SusanDK

I hold a Platinum International Dollar card issued out of the UK. I'm an American living in Denmark.

Most of my travel is with SAS to the U.S., and most charges are for both business and personal purchases in USD with primarily US companies.

I find it very frustrating and disturbing that I cannot get the AmEx Platinum benefits afforded U.S. cardholders.

Has anyone figured out a way to transfer MR points from an International Dollar card to any of the airlines that are in MR for US card holders? I would like to transfer points to US Airways program, so I can redeem *A flights on SAS. Can't join BMI (the only *A airline in the UK MR program) because I don't live in a qualifying country of residence.

The companion flights and upgrades are not even available to me, as these are only available for flights originating from the UK (and I don't wish to stop in the UK for a connection before flying to the US since I usually need to connect again at that end).

I just received an invitation to Centurion and telephoned to ask about the extra benefits, which I thought included elite status in several airlines' programs. Disappointed again - NO elite status in any airline's program.

Is there any way to get U.S. MR / Platinum / Centurion benefits for the Int'l $ card since I'm an expat U.S. citizen?

What would happen if I changed my address of record to a U.S. address and asked AmEx to transfer my account? If I upgraded to the UK Centurion for the $1,000 price quoted, then submitted a change of address to a U.S. address, could I keep my Centurion for $1,000 and get the U.S. Centurion benefits?

Susan

ozzie

Each country has its own benefits.

I, personally prefer the UK Centurion, for the following reasons:

1. It is cheaper (£650 per year instead of $2500)
2. You can have multiple supplementary cards for free.
3. You get two priority passes - which give you access to an airline lounge just about anywhere in the world.
4. VS Lounge access.

The airline elite memberships don't really mean much to me - I have elite status on all the airlines I fly regularly anyway. The only thing I would like from the US program is the Hyatt Diamond status - which I may use once or twice a year.

You can send you MR points to any airline you like by first converting them to Starwood points, though this results in a devaluation.

SusanDK

Thanks, ozzie. I guess since I don't live in the UK, the UK-based benefits are not as useful to me. I've got a single Priority Pass with my Platinum and since I only travel infrequently with my husband, just pay the guest fee when needed.

I'm interested in your comment about converting SPG points to any airline. I couldn't find a list of airline programs to which I could transfer miles on the Starwood site. Do you know where I can find this? Is SAS one of the airlines?

Susan

KyRoamer

Airlines found at https://www.starwood.com/preferredgu..._checkRoc.html and include:

Frequent Flyer Program Exchange Ratio(Starpoints: Miles)

Air Canada Aeroplan 1:1
Air FranceSM Frequence Plus 1:1
Air New Zealand Air Points 1:1
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan 1:1
Alitalia MilleMiglia 1:1
All Nippon Airways ANA Mileage Club 1:1
America West Airlines FlightFund 1:1
American Airlines AAdvantage 1:1
Asiana Club 1:1
British Airways Executive Club 1:1
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles 1:1
Continental Airlines? OnePass 1:1
Delta Air Lines SkyMiles 1:1
EVA Air Evergreen Club 1:1
Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines Skywards 1:1
Hawaiian Airlines 1:1
Japan Airlines JAL Mileage Bank 3:2
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Flying Dutchman 2:1
LanChile LanPass 1:2
Lufthansa Miles and More 1:1
Mexicana? Frecuenta 1:1
Northwest Airlines World Perks 1:1
Qantas Airways Frequent Flyer 1:1
Saudi Arabian Airlines Alfursan 1:1
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer 1:1
Swiss TravelClub 1:1
Thai Airways International Royal Orchid Plus 1:1
US Airways Dividend Miles 1:1
United Airlines Mileage Plus 2:1
VARIG 2:1
Virgin Atlantic Airways Flying Club 1:1


For every 20,000 Starpoints transferred, Starwood will automatically add another 5,000 Starpoints to the total.

SusanDK

Thanks - appreciate it!

