American Express Membership Rewards - Centurion Card Germany

i guess this topic was in for several times, i already tried the search function without appropriate result.

does anybody know the current centurion requirements and fee in germany?

has anybody requested cent by call?
i´am running the platinum for about a year...

[This message has been edited by PBateman (edited 01-09-2003).]

Welcome to FT!
You can get PLT for sure if you call them but I am not sure if you can get the Centurion by calling Amex but give it a try .
But please be aware that many people are not happy with the Centurion!Overpriced and the PLT offers nearly the same amenities.

Tim

still using amex platinum for 1 year - and all in all satisfied. even the hotel benefits worth the fee. the eagerness to be upgraded to centurion will mainly depend on the price...

...for germans the airline benefits imho are worthless...

My personal experiences:

An annual fee of 1.000 Euros (2.000 DM before) for 25.000 Euros more cover in CDW-insurance and Starwood-Plat.status instead of Gold-status doesn´t seem to be a good deal - at least not for me.

The other hotel benefits like Leading Hitels of the World, Kempinski Concierge, etc. are now also available for Platinum Card holders!

No airline benefits!

No better customer service!

In Germany Amex just wants to make money and they welcome anybody, who is willing to pay that ridiculous fee.

Alex: What do you tell? No better customer service? That´s not true. CTS has 24h availability, toll free (whole world) and is very reliable. SPG Plat is also very nice. And some perks as Hilton Gold forever, Upgrades and 1 nite free per year at Mandarian Oriental and many others are only with Centurion. If they only had some more benefits on airlines, that´s true. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

may i put your attention to my origin question again.

annual spending requirements?
eur 1000 for new applicants still available (US: $2.500)?

i´am satisfied with platinum benefits but service is quite poor. the travel advise amex provides is ridiculous.

The travel facilities for Centurion and Platinum are basicly the same due to the same electronic booking-system.

Amex has never ever given any clear explaints about the "qualifying criterias" - I suggest you just call them (and maybe let us know) how they "decide" today.

Axel

PBateman:

Just call them.
Qualification minimum are:
-- Plat member for at least 6 months
-- they will inquire your bank if you are good for 100.000 EUR (or was it DM?)
-- you will have to have a certain amount of spendings per year on you plat card. This amount is not know by anyone in this forum so far, guesses are between 50.000 and 150.000 Euro per year.
-- you need to willing to pay the fare

and, yes, i would say the customer service is worth it. also hotel benefits ARE better as Amex takes much more care of each booking. BTW, dont expect a big "show" if you flash your black card at someone as there are many more around of those cards than Amex will ever admit so every gas station has already seen many of them http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Uli:
... they will inquire your bank if you are good for 100.000 EUR (or was it DM?)...
[/B]</font>

Sorry to say, but that´s absolut crap!

Nobody had ever contacted my bank or asked about my annual income befor issuing that thing - and I haven´t been a top-spender on plat.

The same with my friends and collegues: No inquires at all!!

thanks for your input, guys. i guess i will bolster my amex turnover for another 3-6 months (shifting from Lufthansa Senator Visa) and then: give it a try. at least for a year of own experience.

In the meantime you can "return your videos"... :-)

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by axel1:
In the meantime you can "return your videos"... :-)</font>

"i want to fit in..." ;-)

axel1,

i am in very close contact with my bank, and they inquired 25.000 for the plat card and 100.000 when i mailed in the application for the centurion card.

this is about three months ago.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Uli:
axel1,

i am in very close contact with my bank, and they inquired 25.000 for the plat card and 100.000 when i mailed in the application for the centurion card.

this is about three months ago.</font>


thats strange - i´am banker (@ axel: of course) - and amex definitively didn´t inquire for a specific amount for the platinum card in my case. they sent a standard inquiry for "credit card applications".

I think, if they do inquire your bank or not might also depend on how long you have been with amex.

I´ve been a member since the eighties with always a good credit report (no bank loans or other credits at all - only 3 credit cards),not a single late payment and also a "small" fonds-account with Amex-Bank.

To PBateman: Even though, Amex was never able to get me table at Dorsia´s

amex platinum was my first amex card. no inquire at all.

@ axel: dorsia is cool. you should go there. it is: 5 E. 19th St. New York, NY 10003. no need for a platinum / centurion, cash is king, though sometimes difficult to get in there. but - unfortunatly - dorsia is a fake, opened in 2000 or 2001. fomerly it was named "nativa".

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by joergi:
Alex: SPG Plat is also very nice.
......upgrades and 1 nite free per year at Mandarian Oriental and many others are only with Centurion. If they only had some more benefits on airlines, that´s true. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>

got my centurion card about 3 month ago .
no application for spg platinum ( which i have anyway) , no details on one free night
at a mandarin oriental , let alone any confirmed information / list of clubs you will be granted entrance no matter whether it is members only or difficult to pass the bouncers.
further i second this:
the airtravel benefits are no better than what is offered with the platinum card and are just worthless.

imho,
a lot of hype is involved in the marketing of this card and if they do not put some facts behind their promises over the next
9 month , i will gladly do without the black card.


[This message has been edited by sunseeker (edited 01-16-2003).]

I go to Dorsia quite often and Centurion helped the first few times. Nativa was a crappy club, Dorsia is not much better, except it is this month's hot-spot for Thursday nights. I loved American Psycho and the rest of Brett Easton Ellis' novels.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DaveLinNYC:
I go to Dorsia quite often and Centurion helped the first few times. Nativa was a crappy club, Dorsia is not much better, except it is this month's hot-spot for Thursday nights. I loved American Psycho and the rest of Brett Easton Ellis' novels.</font>

Will be at Dorsia tomorrow without any Amex card http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.Not sure if I will stay there for long as I also have to be at the Pangaea. On Sunday I will be for sure at Pangaea the whole night(Latin music night by DJ Rocco).
Any chance to meet you there?


Tim

My friend Greg may be at Pangaea so I may drop by. I usually reserve my weekends for Halo, Bungalow 8, and Lot 61...I do tend to start the night off (Friday) at Room 143 on Madison...drop me an email: drl2002@columbia.edu