mf44

Hello everyone,

I'm not currently an AMEX cardholder but have been thinking about it and the other recent thread posted about declined charges got me wondering.

Anyways, I've currently got a CapitalOne GoMiles Visa (yeah, I know, it's not fabulous, but that's why I'm looking at new options). I still want something with no annual fee, so the AMEX Blue Sky card seems appealing to me.

But the real reason I'm looking to change, or at least augment, the CapitalOne card is their horrible policy towards transactions abroad. I have traveled with this card quite a bit lately and have never had a successful transaction with this card. I always call several weeks in advance and outline my specific travel plans, including exact cities and dates, and regardless, after one transaction abroad, my card is frozen and I need to call in. Obviously this is a huge hassle and actually turned into a major problem for me at one point (long story short: in Beirut during the 2006 war and needed to charge things since the ATMs were running out of USD, needed to call CapitalOne every time I made a charge, dwindling cell phone minutes, etc, etc, you get the picture).

So my question is, how is AMEX about these sorts of things? I understand I should inform my card company about my travel plans and this is no problem. I just hate the fact that even when I do, they don't seem to care and just freeze my card anyways. I've never had this problem with my ATM card, only the CapitalOne...

Also, are there any promotions for signing up for the Blue Sky card at the moment?

Thanks for the help!

Mike

Thalassa

I don't have experience with the Blue Sky card specifically, but I have had US issued green and gold cards, and Finnish issued green, gold, and platinum cards.

I never have had a problem with charges abroad even though I have sometimes had charges of several thousands of dollars/euros. If I know I am going to have large charges abroad or I am travelling very rapidly between many countries, I have sometimes called ahead to let them know and they have told me that it is a good idea.

YMMV, but I have been satisfied.

Cheers,
T.

traveltot

I have a personal SPG Platinum (Since 1998) and a business Platinum charge card since 2003.
In my experience AMEX is the best card for travelling internationally.The caveat is that especially in Netherlands, Belgium and Germany AMEX acceptability is spotty incl.not being able to charge train tix in Netherlands to an AMEX card.
I have not had transactions being turned down to "prevent fraudulent activity" even though my travels take me to some emerging economies like China, India and also HKG and SIN.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the AMEX card basedon my own experience. Hopefully you will have a similar experience.

fone

I have never tried overseas transaction with my Amex, just online transactions. As for the declined charges, I've got my fair share of declined charges too with my Chase BP visa. So I guess that the declination of charges is not just confined to Amex.

mf44

Thanks for the positive replies, all. Now just looks like I need to hang out for a decent sign up offer.

dgwright99

I have charged large amount sof money all over the world and never had an issue - and I have never called ahead.

azmmza

the AMEX will have higher fees than the CRAP ONE card when used outside of the USA

BLV

I always use AMEX when traveling. I do call ahead to let them know that I'll be away and so far have not had any problems, even with transactions in Ukraine.

Axey

I've used my card in 4 countries in a single day and never gotten any call from AmEx. I don't call ahead either. AmEx is very good about building usage patterns for international travelers.

Funny sidenote, first fraud alert call I've gotten from AmEx in years was yesterday when I charged a locksmith and a hotel room in the city I live in.

trueblu

I use two different personal, UK-issued Amex cards. I've been living in the US for c. 6 months now, but because I still get paid in GBP, prefer having a UK card (despite 2.73% currency charge). I had a nice letter from Amex after 2 months of exclusively american charges, asking me if this was going to be a long trip!

All in all, I would agree that Amex is _by far_ the best card issuer for international travellers -- but as already pointed out, universal acceptance in europe and elsewhere is an issue, and always best to have visa/mc as back-up.

tb

miikka

Maybe it was their friendly reminder for you to update your address information in their database? I don't know about UK, but Amex in some other countries does not have anything against you living outside of the issuing country as long as they know your true address so they can keep in contact with you.

trueblu

Nice thought -- but both of my principle UK Amex cards -- the BA premium plus and Amex charge card _require_ a UK address. So although they know that I live in the US they can't change my address.

tb

Counsellor

I'm presuming, because of the comment about having a Capital One card, that you have a US mailing address. If so, you might look into the Starwood AMEX.

As with other AMEX cards, they charge a 2% transaction fee for charges in a non-USD currency, so less expensive than most (but not all) VISA and MasterCard. In addition, you earn one Starpoint per dollar charged (more, if staying at a Starwood property) and can convert 20K Starpoints to 25K miles on most (but not all) Frequent Flier programs, or you can use the Starpoints for free hotel nights.

They always have pretty good sign-up promotions going on..

mf44

I took a look at this one, but I'd like to avoid an annual fee if at all possible. Plus, most of my miles are in a OnePass account, and that is one of the few that transfers at a reduced ratio.

Thanks for the help, though. I appreciate it!

aspex

There are also ATMs that take Amex cards.

Its been a while (a decade now) but another nice thing is that you can cash personal checks at the international Amex offices. So if the ATMs are acting funny you can still cash a personal check and get cash.

They also have travelers cheques but I've never used those.