American Express Membership Rewards - Centurion card?

Any recommendations for how to qualify for the Centurion card? AMEX tells me it is by invitation only.

Get a Platinum Card and charge anything and everything you can on it ... then wait until they invite you.

Beckles, now all I need is a platinum card! Amex does not seem to want to give me one. I have perfect credit i.e. never missed a payment, ever, a good income, no loans, always pay credit cards in full each month. I guess they do not think that they will make any money off me. Thoughts? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/confused.gif

[This message has been edited by Travelcrazy (edited 03-29-2000).]

Can someone tell me what the benefits are?

platmember, welcome. Try taking a look at the Amex website:
http://home1.americanexpress.com/apply/platinum/card/docs/page1b0.asp?Entry=20

From my understanding, it is extremely beneficial to those who fly a lot on Continental and partners, especially if you fly business class or better. My brother has one and goes to Europe and Africa regularily. His company pays for a business class ticket. If he buys it using his Amex Plat card, his girlfriend flies with him for free. Additionally, he gets President's Club lounge access on day of flight for free. Membership Rewards program enrollment is also free. There are other benefits, but this is not bad for $300/yr.

Now, if only I could get one http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

[This message has been edited by Travelcrazy (edited 03-29-2000).]

Travelcrazy ~ When I got my Platinum card a few years ago, you had to meet one of the following requirements to get it:

1) Be an AMEX member for 10 years
2) Have spent $5,000 or more in the past 12 months on your AMEX card

I easily met the second requirement with my green card. Note that I'm not sure if Corporate Cards count for these requirements.

Except for situations such as the one described by Travelcrazy (someone is buying you a full-fare business-class ticket and you want to take a companion) I wouldn't bother with the Platinum card, as the concierge and travel services have gone so far downhill as to be unusable.

I have some very interesting information on the Centurion (black) card that I'm posting under a separate thread.

[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 03-29-2000).]

Beckles, thanks! That could be it. The $5,000 is no biggie, but I have only had a personal Amex for 9 months.

Those requirements might not be current: I was offered a Platinum card two years after I cut a green card up.

The Black card is only benefical if you travel a lot. For $83.33 you get a ton of Airline, Car rental and Hotel benefits that you wold pay a lot more for if you chose to purchase them. Would you choose to purchase them is the question? Well, with Avis, you pay for a small car and get a 2 car upgrade. This saved me $60 last week. Membership in the Airline clubs is worth several hundred a year. Upgraded flights because of the frequent flyer gold level memberships are very valuable if you only fly those airlines a few times and could not qualify for the levels otherwise.

Is it worth it? For me yes.

SDIX,

Is the only additional benefit of the black card that you are recognized as a gold level airline frequent flyer?

There are others, such as a free mobile phone when you travel outside North America. (Most North American cell phones don't work in the rest of the world.) You pay for calls but not for the phone. They meet you at the airport with it. You also get a personal travel agent and some other stuff, and the status is with some hotel chains as well as the airlines.

Full details are on the AmEx Web site. The URL is in an earlier thread in this forum that you can search for.

Is it worth a thou? That depends. For sdix, apparently yes. For me, no. It's your choice, if you're deemed worthy.

platmember,

No there are many more benefits. Diamond level membership at Hyatt, Avis President level at Avis and various other benefits at Hilton, Starwood, InterCon etc. Expanded buy 1 get 1 free airlines, free upgrade to Concorde on BA. There is a dedicated travel agent, dedicated concierge. Again, I'm on the road a lot so they all add up to a good deal for me.

The black card sounds like it can be a big help when you are traveling but not really necessary if you already meet the frequency levels for different programs. I think they "invitation only" nature of the card allows AMEX to offer a larger basket of perks to a targetted set of frequent flyers who travel companies want to encourage to stay with them without having AMEX make some loud announcement. Can you tell me about the insurance benefits? I prefer to use another card for airfare because they provide $1,000,000 in insurance and Diners for car rental because their car insurance is primary not secondary insurance. Any comments.

The free travel and accident insurance is $1.5 million worth.

'free' is not the word I would have chosen.

Good point on the "free" concept. I used to like when AMEX had to disclose its cost for these various "benefits" - I haven't seen it in quite awhile, but you used to see disclosures in small print like "the cost to AMEX for this coverage is $1.11 per year per cardmember". Rather funny when they're trying to justify a $300 platinum card or $1,000 centurion card fee!

The real issue on the insurance is not what it costs the company but what it would cost you. Upgrading from the standard level to $1,000,000 on the Platinum card I believe costs $15 per roundtrip.

