Business Platinum Card from American Express
130,000 MR points
My US Credit Card Journey: 2019 Update
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Business Platinum Card from American Express
- Earn 90,000 MR points upon spending $15,000 in the first three months
- Plus, earn 40,000 MR points upon making a purchase in months 14–17 as a cardholder
- And, earn 1.25x MR points on all purchases
- Also, receive a $200 annual travel credit
- Transfer MR points to Aeroplan and other frequent flyer programs for premium flights
- Unlimited airport lounge access for you and one guest at Priority Pass, Plaza Premium, Centurion, and other lounges
- Credits and rebates for business expenses throughout the year with Amex Offers
- Bonus MR points for referring family and friends
- Qualify for the card as a sole proprietor
- Annual fee: $799
29 Comments
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Amazon letter method didn’t work for me either.
I resent my application with Amazon letter on thick paper/photoshopped out underlines. Fingers crossed.
Great article. I have the Hilton aspire and recentky got the delta gold that is on promotion until today for no fee. 60k bonus delta skymiles in case anyone is interested. I use my skymilesto fly on westjet.
Hi Ricky, I’ve been denied an ITIN for the second time this week. I did exactly what you mentioned. You said at the meetup in Montreal that you could dig a little bit to find new ways to get a letter supporting an ITIN application since the Amazon letter doesn’t seem to work anymore. I guess I’m not the only one who is having trouble getting an ITIN. Any tip and advice would be much appreciated
Hi everyone,
For Canadians not spending too much time south of the border – do you use those US cards here in Canada and just bite the bullet on the foreign transaction fees?
Is there a workaround for minimizing the cost of using those cards here in Canada?
Thanks!
If you’re going to do a Global Transfer through American Express, then get the Hilton Honors. They have no annual fees and no FX fees on that card – if foreign transaction fees are your primary concern and you still travel enough to warrant having points built up with the Hilton brand.
Thanks XX – I am indeed going to do a Global Transfer through Amex to start with.
But limiting myself only to the no annual fee / FYF cards loses the purpose of the hassle of US cards for Canadians.
So, for all other cards (after I finish with the Hilton Honors) – should I just use those here in Canada and pay the fees?
Moreover – I will still have to pay the statement (which is in USD) from my CAD funds – since I work here in Canada and my salary is in CAD..
Would love to hear any ideas to tackle this issue – otherwise, about 5% out of pocket to get those bonus points seems a bit too high..
I don’t know your particular use case for wanting to obtain a US credit card so I can’t help you any further.
Check out Ricky’s guide on getting US credit cards as a Canadian.
Hey Ricky,
Couple questions for you. I hope you don’t mind hitting me back.
1) Do you ever use your Canadian address for any of these US credit cards or is it strictly the 247 US one?
2) Do you see any benefit in opening a US bank account with Chase or BoA – if we are looking at getting their products?
Thanks Ricky.
Always the US address. Yes, like I mentioned in the article, opening an account with Chase early on can build your relationship and get you approved for their cards faster. Same goes for BoA I presume – plus the fact that they only take ITINs in-branch means that an in-person visit is inevitable.
Hey Ricky,
Thanks for replying. I worded my sentence wrong, I meant to ask if you use your Canadian address for any of the US bank accounts or do you use your US address only? I assume they ask for ID (passport).
I’m going to book a consultation with you once my ITIN comes in next month. I have a dozen small questions that I believe would be best answered in one sitting over the phone.
Thanks again.
Ricky, what are your plans for when your ITIN expires? (From IRS website)"Your ITIN may expire before you file a tax return in 2020. All ITINs not used on a federal tax return at least once in the last three years will expire on December 31, 2019. " I think I’m a year away from this but sounds like you’ve had yours 3yrs so looking for guidance.
Good question. For the purposes of using your ITIN as a unique identifier on your credit file, the ITIN expiring shouldn’t actually have any effect, since your ITIN would already be attached to the credit file.
The problem is if you ever need to provide proof of your ITIN again – in that case, the original ITIN document you received might or might not work. I plan to cross that bridge when I get to it.
Its just bit late that i came across this article as i was hit with “dreaded pop-up” as well few days back and ended up continuting hoping that i will get the bonus as i never held same card before and i was spending organically for the last 9 months (except last month).
I have AMEX person bonvoy card opened in Feb-2019, met MSR of 1k and contd.. spent few more months..until last month.. Still got the pop-up but ignored and went ahead and got approved.
Lets hope they can manually adjust upon request by sighting the spending habits.
Chase called and asked for proof of residence, no bank statements, either rental agreement or utility bills. How does one get around this?
I’m in the same boat, let me know if you figure this out.
@Jeff Open a US bank account with Chase next time you’re down south.
I did this, it still didn’t help me, they still ask for the proof of residence (rental agreement or utility bills)
Just read about the new AMEX Green card benefits. This is going straight to the top of my want-list.
Also have both Chase IHG cards for the free night certificates.
Lucky man! I got in on the IHG shortly after the original card was phased out.
Recently hit the min spend for the CIP and I can confirm it’s $5k, not $4k. Toughest card approval for me to date (took me 3 tries).
Other cards in my wallet right now:
AMEX Gold -> retention offer of 15k MR/$2k spend so decided to kept it
AMEX Marriott Brilliant & Business
CSP -> retention offer $60 credit (dropping annual fee to $35). Will downgrade to Freedom next year so I can get the sign-up bonus for CSR (48 month wait time!).
*Next on my want-list are the Chase Ink Cash & Unlimited Bus cards for their sign-up bonuses and no fee.
@Ricky: Surprised you cancelled AMEX Gold. Lots of value there with 4x MR/$1 on restaurants globally and tons of great AMEX offers. Were you offered a retention bonus? BOA Alaska is a solid choice for your next card.
Correct on the $5k min spend, I’ve updated that. Three tries for myself as well, incidentally.
Yeah the Gold was borderline for me in terms of keeping it vs. going with a middling retention offer. I could’ve played it differently, but it doesn’t make too much of a difference for me in the end.
Hi Jules: How did you get CIP as a Canadian. How did you fill out the business app? and how do you pay the MSR in USD, transferwise?
@Brian I’m Canadian but I also have a SSN. Complete the business app with your name and as a sole proprietorship (unless you have an actual legit business). Transferwise indeed.
Are you able to confirm that those with USA AMEX cards but without ITIN/SSN are still building US credit history? I’ve seen answers both ways on this, some say yes you are building credit based on all your other info (name, birthdate, address, etc) going to the bureaus plus the fact AMEX gives you an Experian score and others say only an ITIN/SSN will help you build US credit history. Just wondering if you had any further insight into this. Thanks!
Have you found a US high interest savings account that takes Canadians? I had looked at the Amex account, but it requires a W9 certifying US residency, which would have US tax consequences.
Never read an article so rich in useful datapoints. POT delivers. Or, since content was US-related, POTUS
(lame)
Surprised you haven’t gone for Chase’s Hyatt card.
Yeah, in hindsight I’m pretty annoyed with myself for choosing the IHG over the Hyatt as well. Now that I’m over 5/24, I’ll need to lay low for a while before picking that one up.