Strategy to obtain US Amex

[Daventry]

Nice SUB but the earning rate is rubbish. Already have personal Plat, can’t justify the Biz fee…

 

[levelnine]

Nice SUB but the earning rate is rubbish. Already have personal Plat, can’t justify the Biz fee…

For me, it's basically a no brainer.

SUB: 250,000 MR
Points from MSR: $20,000*1 = 20,000 MR
Annual Fee: $695
3% Fee on MSR: $20,000*.03 = $600

MR can be cashed out, at minimum, at 1c/pt with business checking.

270K MR = $2700
-$695 - $600 = $1405.

In other words, 140,500 MR for absolutely free.

Then you have $600 in Dell credits, $400 in airline credits as gravy.

Edit: And this is the worst case scenario. If you have a Schwab Plat, you can cash out at 1.1c/pt. If you spend in the bonus categories, you earn 30K MR on the MSR. If you apply in December, you get $600 in airline credits, etc etc

 

[sudoer]

Couple of categorisation DPs -

Qantas Offset your Home purchase:
Appears on statement as QANTAS LOYALTY MASCOT AU
Expanded online statement entry reads QANTAS STORE
Categorised as 'Airfare' on Aspire and earned 7X - should work for airline credit

Qantas Hotels booking:
Appears on statement as QANTAS LOYALTY MASCOT AU
Expanded online statement entry reads QANTAS & JETSTAR HOTELS, shows 081 ticket number followed by long alphanumeric Hotels booking ref
Categorised as 'Other purchases' on Aspire and earned 3X

 

[Tiki]

A few questions about the INK cards.

1. Do they appear in the Chase app along with the other cards like CSP?
2. Can they be added to Apple Pay?
3. How long do I have to wait until after a card drops off my 5/24 profile? The card in question will age to 2 years tomorrow. But I am not sure how long it takes for Chase to become aware of it.

I am going for the Ink cash because of the 0% interest first year and ability to buy gift cards for 5x at Officeworks. I know there is a forex fee but I would still come out ahead with points transferable to UA and BA. I am planning to use about $5000 AUD on this card for a new 2nd hand car deposit preferably sooner rather than later because I am sick of taking the bus!

 

[levelnine]

1. Do they appear in the Chase app along with the other cards like CSP?

You make a Chase business profile when you receive your first business card. You then call them up to get your personal cards added to that profile. Then you'll be able to see all your cards from your business login.

2. Can they be added to Apple Pay?

Yes

3. How long do I have to wait until after a card drops off my 5/24 profile? The card in question will age to 2 years tomorrow. But I am not sure how long it takes for Chase to become aware of it.

The first day of the 24th month for auto approvals. But if it's your first card and might need manual review, it is better to wait until exactly 24 months as some reps won't approve you until that date.

 

[nthd_nthd]

Good morning. I tried to use my Hilton Amex to pay for over $500 at Woolworths but couldn't go thru. I tried to pay for $2. It went thru. What did I do wrong? Is there a limit on how much we can pay at a time please? Used Google wallet.

Have a great long weekend. Double points ahead but not in our favour. Be careful.

 

[levelnine]

to pay for over $500 at Woolworths

Large amounts of spend at a supermarket is a fraud flag. You need to ramp up.

 

[DC3]

… I tried to use my Hilton Amex to pay for over $500 at Woolworths but couldn't go thru. I tried to pay for $2. It went thru. What did I do wrong?

I take it that you’ve done a few smaller transactions leading up to this? Not $500 straight up?

 

[nthd_nthd]

I take it that you’ve done a few smaller transactions leading up to this? Not $500 straight up?

no, Initially I tried 509 didnt go thru then I stopped, left, but wondering if I can do smaller amount and came back and tried 1 more with $2. That's all.

 

[sudoer]

no

Brand new card? Start with small (max $100) transactions.

 

[nthd_nthd]

Yup, very normal with all mail forwarders. Don't worry, it is a quick and painless process. You just show them your passport and sign a form, and it's all done in 10 or so minutes.

1. Your primary ID must be a government issued photo ID – e.g. a Driver's License, Passport, Uniformed Service ID or US Permanent Resident Card .
2. If you are presenting a secondary ID, it may be a government issued address ID, Current Lease, Mortgage Or Deed Of Trust, Home Or Vehicle Insurance Policy, Vehicle Registration Card, Voter Card.

I don't have any 2nd ID in this list. What can I do please?

 

[Mr He]

1. Your primary ID must be a government issued photo ID – e.g. a Driver's License, Passport, Uniformed Service ID or US Permanent Resident Card .
2. If you are presenting a secondary ID, it may be a government issued address ID, Current Lease, Mortgage Or Deed Of Trust, Home Or Vehicle Insurance Policy, Vehicle Registration Card, Voter Card.

I don't have any 2nd ID in this list. What can I do please?

US Global Mail doesn't accept foreign driver licences but is less strict with the rest. In my case I just provided a most recent statement from my mortgage bank as my secondary ID, and it's all good.

 

[Tiki]

You make a Chase business profile when you receive your first business card. You then call them up to get your personal cards added to that profile. Then you'll be able to see all your cards from your business login.

Yes

The first day of the 24th month for auto approvals. But if it's your first card and might need manual review, it is better to wait until exactly 24 months as some reps won't approve you until that date.

