American Express Membership Rewards - country with the worst amex centurion benefits contest

i'll cast the first stone and nominate the australian version of the centurion card for the most egregious annual fee and worst benefits for the following reasons:

annual fee: AUD$4300 (equivalent to roughly US$3440 at today's exchange rate)

airline frequent flyer benefits: absolutely none

airline lounge benefits: priority pass (same as with the australian platinum card); qantas club (which i find totally useless as i believe anyone else who travels frequently and/or in premium classes would)

hotel frequent guest benefits: starwood gold (same as with the australian platinum card); hilton hhonors gold; priority club platinum (which is virtually worthless unless you like to stay at holiday inns)

customer service: same phone reps who handle the australian platinum card plus frequent hold times waiting for them to answer

concierge service: unresourceful and unreliable. both times i have tried to use them they have dropped the ball and i have had to contact them to follow up. neither time were they able to find what i requested (good tickets to a concert and a vintage picture for a gift--not overly difficult tasks)

forex fee: just raised from 2.5 to 3%

mandarin and peninsula hotel benefits are the only reason i keep the card. but this year they took away the free night benefit at several more mo properties. this is especially irritating since i receive direct mail from several of the "de-benefited" mandarin oriental hotels offering free night promotions unrelated to american express.

anyone want to try to outdo australia?

i'll cast the first stone and nominate the australian version of the centurion card for the most egregious annual fee and worst benefits for the following reasons:

annual fee: AUD$4300 (equivalent to roughly US$3440 at today's exchange rate)

airline frequent flyer benefits: absolutely none

airline lounge benefits: priority pass (same as with the australian platinum card); qantas club (which i find totally useless as i believe anyone else who travels frequently and/or in premium classes would)

hotel frequent guest benefits: starwood gold (same as with the australian platinum card); hilton hhonors gold; priority club platinum (which is virtually worthless unless you like to stay at holiday inns)

customer service: same phone reps who handle the australian platinum card plus frequent hold times waiting for them to answer

concierge service: unresourceful and unreliable. both times i have tried to use them they have dropped the ball and i have had to contact them to follow up. neither time were they able to find what i requested (good tickets to a concert and a vintage picture for a gift--not overly difficult tasks)

forex fee: just raised from 2.5 to 3%

mandarin and peninsula hotel benefits are the only reason i keep the card. but this year they took away the free night benefit at several more mo properties. this is especially irritating since i receive direct mail from several of the "de-benefited" mandarin oriental hotels offering free night promotions unrelated to american express.

anyone want to try to outdo australia?


Hmmm... I guess I find myself wondering which is more foolish;

1) Amex for passing these benefits off as "Centurion" level features/benefits

or

2) Someone keeping the card with obviously full, well thought out and cognizant knowledge of what a rip-off it is.

It is a free market economy, last I checked. I'm pretty sure Amex isn't forcing anyone to keep the card, no?

Regards

I am going to nominate two. Guinea Bissau and Somaliland. Sudan gets honorable mention.

No airport lounges in the country.
No decent hotels in the first two countries and a fake Hilton in the third.
As far as I can tell no place actually takes American Express in these countries. In Sudan for sure only Diner's Club is accepted and there only a few places. Carry $100 bills to pay the hotel bill.

People are at least friendly in much of Sudan. Actual street violence in the capital is lw due to a totalitarian regime that eliminates offenders.
Likely to be shot at any time, anywhere in Somalia which is more or less three countries now.
No upgrades anywhere for any reason.

The AMEX Concierge is not going to come bail you out.

I am going to nominate two. Guinea Bissau and Somaliland. Sudan gets honorable mention.

No airport lounges in the country.
No decent hotels in the first two countries and a fake Hilton in the third.
As far as I can tell no place actually takes American Express in these countries. In Sudan for sure only Diner's Club is accepted and there only a few places. Carry $100 bills to pay the hotel bill.

People are at least friendly in much of Sudan. Actual street violence in the capital is lw due to a totalitarian regime that eliminates offenders.
Likely to be shot at any time, anywhere in Somalia which is more or less three countries now.
No upgrades anywhere for any reason.

The AMEX Concierge is not going to come bail you out.

Neither of these countries has its own Centurion.

Hum, this is a tough one. If this is a competition what is the prize? This risks becoming an oxymoron; the worst program surely 'enjoys' the fewest prizes?

Well, I'll be patriotic and nominate the UK because;

No FFP memberships except Virgin very recently added; Virgin being a small outfit who fly a handful of Dakotas to a few places only. [OT; have our overseas friends ever heard about Virgin Trains? Now there is a funny story - unless you have to actually use them],

The most useful hotel program, SPG, downgraded from platinum to gold, with the 'enhancement' of an additional membership of a scheme belonging to some middle-eastern hotel group no-one has ever hear of,

The very useful Amex Corporate Hotel Rates scheme (and its directory) discontinued,


The once-useful Companion Air Fare scheme reduced to a rump of third-rate and near-bankrupt (read American and Italian) airlines,


Concierge - sorry; 'Lifestyle' service 'enhanced' by telephone calls not being answered for at least half-an-hour,


Oh yes, I nearly forgot; a tripling of the annual fee to pay for all these 'enhancements'.