Have you ever eaten at an expensive restaurant in a foreign country and seen the waiter make fun of your Visa or MasterCard? Believe it or not, this happens a lot to people who travel internationally, especially those who use their business credit card to pay for the trip. In the U.S., money is money, but in other countries, the way you pay can directly affect the service you get. American Express was started in 1850. Since then, it has grown to become the most popular financial centre overseas and offers many options for people travelling abroad.
Hotels, Retailers & Restaurants
When travelling abroad, it's always best to have your American Express card with you so you can use it to buy things at hotels, stores, and restaurants. Business owners and their employees have come to trust the American Express name. Some places accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover, but many others don't like it when customers use these cards. Businesses are more likely to accept American Express because there are thousands of financial centres in almost every country. This gives you an advantage when shopping, eating, or sleeping in a foreign country.
With a card like the Hilton HHonors Platinum Credit Card from American Express, you can also earn reward points for free hotel stays, free airline tickets, and discounts on travel vacation packages. Both the JetBlue and Blue Sky cards offer the same benefits.
Paying out checks
If you have an American Express Credit Card, it will be much easier for you to do your banking abroad. Most American Express financial centres will cash personal checks of up to $1,000 for regular card members and up to $5,000 for gold card members. They can also make money transfers and currency exchanges that are easy and quick.
Even though you should always bring your bank information with you when you travel, having an American Express credit card is like having an extra bank account. Running out of money in a foreign country is scary and something you should try to avoid if you can. You can get cash advances and money transfers at financial centres with your American Express credit card.
Flights and car rentals
One of the most stressful parts of a professional's job is business travel. If you travel a lot for work, an American Express credit card can help you feel less stressed. When it's time to fill out expense reports, you'll have a lot less paperwork to sort through if you use the same card for your flights, rental cars, and other purchases in other countries. When you use American Express, it can also be easier to deal with flights that are late or get cancelled. If your flight gets cancelled, the airline can just put the money back on your card instead of making you wait weeks or even months for a check.
American Express also has credit cards with airline rewards, like the Gold Delta SkyMiles card. When you travel internationally, you earn the most bonus miles for future flights, and your SkyMiles never expire, which is different from other airline reward cards. When you use your SkyMiles card to book a flight, you never have to worry about blackout dates. This can be a great perk for people who travel internationally a lot.
Credit Cards for a business
American Express has a wide range of business credit cards, from ones for small businesses to ones for big companies. Business cards are treated with the same respect as personal cards in other countries, and in many cases, the benefits are even better. If your business or the company you work for needs you to travel often, you may be able to get more rewards than if each employee used his or her own credit card. For example, with the American Express Platinum Business FreedomPass Credit Card, each card earns points that can be used for rewards like free travel and lodging. So if twelve employees have copies of the FreedomPass Credit Card, the business gets rewarded twelve times over.
Having an American Express business credit card can also help employees feel more at ease when travelling abroad. The company is billed directly, so employees don't have to charge expenses to their own accounts and then fill out an expense report. American Express is the only credit card company that is accepted almost everywhere overseas. It is not the only credit card company that gives travel and cash rewards, but it is the only one that is. International travellers will find that some places only accept cash, but there is always a place to get more cash if they run out, so they can feel safe knowing their money is safe.
