jalpajalpa

Hey everyone. I have been reading these threads over the past couple years trying to gain insight into Centurion card. I signed up to this forum today just to give you some hope. I am pleased to say I got my invite on Monday and my card will be arriving tomorrow. I will try to give you as much detail as I think is relevant.

average spend is about $3-400k/year for a few years. Very little business expenses or what they would perceive as business expenses. Mostly travel, shopping when overseas, enormous high-end dinners, a few private jet charters and everyday stuff. When in luxury destinations I made sure I used my platinum card at the correct restaurants so they knew I was there... I did make an effort to avoid fast food restaurants and charges of that nature. No idea if that is part of their calculation.

Also used their travel concierge a few times just for fun.

I have a few friends with this card or want to get one and I agree with everyone that invites seem to be few and far between. The only thing that might have triggered it was passing the $1M mark with cumulative spending. Who knows.

SteveT

I think the reason why it became invite only is to prevent anymore "D-Bag reality personalities" or "Joe/Jane from Accounting" as Centurion cardmembers and to weed out existing cardmembers who are under those categories.

To get a Chase Palladium you "only" need $250K in assets with Chase Private Client.

kneeoh

USA Invite? Had you called in the past to get "noted" if so how long between notation and invite? I've seen a few other posts on twitter from people boasting invites. I did call to request a notation last week and the rep was more helpful than ever before. He said that NO invites went out in 2013 and indicators to him looked like bulk invites were going out for 2014. But no clarification on requirements, etc. Usually they just say "invite only, your account is noted."

tuchop

One thing i see most of the people is getting wrong, is that American Express doesn't have a specified parameter/requirements to give out a Centurion Card. There are a lot of factors that they take into consideration, and every account is unique. You might be putting 1m per year into amex and might still not get invited.
My recommendation (from what I have spoken to my centurion unit rep)
-Dont be guided by how much you spend on your platinum, be guided by how you spend it (Use Centurion Dining, Centurion Travel, put some debit charges, pay hotels and air fares, etc).
-Make good use of your Platinum benefits (use concierge, platinum travel, etc. so you're present in amex).
-Best credit score possible (always pay on time, if you're travelling, leave a big deposit to cover all posible expenses, etc)
-Give extensions to your spouse and kids (make your family spend all their expenses on amex)

and finally and most importantly.. don't expect it, don't look for it, don't wait for it... just live your life following what stated above, and sooner or later it will come...

Good luck!

PS: It's not really even worth it now a days, though they might add new benefits soon.. but who knows.

jalpajalpa

Yes, USA invite.

I called twice asking for the card with a year in between. Once I was over $250 for the first time I called. When I did it again (the following year) I called again. They said they could see my request from the previous call, but would make a notation again. The last time I called was probably 1.25 years ago. They to did not say any requirements, but I did not ask. I am sure they wouldn't have answered. The very first time I did ask if you needed to have a platinum card (I had rewards gold at the time) and they said that was not required. I got the platinum card anyway just so I could have access to the concierge and make the requests.

The card arrived today as promised first thing this morning. Maybe I will take a picture and post it. It looks different than everything I see online. I guess they made some changes for 2014. The "invitation box" was shipped via UPS and was a little 4" x 5" BLACK cardboard box. (you won't mistake it for anything else) Inside was a nice smaller box with a leather loop on top. You can see photos of that on the web.

GlobalServiced

jalpajalpa, photos would always be welcome!

kneeoh

Can you clarify what you mean by deposit to cover all possible expenses?

I'm doing everything else you mentioned...(that is of course except for the "don't look for it part").

kneeoh

Congrats, and thank you for the details, I've got a similar spending profile, hopefully I'll get one soon. Checking in to a FHR next week for my birthday just to go on record as having stayed there. I do that several time through the year. Did they just send you one card? do you know if its true that add-on cards to the account are plastic and not metal? I heard they look just like the platinum card.

tom139

Hello

I have been a BA PP Amex holder for over a year now putting between £30k-£50k per month on the card over the last year, always paying off the balance in full. In January I also got the Platinum card and put through between £15-£20k per month on this, extensively using the concierge and booking travel etc. I have previously spoken to Amex about Centurion when I only had the BA card and they said whilst I was on their system as a 'high spender,' you need to have the Platinum card generally. Is this true?

Thanks all.

YClass

As far as we know yes. But once accounts are linked then they count combined spend. So all you needed to have done was paid for the Plat, used the travel services and with that spend am sure you would have been offered it by now.

Also they like more history than one year of spend and Amex. Usually I think it's 3 years ideally increasing spend and using services regularly. Eg just 20k per month on stock is not interesting. 20k per month on a blend of everything including high end travel and shopping is. Thresholds used to be like £125k annual spend and more than £300k personal income but I heard they had increased those thresholds materially.

Still impressive to be given that large a monthly limit on an Amex credit card especially if only had it one year. Maybe they'll make an exception as they seem to have done with your credit limit.

tuchop

If you're travelling, leave money upfront on amex.
For example, last January I travelled with family for almost 40 days. That means that I was away when the card month ended. Since I was away, and couldn't pay the charges on the card, I left money upfront before leaving. This way, Amex makes sure you pay on time, no problems are made, and it's always better to do the favour, than have them do it for you. When I was a Platinum member, even then I had a "good relationship" with amex. If i travelled, they used to tell me not to worry about payments, and that I could pay as soon as I came back.. like a "favour" from them. But I always chose to leave money upfront, and save them the "favour". I think those are the small things that later make the big call from them. You earn their respect and trust, in a way.
Good luck!

tuchop

This is just my opinion, don't take it as a fact:

You do need to be a Platinum Member to get the Centurion Card. But you don't necessarily have to spend on the Platinum Card. If you have the Platinum Card, but spend money on the British Airways card, as long as this one is from amex (directly, no banks in between), the expenses will go to your "overall" amex account as Mr X. That way, its the same for them if you spend money on the Plat, or on the BA one.
I wouldn't expect a Centurion invite anytime soon, if you've only started spending that much recently. I don't think they look for the "new" high spender, but the loyal spender. I guess the "member since" year, is a factor of the invite too.

mia

I am puzzled by the notion that someone "couldn't" pay while travelling. If you have internet access you can see your account balance and you can make payments online, unless banking in Argentina is very different?

Centurion

I agree with MIA and not sure why you would pre pay and think of reasons why you should not pre pay. Also any personal Amex product use in the past qualified you for Centurion. This was some time ago and obviously does not include bank cards branded with Amex

tuchop

Maybe some of us pay with cash? ^