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American Express has introduced functionality that lets you know whether you are eligible for a welcome offer for a specific card as a part of the card application process. This function will alert you to your ineligibility before American Express pulls your credit.
How It Works
The welcome offer eligibility checker doesn't require any effort on your part — all you need to do is go through a standard application process and submit it. At that point, a pop-up window will appear indicating if you are not eligible for an associated welcome offer. Crucially, this happens before Amex performs a credit check (hard pull).
If you're not eligible for a welcome offer, you have two options: Continue with your application (knowing you will not earn any associated bonus points), or withdraw your application, and Amex won’t pull your credit, leaving your credit report untouched.
Needless to say, if you've collected a pile of cards with American Express your chances of getting a welcome offer could be diminished. That said, we don't know the exact criteria in effect when deciding if you're eligible, other than the once-in-a-lifetime language Amex states. However, this functionality provides you an easy way to see if you're eligible for a welcome offer on newer products like the Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, and the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card — if you're eligible your application will go through. If not, you'll be prompted, so be sure to apply only if you want the card. Don't use this to “test out” if you're eligible or not.
Which Cards Are Affected By The Restriction?
All cards. American Express has a very restrictive policy when it comes to welcome offers; you are restricted to one welcome offer per card for life. As that stands, if you have had a card before and received a welcome offer you will not receive it again regardless of the time between applications. This applies to all Amex cards including The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express.
Our Take
If you have a diverse credit portfolio and you're not sure if you've ever had a particular card, this is a handy little function to figure out if you're eligible for an associated welcome offer for a card for which you may show some interest.
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