Strategy to obtain US Amex

[albyd]

I’ve had my myUS service for years. It’s quite expensive to maintain and their forwarding costs are extortionate. It serves a useful purpose so I’ve kept it.

Is there another service others on this forum are using which passes muster with US banks? I know some services are known as operating commercial
Mail forwarding so are black listed so I’m wary of changing. Having said that if too many of us open amex accounts and we ‘reside’ In Florida, Amex might start wondering …

 

[ithongy]

How do people pay their Amex bills from abroad? Do you transfer using Wise or what’s the best and most cost effective way of doing these transfers?

OFX formerly known as Oz Forex.

 

[Franko Costa]

I’ve had my myUS service for years. It’s quite expensive to maintain and their forwarding costs are extortionate. It serves a useful purpose so I’ve kept it.

Is there another service others on this forum are using which passes muster with US banks? I know some services are known as operating commercial
Mail forwarding so are black listed so I’m wary of changing. Having said that if too many of us open amex accounts and we ‘reside’ In Florida, Amex might start wondering …

There are 25m people in Australia and maybe 100 people on this forum who will apply for an amex. The population of Florida is about 22m - I'm not worried

 

[albyd]

Good point. It’s easy to only concentrate on our little bubble here on AFF and lose perspective of just how many of us there are.

 

[tlspambait]

If I change my address on the US HSBC bank account, will that change the address on the AU account? Or can I have a different address for AU?

When you change your address on your US HSBC account it doesn't have any effect on your AU HSBC account details.

When you are logged into US HSBC you can change multiple addresses, I just changed my mailing address to my mail fowarder.

Keep in mind HSBC say it takes them 5 business days to action the change of address, then you will need to wait for them to issue a monthly statement (amex didn't want a statement if it is over 30 days old).

So as soon as you have access to your US HSBC account (but after they have posted to you your mastercard debit card to your Australian address), i'd suggest then changing your US address, then, provided you have done so far enough before they issue the monthly statement.

With all of the roadblocks it took me a few months to finally get my card, and then (with the hilton aspire card) it took another month after paying the annual fee to get the free night certificate. I had started the process in September hoping to use the certificate during a week long stay in December (which would mostly justify the annual fee) -- I only managed to get the card a few days before the trip!

 

[tlspambait]

They don’t. I was told if machine ever asks for one to use the last 4 digits of the card number.

Interesting, has anyone had success with this?

Recently, I was in New Caledonia and my Aspire Amex was pretty much useless.

It wouldn't tap (either apple pay or with the card), all of the machines wanted it to insert the chip, which then asked for a PIN (which I didn't have, tried a few defaults like 0000 and just hitting the OK without a pin which have worked for other non-amex cards in the past), needless to say these were both rejected. There wasn't a way to force it to allow you to sign.

The only way I was able to use it (to settle the bill at the hilton) is that they manually typed in the card number into their machine (like they did when they took the first night deposit after the cancellation window closed), which allowed the charge to go through -- after having tried both tapping and putting in the chip.

I would have been pretty annoyed to miss out on all of the bonus points and get hit with a coughpy exchange rate if I had to resort to putting it on my aussie platinum card!

 

[Viridis]

Interesting, has anyone had success with this?

Recently, I was in New Caledonia and my Aspire Amex was pretty much useless.

If you have access to online banking ....

Account Services> Card Management> View ATM PIN

i have PINs for my Aspire & Gold cards

 

[tlspambait]

i have PINs for my Aspire & Gold cards

Not there on my account, under Account Services> Card Management> these are the options I have:

Manage This Card​

Replace a Card
Freeze Your Card

Add or Remove a Card From Online Management​

Confirm Your Card
Add a Card to Online Management
Remove Card from Online Management

Manage This Card on Devices and Sites​

Manage Digital Wallets & Payment Features

 

[Viridis]

Not there on my account, under Account Services> Card Management> these are the options I have:

Manage This Card​

Replace a Card
Freeze Your Card

Add or Remove a Card From Online Management​

Confirm Your Card
Add a Card to Online Management
Remove Card from Online Management

Manage This Card on Devices and Sites​

Manage Digital Wallets & Payment Features

Okay. Just to clarify, I'm referring to Online, not the App

 

[tlspambait]

Okay. Just to clarify, I'm referring to Online, not the App

Yes I’m using the website and don’t have that option, only the ones I listed above

 

[levelnine]

all of the machines wanted it to insert the chip, which then asked for a PIN

I'm surprised by that. Did you try just pressing enter without entering anything to see if it would then default to signature?

