Strategy to obtain US Amex

I was holding onto my AU MR points but to build up the balance but currency continues to crater might have to act sooner before currency wiped out the benefit of the transfer to US. Shame about KF deval. I wonder how much longer US can hold out for.
 
In light of the deval' ....

For those of you with an HSBC account; when you change the address to reflect the address on your application do you change the 'Home' address or the 'Correspondence' address so that it shows on the bank statement
 
I would be shocked if US Amex doesn't experience a deval in the coming years.
Yeah, not sure about that. It's a very competitive market, the Americans don't 'do' expensive and they are very willing to vote with their feet.

Australians, particularly those with no exposure to other markets, are more likely to just put up with it and think that's just 'how it is'. Look at so many other ways in which Australians are charged a premium and nothing changes. Compare the costs and availability of items on the US iTunes store with that of the Australian one - there is no longer the excuse of 'distribution costs' but nothing has changed

Fact is, companies want and need the American market; the Australian market needs and wants the companies
 
Looking for advice from the brains trust - I have an ITIN application in progress and am aiming to get a Cap 1 Venture X in the next 6-12 months. My FICO score is currently 770 (around 30 short of "Excellent") through a single amex card. Would you recommend I:
(a) apply for another amex without an ITIN (so presumably using GT again) to (hopefully) boost the score,
(b) sit tight and apply for an amex when I get the ITIN in a few months' time, or
(c) attempt applying for the Cap 1 VX directly when I get the ITIN?
How did you test you FICO score without an ITIN?

I got my first charge and Amex credit card less than six months ago
 
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The only reason I don't cancel my Amex Plt Edge is because I would never get another card approved due to my income. At least the annual fee is absorbed by the travel credit so it costs nothing but I won't be using it.
 
Unsure if this was reported yet in this thread, but American Express has a Global Transfer service that allows you to open a card up in your new country with just a phone call. I did that back in 2018 as a Canadian moving to the UK to study and my UK AmEx Gold card arrived at my apartment before I even landed in the country! Best part about all of it? First year of the Gold card was free and I was only there for a year meaning I was able to rack up the sign up bonus, use the 2 lounge passes include, take advantage of the odd AmEx offer. And just before I left the UK and closed up the account, I transferred all those UK membership rewards points to my Canadian account which get this transferred at the prevailing currency exchange rate at the time meaning the 20 odd thousand MR points earned converted to roughly 30K+ points on my Canadian card. I suspect for someone holding an Australian AmEx moving their points over to the US card could be a real boon. I reckon this could work in the US and would seem like a far easier strategy than opening up LLCs and bank accounts.
I would be shocked if US Amex doesn't experience a deval in the coming years.
They don't need to. The airlines will simply increase the number of points required to book that award flight for them!

Lucky we have American AMEXs ( And some of us here also have Chase / Citi / Cap 1 cards etc )😅
Whether it is worth holding a US AmEx card is up for debate. Don't get me wrong the Platinum does have a number of perks including 5x on flights. But it also has drawbacks such as the lack of a travel credit, the inability to bring in guests into the Centurion lounge, etc.
 
Unsure if this was reported yet in this thread, but American Express has a Global Transfer service that allows you to open a card up in your new country with just a phone call. I did that back in 2018 as a Canadian moving to the UK to study and my UK AmEx Gold card arrived at my apartment before I even landed in the country! Best part about all of it? First year of the Gold card was free and I was only there for a year meaning I was able to rack up the sign up bonus, use the 2 lounge passes include, take advantage of the odd AmEx offer. And just before I left the UK and closed up the account, I transferred all those UK membership rewards points to my Canadian account which get this transferred at the prevailing currency exchange rate at the time meaning the 20 odd thousand MR points earned converted to roughly 30K+ points on my Canadian card. I suspect for someone holding an Australian AmEx moving their points over to the US card could be a real boon. I reckon this could work in the US and would seem like a far easier strategy than opening up LLCs and bank accounts.

They don't need to. The airlines will simply increase the number of points required to book that award flight for them!


Whether it is worth holding a US AmEx card is up for debate. Don't get me wrong the Platinum does have a number of perks including 5x on flights. But it also has drawbacks such as the lack of a travel credit, the inability to bring in guests into the Centurion lounge, etc.
Yeah, once I got to the right person and said the right thing, it was super easy to get an Amex Gold in the US with zero credit history here. Every other card I've applied for is very credit limited ($200 - $1000) so it gets a lot of use because it's a charge card. 4x back at global restaurants and grocery is really good. 3x on airfare. It has good offers often enough and I've saved $100+ with IHG cashback offers, and expecting another $120 on Marriot. Along with $120 dining and $120 uber cash (that my partner stole with his AU card 😠) I think it does pay for itself.

