Originally Posted by
Flying for Fun
ITIN: Inernational Tax Identification Number
Are you getting value out of the Brilliant?
The $650 AF is pricey in Canadian Dollars; $883.62 at todays exchange rate. Obviously more if you are paying FOREX fess to purchase USD to pay your statement balance.
Even with an optimized USD $300 annual restaurant credit, pre-purchasing an 85K FNA for CAD $478.48 (USD $350) is pretty hefty. It is an extremely rare occassion when I will pay over USD $300 for a night in a hotel and I have paid stays in St. Regis, RC, JW, Autograph Collection & W properties. Now, using an 85K FNA even with the top-up wouldn't be an option. Many properties are "conveniently" priced at 101K.
The net 10 additional EQNs with the Brilliant over the Canadian Marriott Bonvoy Amex Card is moot if your primary reason for having the Brilliant is Platinum Elite status.
If one stays less than 25 nights annually at Marriott properties, the cost and inconvenience of holding the Brilliant is, at best, CAD ~$36 per night stayed.
At 25 annual nights stayed you would attain Platinum Elite status anyway with the 25 EQNs the Brilliant provides.
At 35 annual nights stayed you would attain Platinum Elite Status if you held the Canadian Marriott Bonvoy Amex. At that point, the Brilliant has very little value.
While the Canadian Bonvoy is not an exciting card, it is worth holding for the 35K FNA. The CAD $120 AF (USD $88.28) is easily offset with the 35K award. I just received mine and topped it up with 5K points for a reservation at a JW in Turkey next summer. The Member Flexible rate is €469.
I have both the Brilliant and the Canadian Bonvoy cards. I am at a loss to find value in the Brilliant 85K FNA that I prepaid US $350 for. The Canadian Bonvoy 35K FNA for CAD $120 is significantly more valuable to me.
I have been Titanium Elite, and Ambassador Elite once on reduced qualifications, since the inception of Bonvoy. I have already requalified for Titanium in 2024 with 83 EQNs to date. When the "years of Platinum or higher" increments in the new year, I will be Lifetime Platinum.
The Brilliant, for me, doesn't stack up well. What value am I getting?
Platinum Elite Status: I have never been at such a low Tier.
25 Elite qualifying nights: I never needed any CC nights to retain Titanium Elite.
$25/mo Restaurant Credit: PITA. When I am traveling, not so bad, but when I am home, I rarely eat out. I have to make a conscious effort to use the credit. If I miss a month, which I have, the cost of the FNA just went up $25.
85K Free Night award: The irony! A Free Night Award that costs $350, or more, of cold hard cash. I don't see the value of trading cash, more than I would pay for a stay, for a CostlyNA that has limitations and an expiry date.
Of course, as always, YMMV. I will be canceling or downgrading the Brilliant when the AF posts.
The Canadian Bonvoy card with an annual 35K NotSoCostlyNA for USD $89, for me, is a no brainer.
While you hold a US domiciled Credit Card account, you are a US non-resident alien and don't have any US credit history. Without an ITIN, American Express can't report to the US credit agencies. Your Canadian credit history was leveraged in the risk analysis for granting a US account.
I too, am a non-resident alien in the United States, but I do own a US residence an have an ITIN. Getting an ITIN, even as a homeowner, was not an easy task.
Many US Credit Card companies don't accept online applications with an ITIN and those that do won't give instant approvals despite having a US credit history and an 800 FICO score.
So, yes, it is possible to get a US domiciled Amex account as a non-resident alien. Is it practical for most? Likely not. Is the Amex Brilliant worth the effort? I don't think so given the strength of the US Dollar againt many foreign currencies. I don't see any value in the cost/benefit analysis.
James