American Express Membership Rewards - USA ex-pat moving to Netherlands next year -- could I get the Amex Plat now instead?

Hi all,

I'm a USA citizen that's moving to the Netherlands for work next year (potentially 5+ years). I've been meaning to pick up the Amex Plat card for a while now (mainly for lounge access and FHR), and noticed that the European version costs E600 a year.

Does it make any sense to apply for it now, while I'm still a USA resident? Or in the long run will this not help me (i.e. I have to pay the Euro membership fee after this year)? Could it possibly help if my parents remained in the USA (i.e. mail in their name)?

-cmhsieh54


PS. Any ex-pats out there who had to decide how to manage their SPG Amex card? I'd like to keep it, but I'm not sure how doable that is, and whether it's much use to me while I live in Europe.

PPS. And finally, if there are any FT-ers that moved from USA to Netherlands, and you're willing to provide advice, I'd appreciate a PM! I'd rather receive advice from FT than go to expatica.com!

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Does it make any sense to apply for it now, while I'm still a USA resident? Or in the long run will this not help me (i.e. I have to pay the Euro membership fee after this year)? Could it possibly help if my parents remained in the USA (i.e. mail in their name)?

-cmhsieh54


PS. Any ex-pats out there who had to decide how to manage their SPG Amex card? I'd like to keep it, but I'm not sure how doable that is, and whether it's much use to me while I live in Europe.

I can only answer from my own experience. I live in Israel, have a U.S. bank account, and originally got my American-issued Amex using my parent's Florida mailing address.

Eventually I changed my address my Israeli one. I continued to keep my American Amex (and even had an extra card for my daughter). The two Amex cards I have (Blue and HHonors) are fee-free but it is my understanding that if I were to switch to one which has a fee, the charge would be in dollars.

I still have my American bank account (although it, too, now has my Israeli address). I pay my monthly Amex bills directly from my U.S. bank. I do not know if Amex would view me any differently if I did not have an American bank account.

Does it make any sense to apply for it now, while I'm still a USA resident? Or in the long run will this not help me (i.e. I have to pay the Euro membership fee after this year)? Could it possibly help if my parents remained in the USA (i.e. mail in their name)?

My experience with the international card transfer is they will open you a new account so the membership fee comes due straight away; they don't let you 'use up' the remainder of your home country membership year on your new account. So not really an obvious benefit from the money-saving point of view.

That said, it might be much easier to get the card in the US and transfer the account rather than trying to apply for a Platinum card in the NL where you don't have any kind of a credit history. Experiences seem to vary with international card transfers. When I moved to Japan I couldn't transfer directly to Centurion; I went first to Platinum then got the Centurion invitation about three months later.

I have a UK account and a Japanese account, and I just have the statements mailed to me at my Japanese address which I pay by internet banking from my UK bank if there any charges (mostly from my sister who is a supplementary card holder on my UK account).

Hi all,

I'm a USA citizen that's moving to the Netherlands for work next year (potentially 5+ years). I've been meaning to pick up the Amex Plat card for a while now (mainly for lounge access and FHR), and noticed that the European version costs E600 a year.

Does it make any sense to apply for it now, while I'm still a USA resident? Or in the long run will this not help me (i.e. I have to pay the Euro membership fee after this year)? Could it possibly help if my parents remained in the USA (i.e. mail in their name)?

-cmhsieh54

As Dovster already told you, it's no problem keeping the American card(s) when moving abroad. So both SPG Amex and your Plat will be no problem.

But, remember that you also pay a conversion fee for purchases in a foreign currency. While you stay in the Netherlands, you usually pay in EUR instead of USD, so all payments will be a bit more expensive than on a EUR-card.

Another thing to consider: there are quite some differences between the American Plat and the Dutch Plat cards, so it is not easy to compare.

Maybe you want to consider the International Currency Card out of London. They have excellent customer service and are geared to service expats. In addition, as I understand if you obtain a main card in one currency such as $ or EUR, you can obtain a second card account in the other currency for half the normal membership fee. In any case, you will then have the same customer service helping you with both accounts.

That said, it might be much easier to get the card in the US and transfer the account rather than trying to apply for a Platinum card in the NL where you don't have any kind of a credit history. Experiences seem to vary with international card transfers.

I don't believe the credit history would be a problem as we don't use the same system as in the US regarding credit history, as long as you aren't registered negatively in the BKR (http://www.bkr.nl/) (credit agency) as a "not payer" ( or however you say that in English).

The only thing you have to do is present prove that you earn more then 70.000 Euro (gross) a year. And of course have a Dutch bank account and address.

But why don't you just call American Express The Netherlands and enquire they should be able to tell you what they can do for you.

Memberservice (https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/int/nl/nl/personal/personalcards/cardapplication_pr.do?vgnextoid=3716fdc9d63f0210Vg nVCM200000d0faad94RCRD): (+31) (0) 20 - 504 8000
The Platinum Card Service (https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/int/nl/nl/personal/personalcards/cardapplication_pr.do?vgnextoid=3716fdc9d63f0210Vg nVCM200000d0faad94RCRD): (+31) (0) 20 – 504 8500

As others have referenced, you can use Amex's Global Transfer Program to get a card if you move to a foreign country using your Amex U.S. credit history. I successfully did this when I moved to Europe a couple years ago and it was a life-saver! Even after a couple years, I still don't have enough of a credit history here to get approved for cards from other banks (just applied for one last week, actually).

More info here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/globaltransfers/global_card_transfer_us_en.shtml