Strategy to obtain US Amex

[georgie23]

I can't get their miles. I'm PUJ'd out of Amex and I am too nervous about Cap 1 and Citi fraud over-zealousness. I'm only doing Chase for the time being. I'm getting towards the end of my travel hacking career anyways. I've been backpacking since the 80's, churning USA cards since mid-2000's and been almost everywhere, getting older and less stamina. I just had a few more bucket lists to tick, then going to stick to Pacific Islands, road trips and maybe cruises. I would miss Turkiye more than any of my other destinations.

amazing life - you must have some stories to tell

 

[blacksultan]

I can't get their miles. I'm PUJ'd out of Amex and I am too nervous about Cap 1 and Citi fraud over-zealousness. I'm only doing Chase for the time being. I'm getting towards the end of my travel hacking career anyways. I've been backpacking since the 80's, churning USA cards since mid-2000's and been almost everywhere, getting older and less stamina. I just had a few more bucket lists to tick, then going to stick to Pacific Islands, road trips and maybe cruises. I would miss Turkiye more than any of my other destinations.

Hsbc is an option as well .

 

[blacksultan]

Both Tello and Textnow work for me with regards to C1.

Did you fill out the address for e911 calls on your Tello profile? Tello won't work if there is no address there.

Is that the free plan of text now or only the paid one ?

 

[Tiki]

Hsbc is an option as well .

Isn't that the one where you need to put a heap of cash in a savings account or something? I don't have that kind of money that I can stash in an account. It's ok. I still have Aeroplan, UA biz and the Inks. Depending on minimum spends so I would have to plan for it.

I was just waiting for the end of the month to pull the trigger on the BA 100k for the sole purpose of QR redemptions to Turkiye. I think I will get the Aeroplan 70k instead. At least they don't have these stupid surcharges.

 

[blacksultan]

Isn't that the one where you need to put a heap of cash in a savings account or something? I don't have that kind of money that I can stash in an account. It's ok. I still have Aeroplan, UA biz and the Inks. Depending on minimum spends so I would have to plan for it.

I was just waiting for the end of the month to pull the trigger on the BA 100k for the sole purpose of QR redemptions to Turkiye. I think I will get the Aeroplan 70k instead. At least they don't have these stupid surcharges.

9 k per month bit it’s does not have to be a separate $9k every month . You can circulate the same funds of a few $1000 every month , but you can apply for hsbc even without qualifying for premier .

 

[djchuckles]

9 k per month bit it’s does not have to be a separate $9k every month . You can circulate the same funds of a few $1000 every month , but you can apply for hsbc even without qualifying for premier .

You don’t have to do this if you’re Premier in another country though right?

 

[georgie23]

I am considering opening a Premier account - To the people who have the HSBC Premier - do you find it useful? My understanding it provides

1 - Opening a US checking account - hopefully with a US address
2 - World CC - with AF now it seems this may not be as useful as previously
3 - Way to pay for US based CC via checking account - does the AU to US conversion work out favourable? - I have IBKR (and Wise) and the rates on that are the best that I can see

Anyone who has done recently are there any pitfalls to avoid to smooth it over - like everything on this thread - seems a bit of luck and some people have had harder and some easier

Thanks

 

[Uncharted6264]

I am considering opening a Premier account - To the people who have the HSBC Premier - do you find it useful? My understanding it provides

1 - Opening a US checking account - hopefully with a US address
2 - World CC - with AF now it seems this may not be as useful as previously
3 - Way to pay for US based CC via checking account - does the AU to US conversion work out favourable? - I have IBKR (and Wise) and the rates on that are the best that I can see

Anyone who has done recently are there any pitfalls to avoid to smooth it over - like everything on this thread - seems a bit of luck and some people have had harder and some easier

Thanks

Opened it > found out the exchange rates were cough > have not logged in since, and I use Wise to pay off CC's @ 0.4% which is cheaper than the cough rate Premier has.

