Originally Posted by
kyanar
Basically it means that since outside the home country AMEX cannot rely on getting 3% from the merchant, they likely choose not to treat the transaction the same as a domestic one and therefore don't give you bonuses.
I'd imagine they'd have some sort of idea how often a card's used domestically vs. internationally, though, and would be able to adjust the card's benefits to take that into account while being able to offer them everywhere. Chase probably doesn't get 3% in most other countries, for example, yet I've been getting the full 3x on my CSR for every travel/dining transaction I've made in the UK thus far.