Duke_Elrod

Hello everyone,

I used to live in the US for a couple of years and had the Platinum card. Recently moved back to Europe and cancelled my Amex account there earlier this summer.

I wasn't able to transfer my US Amex account back to Europe, so I had to open a new one here. However, I'm realizing Amex and the perks pretty much suck here and I'm strongly considering opening a US card again.

So here's the question / tldr : any issues using an Amex in Europe 24/7? I am not a US citizen, but still have a bank account there and an address. I'm also living in Europe permanently, and do not intend to move back to the States anytime soon.

Thanks for your input!

Tim O'Brien

as long as you have your social, US billing address (paperless helps) the only issue IMO is if the currency conversion hit mitigates the points/benefits?

MSPeconomist

mia

Agreed, even if the USA-issued card adds no foreign transaction fee, if your income is not earned in USD you will incur some expense for currency conversion.

Also, while USA-issued cards contain an EMV chip they do not use PIN authentication. You can reduce the tedium by requesting a card with the Contactless feature, or paying through a smartphone, but in the end there will always be some transactions where the card must be inserted, and the lack of PIN will be an issue.

Gasolin

I think it's getting better and better. Usually, if they take AMEX, the machine will ask for a signature. But some vending machines may not work with a pin + signature AMEX.
For me, the bigger issue in Europe is that many merchants don't take AMEX, so you always need a VISA or MASTERCARD back up.

sky-rat

If the question is: can I do the sign-up bonus thing (which are much bigger in the US)... had a think about this some time ago and decided the effort/benefit didn't quite stack up. It's possible if you have an address in the U.S. and a social security number and a bank account-- but you'll need to be retrieving your post in order to get your hands on the physical card and activate it. If you're passing through the States and can pick up your post every few weeks, fine-- but if living in Europe, probably less likely and harder to manage.

If it's just a matter of everyday spend, then I agree with previous posts: nice-to-have but the FX fee probably takes the benefits down to zero or near as.

If it's a matter of draining a balance in a legacy U.S. bank account, well, that's exactly what I did when I moved over from North America...got best U.S. card I could find, dropped the entire balance of account onto the card, and spent 'til it was all gone. Sure I incurred the 2-3% fees, but this was 20 years ago and I was likely to incur those fees anyway on a bank transfer back then (things have come a long way in that regard)

SPLP007

to get your hands on the physical card --- above is wrong info---

I live in Europe and AMX will send cards to europe---you need to call amx after they send the card to the u.s. address and tell them your out of the country and for security reasons cancel the card and issue a new card an # and send to europe-they require u wait 10 days b4 they will send the new card

BenSenise

Financially this makes no sense. You'll be earning in EUR (or whatever other currency) and spending in EUR but you'll be losing on the conversion when you buy and then again when you pay the bill. i cannot think of any benefit that could possibly worth the thousands of dollars that this will cost.

mia

Several USA-issued cards impose no currency conversion fee, so there would be no loss at time of purchase, only when paying the card statement (assuming Duke_Elrod does not have an income or assets in USD.)

BenSenise

I was under the impression that the OP was specifically referring to the Platinum card but upon re-reading their post, i see that i could have made an assumption that isn't valid.

MSPeconomist

mia

No foreign transaction fee on USA-issued Centurion or Platinum charge cards, including the co-branded Platinums (Ameriprise, Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, Mercedes, Morgan Stanley) since 2011:

American Express Eliminates Foreign Currency Fees USA Centurion and Platinum cards

Fees subsequently removed from Gold charge cards, most Delta, Hilton and Marriott credit cards.

thunderlounge

This has been my finding as well. No problem with chip+signature. I simply carry a pen and have it at the ready. The merchants are quite accustom to doing this.

Acceptance is the only real block, and that isn’t as bad as it used to be. I think on my last trip recently there were maybe 2 out of 10 didn’t accept AMEX.

Gasolin

Same, I was in France this year for 2 weeks and I think I could use my AMEX almost everywhere. Of course, whenever it's not accepted, you need to have your VISA ready.

inY

I do this. Get a Revolut to transfer your European income to a US bank account at good rates: Revolut? .

Get a Curve card: curve card changes. .

Amex support is in closed beta but when it exits you'll have a Mastercard debit card with Chip+PIN that charges your Amex and earns points. For now you can do Visa/MC and avoid the pen at the checkout!

Also, contactless support is near-universal, so Altitude Reserve + mobile wallet is a great combo.