Strategy to obtain US Amex

[pyramidforce]

Yeah between different bills I’ll cover it. You can use it to pay the ATO for your tax bills too.

If I had a 20k USD tax bill I wouldn't need SUBs to afford premium travel

 

[velli25]

I received an upgrade offer to the gold card from the green card this morning with 90k bonus points and $325 USD AF, I was planning to just keep the green card there to build my credit history, but it appears to be a good offer, not sure if there are any downsides to it?

I was also planning to apply for the Marriott Brilliant as my 2nd card, but I forgot to do this before I cancelled my Aus amex so I can't go the GT route anymore. Currently waiting for my ITIN from Maza, and no SSN. So I'm wondering what the best option would be. I'm thinking it would be to either call and apply or wait for my ITIN to come through first. Would it be better to apply for the new Brilliant before I upgrade the green or the other way around?

Have you had the gold card already? If not you should apply for that first then upgrade the green to get a double SUB.

 

[sqrt()]

Do you legitimately have 20k spend or do you have strategies to meet the spend?

Amex (US at least) doesn't like MS to meet min spend.

I baulked at the Business Gold offer for 200k MR/$15k/3 months on my account but am now thinking I might take it given I can do $3400pm in rent payments through BILT/Venmo (w/ 3% fee). Hopefully I'm not still in PUJ from earlier this year after putting more spend on my coughpy Delta Blue.

 

[itsjackson]

Have you had the gold card already? If not you should apply for that first then upgrade the green to get a double SUB.

Oh I see, I've only ever had the green card. If I apply for the gold card separately, would that mean I'd have to wait a while to get the Brilliant then? The SUB is 185k and looks quite good too. Thanks for your reply!

 

[sqrt()]

Oh I see, I've only ever had the green card. If I apply for the gold card separately, would that mean I'd have to wait a while to get the Brilliant then? The SUB is 185k and looks quite good too. Thanks for your reply!

Charge and credit cards are treated differently by Amex in terms of time restriction for more than one approval. Charge cards don't count towards the 2 approvals in 90 day limit. You might be ok.

 

[djchuckles]

What’s the best order to appply for cards? I have applied first for the Hilton Surpass as GT but mainly because I wanted the points and 12x earn for upcoming Hilton stays. Should I choose a diff card first for optimal SUBs? And what next? (I also requested HSBC Premier and ITIN submission is in via Maza)

 

[levelnine]

Amex (US at least) doesn't like MS to meet min spend.

Depends on the MS method. Plenty are fine.

Charge cards don't count towards the 2 approvals in 90 day limit. You might be ok.

The 1/90 limit applies to charge cards. But it also only applies to the exact same card.

The OP can apply for the Gold & Brilliant card on the same day. No need to space them out.

 

[sudoer]

not sure if there are any downsides to it?

Yes, the Gold is far more restrictive on travel & transit spend.

Green has a 3X multiplier on:

• All travel - airfare, hotels, cruises, tours, car rentals, campgrounds, vacation rentals, travel purchases on third party travel websites, and travel purchases on amextravel.com
• All transit - trains, taxicabs, rideshare services, ferries, tolls, parking, buses, and subways

Gold only has:

• A 3X multiplier on airfares on a scheduled flight charged directly with passenger airlines (charter flights and private jet flights are excluded) and airfare charged directly through amextravel.com.
• A 2X multiplier on some other amextravel.com purchases, including prepaid hotels, prepaid short-term rentals, prepaid car rentals, vacation packages (flight + hotel packages) or cruise reservations, minus returns and other credits. Eligible travel purchases do NOT include non-prepaid car rentals, non-prepaid hotels, ticketing service or other fees, or interest charges.

 

[maverick1]

guys any suggestions to bypass PUJ for Brilliant Bonvoy card. Seems I've been in PUJ for the longest time. Tried all the known methods - VPN, Marriot Website, referral link, different device, putting spend on my existing Bonvoy Business card etc etc.
The only thing which I can't try and seems to have worked for some folks is having an old marketing email from Amex to apply for this card...
really want to get this card as have about 10-12 nights coming up in few Marriott properties.
Anything else that I've missed to try or now is it just a matter of finishing my unknown jail time?

 

[sudoer]

Anything else that I've missed to try or now is it just a matter of finishing my unknown jail time?

How long have you been stuck, and how long have you been putting more spend on existing cards? (multiple statement periods?)

 

[sqrt()]

Depends on the MS method. Plenty are fine.

Feel free to enlighten me

 

[itsjackson]

Depends on the MS method. Plenty are fine.

The 1/90 limit applies to charge cards. But it also only applies to the exact same card.

The OP can apply for the Gold & Brilliant card on the same day. No need to space them out.

So would my best course of action be: first to apply for gold over the phone and then call back to apply for the brilliant, after they're approved then upgrade the green to gold. Then downgrade one of the golds back to green? How easy would this be without an SSN/ITIN and no GT? Would the upgrade count towards one of my 2/90.
Thanks!

 

[Ko0l]

Then downgrade one of the golds back to green?

You need to keep the golds for at least a year or they'll claw back the bonuses.

 

[desafinado74]

Has anyone here signed up for a postpaid phone plan while in USA?
I saw a Nova Credit promo for Verizon, so I was curious.

 

[Franko Costa]

Feel free to enlighten me

There are two rules of fight MS club

 

[pyramidforce]

There are two rules of fight MS club

One. Only share MS in DMs
Two. Make sure the person you are DMing doesn't work for Amex or the ATO

 

[nthd_nthd]

Hi Guys, I wonder with 1583 form notarization. Do you need to do a notarization for all names we are receiving in the mail box, or just the primary user is fine. I am planning to list my partner's name there as well (global mail). thank you.

I have my P2 name with me. On the day of verification I just had P2 doco with me and said P2 was at work to verify/notorize.

 

[nthd_nthd]

DP for whoever interested. So I requested for all my mails I got since signed up with Global Mail to be sent to AU. Selected FedEx International - Paid $55 approx. Received a package after 1 week.

 

[Ko0l]

For the Amex checking debit cards (both personal and business). Can you call up to request the card to be sent overseas after 10 days?

Will there be any issues in leaving the card unactivated?

I've also just applied for the business checking account after the personal one was approved. This time they requested for driver license and since I had no driver license had to do notarycam to verify passport. Called up after the notarycam and was instantly approved.

 

[sqrt()]

There are two rules of fight MS club

Feel free to enlighten me (in the DMs)