I recently moved from the US to the UK--permanent relocation.

Let me first say that I have been an Amex customer for around a decade, and was very satisfied. That all went away with my move to the UK.

The process is much, much more difficult than Amex portrays it. And for the OP, if you will be in the UK for less than a year or so it might not be worth the effort.

First off, "Global Transfer" is a misnonmer, because you are not transferring cards at all, but rather just linking your credit history. Coming from the US I thought the Patriot Act was about as intrusive as it can get--not so. In the UK you must verify your identity for any cards, even if you have multiple cards from the same issuer.

So here was my process. I had a place to live in London and a checking account set up about 1 month before I actually left the US. I waited until the day I arrived in London to call Amex--that was a mistake on my part, because the "Global Transfer" process takes 2 weeks minimum. That said, the entire process ended up lasting longer than that.

Since I had no UK credit history, the "Global Transfer" process would allow me to get a card because it would utilize my US credit history. In contrast to someone who comes to the UK fresh--from what I've heard these people tend to need to wait at least 6 months to build a credit history before getting a UK card. The Amex process lets you bypass this.

That said, it is not a transfer, as your US card stays the same and a brand new UK card is opened. I have a US-based SPG Amex, Platinum Charge Card, and Green Corporate Card. I was applying for a UK-based Platinum Charge Card. It took Amex 2 weeks to approve the transfer, i.e. recognize my US-based credit history with Amex. Then you have to prove your identity--submit bank statements, utility bills, passport copies, etc. That is a challenge because you need original paper bills and statements, so you typically have to wait up to a month after arriving in the UK before you will actually have had your bank and any utility company mail you a paper bill.

So 2 weeks to approve the transfer on Amex's side, then another 2 weeks on my side to recieve the proper bills and statements from my bank, Sky, etc. So we're at 4 weeks total by the time I could submit the necessary final paperwork to Amex. Then it took another 2 weeks for them to approve. Then another week for them to mail me the card. So 7 weeks start to finish before I could actually use my UK-based Platinum charge card.

Now, other posters have said to keep your US-based card open--I agree 100%. Because if you don't then you have to go through the process of transferring your membership rewards to the UK. That will take about 2 weeks, and they'll try to convert your points based on the GBP/USD exchange rate. Which is bollocks because many rewards (e.g. Virgin Atlantic miles) are a 1:1 ration regardless of whether you are in the US or UK.


In case anyone is curious, in the end I downgraded my US-based Platinum to Green to save on the fees and kept my membership rewards in the US. Also kept my SPG Amex (which has to have a US billing address, by the way). Ended up cancelling the UK-based Platinum after all this mess and took the BA Premium Plus card instead because it's more useful IMO. That took another month, by the way....And don't even get me started on transferring the Corporate Card--that process took about 6 weeks as well. Wasn't as painful because my company did it, but still--6 weeks for a corporate card? Let's just say I'm no longer a satisfied customer, and I only stick with Amex because they really do offer the best rewards. But the customer service is poor.....