Strategy to obtain US Amex

[Tiki]

How necessary is US residential IP VPN for apps and accessing online banking? Plan to do Amex GT soon for Hilton Honors or Green Charge then others down the track

Might also be planning a trip soon via LAX, is it worth booking appointments in branches without an ITIN yet just for account opening and chance of secured CC?

Just have HSBC Premier account + Premier MC atm

I haven't been using a US vpn for applications although i have to use one to access Experian and Credit Karma.

 

[Franko Costa]

I haven't been using a US vpn for applications although i have to use one to access Experian and Credit Karma.

Only use it to get better amex SUBs

 

[DAC1]

How necessary is US residential IP VPN for apps and accessing online banking? Plan to do Amex GT soon for Hilton Honors or Green Charge then others down the track

Might also be planning a trip soon via LAX, is it worth booking appointments in branches without an ITIN yet just for account opening and chance of secured CC?

Just have HSBC Premier account + Premier MC atm

Agreed with sudoer - practically not needed.

In relation to getting access to appointments in branches, I would make appointments to secure one or two additional checking accounts with BOA, Wells Fargo, PNC, Citi etc. While the rumour is that HSBC has shelved selling off its entire Australian retail business, it is useful to have access to multiple US checking accounts.

I wouldn’t bother with secured cards. Your credit record builds up via GT. I got my credit score with all three bureaus 7 months after my first GT.

The only thing a secured card does is burns up another credit card slot which you don’t want if you want to graduate to Chase/BOA cards (they have strict requirements regarding how many cards you’ve opened in the last 12/24 months - you’ll see references to things like 5/24 around here, you can find more searching).