Trinners

Yes it is.

I had an Amex IEC card in Ireland for several years prior to going to the US. The Global Transfer process is very simple (this was back in 2010). You need to have your card open for at least 12 months and be in good standing with Amex. You also need to have a US bank account open before you can apply. Ditto a US social security number.

Global Transfer told me to apply online for whatever card I wanted and make note of the application reference. Once I had done this they called my bank and conferenced them in on the call to verify my bank account details and my home address. They approved my card on the spot and overnighted it to me by UPS.

As well as giving me a credit card within a week of arriving in the US with no credit history; once my new Amex card hit my credit report, it showed I had the card open from when I originally opened my Amex card in Ireland. This instantly gave me 10 years of credit "history" in the US and I was able to get a whole host of other decent cards with the likes of Chase within a few months.

Best of luck with your move.

lucianod

Hi everyone,

I've read every single post in this thread, but can't come to a clear conclusion on the following, as there seem to be conflicting reports.

For a Global Transfer to the US

1. Will the Member since date remain intact?
2. How will the card show in a US credit report? Will it be the "member since" date (backdated) or the actual move date for the US card?

Thanks for everyone's time.

MrShyGuy

1. No at first. AMEX in US will give you a new card with a a new member since date. Once they verify your info, they will change it to what it was in the other country. I had this done.

2. It will not appear in the report at all in any of the bureaus. And I don't think it appears in AMEX US systems either, perhaps there are just notes on the accounts. It has never appeared in any of my US credit reports (I never closed the old AMEX card in the other country)

mia

Welcome to Flyertalk, and thank you for the helpful reply. I believe lucianod is asking whether the newly created USA card account will be reported to US credit bureaus with the Member Since date as the date that the account was opened.

lucianod

Exactly, that's what I was asking

MrShyGuy

Oh OK, My foreign (non-US) AMEX Gold card (which I have had since 2002) has never, ever, shown in any of the three reporting bureaus. AND the credit card from the US has NOT, EVER shown the foreign "Member since date" in the credit bureaus. The account history in all three bureaus goes back only to when the card was opened in the US. The credit history does NOT come to the US in any way, shape of form. As I said, I don't think even AMEX puts it in to their system, because all my history with AMEX US has always been referred to as when I opened my account in the US. For example, I have a Platinum and they have said: "I see you have enjoyed this and this benefits since you opened the account in the US" so, no reference to the foreign account at all.

In fact, I would say they don't give you extra consideration to the foreign card. Foreign Centurions will not be considered, and the credit line (for the charge Platinum card) I was given was completely independent of the one I had outside the US. It is just like opening a new card here plain and simple. I guess the benefit is really just showing the older member since date in the card and transferring points, see my note below.

And yes, I just signed up since I am a uber_lurker but I knew the answer to this one. Just giving back to the community for so much I have been given.

On an additional note: AMEX-US also can transfer the Membership Rewards points from any country to the US, and it doesn't have to be immediate also (I let it slide and waited 5 years for mine!!) BUT the condition is that the foreign card has to be closed, so, I did NOT go through with it.

leaveamessage

1- Yes. Member since 06 in uk, did global transfer, my US card showed member since 06 right off the bat.
2- backdated (I think). I have never checked tbh

lucianod

Great, thanks for the input! Now I'm out to find someone who's done a Citigold account transfer....

RichardMannion

When I moved over to the US, they wouldn't grant me a US Centurion. So I applied for a Gold Card, which wasn't initially successful online. I called them up, gave my UK BA Premium Plus credit card details and they cleared the account for approval and sent me the card a day later. When I looked at my credit report online, I can see that the history is backdated to correlate with when I opened the account in the UK, so I have a very good FICO score as a result (I was one of the original BA card holders, so opened it in 2001). A 13 year longest account record is really helping my score.

lucianod

Thanks Richard. Your experience is exactly what I'm hoping for. I've only been a member for 6 years, and am 28. Starting a credit history can be a terrible pain, so I was looking at this global transfer program as a way to get a "boost" in my FICO score.

Unfortunately it seems like experiences vary, and not everyone has had the account backdated. Maybe it's something that could be requested post-facto?

howtofreetravel

Anyone know if this is possible?

mia

You cannot use Global Transfers to obtain a card in another country just because you want one. Global Transfers allows you to use your history with American Express in one country to apply for a card in another country. It does not change the requirements for the new card account.

WORLDWIDE TRAVELER

This is not trough, when I transfered my Mexican Platinum card to an Austrian one I just called the Austrian customer service and requested the transfer.
I only needed to send a copy of my identification and proof of austrian Address and thats it, no one was asking me for my income or employee information or even income.

Pimevai

I was wondering if it was possible to transfer MR points from a Canadian account into an American one?

I tried searching for the answer but everything I turned up was about transferring to other travel partners, whereas I just wanted to transfer MR to MR except into the American program which has MUCH better redemption ratios.

roastpuff

Doesn't seem possible unless you convert your Canadian MR card into an American MR card, as if you were moving countries.