I renewed in 2019 and have no recollection of activating the renewal card, which I've never used.

I renewed again last week and was approved (no interview) within 48 hours. There's still no "activate card" button in my account; I assume that pops up after the card has been mailed?

Supposedly, there's a 30-day deadline for activating the card, but I'll soon be out of the country for two months. Do you need the card in order to activate it, or is the activation a simple "I received the card" type of checkbox? (I'll know via USPS Informed Delivery if it has arrived in my mail.)

30 days seems like an absurdly short amount of time to give people who presumably want G.E. precisely because they travel a lot.