USA v UK credit card bonuses

[Royback]

Just getting into this and I’ve now watched a good few videos. I appreciate America is a much bigger country, but their sign up bonus offers appear to be much more generous and their options much wider……

Any chance of our CC companies upping their game to match.

Then I suppose…..can UK residents apply for cards outside the UK?

[Froggee]

The fees US credit cards charge merchants are much higher than charged by U.K. credit cards hence the disparity in sign-up bonus and earn rates.

Getting foreign cards is very tricky.

For the US you’ll want a social security number, a US bank account, a US address and a US credit history.

[can]

Plus Amex now switched to once-in-a-lifetime bonuses in the US as far as I know. Here at lease you can reset the clock in two years.

[Harrier25]

…for now.

[RK228]

can wrote:

Plus Amex now switched to once-in-a-lifetime bonuses in the US as far as I know. Here at lease you can reset the clock in two years.

Is that one bonus per card family (e.g., whatever the US equivalent is for, say, membership rewards-earning cards, Avios-earning cards, Nectar-earning cards, etc.) or one bonus across the whole portfolio of US AMEX cards?

[JDB]

RK228 wrote:

can wrote:

Plus Amex now switched to once-in-a-lifetime bonuses in the US as far as I know. Here at lease you can reset the clock in two years.

Is that one bonus per card family (e.g., whatever the US equivalent is for, say, membership rewards-earning cards, Avios-earning cards, Nectar-earning cards, etc.) or one bonus across the whole portfolio of US AMEX cards?

They keep it deliberately vague – e.g. on US Platinum:- “Welcome offer not available to applicants who have or have had this Card or previous versions of the Platinum Card®. We may also consider the number of American Express Cards you have opened and closed as well as other factors in making a decision on your welcome offer eligibility.” There are also much more onerous terms re welcome bonus and cancelling within first 12 months etc. Hopefully more sensible terms such as these will come to the UK to protect the normal cardholders.