I did a search on FT and nothing seems to be centralized to non-US based CCs.

Its looking as if for two years I will move to Singapore for work and my strategy as far as I am doing now will be obsolete pretty fast. (Citi PPE/TYN and SPG Amex)

I am wondering if there is any intel on Credit Cards that are mile/point generating for non-US based addicts... (i meant domiciled FTers)

Case in point I could use my SPG Amex as I could mantain a US based address but then I would be subject to 2% Forex fee, not a smart trade.

So perhaps it would be useful to elencate points/miles earning Credit Cards for non-US based folks as i will be one of them soon.

In my case I am pretty confident that I could use an SQ (not sure though) CC to generate SQ miles, thing is that I dont use *A and given all the work I have put into OW and ST, I really dont want to jump ship and diulute years of work in obtaining status and pretty large balances (1mm+/program).

Thoughts?

When Mr Canuck and I moved to France, we were disappointed to discover how few affinity cards etc were available. We ended up with a Flying Blue Amex, which is pretty good since you actually get status miles with Air France/KLM for credit card purchases.

The options are very region-specific, so I can't help much but I did notice that the Asia Miles program might offer what you're looking for. There seem to be lots of options for earning miles "by living your daily life" (e.g. credit card purchases, telecoms, grocery stores etc) and there are quite a few credit cards listed, including an Amex Card. The miles can be redeemed with various airlines, including Cathay. Go to www.asiamiles.com.

You could get a Capital One rewards card for outside the U.S. The rewards programs aren't that good, but there is no charge on foreign transactions (they cover the Visa/MC conversion fee).

I lived in that part of the world for 5 years. Just came back to North America last year. It is extremely difficult to avoid SQ if you live in Singapore, but there are is enough Cathay, BA and Qantas traffic that you might just manage to avoid *A.

I pretty much stuck with Amex the whole time, but Citibank does offer a Cathay Pacific Visa card in Singapore that might meet your needs. The application process might be a little onerous if you don't have all the official documents you need when you ned them. That's why I stuck with Amex global transfer.

Whenever relocating overseas, I find it useful to visit the local Citibank, HSBC and American Express website to find out about card possibilities. Amex usually has an affinity card for the biggest local airline (or close to it; ie: AF/KL in France, BA in the UK, AC in Canada, Qantas in Oz, SQ in Singapore, etc.) Citi and HSBC, depending on the country, usually have an extensive presence. Even if they don't offer what you're after, they will give you an idea of what is generally available in terms of products, rewards and fees in that country.

In which currency will you be paid?

USD. Any difference? I still would have to buy in SGD...

Inevitably you will need to convert USD into SGD, and there will be a conversion expense. If you use a US Dollar card you will be charged an interbank rate plus 2 or 3% to convert the transactions into dollars daily, and you will be able to pay the card monthly with dollars. If you use a Singapore Dollar card you will need to convert US Dollars to pay the bill and this will cost you something. You need to know that cost before you can decide whether it make sense to use US Dollar denominated cards for some or all spending.

How will you pay expenses that are not on a card, such as rent or taxes?

While you won't get any miles for doing this, Citibank in most places now offers no commission conversion of USD to local currency if you use a US based Citi debit card at a local Citi ATM. That is, no forex commission added, and no ATM fee. You get essentially the wholesale rate for USD.

IMHO, this is a pretty good deal. And, there have been several recent Citi offers where you can get 10 to 20K AA miles for opening a US based Citi checking account.

This might be a good way to go, if you can arrange for your pay to go into a Citi $ account.

Hi Dennis,

I'm assuming I will open a chk acct and pay check/cash for things such as rent.

Regarding conversion being that I work for an investment bank I will get spot rates comission free for any conversion.

Biggestbopper brings up a good point. At this stage I'm trying to get more familiar with asiamiles and if it doesn't appeal to me I might join SQ and go from there given that I expect substantial spending I could be on the receiving end of a couple of premium class long hauls from SQ. Kind of bummed as I was starting to generate some serious TYN points. Currently stand at about 110+k in approx 3 months.

I will also anticipate flying over dozen times + in/out SIN in C/F so I'm looking at this PPS club they have... Just sucks to start fresh... Might do a status match as I'm PM on DL and EXP on AA currently. When I get home (currently in australia) I will do some digging but so far the choices are slim frankly. I guess at some point life takes precedence to miles and points...