I've never been asked for a PIN with a US card. It always defaults to sign once it detects it is a US card.

The PIN you can set in online banking for Amex is for ATM withdrawals (ie cash advances).

Edit:

Though on reflection, I've heard of people having trouble with US cards at European gas stations because they require a PIN, so operators must have the option to force a PIN.

And Amex' US website says there's always the option of calling them to reset your PIN:

How do I reset my PIN to access cash at ATMs?

---

If you need to reset your PIN (Personal Identification Number), call us anytime at 1-800-CASH-NOW.

 

[Viridis]

Yes I’m using the website and don’t have that option, only the ones I listed above

Sorry. No idea then. You have a US cell phone number attached to the account??

 

[Viridis]

I'm surprised by that. Did you try just pressing enter without entering anything to see if it would then default to signature?

I did that in NZ on the advice of the hotel check-out staff (I would have had to look up my PIN because I don’t routinely use it) and it defaulted to requiring a signature …. which she didn’t require me to do

 

[maverick1]

A variation of this. Wait until the US bank account is opened and ask Amex to do a three-way call between you, Amex and HSBC. Amex will ask the HSBC rep to confirm the address on the account, and you should be approved straight away.

I tried this route last month. Got all 3 on the call but HSBC refused to verify my details to a 3rd party citing their privacy policy. They offered to call back Amex and verify but Amex refused saying they don’t offer that kinda verification service. So with HSBC best way is to wait for the statement with US address.

 

[Franko Costa]

I tried this route last month. Got all 3 on the call but HSBC refused to verify my details to a 3rd party citing their privacy policy. They offered to call back Amex and verify but Amex refused saying they don’t offer that kinda verification service. So with HSBC best way is to wait for the statement with US address.

This is not what I want to hear

 

[glasszon]

Interesting, has anyone had success with this?

Recently, I was in New Caledonia and my Aspire Amex was pretty much useless.

It wouldn't tap (either apple pay or with the card), all of the machines wanted it to insert the chip, which then asked for a PIN (which I didn't have, tried a few defaults like 0000 and just hitting the OK without a pin which have worked for other non-amex cards in the past), needless to say these were both rejected. There wasn't a way to force it to allow you to sign.

The only way I was able to use it (to settle the bill at the hilton) is that they manually typed in the card number into their machine (like they did when they took the first night deposit after the cancellation window closed), which allowed the charge to go through -- after having tried both tapping and putting in the chip.

I would have been pretty annoyed to miss out on all of the bonus points and get hit with a coughpy exchange rate if I had to resort to putting it on my aussie platinum card!

I had the same problem with using the Amex US card in Portugal; machines outside of the hotel/supermarket tend to insist on requiring a PIN for the card. I tried entering the PIN that's used for cash withdrawals at ATMs but it's a no-go.

I talked to the shopkeeper and they said it's because they don't accept Amex; which is not unreasonable since Amex acceptance in Europe is fairly low. In fact, in some countries in EU, even Mastercard/Visa is a problem.

 

[maverick1]

I got my approval email this morning. Pretty standard email saying you have been approved for a new card with not much details. Expected a text msg confirming the new card but no texts yet.
Took over 6 weeks to get everything sorted.
Thanks a ton to this forum. Now the wait begins for the card to land in AU via MYUS.

 

[maverick1]

This is not what I want to hear

you must give it a go because you never know with customer service reps. Different agents can give a completely different answer and experience.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

I got my approval email this morning. Pretty standard email saying you have been approved for a new card with not much details. Expected a text msg confirming the new card but no texts yet.
Took over 6 weeks to get everything sorted.
Thanks a ton to this forum. Now the wait begins for the card to land in AU via MYUS.

Congrats! What card did you opt for 1st?

 

[maverick1]

Congrats! What card did you opt for 1st?

Thanks. I'm chasing Bonvoy points so went for Amex Bevy.
Signup bonus when I applied was 125k Bonvoy points which is now 85k, so I hope they honor the offer which was applicable when I applied. I do see myself applying for each and every amex US card coz of their one SUB per card lifetime condition, lol!