Amex ANA Gold Card Application

[lovemy4girls]

I applied for this card today through a referral link but within seconds of submitting my application, I got a rejection email.
I have been living in Japan for 8 years now and have been working for a stock listed manufacturing company for the past 5 years.
I have the ANA SMBC wide card for 2 years then upgraded to the gold version which I have been using for the past 5 years as my main card.
Aside from this credit card, I have a Rakuten credit card which I have had for 4 years as well.
My credit card bills are paid in full every month so I think my credit record is not bad and getting a rejection that swiftly was a shock as it seems they didn’t even take a look at my application.
What was your experience like applying for Amex cards here in Japan?

 

[primarymay]

@lovemy4girls You may need to check the fine print, foreigner residents sometimes must apply by paper. The instant applications never worked for me. (Cards - Rakuten, Amazon, SMBC Gold NL)

It's more "computer says no", not a real rejection.

 

[lovemy4girls]

@primarymay Thank you, that’s also possible. I will check if they accept paper applications.
Did you apply for all your credit cards through paper submission?

 

[primarymay]

@lovemy4girls Rakuten yes.

Amazon - I was paying for Prime, and they had a Gold card offer. I was approved online.

SMBC Gold - The Amazon card is an SMBC card. So it approved instantly as my credit history was transparent on their end. (Computer says YES).

It seems if you have an SMBC card it's super easy to get approved for Another SMBC card. However, American Express cards seem to be harder to get in Japan, I don't know why.

 

[lovemy4girls]

@primarymay Yes, I don’t know why Amex is so elusive. I’m needing some ANA miles that is why I was so desperate to get this card as they are offering a lot of bonus miles in their campaign.

 

[ranked]

@lovemy4girls I applied AMEX Bonvoy online without problem, so maybe it's card specific?

 

[primarymay]

@lovemy4girls I don't like their cards personally.

I prefer to go with point systems that are really fungible. Rakuten points and V-poimt/T-point (they're joining), can't be beat. You can buy anything, including mutual funds, or just pay off your card.

Airmiles seem less desirable, post COVID.

 

[alliah]

@primarymay I like to travel and ANA has pretty frequent last-minute sales (Toku-tabi Mile, cuts prices of shorter, less heavily-booked flights down to as low as 3000 miles each way for flights like Itami-Miyazaki or 4500 miles for Kansai to Naha), so I'm also chasing ANA miles, like OP. However, I'm waiting for a credit rejection to fall off, so I'm going for debit card offers intead (Sony Bank's ANA debit card is currently offering 5000 miles for spending 50k on debit by November 30).

 

[neonm]

@primarymay I like Amex bc of their insurance for household goods. The points are ok too. 1 to 1 point to mile conversion for ANA (limited to 40k/year) though.

 

[primarymay]

@neonm Covid proved to me that fungible points, (R points and V-T (now one) points are superior. Payoff you card, invest with them, etc

 

[neonm]

@primarymay Yeah no one can really beat Rakuten points and their ecosystem. I think it’s the best point system in terms of collection rate and spending scope. I have a Rakuten ANA card but only use it at places that don’t take amex though.

Air miles are good in theory, but with ANA you have to plan waaaay ahead or every flight is a wait list, which defeats the point.

 

[primarymay]

@neonm Some people really like airmiles, I get frustrated.

 

[lrnjjj]

@primarymay seconded

I was once on a designated visa with only 3 months left on my residence card, fresh out of uni with no income, when the AMEX sales guy applied for both AMEX Green and ANA on my behalf hoping that they would at least accept one.

Both cards arrived by mail 2 weeks later...

 

[lovemy4girls]

@lrnjjj Thanks for sharing your experience. Wonder where I can find Amex sales guys lurking about the city! Desperately want to apply because of the ANA bonus points campaign they are offering

 

[lrnjjj]

@lovemy4girls since its ANA, your best bet for a physical booth is the airport

I did mine in Chitose, Hokkaido

 

[darkgalaxy501]

@primarymay I second this. When i signed up for my JAL gold card i submitted an electronic application just for them to turn around and ask me to submit a paper one. Turns out it wasn't anything major, just something about my full name not being able to fit on the card.

 

[lovemy4girls]

@darkgalaxy501 Thank you! I’ll give the paper submission a try!

 

[mary7]

@lovemy4girls I tried getting AmEx through the "Global Transfer" feature. Denied within a week. No reason given.

Applied immediately after rejection for the Amazon SMBC card with cashing and ETC and approved via the paper application.

I have no idea why this was the case. I would have thought the other way around.

 

[lovemy4girls]

@mary7 Yeah as most people are suggesting in this thread, paper application seems to be the easiest way to get the credit card. It’s just so weird that they rejected you even though you applied through the Global Transfer.

 

[mary7]

@lovemy4girls I actually called them after this and my policy with banking is to ensure I don’t royally screw myself I always ask for an interpreter so I said 「もしもし、英語を話してください」which usually will result in an interpreter being connected at other companies. I know SMBC Card does this, but they usually need to call you back. Well just so you know the way Amex Japan handles it is the guy just hanged up on me lol

How is Rakuten Card? Currently my Amazon Prime Mastercard only has a limit of 10万円 and I’ve already maxed it out for the month, so it’s unusable for until November 26th now. I don’t see them upping it as that was the limit I was assigned right after applying and it’s my first card here.