Originally Posted by pantster
Hi,
I want a credit or charge card (Amex or otherwise) with a US billing address.
I live in England and have no plans to move to the US, however, there are some online services (nothing sordid!) that I would like to use that require a US billing address.
I have a UK Centurion but I don't think Amex have anything that will let me show a US address? I have plenty of friends in the US who's address I could probably use but obviously no credit history so I am not sure how easy it would be to apply for a new card. Any suggestions for getting a card linked to a friends address or are there any companies that specialise in this sort of thing?
Phill
The credit history is not a problem, if you are an existing card member, but your SS# is! When I moved to the US I called up the US Plat line and they assured me that it would be no problem to get any Amex card in the US, but I would need a social security number first. I tried to talk them into faxing in my visa, but they insisted that it is a federal requirement to link a SS# to all cards. Anyway, I told them that in the first couple of weeks I will be spending some k$, but nothing could be done. After my arrival and receipt of the SS# it was indeed a matter of days to get my card.
So the upshot is, you probably have no chance to get a US based card w/o a social security number. However, most purchases do not require a US-based card, even if the website claims that to be the case. I used my Germany based Amex card numerous times with airlines tickets, hotels, and merchandise. Just try your GB-based card, I bet you it will work with 95% of the webpages.