Some recent hotel/travel offers on Gold. Sometimes they are super specific and not useful -YMMV.
offers.PNG
 
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How did you test you FICO score without an ITIN?

I got my first charge and Amex credit card less than six months ago

You can see your score through your amex account - just log in, then go to Account Services -> View FICO Score

My score appeared after 8 statements.

Just a data point to offer.

About 5 years ago, using my ITIN (at the time I had to file US tax returns as part of my income was derived from US business operations), I opened a BoA account and obtained a secured Mastercard, which I used at the 75% level for 12 months to obtain a FICO rating. I then obtained an Amex Everyday credit card, used that for 12 months and then got a Platinum Amex charge card, which I've used consistently since then. I had access to my FICO score through my Amex and BoA online accounts until about 12 months ago, when the functionality to see my score disappeared from both.

I finally got around to calling TransUnion today to find out why. The agent with whom I spoke said that a FICO score is no longer available to ITIN holders and hasn't been for at least two years. She said she was going to delete my TransUnion profile because as an ITIN holder without an SSN, I was not eligible to have a TransUnion profile.

I'm not especially concerned about losing my TransUnion profile as I am not a credit card churner, and all my US banking and credit card arrangements are in order and I've no intention of changing them. However, I've read in a couple of fora that losing one's TransUnion profile can affect one's spending power on the Platinum charge card. It's rare that I put huge sums through my US Platinum charge card, but I've done so once or twice in the past.
 
I suspect for someone holding an Australian AmEx moving their points over to the US card could be a real boon. I reckon this could work in the US and would seem like a far easier strategy than opening up LLCs and bank accounts.
Yes, there are hundreds of posts in this thread already discussing this option. The primary shortcoming is that you can only use GT once or maybe twice. Not much use to those of us churning US credit cards.
 
Yes, there are hundreds of posts in this thread already discussing this option. The primary shortcoming is that you can only use GT once or maybe twice. Not much use to those of us churning US credit cards.
Is it risky trying to get another AMEX via GT straight away like after 1 week or so or did I read here that trying soon after first application is the best time?
 
Yes, there are hundreds of posts in this thread already discussing this option. The primary shortcoming is that you can only use GT once or maybe twice. Not much use to those of us churning US credit cards.
Fair enough although I suspect AmEx doesn't set a hard and fast limit on the number of times you can use the Global Transfer service. Like anything else, if you look like a "gamer", no dice. The Global Transfer program is meant (I think) more for expats who change jobs/locations every couple of years rather than someone trying to nail a sign up offer on a card they would otherwise not have access to.
 
Fair enough although I suspect AmEx doesn't set a hard and fast limit on the number of times you can use the Global Transfer service. Like anything else, if you look like a "gamer", no dice. The Global Transfer program is meant (I think) more for expats who change jobs/locations every couple of years rather than someone trying to nail a sign up offer on a card they would otherwise not have access to.
For the US, they do set a hard and fast limit of one card: 'You may only apply for one Card in the U.S. at this time. You may apply for additional Cards when you have built up a local credit history.' But as is the case with many things Amex, what they say and what they do are not always in perfect alignment.

Is it risky trying to get another AMEX via GT straight away like after 1 week or so or did I read here that trying soon after first application is the best time?
Not risky. Worst they can say is no.
 
They do set a hard and fast limit of one card: 'You may only apply for one Card in the U.S. at this time. You may apply for additional Cards when you have built up a local credit history.' But as is the case with many things Amex, what they say and what they do are not always in perfect alignment.
What I mean to say is if you move to the US, you can get a card through the program. Then maybe later on you get a job in the UK. A simple call will get you a card in the UK when you move over there. So sure you can't game the system to sign up for dozens of cards in a country but if you are a bonafide ex-pat it should be easy to get an AmEx card for the country you are moving to.

-RooFlyer88
 
What I mean to say is if you move to the US, you can get a card through the program. Then maybe later on you get a job in the UK. A simple call will get you a card in the UK when you move over there. So sure you can't game the system to sign up for dozens of cards in a country but if you are a bonafide ex-pat it should be easy to get an AmEx card for the country you are moving to.
Yes, but that's not the point of this thread. The point of this thread is being able to get one then two then three then more US cards while not living in the US.
 
IRS rejected my ITIN. I need to start again :(

Who does everyone use who is capable? The person I used put my address and DOB incorrect and no longer listed in fiverr :(
 

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