If you’ve moved abroad (or plan to), you’ve likely discovered that no other country offers credit card points as lucratively as the United States.<\/p>\n
But there’s no need to resign yourself to paying cash for your travels or never seeing another six-figure bonus offer<\/a><\/span>. With a few specific strategies, you can keep earning big welcome bonuses<\/a><\/span> as well as points and miles for everyday expenses, regardless of where you currently call home.<\/p>\n Here’s what you need to know to apply and earn no matter where you are.<\/p>\n Related: My 4 top travel credit cards \u2014 and how they elevate my trips<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n If most of your purchases are made in a currency other than U.S. dollars, you’ll want to ensure you’re not charged a fee each time you use a card in a foreign currency. Fortunately, the vast majority of top rewards credit cards do not charge foreign transaction fees<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n While the coronavirus pandemic rapidly accelerated card acceptance and usage worldwide \u2014 to the point that some retailers in Europe, for example, no longer accept cash \u2014 don’t expect every destination to accept every card. While American Express<\/a><\/span> acceptance is high in countries like Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, India and Singapore, many countries do not commonly accept Amex. It’s a good idea to have a high-earning, benefits-packed Amex card as well as a Visa or Mastercard in your wallet to cover any acceptance issues.<\/p>\n U.S. credit cards require a physical U.S. residential address to apply for and receive your card. You can use a friend’s or relative’s address \u2014 since this person will be receiving a credit card in your name, it must be someone you trust implicitly. Digital mail-forwarding addresses will generally not work, as banks now have sophisticated address-checking systems that weed out commercial listings. You may need to verify your address, so it’s a good idea to have a utility bill or bank statement showing that postal address available.<\/p>\n Many card issuers send you text messages for identification purposes, whether for an unusual purchase abroad or when contacting them for customer service, and you’ll need a U.S. phone number to receive them. You can use a service like Google Fi or magicApp to ensure you have a U.S. phone number when an issuer asks for it and can receive security text messages. Don’t skimp on this, as some issuers’ verification messages won’t come through inexpensive Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, setups, and you won’t be able to verify your identity or certain purchases.<\/p>\n Just because you are living abroad doesn’t mean you should forget about your U.S. credit score. Use monitoring services to note any large and unexpected changes to your score, which could suggest a reporting error that needs to be corrected. It’s also a good idea to keep your oldest cards open, even if this means downgrading to a free card to avoid paying an annual fee for a card you may no longer use, to protect your credit history length, a key factor in the makeup of your credit score<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Reward your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter<\/p>\n Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG\u2019s experts<\/p>\nWhat to know about applying for and using a credit card as an expat<\/h2>\n
Choose cards with no foreign transaction fees<\/h3>\n
Consider local acceptance<\/h3>\n
Use a US address<\/h3>\n
Use a US phone number<\/h3>\n
Protect your credit score<\/h3>\n
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