Strategy to obtain US Amex

[blacksultan]

Thanks for this! I need to figure out a way to "use it in the US" firsnot

Not terribly important .
Credit on your mailforwarding account ?

 

[Franko Costa]

Thanks for this! I need to figure out a way to "use it in the US" first

I wouldn't worry about using in US first. I would make sure you did it during Tuesday to Sunday before 10am so if there is an issue you can call fraud and it will still be US time

 

[aaa99]

Not terribly important .
Credit on your mailforwarding account ?

Going to my friend's address. Might shout him some lunch for the help perhaps

 

[blacksultan]

Going to my friend's address. Might should him some lunch for the help perhaps

You’ll need to have him send you the card . Can use it to pay for dispatch . Then freeze card while on transit .

 

[_TheTraveller_]

Got this from a friend today.

Nova Credit | Credit Cards | Chase

You can now use your credit history from select countries when applying for a Chase credit card.

www.chase.com

Looks like Chase is now accepting Nova credit to use foreign credit reports. Might not need Amex anymore. Sadly only limited to freedom unlimited and Canadian and UK credit reports.

 

[cathalm8]

You can do it with via the chat service, I have updated AU address as my mailing address.

Just to confirm have you then had new cards sent directly to your Aus address without having to ring and request?

 

[Triben]

Just to confirm have you then had new cards sent directly to your Aus address without having to ring and request?

No, some reason they sent to US address first and I have to ask them send to AU address.
Address is there so easier with that.

 

[blacksultan]

Just to confirm have you then had new cards sent directly to your Aus address without having to ring and request?

New cards can only be sent in first instance to us address as one cannot apply using a non us address .

Got this from a friend today.

Nova Credit | Credit Cards | Chase

You can now use your credit history from select countries when applying for a Chase credit card.

www.chase.com

Looks like Chase is now accepting Nova credit to use foreign credit reports. Might not need Amex anymore. Sadly only limited to freedom unlimited and Canadian and UK credit reports.

What do you mean by ‘ might not need Amex ‘ ?

 

[Traveler999]

After months of reading this thread, I finally went for it and applied for the Bonvoy Brilliant since it has the current 200k bonus. I intended to apply for the green, but I guess that’s next now.

It was surprisingly easy.

I set up address (travelling Mailbox) after searching for a non PMB address and phone (Tello), and card was approved today with 15k limit using global transfer from my NZ account.

Amex wanted a recent statement showing my US address, so I just paid my Tello account early even though its on autopayment and this generated a statement, so that was $6 well spent.

I called AmEx after approval, said I was travelling, but as other posters have said Amex told me to wait a few days as card is already on the way to my USA address and I can then request a new one sent to my overseas address.

I have one problem with Tello, I consistently lose signal. I have to turn off Wi-Fi and reboot, and I might then get signal for a few minutes hopefully in time to receive validation texts from Amex. I also toggle VPN to USA and that sometimes helps.

I have spent a few hours today on the Tello site playing with various settings without resolution so will call them if you more experienced used cannot help, PS, yes, I have searched the thread, and it seems pretty common but nothing specific to my problem came up. I am in New Zealand so it might be a local problem any suggestions appreciated.

 

[N0mad]

After months of reading this thread, I finally went for it and applied for the Bonvoy Brilliant since it has the current 200k bonus. I intended to apply for the green, but I guess that’s next now.

It was surprisingly easy.

I set up address (travelling Mailbox) after searching for a non PMB address and phone (Tello), and card was approved today with 15k limit using global transfer from my NZ account.

Amex wanted a recent statement showing my US address, so I just paid my Tello account early even though its on autopayment and this generated a statement, so that was $6 well spent.

I called AmEx after approval, said I was travelling, but as other posters have said Amex told me to wait a few days as card is already on the way to my USA address and I can then request a new one sent to my overseas address.

I have one problem with Tello, I consistently lose signal. I have to turn off Wi-Fi and reboot, and I might then get signal for a few minutes hopefully in time to receive validation texts from Amex. I also toggle VPN to USA and that sometimes helps.

I have spent a few hours today on the Tello site playing with various settings without resolution so will call them if you more experienced used cannot help, PS, yes, I have searched the thread, and it seems pretty common but nothing specific to my problem came up. I am in New Zealand so it might be a local problem any suggestions appreciated.

just make sure you have a bank account ready with funds going in. I got a FR after 1 month and only spending $2k.

 

[Ktan89]

2 weeks is long . Should come thrpugh now . Did you provide correct details ? Absolutely no harm in calling .

It finally came through on Saturday morning. A lot of my flights I was looking to book is gone now

 

[Traveler999]

just make sure you have a bank account ready with funds going in. I got a FR after 1 month and only spending $2k.

Waiting for the card to arrive before I use it physically for a few USA purchases rather than loading e-card to googlepay as people seem to have problems with early use of non physical card. I intend to use my revolut to pay the Amex card and then set up autopayments once my HSBC account is set up (in progress)

 

[Traveler999]

After months of reading this thread, I finally went for it and applied for the Bonvoy Brilliant since it has the current 200k bonus. I intended to apply for the green, but I guess that’s next now.

It was surprisingly easy.

I set up address (travelling Mailbox) after searching for a non PMB address and phone (Tello), and card was approved today with 15k limit using global transfer from my NZ account.

Amex wanted a recent statement showing my US address, so I just paid my Tello account early even though its on autopayment and this generated a statement, so that was $6 well spent.

I called AmEx after approval, said I was travelling, but as other posters have said Amex told me to wait a few days as card is already on the way to my USA address and I can then request a new one sent to my overseas address.

I have one problem with Tello, I consistently lose signal. I have to turn off Wi-Fi and reboot, and I might then get signal for a few minutes hopefully in time to receive validation texts from Amex. I also toggle VPN to USA and that sometimes helps.

