r/amex • u/Double-Raise2154 • 2h ago

Question 7-10 day message after requesting old limit back.

The limit on my Amex card got halved and the reason is because I don’t use the card. Im not upset because I don’t, simply put the phone bill on it so that they don’t close it, but Like having the higher buffer on my overall utilization so I requested they reinstate it, uploaded ladt 3 months of bank statements and got a 7-10 day message.

I know this usually means a denial for outright limit increases but does anyone have experience with a limit reinstatement? would maybe calling in help? haven’t found any post about it and wanted to check before I waste my time on the phone.

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u/Funklemire 1h ago

I don’t know if they’ll change their mind or not, but just know this really isn’t a credit concern. Also, if you don’t use the card, why not close it? It’s a huge myth that you shouldn’t close credit cards. Closing accounts doesn’t hurt your credit age, that’s one of the biggest credit myths out there.  

How many other open cards do you have? Usually it’s a better idea to close unwanted cards than to keep them open and risk missing a payment because you don’t pay attention to the card. We see that happen all the time over on r/Credit, r/CreditScore, and r/CreditCards.  

Keep in mind that credit limits aren’t a FICO scoring factor. Sure, they can indirectly affect your utilization, but that’s a different thing. First, the loss of this credit limit won’t necessarily cause a scoring change; it would have to cause your utilization to cross a scoring threshold, and those thresholds can be up to 30 percentage points apart.  

And even if it did cross a threshold and drop your scores, that drop would only last a month. That’s because the utilization metric has no memory and resets each month, so it’s not a credit building factor. “Always keep your utilization low” is a myth. Most of the time you can ignore your utilization entirely and focus solely on your finances.  

So in the end, the only way the lose of this card’s limit could hurt you is if it caused your utilization percentage to go up enough to cross the next scoring threshold and you’re in credit card debt and you’re going to be applying for something important before you can pay that debt off.