Strategy to obtain US Amex

[Grrr]

Update on HSBC Premier, credit card is showing up in my US HSBC account

Did you get in before the annual fee was instituted ?

 

[pyramidforce]

Did you get in before the annual fee was instituted ?

Nope

 

[Uncharted6264]

Yes, that’s it. I successfully applied for the cards via GT, based on my relationship with Amex AU. All done online and no agents were involved. That was my experience at the time. I have no idea what went on behind the scenes but approvals were instant anyway.

It says only once but there are a number of people who have done this multiple times. I got my 2nd one after a month of the 1st

If you have one US credit card via GT, your approvals are always based off your US credit history after the first card.

This is even if you start at the GT page. The GT page just takes you to the normal application site.

I can almost guarantee you if you googled "AMEX US application" and did it that way for the subsequent cards, you still would have got approved despite not using the GT interface.

Case in point with both posts - no agents involved because you had built US history at that point and weren't actually leveraging GT. If you hadn't built US credit, you would have had to call them for them to tell you you can't do more than one GT. And you were likely able to get a second one 1 month+ after because you'd made a repayment on that card at that point.

Which cards and what order did you go with? Any particular reason?

Again, important because of my stuff up believing you could do more than 1 GT so I'm stuck earning bad points rates in AU until I've built US credit history and can apply again.

 

[Ko0l]

Anyone signed up for Amex checking account recently and got approved instantly? Not sure if thigns have changed or they would approved instantly if they see ITIN in a credit file.

I'm currently experiencing the same as your P2, Amex is requesting for a lot of documents.

Hopefully what I sent them so far is sufficient.

 

[DC3]

I can almost guarantee you if you googled "AMEX US application" and did it that way for the subsequent cards, you still would have got approved despite not using the GT interface.

Without SSN or ITIN?

 

[desafinado74]

I'm currently experiencing the same as your P2, Amex is requesting for a lot of documents.

Hopefully what I sent them so far is sufficient.

What type of documents did you submit for your AMEX checking application ?

 

[Ko0l]

What type of documents did you submit for your AMEX checking application ?

They requested for SSN and government issued ID such as driver license or state id. I sent my ITIN notice and passport.

 

[DC3]

They requested for SSN and government issued ID such as driver license or state id. I sent my ITIN notice and passport.

Yes. Same here.

 

[desafinado74]

They requested for SSN and government issued ID such as driver license or state id. I sent my ITIN notice and passport.

Good luck, and keep us posted with updates please

 

[Ko0l]

Good luck, and keep us posted with updates please

I just called and they approved my account. lol

It was weird, that asked for my social, I told them I didn't have one and I've uploaded my CP565 ITIN form instead. They said they can see I've uploaded everything all good and then they said they can see my driver license was not expired and approved haha. (I don't remember ever providing them with a driver license).

 

[Franko Costa]

If you have one US credit card via GT, your approvals are always based off your US credit history after the first card.

This is even if you start at the GT page. The GT page just takes you to the normal application site.

I can almost guarantee you if you googled "AMEX US application" and did it that way for the subsequent cards, you still would have got approved despite not using the GT interface.

Case in point with both posts - no agents involved because you had built US history at that point and weren't actually leveraging GT. If you hadn't built US credit, you would have had to call them for them to tell you you can't do more than one GT. And you were likely able to get a second one 1 month+ after because you'd made a repayment on that card at that point.

Which cards and what order did you go with? Any particular reason?

Again, important because of my stuff up believing you could do more than 1 GT so I'm stuck earning bad points rates in AU until I've built US credit history and can apply again.

I got Hilton, gold charge and another Hilton.

Some people only get 1 GT and other get 4+. It's the luck of the draw sometimes. I didn't even have an ITIN when I was approved for my 3rd card

Post automatically merged: Aug 23, 2024

I just called and they approved my account. lol

It was weird, that asked for my social, I told them I didn't have one and I've uploaded my CP565 ITIN form instead. They said they can see I've uploaded everything all good and then they said they can see my driver license was not expired and approved haha. (I don't remember ever providing them with a driver license).

Great! Remember from reps have no idea what an ITIN is

 

[desafinado74]

I just called and they approved my account. lol

It was weird, that asked for my social, I told them I didn't have one and I've uploaded my CP565 ITIN form instead. They said they can see I've uploaded everything all good and then they said they can see my driver license was not expired and approved haha. (I don't remember ever providing them with a driver license).

Oh god, that is bizarre ! Haha. Anyway, at least everything turned out good in the end for you. Congrats !

 

[Uncharted6264]

Some people only get 1 GT and other get 4+. It's the luck of the draw sometimes. I didn't even have an ITIN when I was approved for my 3rd card

If you got a card after the first one, they ignored your au history and looked at your repayment history in the US. Guarantee it. Even if you clicked thru via the GT website first. You don’t need an ITIN to apply for Amex at any point, full stop so not an indicator, passport is fine.

Without SSN or ITIN?

Yep - have done it myself

 

[Franko Costa]

If you got a card after the first one, they ignored your au history and looked at your repayment history in the US. Guarantee it. Even if you clicked thru via the GT website first. You don’t need an ITIN to apply for Amex at any point, full stop so not an indicator, passport is fine.