Boo hoo! I called AMEX today to see if they would upgrade me to the black card. The supercilious operator with the creamy voice asked me to "Hold, please, while I review your account." Only a few moments later she came back with the crushing news: upgrade denied; I don't charge enough.

Apparently, I have to charge $150,000 a year and although "you're getting there," it's just not enough <sob>, and the card is simply too exclusive at this time to let people like me have one.

I asked, "Well, who DOES have one?"

"Lots of people. Actresses, politicians, rock stars."

Oh, the humiliation. She offered to forward my pathetic request to "Marketing" where they could review it and in the meantime suggested I think about charging more - "Why not move some of your purchases over and then call us back when you think you've reached the amount."

------------------
"Living well is the best revenge"




[This message has been edited by profhoff (edited 06-15-2000).]

[This message has been edited by profhoff (edited 06-15-2000).]

It's not just how much you charge, it's also several other factors such as do you pay on time; what your current spending habits are (do you present your self as a target marketing opportunity for the partners that Amex has.) So, if you spend 150K, pay on time and travel a lot - you are almost there.

If you charge your $150K IRS payment once a year and pay 30 days late, forget it.

Well the declining quality of Amex Plat CS in general and in MR in particular has lead me to personally charge increasingly less and less on my Platinum Card- I'm drifting down toward a $1,250./ month mark instead of the seemingly required $12,500! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif Though I'd been asked by phone at the outset if I wanted the Centurian Black Card (I'd said NO!), it sounds as if I would have ultimately been very likely denied anyway! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

Seems a divorce from Amex Plat is sadly forthcomimg! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

What a shams for such a once fine card! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

The $150k requirement is false.

The need for a Platinum Card account is good standing is true.

As far as I can tell, if you've got a Green Card or Gold Card, it doesn't matter how much you spend. You will not be approved.

The platinum card does not seem very useful

I guess usefulness is in the eye of the beholder, but if you use either the International Airline Program or the lounge access (three major airlines), it's worth the $300 right there.

So what you're saying is that I need to upgrade to the Platinum Card and then be a good girl and maybe then they will deign to give me the black card?

The platinum card does not seem very useful, but with my travel schedule, the black card would be perfect.

------------------
"Living well is the best revenge"

Is anyone really sure of the criteria for the Centurion card?

I was turned down twice lat year for the Gold Charge card in the UK (Possibly because I was 18 at the time.) Earlier this year I applied again for a Gold Charge after being given a Corporate Charge by my Employer. This time I was succesful. I enquired about AMEX Platinum and was told many different stories. Luckily after 6 weeks and 1 bill of approx £1100 I was sent a letter welcoming me to Amex Platinum.

Now I can hardly complain at being 19 and having my own Amex Platinum Card & Account but I would like a UK Centurion card but I 'm told that I need to charge an obscene amount of money to my Platinum for it to be really considered. I have been told that if I wait 6 months I can ask for my account to be considered but even then it would be unlikely.

Is it difficult to get an Amex Platinum in the US?

Does anyone know the actual criteria that is used for the Centurion Card? I recently acquired a Platinum Card after realizing I will be frequently traveling to Asia on my own money and liked the Platinum 's two-fer deal and now am interested in the Centurion Card.

I often have six figure monthly charges on my credit card so it shouldn't be too difficult meeting the criteria if it based on monthly charges. The problem is I currently receive a 1%-2% cash back from my other cards. So by diverting charges to my Platinum card, it will be costing me money. I like to know the criteria to determine if it is worth it.

Can anyone help? Thanks.

[This message has been edited by CokeBear (edited 06-17-2000).]

[This message has been edited by CokeBear (edited 06-17-2000).]

Well, from personal experience, I would say the guesstimate requirments are as follow:

1) Charge a LOT of money (talking about at least $200k per year)
2) Have an AMEX card for a LONG time. (at least 10 years)
3) Pay on time (one or two slip-ups is ok)
4) Have a nice amount of travel-related charges
5) Be able to pay the annual fee!

Well, from personal experience, I would say the guesstimate requirments are as follow:

1) Charge a LOT of money (talking about at least $200k per year)

From personal experience, I know this to be wrong.

The rest of the list makes sense.

It appears to be quite arbitrary. The focus is obviously on heavy users. Since many of these probably have their bills paid by third parties, an individual's personal net worth doesn't seem to be a major factor. I just find the people who answer inquiries to be unecessarily rude, during the process of telling you "if you could have one, they would have already contacted you". The company would be well advised to monitor that, because at some point it will come back to bite them on the a**!

