In March 2013, I opened a business American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Card with an original $6,000 line of credit. In those 9 months, I was able to spend $30,000 and earned Gold status.
For 2014, I barely used the card unless:
- Purchases were for no category bonus spend
- Purchases were for the warranty protection
- Purchases were profitable gift card churns
I never came close to maxing out the credit limit, until December. At the time, I had now gone 1.1x the credit limit. When I did that, I received a pleasant email from American Express with their own emphasis:
We believe in your business and are pleased to let you know we’ve increased the credit limit on your account referenced above to $11,300.00. Your new credit limit is available immediately.
We hope this new credit limit helps to make it easier for you to use your card for more of your ongoing expenses, like utilities and insurance payments, as well as larger purchases for your business. You can also add additional cards for employees by calling the number on the back of your card.
So I now have almost a doubling of my credit line because I pay my bill on time, built up a credit history with them, and because of that, they believe in my credibility and increased my limit without me asking or doing any kinds of pulls.
That being said, it is no guarantee it’ll happen to you. But if you’re a good customer, come close to utilizing the credit limit or going above it a little, you too may have same chance that I did to have an increase.
And a little research also confirms by the good Doctor of Credit, that American Express does not do a hard pull.
I had this happen to me last week. AMEX SPG. Mostly AMEX GC purchases and Simon GCs. I have noticed a trend where this happens when my balance creeps up to over 60% of my credit limit. Doesn’t happen every time, but at least every year or so.
Just a heads up, you can ask for and receive a 3x credit limit increase from American Express after the card has been opened for 60 days or more. They almost always approve your request. More information:
Rules For American Express Credit Limit Increases:
You must wait a minimum of 60 days after a card is opened before requesting a credit limit increase from American Express
You must wait a period of six months in between credit limit increases from American Express. This applies across all of your American Express cards.
If you’re denied, you must wait 90 days before applying for an increase again
If you successfully receive a credit limit increase you can apply for another one after six months. In general this is much more difficult to receive than the first increase unless your income has gone up significantly.
Taken from: http://www.doctorofcredit.com/increase-the-limit-on-your-american-express-card-by-up-to-3-times-its-starting-amount/
Thanks Will, this is awesome!
Isn’t there also a phantom $25k cap on those CLIs? After that they want proof of income/FR.
That is good to know if true!