Yep - have done it myself

No. I applied for the 2nd through GT without any repayment history in the US as I applied for the 2nd card <1 month. No ITIN, no other accounts, no FICO, no repayment history with amex or anyone else.

I know it says only one GT, but often the T&Cs don't marry up with real world hence why a bunch of people can MS really well through trial and error

 

[DC3]

… I applied for the 2nd through GT without any repayment history in the US as I applied for the 2nd card <1 month. No ITIN, no other accounts, no FICO …

… I know it says only one GT, but often the T&Cs don't marry up with real world …

Yes, the real-world experience is what counts.

 

[pyramidforce]

So here is the biggest first world problem I've encountered so far. Apologies in advanced for the crazy ride.


I took a closer look at the HSBC Elite card and yes, I actually read every word of that entire brochure with all of the terms and conditions. Buried somewhere on Page 9 (or something) was the fact that literally everything ever coded vaguely as travel, even camp site hire (???) gives 5x points per dollar.

Because Qantas marketplace codes as Airfare (Qantas Loyalty Mascot AU, I think?), and you can buy pretty much every gift card there in cash, from colesworth to to ultimate everything for everyone to...whatever this is, this pretty much we get 5x per USD (approx 3.3x per AUD) points on every purchase. Seeing as it codes as Qantas Loyalty Mascot AU, maybe HSBC will just think we are taking a bunch of award flights or something.

$495 USD isn't a low AF at all, but you do get full priority pass with restaurants. Plus there is IMHO a legitimate $10 per month credit to be used on any rideshare-esque service, not just Uber, but also probably DiDi, all the variants overseas like Grub, etc, most likely traditional taxis, and probably Uber gift cards, so $375, I was sitting there thinking that maybe, considering we get literally 5x back on EVERYTHING, maybe there is a way to make this work.

But just as I began to feel the slightest excitement about possibly stumbling upon something exciting, I realised that HSBC US's transfer partners are probably the only thing worse than Qantas' IT systems. Half of the 9 airlines are just Avios flavours, then there's Qantas (lol no), TAP Portugal (????), Avianca, Turkish Kilometers and Giggles and Air France KLM (at 1.25:1), and Accor/Wyndham hotels.

No Air Canada, No SQ, not even CX. I mean, even AU HSBC Premier has SQ still at 2:1 transfer with our intellect as weak as our dollar. With an HSBC Elite card, you do get 1.5c per point on redemptions via their travel portal (I think??), plus you do get 3x QFF points with every gift card.

I suppose there is the US Amex platinum card for 5x back on "Airfares" via Qantas Marketplace, Amex MR points are actually useful, although I wouldn't be surprised at all if Amex was smart enough to realise not every airfare can be exactly a multiple of $25 Australian dollars... Plus, Amex takes about a 1% currency conversion spread (not "fee") on their transactions.

Help me out here. Should I just quit while ahead and just be happy I can pay $550 USD to get Hilton Diamond?

 

[levelnine]

Help me out here. Should I just quit while ahead and just be happy I can pay $550 USD to get Hilton Diamond?

If the sums barely make sense for you, I think you have your answer.

For what it is worth, my opinion is that most of the value of US cards is in their sign-up bonuses combined with their superior transfer partners/rates. Some of the elite perks can be nice, but I still don't place much value on them.

With the exception of a few cards that are attractive for MS purposes, I barely pay attention to a card's everyday earn rates.

 

[pyramidforce]

If the sums barely make sense for you, I think you have your answer.

For what it is worth, my opinion is that most of the value of US cards is in their sign-up bonuses combined with their superior transfer partners/rates. Some of the elite perks can be nice, but I still don't place much value on them.

With the exception of a few cards that are attractive for MS purposes, I barely pay attention to a card's everyday earn rates.

The biggest variable is how hard amex may shut down an account that hits qantas loyalty 90% of the time. If they wont, the sums make a lot of sense for me.

If HSBC elite had better partners like US cards supposedly all do, it would also make sense for me I think.

Guess it may be worth keeping an eye out for any upcoming cards that may fill this gap.

 

[levelnine]

The biggest variable is how hard amex may shut down an account that hits qantas loyalty 90% of the time. If they wont, the sums make a lot of sense for me.

That's not going to happen. You can spend 7 figures per month on a single merchant and they won't care.

The only problems you'll encounter with Amex are:
- They'll clawback points if they find out or suspect you're buying open loop gift cards (ie Visa/MC gift cards), which is why people avoid racking up lots of charges with amounts that look like such gift cards (eg $500 or $505.95).
- They'll suspend your cards while they undertake a financial review (ie verify your income) if your spend is higher than your historical spend patterns, which is why you need to ramp up spending slowly over time.

 

[pyramidforce]

That's not going to happen. You can spend 7 figures per month on a single merchant and they won't care.

The only problems you'll encounter with Amex are:
- They'll clawback points if they find out or suspect you're buying open loop gift cards (ie Visa/MC gift cards), which is why people avoid racking up lots of charges with amounts that look like such gift cards (eg $500 or $505.95).

This is kind of the problem though, all the gift cards on qantas marketplace come in suspicious preset quantities.

Shut down was used figuratively, no point in spending of all the points are clawed back or the account gets a financial review.

Quick thought: maybe points+pay can obfuscate this...just need to drag the slider to 1 QFF point somehow lol this is why you don't give me free time