Any point having a USA Credit Card for AUS?

[big_RED]

Hey all,

Has anyone every done the maths on if using an American based credit card is better value than using Australian credit cards in Australia?

American credit cards have some great offers I feel and a lot also offer no international transaction fees compared to a lot of Australian cards (so purchasing goods in Australia on the American card would't incur any extra surcharges). My only concern is the AUD --> USD foreign exchange rate each month when needing to pay off the card. And if the FX would make having American credit cards for Australia cost prohibitive.

But I wonder if the cost of the AUD goods originally being purchased in USD (therefore being cheaper with the current FX) would offset the monthly payments (as the USD would be converted back to AUD...)

Some good cards friends in America have are:
1. Chase Sapphire Reserve (fee is $300/yr but this is refunded when you spend $300 on transport each year). Bonus points on travel and dining. No points redemption black out dates
2. American Express SPG or Hilton Cards (up to 5+ points per $1 when spent at the related hotel)

Putting aside that a lot of AUS people wouldn't be applicable to get an American credit card, (I'm not one of them) - I've always wondered if it'd be worthwhile - hence the questions.

What are your thoughts?

 

[serfty]

Oh, how I wish I could access a Chase Sapphire Reserve - said to be the doyen of rewards cards.

@cove may have better information, but it seems to me that even with the exchange issues, rewards earn and facilities are far better than most Oz based cards.

 

[theblank]

've always wondered if it'd be worthwhile - hence the questions.

What are your thoughts?

you already answered the only question. Its the process of making the payments that is the negative.
Unless the cardholder already has USD income into US Banks.

 

[big_RED]

Its the process of making the payments that is the negative.
Unless the cardholder already has USD income into US Banks.

That's what I thought.

Say you bought something in Australia for $100. That = $70USD so your credit card statement would say you owe $70USD, and if the exchange rate had remained the same you'd then need to transfer $100AUD. So you pay off the same amount (maybe your bank charges you $10-$20 for the FX trabsfer) .

Or when you spend that $100, the AUD drops, so you actually owe back $110AUD + bank FX transfer... So then you do lose out in that scenario.

You could setup a USD bank account, and use that to transfer the money, but is it really worth the points?

I feel unfortunately not

 

[cove]

US suppliers get charged plenty by Visa and MasterCard so we cannot pay them by credit card.
The exchange rate can be an issue too.
I fix that with a US Bank account to switch funds at ok exchange rates.
Chase have been really good.
I may only get to the US two or three times a year now.

 

[big_RED]

US suppliers get charged plenty by Visa and MasterCard so we cannot pay them by credit card.
The exchange rate can be an issue too.
I fix that with a US Bank account to switch funds at ok exchange rates.
Chase have been really good.
I may only get to the US two or three times a year now.

So you have US bank account and use a US credit card for general spend in Australia?

I have a US bank account and an SPG American Amex which I only use when on holidays (good points and no foreign fees). But I never use it in Australia due to the FX paying it off..

 

[Kramerica]

Similar to cove, I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card that I use locally, then pay it off monthly from funds I have in a US bank account. It works especially well for restaurants and travel expenses here, because Chase's bonus categories are worldwide.

 

[yoyo]

I also have a chase sapphire reserve card since it first started and was lucky enough to get 100,000 bonus points when I signed up. For a while I was only using it for overseas travel but since my other visa cards had their earn rates lowered, I have been using it for travel related expenses such as restaurants in Australia as well. If you have a citibank bank account both here and in the US, you can transfer funds between the two with no fee. I try to transfer when the exchange rate is good. In my view sometimes you profit from the FX rate and sometimes you lose but overall it probably balances out.

 

[cove]

I haven’t been using the Chase Sapphire cc for Australian bills recently. Today I used it to pay for a plumbing upgrade in Los Angeles.

 

[big_RED]

Similar to cove, I have a Chase Sapphire Preferred card that I use locally, then pay it off monthly from funds I have in a US bank account. It works especially well for restaurants and travel expenses here, because Chase's bonus categories are worldwide.

How do you redeem your Chase points? Do you use it with their partner airlines and programs, or transfer the points to a related hotel program?

 

[cove]

I have the points/miles warehoused so I haven’t transferred them. I might fix that in May but there has been no rush as we are not short anywhere.
I will probably put most to Kris Miles from Amex and Chase when I am ready.
The Citi AA ones transfer monthly so the AA Miles are kept alive by activity.
The Citi Costco ones come as an annual cash rebate. Costco is still my favourite retailer in California.
I have to use some Kris Miles inside 6 months to avoid expiry.

 

[big_RED]

I will probably put most to Kris Miles from Amex and Chase when I am ready.

I think for me to get this card I'd have to change my whole points and flight strategy. Everything I do is Qantas based. I don't fly enough to get status so earning enough points to fly Business is the strategy. And I'm not sure I'd be putting everything on this card as it's US based so it'd be a slow burn.

Although from previous seminars AFF have run, KrisFlyer is an easier airline to redeem points through due to the majority of the Australian population being on Qantas or Virgin.... So could be worth it in the long run.

 

[cove]

Qantas points are worth about half a Kris Flyer point unless you only do domestic flight redemptions. This week the young ones are flying Suites on SQ because they can

 

[big_RED]

Qantas points are worth about half a Kris Flyer point unless you only do domestic flight redemptions. This week the young ones are flying Suites on SQ because they can

So just to confirm, you earn points on Chase. Store them on Chase, and then you transfer the points directly to your Singapore KrisFlyer account?

OR what is probably better usage is using Chase's booking engine to get 50% more points and therefore book direct with Singapore through Chase??

All my flying is SYD to LAX or Dallas. So Singapore seem to always stopover in Singapore or somewhere else that increases the flight times... But if it's better value I'll review things.