Strategy to obtain UK Amex

[blacksultan]

Did you have to prove UK residence?

Can’t remember . Think I used my oz address . That’s what I have had listed for more than 3 years now . No issues .

 

[blacksultan]

Did you have to prove UK residence?

Probably not as I didn’t have any way to do so .

 

[Viridis]

Anybody have any experience of, or info about, this?

I have a UK BA Premium Amex. I've had it for a few years and before that a Platinum.

I have a £10k+ credit limit, have never spent more than about £6k on it in a month and always pay the full balance at the end of each month. My financial profile in the UK is quite low (could be the problem) and the only other account that I have is a (UK) mobile phone account with one of the big providers.

I have a UK HSBC account and credit card but it's registered to my Australian address.

I have just received notice from Amex that my 'personal interest rate' is rising due to a review (of me) and that my risk profile has been assessed as higher.

Given that i pay the balance in full each month it is of no financial consequence but just wondered if anyone has any insights on this and whether there is anything that I need to think about 'heading off' before it snowballs into something with actual consequences

 

[QF_Flyer]

Anybody have any experience of, or info about, this?

I have a UK BA Premium Amex. I've had it for a few years and before that a Platinum.

I have a £10k+ credit limit, have never spent more than about £6k on it in a month and always pay the full balance at the end of each month. My financial profile in the UK is quite low (could be the problem) and the only other account that I have is a (UK) mobile phone account with one of the big providers.

I have a UK HSBC account and credit card but it's registered to my Australian address.

I have just received notice from Amex that my 'personal interest rate' is rising due to a review (of me) and that my risk profile has been assessed as higher.

Given that i pay the balance in full each month it is of no financial consequence but just wondered if anyone has any insights on this and whether there is anything that I need to think about 'heading off' before it snowballs into something with actual consequences

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Ignore it, unless you carry a balance (which on those cards you really shouldn't ever), it has no material impact. I have several UK credit cards, I have no idea what the APRs are any more, they move around, but I don't carry balances (well, except for an exceptionally large amount I was somehow able to get approved for last year at 0% with zero fees, which seemed to make a welcome return, and store the resultant cash in 5%+ savings accounts, but that's just something for me to track in terms of making monthly payments until the 0% runs out - incidentally this makes my UK credit file look like I'm up to my eyeballs in debt and maxed out on several cards, so I won't be getting approved for anything else in a while, but it's pulling in ~$700 per month in interest, so...meh, problem for another day).

Your UK BA Amex - is that registered at a UK address? Because my understanding is that if it isn't, Amex won't sent the Avios to BAEC until it is? I don't currently hold that card, and never have outside of a UK address, so I have no idea - I've had UK MR cards registered to Aussie addresses which worked fine (although note recent T&C change), but atm I only have a UK Platinum, and only because they offered 100k MR to upgrade from the ARCC (free MR card)...was meant to be a Gold only offer, but despite holding a Gold (at the time), they would only let me apply the offer to ARCC, such is life.

 

[Viridis]

Ignore it, unless you carry a balance (which on those cards you really shouldn't ever), it has no material impact. I have several UK credit cards, I have no idea what the APRs are any more, they move around, but I don't carry balances (well, except for an exceptionally large amount I was somehow able to get approved for last year at 0% with zero fees, which seemed to make a welcome return, and store the resultant cash in 5%+ savings accounts, but that's just something for me to track in terms of making monthly payments until the 0% runs out - incidentally this makes my UK credit file look like I'm up to my eyeballs in debt and maxed out on several cards, so I won't be getting approved for anything else in a while, but it's pulling in ~$700 per month in interest, so...meh, problem for another day).

Your UK BA Amex - is that registered at a UK address? Because my understanding is that if it isn't, Amex won't sent the Avios to BAEC until it is? I don't currently hold that card, and never have outside of a UK address, so I have no idea - I've had UK MR cards registered to Aussie addresses which worked fine (although note recent T&C change), but atm I only have a UK Platinum, and only because they offered 100k MR to upgrade from the ARCC (free MR card)...was meant to be a Gold only offer, but despite holding a Gold (at the time), they would only let me apply the offer to ARCC, such is life.

Thanks for the information. I was a little worried that this was a precursor to the random, unexplained account closures one hears about. No, I never carry a balance and was struggling to think of a reason that I may have given them to change it

Yes, my BA Premium is registered to a UK address.

My BAEC account originally had the same UK address because the EC wasn't available in Australia. When it was, I changed it to my Australian address. At the time I had the UK Platinum Card. I closed that and got the BA card and the Avios weren't crediting to my BAEC account. Although the account numbers matched the addresses didn't. So I changed the BAEC back to my UK address and all was well.