 

[georgie23]

Opened it > found out the exchange rates were cough > have not logged in since, and I use Wise to pay off CC's @ 0.4% which is cheaper than the cough rate Premier has.

Cheers - Currently doing IBKR and Wise (I like redundancy options)

 

[blacksultan]

You don’t have to do this if you’re Premier in another country though right?

Yes . Right .

 

[djchuckles]

Opened it > found out the exchange rates were cough > have not logged in since, and I use Wise to pay off CC's @ 0.4% which is cheaper than the cough rate Premier has.

I won’t use it to change. But useful to have a proper full US Checking account with US address

 

[Uncharted6264]

I won’t use it to change. But useful to have a proper full US Checking account with US address

Yeah good point

Cheers - Currently doing IBKR and Wise (I like redundancy options)

Thanks for reminding me about IBKR... they charge almost literally nothing by the looks of it for conversion.

 

[georgie23]

Yeah good point

Thanks for reminding me about IBKR... they charge almost literally nothing by the looks of it for conversion.

Its very cheap

I have setup a Amex Checking Account and plan is to use IBKR to transfer money to Checking account and then autopay cards. I have been able to pay from Wise to Amex Checking as well so seems to have some options

Post automatically merged: Sep 15, 2024

I won’t use it to change. But useful to have a proper full US Checking account with US address

Cheers - I have opened a US Amex Checking account with US address - I don't know if the Amex vs HSBC will have differences for the checking function but assuming both will provide a bank account with US address - or do I not have that right

 

[desafinado74]

Its very cheap

I have setup a Amex Checking Account and plan is to use IBKR to transfer money to Checking account and then autopay cards. I have been able to pay from Wise to Amex Checking as well so seems to have some options

Post automatically merged: Sep 15, 2024

Cheers - I have opened a US Amex Checking account with US address - I don't know if the Amex vs HSBC will have differences for the checking function but assuming both will provide a bank account with US address - or do I not have that right

Did you see the bonus offer when you signed up with the Amex checking account ?
I think you get $200 or $300 when you do two, $1000 ACH transfers into your AMEX checking account.

 

[georgie23]

I didn’t see any bonus offers when I signed up but I read that others had
The business checking seems to have 30K in points as a bonus
Will keep you posted if there is any cash refunded

Do you have a link to refer to?

 

[desafinado74]

I didn’t see any bonus offers when I signed up but I read that others had
The business checking seems to have 30K in points as a bonus
Will keep you posted if there is any cash refunded

Do you have a link to refer to?

Unfortunately no referrals from me. I saw this offer under the "Offers" tab.
Do you still have to go through that security prompt whenever you sign into the US AMEX site ?

 

[georgie23]

it’s reduced alot
I had one when I was at a new location but seems to have settled

 

[sharp]

For those who can visit a BoA branch in person:
- Received a sign on bonus ($200 minus tax) for applying for the Advantage SafeBalance Banking in person (no ITIN/SSN)
- Deposited the $2k through Wise transfers which counted as a 'Qualifying Direct Deposit'
- Also managed to get a secured credit card (with no ITIN/SSN) - curious to know if anyone here has used this to move to an unsecured credit card with BoA or even with another institution or if going through Nova Credit/Amex GT are the only viable options

 

[djchuckles]

Yeah good point

Thanks for reminding me about IBKR... they charge almost literally nothing by the looks of it for conversion.

I’m looking at IBKR too - are people opening a US account I assume at interactivebrokers.com rather than the .com.au website?

 

[georgie23]

I’m looking at IBKR too - are people opening a US account I assume at interactivebrokers.com rather than the .com.au website?

No the .com.au website - open Australian account and add AUD. The great thing is that is the base currency and when transfer to USD it happens in realtime - can have money sitting in two wallets if want to or just one wallet and dynamically change when need to - a bit like Wise.

How you end up paying to a US bank account is to "Withdraw" cash from your brokering account and if you select USD it then asks for a US bank account to deposit into