Susan

paulnagy

Got a question..... You mean to tell me that with the Platinum International Dollar Card I won't be able to transfer my MR points to Continental or Delta? Thats really dumb, there must be another way around this besides devaluing the crap out of them by funneling through starwood.

ahrz

The answer to the 1st question is clearly : NO .

The products differ from country to country, are designed for the needs of the local market (or the customer target).

So you get the product you applied for "as it is", irrespective of where you come from.

The Intl $ products are derived from the UK counterparts.

2nd question :
If you change to your US address, you could keep your Centurion, but still with unchanged UK benefits.

chalf

I think that the ID cards have the same MR partners as the UK cards. Airline partners for the UK cards are CO, DL, BD and VS (maybe a few more, but not relevant for my purposes and thus ignored).

Edited to add: In addition to the above, Amex MR UK partners with AZ, AF, IB, LX and SN. It doesn't help on the *A front, though SkyTeam is fairly well covered.

SusanDK

You'll be ok. The Int'l Dollar Card has Continental and Delta as MR partners. My problem is they don't have US Air so the only *A partner is BMI, which I'm ineligible to join.

But I don't think you can get an Int'l Dollar Card living in the U.S. anyway (unless your question is because you will be moving abroad).

Susan

erlftex

SusanDK,

I have multiple foreign and American friends who have US SSN's from citizenship and/or time in the US as students and they all have US-based cards instead of International $ cards for just the reasons you lay out. Not only are the rewards typically worse, but you still get *crushed* on the currency exchange. If you have any family, friends or relatives in the US I would use your SSN and their address to apply for a US card, and then sign up for online payments/billing etc. This is what I did in my years abroad as well. My opinion has not changed for the last ten years-- US credit card products are generally better than non-US simply because of competition, with the UK being the only country that comes close.

You might want to consider the MBNA Quantum Mastercard as a backup as well; when I travel abroad now I don't even use my Platinum, just my Quantum.

Erlftex

SusanDK

Thanks Erlftex,

I have been considering using my mother's U.S. address to get a U.S. based card, but as I have nearly 200,000 MR points, I would like to transfer my IDC to a U.S. based card, not just start over. Also, since I have a Centurion invitation on my IDC now, I'm wondering if I should take it and then try to get it transferred. I doubt I would get a Centurion invitation too quickly on a new account.

I don't generally have an exchange rate problem because I primarily use the Int'l dollar card for dollar purchases only (except when paying for my air ticket).

I have both VISA and MC with U.S. banks (dollar-based) as backups, just prefer to us the AmEx whenever it's accepted because of MR.

Susan

holtju2

As long as you call to the number in US (1-800-one) you get connected to Bombay!

chalf

I have heard rumors from some of my colleagues who have relocated from the UK back to the US that they have been able to repatriate UK Amex MR points to the US MR program when closing out all UK issued Amex products. I have not confirmed this, but it might be worth asking Amex if this is in fact possible.

jja34-1

I was able to do this when closing a UK Platinum account. All UK Amex MR points were transferred to my existing US MR account. Best thing of all is that they were not transferred on a 1:1 basis, but on a ratio based on the $:£ exchange rate at that time.

I was also told when signing up for my UK Platinum account that a transfer of UK MR points to US MR points could be done on a regular basis and was not just limited to accounts being closed. Given my experience with UK Platinum customer service, though, there's a fairly good chance that the person who told me this had no idea what they were talking about.

SusanDK

This was helpful information. I just spoke to the MR department at AmEx UK and was told that I could open a new US AmEx account, and that once per year I could request an international transfer of MR points from my UK MR account to the US MR account.

Of course, I would have to pay the fee to have a US Platinum in addition to the fee I now pay for a UK IDC Platinum, but it is certainly an option in order to get my points into a *A carrier.

Not sure if I should accept the UK Centurion invitation and hope I could somehow get it transferred to a US Centurion, but it is food for thought.

Thanks for all the advice!

Susan