xolinlevh

So a friend of mine is about to hit Diamond on Delta and had a while back promised to gift me gold (one of the perks of Diamond) when he got there, i was talking to him tonight as hes gonna hit it in a couple days and he said that he may not be able to get it to me as he said, but he would get it to me possibly by adding me to his centurion account as a supplementary card holder, which gets DL Gold.

Thats great for me because ive always wanted one but dont have a high enough spend, i just have a few questions for people far more versed in the card then me:

-What other perks transfer to supplementary cards? i know theres the delta status, but does the free night at MOs transfer? elite status in car rental companies?
-How is billing done on supplementary cards? will anything i spend all go onto his bill? or is it possible to get them done as two separate bills?
-Are supplementary cards plastic or Ti? i searched around a bit on here before posting and found various conflicting results so thought id ask anyway.

Thanks for any insight you guys can provide!!

aviators99

Most all of the perks transfer. The only things I've found that don't apply to AC are things like gift cards that Amex sends, and special promotions.

Everything goes on his bill. No getting around that.

"Ti"

xolinlevh

ah sweet, gift cards would have rocked (esp that last armani one) but no biggie. shame about the billing, paypaling over money each month could be a bit of a pain...

thx a ton!

MarshKing

For what it's worth, you typically don't have to use the card in order to take advantage of most of its benefits. For example, the Fine Hotels & Resorts program only requires that you pay with an AmEx card, but it can be any AmEx card.

You could toss the Centurion Card in a drawer and enjoy most of its benefits while continuing to use your Delta AmEx for purchases.

xolinlevh

true, and for most things (probabally 90% of my spending) ill keep using either my plat or delta, but there are a few places/times where id like to use the cent card, such as at Neimans, Saks, other high end shopping.

mia

I'm not sure, but I think you would be able to link one of your bank accounts to the card to pay your portion directly to American Express.

In principle the primary cardholder would never need to give xolinlevh the physical card. He could just enroll him in the benefit programs.

S.Bling

I agree with both statements.

1. You can enroll a supplemental card in the same account as your own Amex Delta. You will only be able to see/pay your supplemental charges, not the Primary's. (But the Primary will always be able to see all the supplementals, of course). By the same token, you can manage all aspects of your supplemental card, including payments - the same way you pay any of your other Amex cards.

2. There are enough tales on FT and other forums of people "selling" Cent for the status but not the physical card. YMMV but it is worth considering asking your friend to make you a supplemental (just for the benefits), if a simple mileage-run for a particular airline's gold would have cost you 1500. This way you get status with 3-4 airlines, 3-4 hotel chains, etc etc.

Centurion

A very long time ago and prior to Centurion product and when their was only Platinum Personal I added a secondary card on for benefits. I do not even think Amex had a MR program so god knows what the benefits were back then. I do remember having an issue where I cancelled the secondary holder and some how the secondary persuaded Amex to UN CANCEL the card. I had to pay charges that belonged to the secondary after it was canceled.

MORAL.... Have a very good relationship with your secondary card holders.

mia

Agreed. I was amazed at the things my business partner's ex-wife was able to wheedle with credit cards on which she was not even a cardholder (such as our business account) .