Strategy to obtain US Amex

[RealtimeY]

Followed all the tips here regarding HSBC, Amex GT. Applied Wednesday night and was immediately asked to provide statement, and approved on Saturday night.

 

[Tiki]

I'm getting very frustrated with Fedex. My Barclays Hawaiian card arrived at Torrance and I got the following options.


I went for the $39 one figuring the extra $20 was worth it as I have several large bills in the next week or so. and in the past Fedex has delivered within a week of leaving the USA. I have been tracking it, although they don't say exactly there was a Fedex flight leaving OAK to SYD on 1 Nov at 9:00-ish which would have arrived SYD yesterday afternoon. They still haven't updated the tracking, no logging it at SYD, customs clearance or anything. I really want to speed things along. Their chat is just an AI bot spewing t&cs. This is what I have so far.

Thursday, 10/30/25	3:52 PM Shipment information sent to FedEx 2:28 PM Picked up HAWTHORNE, CA 4:07 PM Left FedEx origin facility HAWTHORNE, CA
Friday, 10/31/25	6:57 AM Arrived at FedEx hub OAKLAND, CA 10:07 AM On the way OAKLAND, CA
Saturday, 11/1/25	9:00 AM Departed FedEx hub OAKLAND, CA 9:05 AM On the way OAKLAND, CA

If they just get it to BNE I am happy to drive over and get it. I'm still shocked they are just sitting on it until next Monday, how long does it take do get this done?

 

[Grrr]

If they just get it to BNE

You would drive from SYD to BNE to pick up a credit card ??

 

[Tiki]

You would drive from SYD to BNE to pick up a credit card ??

I live in BNE 15 minutes from the airport. I just want them to get it from their warehouse in Sydney to Brisbane. And they aren’t updating the tracking quickly like they used to.

 

[Grrr]

I live in BNE 15 minutes from the airport.

Ah that makes more sense.

FedEx etc are like the Cable Guy however. They will likely sit on it in Sydney for a week, ship it to Brisbane, then down to Hobart, then back to Brisbane, no one will be home when they deliver it, so they will take it to a warehouse in Melbourne for you to pick up…

 

[Franko Costa]

I'm getting very frustrated with Fedex. My Barclays Hawaiian card arrived at Torrance and I got the following options.

View attachment 479311
I went for the $39 one figuring the extra $20 was worth it as I have several large bills in the next week or so. and in the past Fedex has delivered within a week of leaving the USA. I have been tracking it, although they don't say exactly there was a Fedex flight leaving OAK to SYD on 1 Nov at 9:00-ish which would have arrived SYD yesterday afternoon. They still haven't updated the tracking, no logging it at SYD, customs clearance or anything. I really want to speed things along. Their chat is just an AI bot spewing t&cs. This is what I have so far.

Thursday, 10/30/25	3:52 PM Shipment information sent to FedEx 2:28 PM Picked up HAWTHORNE, CA 4:07 PM Left FedEx origin facility HAWTHORNE, CA
Friday, 10/31/25	6:57 AM Arrived at FedEx hub OAKLAND, CA 10:07 AM On the way OAKLAND, CA
Saturday, 11/1/25	9:00 AM Departed FedEx hub OAKLAND, CA 9:05 AM On the way OAKLAND, CA

If they just get it to BNE I am happy to drive over and get it. I'm still shocked they are just sitting on it until next Monday, how long does it take do get this done?

They all seem to make money on international shipping! Can't you get them to send to OZ as you're here working for the next 2 months?

 

[albyd]

If they just get it to BNE I am happy to drive over and get it. I'm still shocked they are just sitting on it until next Monday, how long does it take do get this done?

I think that's exactly it - if they quote a certain amount of time, they just sit on it at the SYD then get it to you - though those shipping options look alot cheaper than mine including PE mail. Anytime also refuse deliveries from Couriers like my newly minted Amex Platinum and my Citi ATM card.

I'm currently with Anytime Mailbox and to get some mail forwarded which didn't weigh much and they charge like $US50 to send it USPS which is normal US postal mail (which you'd expect to be inexpensive) is just as expensive as receiving it via Courier with myUS previously. I remember the courier myUS used would just sit on it for a week or so in AU if I chose the less expensive option. I could see it in tracking just like you can now.

Thinking of moving again. Are these the postal options usually offered by PE and consistently?

 

[albyd]

For HSBC Premier CC or Elite did manage to apply online? Getting error saying I need to apply via phone, saw was a recent DP of the same too...

Sorry to ask what might be an obvious question: Why go for HSBC Elite at $495 AF aside from being at the start of the US CC journey? The Premier looks just as "good" unless giving AMEX a miss for the 5X on travel. If you have the Premier already, do you get another bite at the points "cherry" by separately applying for the Elite?

 

[Tiki]

I think that's exactly it - if they quote a certain amount of time, they just sit on it at the SYD then get it to you - though those shipping options look alot cheaper than mine including PE mail. Anytime also refuse deliveries from Couriers like my newly minted Amex Platinum and my Citi ATM card.

