Cerenity

i see a lot of online info about people asking about getting a US CC with no SSN, but what if i have a SSN (i worked there in 2005-2007 as an intern), but simply dont live there.

i assume i still need residency, and wouldnt have enough credit history to get anything? or can i actually get something simple to start

redvelvetmartinis

Do you mind sharing what card this is? My "best" card only gives me about 1.2 for every S$1 (bonus miles for hitting a certain amount of spending not included)

redvelvetmartinis

Put everything on a credit card, even phone bills.
It does add up in the end - I was surprised to find out that I had enough miles for a pair of Suites tickets on SQ.

oliver2002

You can start by applying for a secured credit card (the US Bank Lifemiles card for example) and then slowly build your credit history. Residency is not critical, all you need is a physical mailing address in the US.

lcpteck

Nice! To JFK?

redvelvetmartinis

I didn't check JFK; I was planning a vacation into CDG so that's what I saw. I assume I can at least get one JFK ticket with those miles.

mkt

You're in YYZ, so get a PO Box in Buffalo, and put the address as "123 Main St #123" instead of "PO BOX 123". Then apply with credit that way.

That used to be how I was able to apply for and get cards that are restricted to residents of Puerto Rico. Now I just use my sister's address in Miami and change the address once the card arrives and is activated.

SDFCU is good about this. And once you have credit established, apply for some of the easier miles cards in the US, like the Barclays US Mastercard, or the DL Skymiles Amex.

sdsearch

Actually, don't get a real (US Portal Serivce) PO box. Some places won't accept real PO Boxes as addresses, and some places will reformat a known post office address into a PO Box form, which will then get rejected.

Instead, get a mail box from a UPS Store or Mailboxes Etc or some other private mailbox supplier. That will automatically give you an address such as "123 Main St Ste 456", because private mailbox suppliers are not allowed to use PO BOX numbers.

Keep in mind that your physical mailings from the bank (including the card itself) will come there. But another advantage with a private mail box is that you can pay them to periodically repackage and send you your mail to a different adress. (The real USPS post office won't do that.) These private mail box companies are often used by contract workers who are living for weeks/months in one city, then living for more weeks/months in some other city, and rarely make it back to home base, and thus need their mail sent on to wherever they happen to be that week. (USPS mail forwarding is not suitable for such rapid and constant changes of location that a contract worker can go through.)

Obviously, you can do your bill recept and bill paying online, but occasional mailings (especially the cards themselves) will be to that US address.

SingaporeDon

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/singa...er-thread.html

JapanFlyerT

Yes, and you need a valid visa in order to get a bank account.

kay sedia

This is what I do: main card is RBC british airways until I reach the $30000.00 spend for companion pass. It costs $160.00 year but I think its worth it for a free first class/business ticket. It also gave me 50000 avios sign up and a 10000 retention bonus annually My next go-to is Amex of the moment,(20000-40000 each, 1st year free), I get 3 or 4 per year, personal and business, cancel after about 8 months right after I get a new one so avoid fees. I always make sure to pay for 1 amex each year, since I want to stay close with them. In addition, I have Alaska Air X 2 (25000 each), CIBC Aeroplan (25000)(just cancelled and wont get unless it's free, Marriot Rewards(60000+free night) Basically if they offer at least 10000 points, and first year is free I'm in, and have purchased some lifemiles I charge everything, gas, food, wine, phone, insurance of every kind, even the worksafe bc payment for our small business. I charge somewhere around 70000 annually for personal and business generating double points on much of it like groceries and fuel. It takes a bit of time to get a good rhythm going and get the base of points you need, but I'm proof it can be done pretty easily here between dedicated churning and conscious spending. in the past 2-3 years I have done (for 2 of us) First class BA, Thai, United, to Europe and asia twice. Panama in business, leaving for Thailand & Vietnam in Business soon and cashing in a BA companion pass for my sister and I to go to Nice and Madrid in Business!

EuropeanPete

It's not laughable, it's just not comparable. The UK and US credit card markets are entirely different - it's like saying that my friend's new Lamborghini was laughably expensive because I just bought a tomato for only 30p.

The economics of customer acquisition and retention are different as the two credit card markets behave in really quite different ways.

sj22

As a Canadian in US, I can relate to both sides.
There are more "options" to generate miles in the US and they are cheaper. But I doubt most folks even in the US are generating miles by tons of MS or giftcard etc. I think Flyertalk disproportionately overrepresents this population here vs. the 99.xx percent of America who isn't into this.
Also overall I feel people around me are also more attracted to credit card signup bonuses. Not so much in Canada, where credit is more thought of as a loan - if you dont need it you dont take it. It might be a cultural thing around me, so not sure.
I dont think credit card bonuses are SO much different in both countries for most middle of the bell curve cards. In Canada, most airline cards are limited to AC and most non-airline cards are limited to cashback. In the US, with 3-4 different airlines and alternative currency points like UR/SPG/MR, it looks like a bigger portfolio of cards, but it isnt necessary that much more lucrative.

sdsearch

In the US, there are 5 going to 4 (because of AA and US merging) major national/international airlines, and several significant others (such as Alaska, JetBlue, and Virgina America). Alaska is especially signficant, desipte being a "regional" airline, because its miles can be used to book flights on several other (more) major airlines.

But there are also cards issued by banks in the US for non-USA airlines such as:
and I'm sure a number of others. (There used to also be an Air Canada card from Bank of America, but it got discontinued.) Are there really no credit cards in Canada for any non-Canadian airlines?

Also, SPG is just one of many hotel programs. It just happens to the one with the best dollar-to-points-to-miles earning/transfer ratios. But there are again cards for about a dozen different hotel programs in the US (and almost all of those hotel programs support transferring to airline miles at some ratio), yet you didn't mention single one in Canada. Is that because there are none, or again because you're not aware of how much there is out there?

By the way, if the only significant airline cards in Canada are for Air Canada, that means that credit card earning is limited to redemption in only one (Star Alliance) of the three worldwide air aliances. That would seem a major limitation, compared to having domestic airlines (each with multiple creidt card earning possiblities) in the USA belonging to each of the three wordlwide air alliances (UA in Star Alliance, DL in SkyTeam, and AA/US in oneworld).

DealAddict

In Canada: Amex cards... Generous sign-up offers. Can generate 120-125K through sign-up bonuses and self-referrals ALONE (3 FYF cards and one annual fee card of $120 - $ 40 rebate = $80). Then churn in 9-12 months.