I have spent a few hours today on the Tello site playing with various settings without resolution so will call them if you more experienced used cannot help, PS, yes, I have searched the thread, and it seems pretty common but nothing specific to my problem came up. I am in New Zealand so it might be a local problem any suggestions appreciated.

Think I sorted my tello issue thanks to posting #9205 from sept 2024. I set my esim to global roaming and its been stable for last 30 mins, hopefully no huge fees to come but I only have $20 prepaid on my tello account . I also found a SMS tester which sent me a text so I knew the esim is working .

Test your network | BulkSMS.com Get your message across. One account, so many ways to send. www.bulksms.com

Darn I am too old for this, 6 hours hard thinking today for me I should have just asked my son

 

[nthd_nthd]

Think I sorted my tello issue thanks to posting #9205 from sept 2024. I set my esim to global roaming and its been stable for last 30 mins, hopefully no huge fees to come but I only have $20 prepaid on my tello account . I also found a SMS tester which sent me a text so I knew the esim is working .

Test your network | BulkSMS.com Get your message across. One account, so many ways to send. www.bulksms.com

Darn I am too old for this, 6 hours hard thinking today for me I should have just asked my son

Yep, this is not for those that do not want to read and dig into information - it's intense labor initially but pay off. We all contribute into this forum but whoever want fruitful results need to do some digging.

Well done on your first step of getting 1st Amex card. But not everyone had a smooth start as you.

 

[_TheTraveller_]

What do you mean by ‘ might not need Amex ‘ ?

Nova Credit could replace GT to build credit.

 

[lilkid28]

Been a while since I first applied for my Hilton Aspire Amex in 2022.. crazy to see this thread is now 700+ pages.

Some questions for the ones with multiple US Amex..
1. How do I go about applying for a 2nd Amex? Do a normal application or Global Transfer again?
2. Do I get the bonus points as an existing US Amex cardholder?
3. If I am doing ~$150-200k spend a year, what card should I go for? Bonvoy Brilliant or Amex Platinum?

 

[Franko Costa]

Been a while since I first applied for my Hilton Aspire Amex in 2022.. crazy to see this thread is now 700+ pages.

Some questions for the ones with multiple US Amex..
1. How do I go about applying for a 2nd Amex? Do a normal application or Global Transfer again?
2. Do I get the bonus points as an existing US Amex cardholder?
3. If I am doing ~$150-200k spend a year, what card should I go for? Bonvoy Brilliant or Amex Platinum?

1. Some have applied normally but others have used GT again. YMMV
2. Apply for a card that you have never had
3. Depends on what you want to use the points for. If it's personal and you want to max bonus points that Plat makes sense, but if you are looking for business accounts and amount are over $5k, then the ABP might be worth it

 

[blacksultan]

Nova Credit could replace GT to build credit.

They may Australia to the list soon

 

[blacksultan]

My second chase reinstatement request was denied today .
Apparently my cards were queued for a periodic review ( random )
Apart from previous reasons a new one was aggressive credit seeking with less then 20 % credit usage .

 

[QF_Flyer]

I'd be grateful for any thoughts as to next steps, in particular around timing - from this thread I've definitely taken on board the importance of not rushing things!

I currently have the following:

• US shipping address & mobile number [since Jul 2025]
• HSBC Prem US checking & savings accounts [since Aug 2025]
• HSBC Elite CC (love it for travel spend!) [since Sep 2025]
• Amex Hilton Aspire (via GT) [since Oct 2025]

My ITIN application is in progress (being sent to IRS this week) - have provided my US shipping address on that too.

Once I receive that (hopefully in the next couple of months) it will have been over six months since opening my Amex via GT.

Am I right it would be reasonable to apply for another Amex then but this time and when doing so I enter my ITIN in the application form to 'link' it to my Amex history to date? Do I just apply directly on the Amex US site and put ITIN in SSN field? I'm probably looking at the Amex Green as I've got a chunky MR balance and the 1:1 redemption ratio for SQ there looks appealing ($150 annual fee and currently 40k MR for $3k spend seems decent too)

I'm also interested in the Chase IHG card - would you leave it a while after the 2nd Amex application with an ITIN to allow some credit file to build up first? Would it be worth opening a Chase checking account when I'm next in the US using my ITIN as a prelude to applying for the CC?

Open to any other suggestions re timing or application sequence!

My $0.02 here, though you've done a good job of pushing all that through in the time period!

I think biggest Q from me would be whether or not you have a FICO score yet? The Amex App doesn't work for this any more (not for a few years) for non-ITIN people, but Creditkarma does - use whatever ID document you provided to Amex, drop any letters and add zeroes to the end, is others' advice - my experience is that the passport number (not long expired) that I provided Amex with originally is still my "SSN" (doesn't work as an ITIN, because it doesn't begin with 9, apparently).

That said, the above is more relevant to other issuers - I think you'd have a semi-decent chance of getting another Amex. Applying and using ITIN in the SSN field is correct, can also recommend the Green as a keeper in my opinion (the 3x on everything travel, transit, restaurant, is a good all-rounder for a decent annual fee - but that depends if you've got huge spend in that area). 40k seems the norm in term of SUB, though I got 60k + $200 travel credit (in the form of 20% back on up to $1,000 spend) via Resy (but that was a few years back).

I'd definitely wait until you have a visible FICO for Chase etc., probably my thoughts would be to leave it six months since last application too, and of course avoiding exceeding 5/24. Once you're on the Chase ladder, prioritise getting any of those you want, purely because of the 5/24 thing - I don't believe Business cards affect 5/24 though, others could correct me here (I don't yet have Chase myself).