I'm currently with Anytime Mailbox and to get some mail forwarded which didn't weigh much and they charge like $US50 to send it USPS which is normal US postal mail (which you'd expect to be inexpensive) is just as expensive as receiving it via Courier with myUS previously. I remember the courier myUS used would just sit on it for a week or so in AU if I chose the less expensive option. I could see it in tracking just like you can now.

Thinking of moving again. Are these the postal options usually offered by PE and consistently?

The $39 Fedex one wasn't there in Sept when my last card arrived. These are Barclays cards and they won't ship to Australia. Afaik, only Chase and Amex (after 10 days) will ship to Australia.

 

[Tiki]

I think that's exactly it - if they quote a certain amount of time, they just sit on it at the SYD then get it to you - though those shipping options look alot cheaper than mine including PE mail. Anytime also refuse deliveries from Couriers like my newly minted Amex Platinum and my Citi ATM card.

I'm currently with Anytime Mailbox and to get some mail forwarded which didn't weigh much and they charge like $US50 to send it USPS which is normal US postal mail (which you'd expect to be inexpensive) is just as expensive as receiving it via Courier with myUS previously. I remember the courier myUS used would just sit on it for a week or so in AU if I chose the less expensive option. I could see it in tracking just like you can now.

Thinking of moving again. Are these the postal options usually offered by PE and consistently?

They quoted 1-6 days, I was thinking 6 days was them covering their behinds. Logically I expected it to arrive SYD Sunday night, be processed Monday, put on a plane to BNE and get to me Wed, Thurs at the latest. Sitting on it for a week is ridiculous!

 

[DAC1]

Sorry to ask what might be an obvious question: Why go for HSBC Elite at $495 AF aside from being at the start of the US CC journey? The Premier looks just as "good" unless giving AMEX a miss for the 5X on travel. If you have the Premier already, do you get another bite at the points "cherry" by separately applying for the Elite?

It’s 5x on all travel (including transit and trains), not just flights. You also get the full version of Priority Pass including restaurants plus two guests.

And no, you don’t. You can only hold one HSBC card at a time.

I have the Premier but I frequently think about trading it for the Elite.

 

[Darkpulsar]

Sorry to ask what might be an obvious question: Why go for HSBC Elite at $495 AF aside from being at the start of the US CC journey? The Premier looks just as "good" unless giving AMEX a miss for the 5X on travel. If you have the Premier already, do you get another bite at the points "cherry" by separately applying for the Elite?

Likely will just go for HSBC Premier, 5x travel with full PP with 2 guests is an interesting value prop, only eclipsed by UBS Visa Infinite and BofA PRE.

And no, you don’t. You can only hold one HSBC card at a time.

Interesting DP here where someone recently got both: https://www.reddit.com/r/HSBC/s/MU540GMDuH

 

[big_RED]

Can I confirm as I can't find a way to read this thread on one page to search more effectively - is the recommendation in the 1st post of this thread back in 2018 still the recommended approach to setting up a non US citizen to get a US credit card?

 

[Tiki]

To finish off the datapoints because I won't remember this months later when I get another card.

I saw the package was processed at Matraville and was in transit to Brisbane so I called them and asked them to hold it at the warehouse.

15 minutes ago my husband found the package sitting on the front staircase. So it all ended well, not sure why they were saying I had to wait until 10 Nov.

Anyway, card (Barclays Hawaiian Atmos) activated, I put $5 for Planet Express to break it in and a travel alert for Australia. I will wait until tomorrow morning and then put all my Aussie bills through. Nice to get a head start on the $2500 USD spend.

 

[georgie23]

Can I confirm as I can't find a way to read this thread on one page to search more effectively - is the recommendation in the 1st post of this thread back in 2018 still the recommended approach to setting up a non US citizen to get a US credit card?

there is no real shortcut way - if you want to do this well read it all. The general principles still apply - you need a bank/address then can do a GT application. If you want to open options then get an ITIN

 

[albyd]

It’s 5x on all travel (including transit and trains), not just flights. You also get the full version of Priority Pass including restaurants plus two guests.

And no, you don’t. You can only hold one HSBC card at a time.

I have the Premier but I frequently think about trading it for the Elite.

ok thanks for the heads up. I had the Amex Green and used it all the time for public transport at 3x - I don't know that the extra earn I got from that would be significant enough to offset the extra AF.

 

[albyd]

Likely will just go for HSBC Premier, 5x travel with full PP with 2 guests is an interesting value prop, only eclipsed by UBS Visa Infinite and BofA PRE.

Thanks for sharing - the UBS card looks interesting. Just trying to figure it out - Spend $US25k ($A38.5k) in a year and get $500 back. That's how it reads though then it goes on to say something about restaurant spend. I can't see any mention of it - is the UBS card(s) only available to UBS private clients (I'd likely not qualify there) or for anyone? Any DPs on how hard it is to get a UBS card?

 

[Darkpulsar]

@N0mad How did you end up opening a joint HSBC account - end up having to do it via phone/branch? Or did online work when you were both customers

 

[N0mad]

@N0mad How did you end up opening a joint HSBC account - end up having to do it via phone/branch? Or did online work when you were both customers

had to open in branch, could only do individual online. Haven't opened joint in US though but is handy having the joint as can cycle money eg transfer from my US to P2 US, then P2 US to Joint AU USD account and then back to me.