The approval email for the Delta Gold Amex was on 6 June 2022. So exactly 24 months should be 7 June or I could wait until next week to be safe. Or do I have to wait until 1 July? I am a long-time Chase customer since 2008 and have a SSN, Fico over 800 so not too worried about credit-worthiness. Just trying to get the timing right so I can get the card in time for EOFY sales on 2nd hand cars. I'm hoping the current sales on new cars will result in good deals on the trade-ins but not sure if the deals would still be around in July.

 

[Daventry]

For me, it's basically a no brainer.

SUB: 250,000 MR
Points from MSR: $20,000*1 = 20,000 MR
Annual Fee: $695
3% Fee on MSR: $20,000*.03 = $600

MR can be cashed out, at minimum, at 1c/pt with business checking.

270K MR = $2700
-$695 - $600 = $1405.

In other words, 140,500 MR for absolutely free.

Then you have $600 in Dell credits, $400 in airline credits as gravy.

Edit: And this is the worst case scenario. If you have a Schwab Plat, you can cash out at 1.1c/pt. If you spend in the bonus categories, you earn 30K MR on the MSR. If you apply in December, you get $600 in airline credits, etc etc

I see your point, thanks for the detailed breakdown.

My issue is that I live in the UK and BA is my airline of choice because I get double Tier Points by booking holiday packages directly with them. This makes it very easy to achieve OneWorld status. So when using personal plat I get 5x MR but biz plat would get me just 1x MR.

I have an UK Biz Plat, using its Dell credit to buy Office 365 gift cards because they don’t have any other kind of gift cards. Does US Dell sell others?

If I wanted to get Biz and not keep it, should I cancel before or after second anual fee is posted?

 

[levelnine]

So exactly 24 months should be 7 June or I could wait until next week to be safe.

You should be fine to apply today.

Does US Dell sell others?

Not sure. What's in stock changes from time to time. Have a look on Dell US' website.

should I cancel before or after second anual fee is posted?

Cancel it no earlier than 1 year after approval and no later than 30 days after the second annual fee posts.

 

[QF_Flyer]

Large amounts of spend at a supermarket is a fraud flag. You need to ramp up.

I got my first fraud flag on a new Amex yesterday, ~$100 bill payment via PayPal. Called them up and they verfied me by one of my other Amex cards, unblocked no problem. But now I can't add it back to PayPal, I get a message saying the (Amex) app can't verify me...it still works with Amazon, but looks like I'm going to have to wait for the physical card.

This was my fourth and only two months since last, also first which wasn't an instant approval (they wanted to confirm it was me who'd applied, but after that all well). Oh well, 6 months to spend $3k is ok (Hilton Surpass, the Hilton SUBs are particularly attractive atm imo, and I'm still in PUJ for Bonvoy cards!).

 

[Finale]

Thanks for the feedback.

It seems that people either use 'Theshstudio' on Fiverr or EIN Express to obtain an ITIN as an Aussie.

A few follow-up questions for the group:

1. How does acquiring an ITIN affect your ability to get an EIN or set up an LLC in the USA?
2. Are these services (Theshstudio and EIN Express) acquiring ITINs legally for us, or is there any risk of them using dodgy methods?
3. Is having an ITIN and a good FICO score enough to apply for credit cards and open bank accounts in the US?

Appreciate any insights.

1. ITIN doesn't affect EIN. EIN is actually pretty easy to obtain, at least in the past but it doesn't help with credit card apps unless you have ITIN as well.

2. They are legit. They do it according to the rules. However, it is not 100% legal but it's something so small that IRS probably doesn't care.

To be able to obtain ITIN, you either 1. Expect to pay tax or 2. Have to file tax.

I believe most of these companies use mothod 2. They tell IRS that you have some income and that you have to pay taxes. You don't really have an income there so it's a lie and overstating your income is not legal. But does IRS care? I don't think so especially when it makes them a bit more money and you don't overstate your income in order to commit some frauds. It's like you report a few hundred dollars more than what you made to ATO.

I personally used #1 when I applied for mine. I got the Amazon letter saying I expected to have some royalty income (the method is dead). Of course, I didn't have any royalty income later lol it wasn't 100% legal but who cares?

 

[cove]

Tonight it took a couple of minutes to each get a Delta Airlines Amex approved. 65,000 sign on and no fee for either of us. We are flying from Los Angeles to New York and back next week.

 

[mike0430]

I know a few people have been asking about MS methods in this thread.

So I've been diving down the rabbit hole of MS of US cards over the past 6-9 months. Decided to ramp things up over the past month. Put through $USD55K of spend in the last four weeks, hit all sorts of fraud alerts, triggered a financial review on my wife's account, survived the financial review, earned about ~800K MR/UR & $USD2K in cash profit (ie $AUD15K in tax free money if all the points were cashed out at the lowest 1c/pt valuation). It has been an absolute rollercoaster ride. I do not recommend trying to ramp up at the pace I did! Anyway, still in the midst of it. When it slows down, I will write up a long report with my take away points, but safe to say MS on US cards is well and truly possible sitting from your home in Australia.

Hi mate,
I wonder what did you end up providing for FR please,was FR for your wife's buiness card or personal card pls. thanks.

 

[DC3]

Hi mate,
I wonder what did you end up providing for FR please,was FR for your wife's buiness card or personal card pls. thanks.

Patience Grasshopper