You really think AMEX cares? BS! They have the worst customer service in the industry and they (the CS agents at least) seem proud of it. I can't believe their attitude. Unfortunately, they have some products that a lot of people want regardless.

I wish Diners would offer a product with the perks of the black card and some real customer service behind it. I know I'd jump.

Well this is my first post.
Sorry it's long

I hope the following helps. I have been a amex member since 93. After a year with a green I called amex cust serv just asked about the gold card and got it. I didn't charge alot back then $500.00 a month if that. A year after that I called and just asked about platinum,
I was told invitation only, I was polite and
let them know I expressed interest, nothing more. 3 months later I got the invite. I was only charging a $1,000 or so a month when the invite came. I have had platinum ever since and charge everything now. I just found out about Centurion black so I made another call. I got transfered to a black card rep. She was extremely polite, I expressed interest and asked the benefits.
She went over the whole list.

Companion concord tickets.
Preferred room upgrades.
Your own personal travel consultant for reservations,upgrades and special desires.
Invitation only events at major department stores, galleries, show openings, etc.
Use of the private dressing rooms and private shopping area's of bergdorff goodman.
Easier point levels to achieve for rewards.
And other travel related ad-ons.

After that she asked if I'd like to be considered for the card. I politely answered
yes, that would be nice. She said they will be sending thier next batch of invites late
August and to start checking the mail around then.

Now I don't charge $100,000 a year,but I'm willing to bet
I get a invite in early September.
I do travel and even charge my grocery's. But I think it's not just the money figure. My charges are very diverse, anything and everything that's what got me the platinum card.
Platinum has been good to me especially at a couple hotels in Montreal. Upgrades everytime.
Call and be super polite , not pushy, not demanding. Let them ask you. Just a simple
inquiry with a touch of class in your voice
worked for me in the past.

One interesting benefit of the Black card is the fact that you start off the year with your Gold level status on DL, US, TW and CO, so from day one you are earning double miles. If you would never have reached 50k miles and qualified you're buying the perks of Gold level without the flying commitment. But if you're a heavy traveller on those lines, you're getting up to an extra 50k miles on each - at least in your first year of Gold qualification on each line, since you'll start off the year earning double miles and not have to wait until you hit 50k to start earning double miles. Has anyone tried to quanitfy the value to those extra miles?

Originally posted by tortola:

Your own personal travel consultant for reservations,upgrades and special desires.


Special Desires? Just what are you black-card people asking for these days in those other countries?? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif
J/K

I have a question for anyone who has a Black card:

With the elite status, do you still start at zero, or does the clock start at 50,000, or whatever the appropriate level is.

For example, on US Airways, the Black card gives you Gold Preferred, the 50,000 mile level. Would you still have to fly 100,000 miles to earn Chairman's status, or just 50,000?

This is my very first post, and I don't think it could be more fitting:

I found FlyerTalk this morning off of a link from the main InsideFlyer website. I ran upon this particular discussion. I discovered about the Black Centurion card and thought I met all the requirements.

I called my Platinum customer service and explained my inquiry, and they transfered me to a Centurion marketing representative.

I again explained the situation to the representative (much nicer than anyone I've ever dealt with with Platinum), and she said she would check my account. I told her I've been a very loyal American Express customer, gave her the number for my Corporate Platinum card and the cards of other employees, plus my personal Starwood American Express card. She said she would review my "spending habits" and would contact me soon.

Within an hour I received a call back from her saying that I appeared to meet all the criteria, and she isn't sure how I was overlooked. She told me she would submit my "case" to someone above her, and I would be contacted sometime today or tomorrow.

I still haven't been contacted yet today, so guess it'll be tomorrow. The representative made it sound like she just had to verify it as a formality, and I'd be accepted as soon as it is verified. I appear to meet all the "spending requirements" mentioned here, although I don't feel right sharing my numbers.

Thank you FlyerTalk for providing me with information on this card! If I learned this much in an hour of lurking, image how much I'd learn in weeks and months of visiting FlyerTalk!

RI_Flyer

I had called Amex and inquired about the Black card and was told that since my Platinum card was a corporate card (my company) that there was not a possibility of the black card. Has anybody experienced a different result with the Corporate office?

Thepla,

AMEX does treat personal cards and corporate cards as two separate entities. Now if you had a personal platnium that you used just for business (instead of the corporate card) you might be eligible. To the best of my knowledge we aren't issuing Black Corporate Cards yet.

Yes, corp are seperate from personal.

I had been carrying a credit on a corp card for several months hoping to transfer the credit to my Centurion but apparantly the 2 groups don't talk

Minx -

Glad you're here!

Why does Amex treat the Small Biz Platinum separately, since it's based on the creditworthiness of the individual, rather than the company.