The issue was the addresses not matching .... I'm not sure how I'd have gone if I changed the Amex to the Australian address (if that's even possible these days)

You did well with the Platinum offer ... I note it's only 40,000pts for a new card member sign-up

 

[QF_Flyer]

Thanks for the information. I was a little worried that this was a precursor to the random, unexplained account closures one hears about. No, I never carry a balance and was struggling to think of a reason that I may have given them to change it

Yes, my BA Premium is registered to a UK address.

My BAEC account originally had the same UK address because the EC wasn't available in Australia. When it was, I changed it to my Australian address. At the time I had the UK Platinum Card. I closed that and got the BA card and the Avios weren't crediting to my BAEC account. Although the account numbers matched the addresses didn't. So I changed the BAEC back to my UK address and all was well.

The issue was the addresses not matching .... I'm not sure how I'd have gone if I changed the Amex to the Australian address (if that's even possible these days)

You did well with the Platinum offer ... I note it's only 40,000pts for a new card member sign-up

Yeah you should be ok, you’d be advised pretty quickly if it was a review and the account probably suspended until they do their thing.

I’m not sure personally, but I think both BAEC and BAPP need to be registered to a UK address. Although it was possible to move UK cards to an Aussie address a few years ago, I got a T&C update late last year saying that as of X date it had to be a UK address - the date came and went and nothing happened, but I ultimately changed it back because I wanted the Platinum 100k offer! It was very surprising they were offering the same generous deal for upgrades as to new customers, that seems rare.

I now have two Platinums though, UK proper, which has dining credits etc., which have been very useful, and the not so useful but also no longer available to new applicants ICC USD card (which is registered in Australia, as that remained permissible for those who held it before a certain date last year - there’s is now a heavily restricted list of permitted countries, of which even NZ isn’t one, where you can keep the card as an existing cardholder).

I’m in two minds though, for now it’s (the ICC) a store of MR points and still has 1:1 transfers to SQ, but worse (3:2) to most others…the insurance I think is the same as the normal UK Platinum, either way it’s the primary reason I’ve kept it for years, much cheaper than purchasing an annual travel insurance policy, let alone CDW and everything else.

 

[Viridis]

I got a T&C update late last year saying that as of X date it had to be a UK address -

Yeah, it’s interesting because the Amex UK website still offers the “moving to a new country” facility and the FAQ still says it’s acceptable to retain your existing (UK) card

[……. ] I is registered in Australia, as that remained permissible for those who held it before a certain date last year - there’s is now a heavily restricted list of permitted countries, of which even NZ isn’t one, where you can keep the card as an existing cardholder).

I do wonder what’s brought this on; if it were a purely business decision, you would imagine that where a cardholder’s registered address is wouldn’t preclude NZ of all places.

I’m in two minds though, for now it’s (the ICC) a store of MR points and still has 1:1 transfers to SQ, but worse (3:2) to most others…the insurance I think is the same as the normal UK Platinum, either way it’s the primary reason I’ve kept it for years, much cheaper than purchasing an annual travel insurance policy, let alone CDW and everything else.

Yes, I’d be reluctant to get rid of something that you can never get back; if you play your cards right they may offer you an ‘incentive’ to relinquish the card

 

[QF_Flyer]

Yeah, it’s interesting because the Amex UK website still offers the “moving to a new country” facility and the FAQ still says it’s acceptable to retain your existing (UK) card

I do wonder what’s brought this on; if it were a purely business decision, you would imagine that where a cardholder’s registered address is wouldn’t preclude NZ of all places.

Yes, I’d be reluctant to get rid of something that you can never get back; if you play your cards right they may offer you an ‘incentive’ to relinquish the card

Global transfer is still a thing, so you can still move a UK card to overseas, although the UK card remains open - so I don’t know what they expect you to do with it, unless you have a UK address (thankfully I do).

I wonder too specifically re the ICC cards, I think they’re winding them down, but I can’t imagine it costs them much more to administer since they’re just dealt with by the UK Amex people as far as I know. NZ exclusion is specifically weird as NZ have a proper Amex operation (as opposed to just a Plat, Gold, Green basic operation).

Funny you say that, during COVID I cancelled it because I needed no insurance any more, they offered 15k MR points. They also offered $100 USD Uber credit on the card, which was a nice change. Really it’s a terribly implemented card, no Amex offers, the app is incredibly basic and they still send paper statements (which usually arrive after the due date ). But at $550 and with a solid insurance operation, I give them a pass. I don’t use the card (I did for the first $5k to get the 30k MR signup bonus), but I have US Amex cards which are a better alternative and have no forex fees…and are less of a hassle to pay off!

We’ll see, the “proper” UK (GBP) Platinum is attractive enough at the moment with the dining credit, both UK and overseas (£150 each, Mrs and I had a decent feed just before Xmas on that in Melbourne, then I paid for my Sister in the UK to use the overseas (well, domestic I suppose) credit over there). I will also be in the UK this year, so will get to use it there too, but the credit is meant to end 12/2024, the value proposition will change greatly if that isn’t renewed, or replaced with something else useful!