American Express Membership Rewards - 2008 Centurion Benefits

Are there any changes to the Centurion's benefits or requirements for 2008 that anyone has been notified about?

Nope.

There are changes being announced next week, minor tweaks from what I heard.

I'm hoping they will renew the free night at an LXR hotel or resort

I'm hoping they will renew the free night at an LXR hotel or resort

Seeing that LXR bought Hilton, I am pondering that finally we get a premium hotel benefit back, although I don' think HHonors comes close to SPG or Hyatt.

So... any updates on 2008 Centurion benefits? I know someone had said they expected notification last week.

Last year's changes were announced in March.

I noticed that my Delta status changed from Gold to Platinum.

I certainly did not earn Platinum, only took a handful of international business class tickets. So, either I got very lucky or it is a new benefit from Centurion.

Anyone else have their status improved?

USAir changed last year from Gold to Platinum. My DL is still gold, and I got the new card and letter specifically referring to gold being the Centurion perk.

I noticed that my Delta status changed from Gold to Platinum.

I certainly did not earn Platinum, only took a handful of international business class tickets. So, either I got very lucky or it is a new benefit from Centurion.

Anyone else have their status improved?
No change in my Delta status....still gold.

Delta status changed from Gold to Platinum.

We have not flown Delta on a regular basis since 1998, but in the 90's Ms Mia and I were promoted one level above our earned status a couple years because we did not live in a DL hub and our mileage was in the top X% for the Miami market. Your profile says that you reside in London. If accurate, and if you made a few paid business class flights on Delta in 2007, that might attract their attention in the way that it would not for someone based in Atlanta.

I noticed that my Delta status changed from Gold to Platinum.

I certainly did not earn Platinum, only took a handful of international business class tickets. So, either I got very lucky or it is a new benefit from Centurion.

Anyone else have their status improved?

I was also pleasantly surprised to see Platinum status when I logged into my account a week ago. I even called Centurion and asked them if this is an upgraded benefit, and they checked and told me no, that Centurion's still just get Delta Gold. I even wondered if I was somehow granted the upgrade based on flying the incremental number of MQMs needed to move from my complementary Gold status to Platinum.

Mia's explanation makes sense, however. I live in Denmark and had several TATL flights, booked M fare and upgraded with points. Since I have a number of other options from CPH, and the single flight to ATL is DL's only flight, perhaps they rewarded me for being loyal to DL when there were plenty of other choices (SK and CO for direct flights to the US, and several options for connecting through another European hub).

Mia, you said you retained PM for a couple of years? I'm sure hoping this lasts. I've already booked my first TATL for 2008 in M fare with a confirmed upgrade using the PMUs that come with Platinum status.

Strangely, however, I just received my 2008 membership package from Delta today and it was only Gold. It appears to have been dated in December, however, so I'm hoping the Platinum welcome package is on its way. I was still Gold on my Jan 4th BP, so the upgrade to Platinum came after that.

Globalflight, have you received a Platinum welcome package with PMUs yet?

Susan

We have not flown Delta on a regular basis since 1998, but in the 90's Ms Mia and I were promoted one level above our earned status a couple years because we did not live in a DL hub and our mileage was in the top X% for the Miami market. Your profile says that you reside in London. If accurate, and if you made a few paid business class flights on Delta in 2007, that might attract their attention in the way that it would not for someone based in Atlanta.

There is some discussion in the DL forum about this and it seems that DL did take this approach this year. It got some of the more frequent fliers in a bit frazzled, but it is DL's program and they're doing what they think they need to do to drive revenue.

CO offers a buy-up to the next level for high revenue customers who just miss qualifying, but nothing quite so drastic as what DL is doing.

Two AmEx Centurion questions:

1. With AmEx Centurion, how possible is it to:

--Transfer 25,000 (or however many are needed) miles to Delta/Continental/USAir from Membership Rewards

--Get a Frequent Flier free ticket

--Then upgrade to First Class using your Centurion provided Gold/Platinum status

That seems like it would make for a really sweet deal, provided you could find a flight with an available frequent flier coach seat and then an available First Class seat.

2. Since Continental and Northwest share a lot of programs, can you use your Continental Gold membership to get upgrades on Northwest flights the same way you can on Continental?




Thanks!

Two AmEx Centurion questions:

1. With AmEx Centurion, how possible is it to:

--Transfer 25,000 (or however many are needed) miles to Delta/Continental/USAir from Membership Rewards

Easy. Assuming that you have your airline accounts linked to your MR account ahead of time, transfers can be done online or by phone. At least for CO, the transferred points post instantaneously.

--Get a Frequent Flier free ticket

Well, that's an airline issue. Once the points are transferred to airline miles, they're no different than any other airline miles so this question is a function of each airline's program.

--Then upgrade to First Class using your Centurion provided Gold/Platinum status

This won't work on CO, as they don't provide for status upgrades on award tickets. I think that NW does, and I'm not sure about DL.

2. Since Continental and Northwest share a lot of programs, can you use your Continental Gold membership to get upgrades on Northwest flights the same way you can on Continental?

Yes. The Gold status you get on DL and CO is "real" elite status, no different than those that earn it through actual flights, with full partner benefits. This is unlike the CO and DL lounge access benefits that come with Centurion, where you're not an actual member of the lounge and therefore don't get the same set of benefits of actual members.

Well I know that the MO Free night at each hotel benefit is still with us in 2008, since I've recently used it. The rep I spoke to had to check and a couple of days later she said that all the MO benefits have returned for 2008. Upgrade at time of booking too.

You would not be able to upgrade an award ticket in this manner with AA either.