them? If so how long should i leave an Amex account before asking for an increase?
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Comments

  • MallyGirl
    MallyGirl Posts: 6,617 Senior Ambassador
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    my increase was automatic but it was after more than a year (and limit was already high)
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  • tonycarew
    tonycarew Posts: 239 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary
    I've been with them for about 18 months.My initial limit was very low but I've used it quite a lot and always paid off the full balance each month.As such Amex themselves offered frequent balance increases which suited me and my limit is now very high.
  • A4445
    A4445 Posts: 1,103 Forumite
    You can ask for an increase after having the card 3 months.
  • martinlam
    martinlam Posts: 1 Newbie
    Any chance that AMEX will offer more credit limit before 3 months for black Friday and cyber monday so atleast one can spend well.
  • toph
    toph Posts: 79 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    Phone them and ask.

    i've been with them since 02 and have 2 credit (BA15k + 12k) and 1 charge card

    i think my BA card started ~8k 4 months ago and they keep upping it every month or so, i currently spend ~ £1k a month on it.

    Do you have the BA card to get miles and the companion flight, otherwise a charge card may be better for you.
  • bd10
    bd10 Posts: 347 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    @toph
    Would you know how Amex allocates the limit between credit and charge cards? I have a credit card now but will take out a charge card with them in January. Most of my small item spending will move from the credit to charge card. They will undoubtedly notice the drop in transaction volume on the credit card. Would Amex then drop the credit card limit or keep that unchanged?
  • chattychappy
    chattychappy Posts: 7,302 Forumite
    BA Amex more than doubled my credit limit after about 3 months, without my asking.

    If you get a chargecard I doubt whether they will drop the limit on the credit card.
  • bd10
    bd10 Posts: 347 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    What I find weird is that Amex actually offers such modest limits on the BA Premium card. They should know full well that for this card to break-even, monthly expenditure would have to be multiples of £1500. The only reason I could think of - if done systematically - would be to get the fee revenues until these co-branded cards would eventually disappear. However, I don't want to accuse Amex of any of that.
  • toph
    toph Posts: 79 Forumite
    First Anniversary
    I had a credit card for years and last year took out the gold charge card for the points, I then upgraded to platinum, again for the points. After getting Max incentive points I jumped to the BA premium credit card again for more points and companion flight.

    The charge card has no set limit but on their site you can put in how much you expect to spend and it’ll tell you if they will honour it, for example if you wanted to buy something for £4K it’ll tell you if it’ll go through or not.

    My cards are paid off in full every month by direct debit and payments on the Amex go on in a few minutes so if I need to spend more than the current credit available I can just payoff the balance and then spend but this hasn’t happened. If I’m checking my current accounts I often just pay my balances so my statements are £0.

    A limit less than £2k is pointless but phone them and ask, also ask about the charge card if you feel that’ll be better for you.
    Not many people will be comfortable having to pay off their balances every month especially if they spend thousands per month.
  • TheEffects
    TheEffects Posts: 150 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Hi


    Wanted to find out if you request a Limit online, Do they do a Hard Credit Search?


    It simply states


    "Please review your request and click on 'Submit' at the bottom of the page. By clicking on 'Submit' you agree to American Express assessing your account for a credit limit increase."


    As I am worried about leaving any Hard credit search marks on my credit file.
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