Strategy to obtain US Amex

[levelnine]

at what point to most graduate from global transfers and start opening directly with Amex US?

Once you have a US credit file/score. No one is going to allow you to open a card without one.

 

[albyd]

My second US AMEX - my Green Charge was a direct application - I do have a US FICO score and they offered a higher SUB so I applied online. Was quite simple. Card didn't turn up to MyUS even though I have the mail subscription (I signed up ages ago) and got them to send a new one to my AU address. It will be interesting to see what happens when current card expires - though with the fall in the AUD, apart from the bonus categories like dining, not worth it over and above my AU issued card and don't have the currency risk - haven't been buying USD as quickly as I normally would in hope that the currency would recover but it's been getting worse.

Extra points probably not worth it with the currency falling so far. YMMV.

 

[levelnine]

Extra points probably not worth it with the currency falling so far. YMMV.

Yes, with the dismal exchange rate, many aspects of the US cards are losing their attraction. Still value to be attained through sign up bonuses and the like, but regular earn isn't worth it imo.

 

[albyd]

I might have to start looking at that. Been focusing on AF spend now so only have Citi US Premier and AMEX Green for $US95 each. Also have Marriott basic card (not offered anymore) at $US95. Might have to start looking at pure churning opportunities eg like move from Amex Green to Platinum u/g offer than back again after I collect the SUB.

 

[Tiki]

I made all my minimum spends on my 4 cards - Amex Delta Gold, Amex Hilton Surpass, B of A AirFrance/KLM and Chase United. I am now at 4/24 and I am waiting for the CSP to go up to 80k SUB or next year if it remains at 60k. The $4000 minimum spend is daunting at AUD $6383 in 3 months unless I am paying for a trip. I won't have any more big trips until May 2023.

Does anyone know how the Amex downgrade/upgrade thing works? Like If I downgrade these cards to the free versions when the AF comes due, then does Amex send a new SUB invitation to upgrade?

 

[Finale]

I might have to start looking at that. Been focusing on AF spend now so only have Citi US Premier and AMEX Green for $US95 each. Also have Marriott basic card (not offered anymore) at $US95. Might have to start looking at pure churning opportunities eg like move from Amex Green to Platinum u/g offer than back again after I collect the SUB.

I think it's best to signup for Gold and Platinum first then downgrade. You will get one more bonus (from signing up which is normally better as well) then possibly upgrade bonus later.

I made all my minimum spends on my 4 cards - Amex Delta Gold, Amex Hilton Surpass, B of A AirFrance/KLM and Chase United. I am now at 4/24 and I am waiting for the CSP to go up to 80k SUB or next year if it remains at 60k. The $4000 minimum spend is daunting at AUD $6383 in 3 months unless I am paying for a trip. I won't have any more big trips until May 2023.

Does anyone know how the Amex downgrade/upgrade thing works? Like If I downgrade these cards to the free versions when the AF comes due, then does Amex send a new SUB invitation to upgrade?

You might or mightn't get the offer and it could be any time before or after AF. I got a Gold Biz to Plat offer 3 months before AF. I believe it depends on when Amex wanting to do it and they target a lot of people with similar offers at the same time.

 

[levelnine]

Does anyone know how the Amex downgrade/upgrade thing works? Like If I downgrade these cards to the free versions when the AF comes due, then does Amex send a new SUB invitation to upgrade?

To add to the above reply, make sure you get the no AF sign up bonus first because you can't get it once you've downgraded to the card.

 

[lilkid28]

Question - how to get the US credit score? Is it the one that prompts you to get the free credit report when logged into My Account for the US Amex card (I've got the Aspire). I clicked on it and it gave an error saying the service is unavailable, please try again. Been like this for months. I've held the Aspire card since Jan 2021.

 

[Tiki]

To add to the above reply, make sure you get the no AF sign up bonus first because you can't get it once you've downgraded to the card.

I hadn't thought about that. How long do I have to wait after getting the gold card to apply for the no fee card? And then when I want to downgrade the gold card to avoid the annual fee, Amex will let me have 2 no fee cards of the same product? Or they will merge them? First one will be Delta Gold, got it in May 2023. 70k SUB.
Actually, I can't apply for any more Amex until I get the CSP because of 5/24. So this has to wait until next year anyways.

 

[Finale]

Question - how to get the US credit score? Is it the one that prompts you to get the free credit report when logged into My Account for the US Amex card (I've got the Aspire). I clicked on it and it gave an error saying the service is unavailable, please try again. Been like this for months. I've held the Aspire card since Jan 2021.

The free credit score is located at Account services --> Account Profile. Scroll down a bit to View FICO® Score.

I hadn't thought about that. How long do I have to wait after getting the gold card to apply for the no fee card? And then when I want to downgrade the gold card to avoid the annual fee, Amex will let me have 2 no fee cards of the same product? Or they will merge them? First one will be Delta Gold, got it in May 2023. 70k SUB.
Actually, I can't apply for any more Amex until I get the CSP because of 5/24. So this has to wait until next year anyways.

You can have 2 of the same cards. I'm holding 2 basic bonvoy cards now.

 

[levelnine]

And then when I want to downgrade the gold card to avoid the annual fee, Amex will let me have 2 no fee cards of the same product? Or they will merge them? First one will be Delta Gold, got it in May 2023. 70k SUB.