I have both flavors of Platinum, and have historically put business travel on my Corp card for ease of expense reporting/tracking. Apparently, I should have put them on my personal card, and then I would have been in the ballpark.

I find it tough to believe that most of the Centurion cardmembers qualifying charges are exclusively "personal" and don't have business travel included in there.

One of the Centurion people said that they were considering doing a Corporate Black Card - any timing?

Thanks,
Greg

I recently called about upgrading from Amex Plat to Black and was told about the same thing others have been told - that I need to charge $150K per year. I was encourage to continue using my card and call back later when I thought I might meet the volume requirements.

As others have commented, I see this more as a guideline than a hard requirement. The message is that you have to have a high charge volume.

When I asked about Amex sending another round of invitations in August, I was told that was not definite.

I too called Amex for the upgrade to Black (I have a US issued platinum card) and was told the same story; charge $150K per annum.

I charge almost everything to my Amex. I am mostly satisfied with their overall service. The concierge was able to find a very rare CD I wanted, and Platinum Travel Service was able to confirm a room at the Omni Hotel in Montreal this weekend when my other travel agents and my friends were not able to find any rooms in Montreal at all.

IMHO there is no other credit/ charge card on the market that offers such benefits. I would pay the $1,000 annual fee for the Black card if they would give it to me.

[This message has been edited by Flyaway (edited 07-02-2000).]

Flyaway; How did you get a US issued Amex Platinum. As a Canadian, I thought that you had to have residency requirements?? I have been a longtime AMEX cardholder, GOLD since 1986 and Platinum since 1997 here in Canada, but alas, Amex Bank of Canada has '...no immediate plans of introducing the Centurion Card to the Canadian market...' quote from their Platinum CS Manager. Does anyone else have any insight into the Canadian market?

I have to give Amex a lot of credit for creating hype around its's Black card . It is a marketer's dream to have customers demanding,almost begging for your product.

I can remember the hype around the Plat card introduction . When used the Plat card in the mid eighties,clerks would admire the in awe, almost asking for a date to help use the Plat card.

Folks , best of happiness to those who pursue the Black card.

Anyone been invited recently?

Originally posted by platmember:
Anyone been invited recently?

Yes, during the german rollout two weeks ago. Thanks to all contributing to your thread! At least I knew what the black card is all about and decided to take it.
DavidZ

[This message has been edited by davidZ (edited 07-11-2000).]

Yes, got German Black Card six weeks ago.

Great Service. Enjoyed Starwood Platinum already and some other perks (Double Car Upgrade on Sixt etc.) Card is worth its fee.

Only $150K? That sucks. I thought it was $300K. Now I'll have to fight for service with all the losers who only spend $150K per year. I hope amex comes out with a new card for those of us who are true spenders. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I hope the humour-challenged note the smiley face in the above post.

I really did think it was $300K!

Originally posted by stimpy:
I really did think it was $300K!

I don't know the requirements for the US, but in my case not even the $150K match (by far). There seem to be other criteria for the invitation too (I was sort of surprised that I got it anyway...:-)) Maybe they won't keep the requirements that restricted in the future.

RI_Flyer: So did you eventually get the Black card?

I just got a black card in the mail from Amex. Can anyone tell me all the good perks. thanks

If you really got the card, go to www.americanexpress.com/centurion and sign on. All of the benefits are clearly stated on the Centurion website.

If you didn't and are just curious, just search this forum and you'll get all the info you want.

This is one of the more dramatic thread resurrections I've seen in a while... seven years!

Why on earth would need to come to this forum to find out about a card you already have? Read the guide that came with the card. Besides this; somehow you found this thread from 2000 and you couldn't find all the other threads about the Centurion Card. Come On!

Happy Holidays by the way.

So what are the current requirements to qualify for this card? Is it still 150k/year in charges, or has it increased?

it's 250k now. and wow, 7 year thread resurrection!

So what are the current requirements to qualify for this card? Is it still 150k/year in charges, or has it increased?

$250k/yr in sped, $5,000 initiation fee and $2,500 annual fee. A lot has changed in these years.

$250k/yr in sped, $5,000 initiation fee and $2,500 annual fee. A lot has changed in these years.

:confused: Perhaps I'm missing something here, but is there a reason that you decided to "bump" this thread and answer a question posted almost a year and a half ago?

Regards

:confused: Perhaps I'm missing something here, but is there a reason that you decided to "bump" this thread and answer a question posted almost a year and a half ago?


I didn't notice the date, I was searching for something else and just thought I'd respond since I was here.

Did I do something wrong? :confused: