Can you be Approved for 2 American Express Cards in One Day?
With the limited time sign-up bonuses on the Delta Gold and Delta Platinum Cards from American Express coming to an end July 6th (these offers end mid-day TODAY!), I decided to make a move and boost my Skymiles balance while the gettin’ was good!
The FICO credit score is looking solid (more on your credit score here), and the time for an application was right! Get your FICO score free from Discover, even if you are not a Discover customer!
But, when it came down to actually applying, I could not decide which of the offers to apply for… so I decided not to choose!
I want the Delta Platinum Personal card – 60k Skymiles and 10k Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQMs) after $2,000 spending in 3 months, plus a $100 statement credit on a Delta purchase (comes with a $195 annual fee) AND the Delta Gold Business card – 50k Skymiles after $2,000 spending in 3 months, plus a $50 statement credit on a Delta purchase (comes with a $95 annual fee, which is waived the 1st year).
In total, 110k Skymiles, 10k MQMs, $150 in Delta credits, $4,000 spending in 3 months, and $195 in 1st year annual fees… And I want to apply for [and be approved for] it all the SAME DAY!
Would American Express approve two applications submitted the same day?
I did a bit of research on Flyertalk, the Points Guy, and Doctor of Credit and here is what they say on the matter:
- You can apply for two American Express cards in one day. Many report that applying for a credit card and a charge card (like the Amex Premier Rewards Gold and/or Amex Platinum Card) is possible and fairly simple to receive an instant approval for both applications. In my case, both the Delta cards are actually credit cards and therefore will not follow that logic.
Since I am applying for two credit cards, I think the most likely outcome will be for the second application to be put on hold as a fraud-prevention mechanism. Of course, this can vary from person to person…
- You might get lucky and have the two credit inquiries combined if both American Express cards are approved the same day. Note: they must be APPROVED the same day. If the card goes into a pending status (perhaps due to the fraud prevention mechanism at Amex) then a new inquiry will be made when the card is reconsidered, and thus resulting in multiple inquiries (aka “hard pulls”).
The possibility of the credit inquiries being merged is a key factor and is really the driving force behind my decision to apply the same day, rather than to split the applications across different days. This action of merging is actually performed by the credit bureaus (i.e. Transunion, Experian, and/or Equifax) rather than the credit card issuer (American Express in this case) in order to eliminate possible duplicate inquiries by a card issuer for a single credit application. This really works in your favor if your two credit applications merge into one single inquiry!
Why? Well since each hard inquiry will result in temporary negative impact to your credit score (about 3-5 points), then limiting the number of inquiries is beneficial and means your credit score takes less of a hit. This will allow your score to rebound much quicker and allow you to apply for new credit cards in the future at a faster pace (less waiting for your score to rebound)!
Other factors to note:
- You can be approved for just two cards in a 90-day period, but the amount of possible cards can increase if you mix in charge cards as well.
- You are limited to one American Express sign-up bonus per lifetime for each individual card type issued by American Express. Since I have previously earned a sign-up bonus on the Delta Gold, I applied for the Delta Gold Business version instead, which also offered 50,000 Skymiles + $50 statement credit!
- You are limited to 4 current credit cards issued by American Express, though I have recently read that this rule is may not be strictly applied and it is possible to have 5… This does not include charge cards or cards issued by other banks branded as American Express.
I currently have 3 American Express credit cards (Delta Gold Personal, Starwood Preferred, and the Hilton HHonors Surpass), so I put this rule to the test with my applications for the Delta Gold Business and the Delta Platinum Personal cards. If the 4 card limit rule was applied to me, I would consider cancelling an existing card in order to get a new card approved!
Now that we have done our research, it was time to apply!
My Firsthand Experience:
I opened two separate incognito Mozilla browser windows and simultaneously input the requested information into the two credit applications…
First up, the Delta Platinum Personal card. I prioritized this application since I am considering going for Delta Elite status and really value the Medallion Qualifying Miles offered by the card! I click submit…
Result:
Instantly approved! Sweet! Now onto the next one!
Within minutes of receiving an approval decision on the Delta Platinum, I submit my application for the Delta Gold Business…
Result:
Pending Review…
As I suspected, I was hit with a pending decision on the second credit card. I checked the status of my application an hour later and noted the pending status:
I dialed up the American Express again and did what I could to get the second application approved today. I was really working the Amex representative since I wanted that approval today in order to have the credit inquiries merged, but to my dismay, the second application was flagged as a fraud prevention mechanism and I would have to wait 5 days before the application would be considered.
I am sure that I will be hit with an additional credit inquiry when that happens but it was worth a shot… Now I am just hoping for an approval on the Delta Gold Business for the opportunity to earn 50k Skymiles and make my travel dreams a reality!!
Note: I was able to confirm that although my application will not be considered prior to the July 6th limited time offer deadline, I will be eligible to receive the 50k bonus, since those are the terms under which I applied.
I have a feeling that when American Express does decide to consider my application for the Delta Gold Business card (my second application of the day) they will notice that I have reached my 4 credit card limit and deny the application. If and when that happens I will be sure to give the Reconsideration Line a call and see if I can move credit lines or cancel a card in order to push the application through to an approval… I will keep you posted on my results!
Final Thought
I still believe that it IS POSSIBLE to apply for [and be approved for] two American Express cards in a single day, even though I could not get approved for both in a single day. While my second application was delayed a few days, I think my experience would probably have been different if I had applied for a charge card and a credit card, rather than 2 credit cards.
I will continue to monitor the second application and hopefully will be rewarded in 5 days when the application is considered.
Do your research, make a plan, and put it into action! Take risks, but be informed and make smart decisions and you can make it in the credit card game!
Questions, comments, concerns – send ’em all to accountingyourpoints@yahoo.com
Happy [Amex] Credit Applications!
DW