You can only downgrade within a card family (eg Aspire to Surpass or Hilton no AF).

Therefore, can only downgrade the Gold (if you're talking about the regular Amex Gold) to the Green — there's no free (ie no AF) option. Your best bet for the Gold is to call up every 12 months for a retention offer.

As for the speed at which you can apply for Amex cards, see 25 Things Everybody Should Know About American Express - Doctor Of Credit

 

[DC3]

Question - how to get the US credit score? Is it the one that prompts you to get the free credit report when logged into My Account for the US Amex card (I've got the Aspire). I clicked on it and it gave an error saying the service is unavailable, please try again. Been like this for months. I've held the Aspire card since Jan 2021.

Account>Financial Tools>FICO Score

 

[tlspambait]

Hi,
Aussie Platinum card holder, so i've just made my first attempt for a GT (Hilton Aspire Card).

After completing the pre-filled in application form it gave me the following:

You can help speed up the process by confirming your income. Please continue by uploading one of the following documents:

• Request for Transcript of Tax Return (Form 4506-T)

Any one get this, no option to upload any other supporting documentation. Obviously I don't have a US tax return, the only other post i've seen was someone who didn't to a GT.

I've selected the "decline" to submit the 4506-T form and provided "Don't currently have a US Tax history" as the reason.

Any advice?

Following up from my previous post.

Following Traveguy83's advice, I called Amex and they advised that as a global transfer they just needed proof of address to be provided, either US bank statement of utility bill, they made some changes to the application as the link in their email now went from the tax form to an upload page.

I updated my Wise account to my US address and generated a statement and uploaded it to amex.

After waiting about 10 days, I hadn't heard anything so I called to follow up. Iw as told as they date range on the statement wasn't 30 days (I had only generated one that covered a one week period) and I needed to provide a statement of 30 days or more.

I generated a new statement with a 60 day range and re uploaded it, again no response from amex.

I called again today and was told now that while the statement is over 30 days, they do not consider Wise to be a bank (even though when it generates the US statement it clearly puts their US Address in NYC on the top of it) and all of your US account details.

She told me they do not accept any online banks and only accept banks that have branches you can attend in person.

I told her that the person I spoke with two days ago said the only issue was that the statement needed to be at least 30 days and otherwise was fine which differed to the advice she was now providing.

I also mentioned that I was aware of others who had recently completed global transfers with their Wise account as proof of address and it was sufficient.

She said she could send it back to the documents team for re-consideration, I asked her to do so considering the conflicting advice they have been given.

I politely noted it was frustrating that they had been giving conflicting advice and that it requires follow up calls to them instead of any email response and asked if they could email me once they had reconsidered.

She said that they send hard copy letters, and they would have sent me one yesterday telling me that the document I had submitted was insufficient (a bit ironic to mail a letter to an address, to tell you your evidence of this being your address is insufficient!)

I have a US HSBC account but if I change my mailing address from OZ to the US it will take a month for them to issue a statement as they only do one once a month (and just issued one a few days ago).

Overall this is turning to more hassle then it's likely worth!

 

[larrymull]

Since when are they asking for a bank/utility statement to verify your address? I thought with a global transfer you only needed to provide a US address.

 

[kpc]

Firstly before you apply via the AMEX GT route you need to have a U.S. phone number and address set up if you have not already done so. Easiest thing to do is if you have any friends or relatives living in the U.S. use their address, otherwise open a MyUS account to get a address that way. YMMV if your card seamlessly gets delivered to your MyUS account, sometimes it may get lost especially if you go for the lower tier cards, so you may need to provide tracking details to them so they can find your package, or just wait 10 days and get AMEX to send the card directly to you in Australia.
You can get a phone number using free TextNow but you gotta use it every couple of weeks or you lose your number, or you can just pay the annual fee.
The next tricky part is verifying your address, which usually requires a 3 way chat with AMEX and a local U.S. bank if you have an existing checking account with them. If you don't you may need to upload some other statement proving your address. I think citibank AU allows you to update to a U.S residential address.
Besides you passport, this is what is minimum required to start your US AMEX journey...

Very informative as I'm about to apply for an Amex via GT.>

 

[albyd]

I needed to provide a bank statement or utility notice to prove my address when I applied via GT. i provided my Citi Us statement. Branch I opened it at is in NY though my address is in Florida. Guess it helped that I had opened it at a bank with physical branches so I had a less problematic GT experience.

 

[GDale]

Likewise, I had to undergo address verification too for my GT application recently, though didn't need to provide a statement as we completed a three way phone verification instead.

 

[levelnine]

Since when are they asking for a bank/utility statement to verify your address? I thought with a global transfer you only needed to provide a US address.

You always need to verify your US address with an American Amex application. It can be by a bank/utility statement or a three-way call between you, a US bank with which you have an account and Amex.

 

[sudoer]

You always need to verify your US address with an American Amex application. It can be by a bank/utility statement or a three-way call between you, a US bank with which you have an account and Amex.

I wasn't required to do either with my GT apps in Feb & Sep this year.

 

[larrymull]

You always need to verify your US address with an American Amex application. It can be by a bank/utility statement or a three-way call between you, a US bank with which you have an account and Amex.

Ok, I may have been misinformed, as you can see sudoer didn't have this request. What's the best way to verify your address then if you don't have a US bank account?