Strategy to obtain US Amex

Anyone take advantage of transferring to BA program? Great for short haul trips SYD-MEL 5k avios points plus taxes. QF is 8k points plus taxes.

I did quite a bit in the past when J was only 9k. Still pretty good at 12.5k now. Amex and Chase have had quite a few promos with 30-40% transfer bonus as well making it super good value.
 
Has anyone got one of the Chase Ink business cards?
What was your credit profile like when you got approved for it? Did they ask for too many docs/info?
 
Has anyone got one of the Chase Ink business cards?
What was your credit profile like when you got approved for it? Did they ask for too many docs/info?
You probably need at least 12 months of credit history as a main account holder (ie not an authorised user).

Otherwise, very easy to get. No documentation was required in my case. If you need to recon over the phone, you may need to confirm your business type/revenue/expenses, but probably not much more than that. Nine times out of ten all you need to do over the phone is confirm your identity — done in 5 minutes.

Shame you can only reliably get them every 3 months. Had to go for an Amex Business Platinum to space out the applications. While the 190K MR points are nice, I can't say I love Amex. Higher annual fee that you have to offset through their silly coupon book, have to worry about acceptance here in Australia, and have to wait 10 days before they post it to you overseas.
 
You probably need at least 12 months of credit history as a main account holder (ie not an authorised user).

Otherwise, very easy to get. No documentation was required in my case. If you need to recon over the phone, you may need to confirm your business type/revenue/expenses, but probably not much more than that.

Shame you can only reliably get them every 3 months. Had to go for an Amex Business Platinum to space out the applications. While the 190K MR points are nice, I can't say I love Amex. Higher annual fee that you have to offset through their silly coupon book, have to worry about acceptance here in Australia, and have to wait 10 days before they post it to you overseas.
Nice!
yeah, I got the Amex BBP but can't use it outside of US much, a nice 2x catch all with no AF.
The bonus on Chase Inks looks very nice and I have a bunch of purchases coming up so was thinking it might be worth it
 
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The bonus on Chase Inks looks very nice and I have a bunch of purchases coming up so was thinking it might be worth it
It is the best sign up bonus going around at the moment imo. Note that you need a CSP/CSR/CIP to transfer UR to partners, so if you don't already have one of them, I'd consider that first.
 
It is the best sign up bonus going around at the moment imo. Note that you need a CSP/CSR/CIP to transfer UR to partners, so if you don't already have one of them, I'd consider that first.
Yeah I was looking at the cashback value, $900 seems great for a $6000 spend in 30 months, 15% return
I dont have any cards with Chase yet, and my credit age is ~9 months with 2 small installment loans and 4 credit cards
Last time I applied for a Chase card I got declined cause of no accounts with Chase and short history, so will perhaps get declined again
 
Yeah I was looking at the cashback value, $900 seems great for a $6000 spend in 30 months, 15% return
Ahh right. If you're only interested in cash back, then no need to get any other Chase cards. Really depends on what you value more — award redemptions or cash back. And give it 2-3 more months and try again.
 
Has anyone got one of the Chase Ink business cards?
What was your credit profile like when you got approved for it? Did they ask for too many docs/info?
Have CIC & CIU cards. Very easy to obtain with an EIN and accountant drafting up an LLC. Think SUB was 50k points on $3k spend. Great if you have CSP or CSR to combine UR points to transfer out to partners. Do not have CIP, but the BofA Alaskan Business card does look attractive to obtain.
 
Just curious what your said to them, I waited the 10 days and was told they can’t send cards overseas they only offered to resend to my us address.

the global transfer team then transferred me to the dept that does replacement cards and they kept putting me on hold and eventually the line cut out, when I tried calling back they had closed for the day!

I told them that I was travelling overseas and required replacement cards to be sent to my overseas address. They had to cancel the two cards that were sent to my US address and issue new card numbers to Sydney.

Try calling this number they are specialist card replacement team: +1 (888) 213-4286
 
After reading a terrifying amount of this thread I'm ready to jump through but just want to make sure I've understood it all.

Hilton Aspire
Address - MyUS (note Amex tracking #)
Verify Identity/Address - Citi AU Statement
Phone #- Hushed (TextNow didn't like my VPN) - Do I need this number once the card is recieved?

Pay Card - From Citi AU Golbal Currency USD (maybe via a Wise/Revolut transfer)
Eligible Spend - Start with small online US purchases and small domestic chip and pin before I buy a whack of flights or smash Apple Pay too hard
Change Address to AU - After 6 months once I have a credit score?
 
Verify Identity/Address - Citi AU Statement
Phone #- Hushed (TextNow didn't like my VPN) - Do I need this number once the card is recieved?
My guess is Amex will only take verification of US address from a US bank account, so a Citi Australia (if that's what AU means) statement probably won't cut it.

And you need to maintain the phone number as Amex will periodically require SMS verification to enter your account.
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Eligible Spend - Start with small online US purchases and small domestic chip and pin before I buy a whack of flights or smash Apple Pay too hard
No PIN with US cards. And expect it to be locked once you start spending overseas, and to have to call in to get it unlocked.
 
No PIN with US cards. And expect it to be locked once you start spending overseas, and to have to call in to get it unlocked.
This part is incorrect, there is a PIN [edit: actually I might be wrong about that, I can't seem to find anything about it in my account and don't remember ever using one] and I've spent around US$10,000 "overseas" (mostly Australia, which I guess counts as o/s given it's a US card, but also a range of different countries around Asia Pacific) and had no issues.

I pay the balance on time every month and in full, and have a long history with Amex in three countries. They also verified me via NotaryCam, so they have enough info and maybe just trust me!
 
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This part is incorrect,
They only have a PIN facility for ATM withdrawals. None for purchases.

And it is fairly common for Amex USA to lock cards with overseas spend. Yes it won't happen to everyone, but it happens very regularly. Look at any Amex forum — Reddit, FlyerTalk, etc etc.

The only US card issuer that is uniformly worse is Citibank, which is notorious for their fraud locks. Barclays can also be a bit trigger happy. Chase & BoA tend to be pretty good.
 
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Can someone point me to the correct post on this thread or advise what the best way to transfer MR points from Australian to USA?
 
Can someone point me to the correct post on this thread or advise what the best way to transfer MR points from Australian to USA?
Very straightforward. Contact the Global Transfer team and they will be able to assist.

Best done when the Australian dollar is high compared to the US as the transfer rate very roughly reflects the currency exchange rate.

Phone numbers are:

For Personal card: call the U.S. Global Card Transfer team at 877-621-2639, available 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week.

For Business card: call the U.S. Global Card Transfer team at 877-673-6936 or 800-433-3550 available from 07:00 to 24:00 Eastern Standard Time, 7 days a week.
 
Can someone point me to the correct post on this thread or advise what the best way to transfer MR points from Australian to USA?

I got it done by Chat from an Australian account. First time I asked, the agent wasn't quite sure but he did a search and found the instruction. If you get the agent who hasn't done it before, you can mention that.
 

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