Kayakj

Has anyone been able to compare the Signature and Infinite concierge? I know the concierges aren't that good but was wondering if there was any difference between the two in terms of quality or what they offer ( The last few times I have tried to use the visa signature concierge they have told me that they only help with restaurant reservations, shows, and travel arrangements and refused to help with anything else)

Czech In Bag

So definitely know I'm late to the game with this response but I've been planning a trip and I took the opportunity to give it a little bit of a try.

I first called Visa Signature with a very specific question. If I'm visiting China on a Transit Without Visa is it possible for me to visit the Great Wall (there's a stipulation where you cannot leave the Beijing Administrative Area)?

I was completely underwhelmed by the concierges efforts as he just directed me to a website I could have easily googled

Visa Infinite concierge didn't quite grasp the question either and just found me day trips.

I did specifically ask the Visa Infinite concierge what the major difference was and he explained that other than a few more hotel options, there wasn't much of a difference.

That said, I'm still more impressed with the Visa Infinite experience than I have been with Signature in the years I've had the chance to use them. I've contacted them a couple times asking for some recommendations and both times I ended up talking to Alex D. The first time I asked for hotel recommendations and they delivered but not exactly what I was looking for.

Once my travel plans evolved a bit, I decided to give it another try and I was more specific with what I wanted: "I'm more of a shotgun approach kinda guy, Alex. Don't give me three hotels give me as many as you can based on what I described and I can do some legwork from there" and they definitely delivered. It took them some time but they looked up I think nine hotels in each of the cities I was visiting and I'm still working through it

There appeared to be a misunderstanding about one of the cities I visited and when I emailed them to correct it I had a response within a few hours.

TLDR: Visa Concierges do seem to have a few things going for them. My experience with Infinite is, in my limited experience, better but that may also have been me finally understanding that they're not mind readers and explaining what I want

Hope it helps.

LaphroaigAndRibeye

After spending way longer than I should have spent trying to find contact information for this concierge online, I finally bit the bullet and called Chase Customer Service to find it. Googling the number I received from them, it doesn't look like it's been posted in very many places at all, so hopefully this is helpful for those who want to use the Chase Sapphire Reserve's concierge service.

The service is branded as Visa Infinite Concierge, though I'm not sure who is actually providing it.

Their toll-free phone number is 877-660-0905; collect is 312-800-4290. Requests can be sent via email to [email protected], though you'll probably need to call once to set up a profile with them.

Here's the welcome email I received after my first call. Although they only mention travel, dining, and events, I called for help finding a place to pick blueberries and they were happy to assist.

From my brief call with Hillary, I already like them better than Prestige Concierge. Very thorough, asked a lot of clarifying questions, and definitely instilled confidence that their response will be thorough.

Give it a try!

Kayakj

For anyone who wants the # from the Chase website https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...eserve/service ( its on the top right).

From my experience in using it, besides having a different automated system, I believe it may be the exact same concierge as the Visa Signature one.
YMMV greatly depending on what you're requesting. I requested hotels in part of Maine for a year from now and they took 72 hours to return 1 hotel that didn't even fit my criteria.

LaphroaigAndRibeye

Same experience as you; Signature wouldn't help with anything except travel and entertainment. Infinite seems able to help with other requests. I've used my other concierges for anything and everything - all sorts of research - so definitely find value in the latter. Signature concierge was useless to me.

edealinfo12345

Are you confident you will be getting a lower rate on a specific hotel with a concierge rather than booking it on your own via trivago or any other booking site?

Czech In Bag

In my experience, they don't require you book with them. They usually send a PDF with the hotel name, a small summary and a link to the hotel's website. You have the option of booking yourself. I actually don't have any experience booking directly through Visa Infinite Concierge.

DaveInLA

Can the Infinite concierge help secure restaurant reservations or show tickets, stuff like that?

missamo80

From https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/...eserve/service, which describes card benefits:

Neil

LaphroaigAndRibeye

Just called Visa Infinite Concierge for help with dining reservations. I asked if they have a list of restaurants that they have agreements with for better table availability or free apps/desserts like I get with Citi Prestige.

Concierge said they don't have any such list/agreements and that they simply use the affluence of the Visa Infinite brand to call restaurants, ask the right questions, and get people those reservations.

I asked if they could help me out with something for tonight and they said they're actually unable to accommodate same-day requests due to high call volume lately. So their policy for right now is that there's at least a 24-hour turnaround time.

I don't know what to make of that, but when I'm paying $450 for a credit card that includes a concierge service, I kind of expect them to be able to spare 2-3 minutes to call a restaurant for me.

A bit disappointing...

747FC

Disappointing, but confirmation that this is a mass-market card.

lotrbfme

Wow thats lame... BTW could you explain a little bit more about the citi prestige restaurants? I also have the card and I didnt know about that.

Thanks in advance!

LaphroaigAndRibeye

If you login at the Citi website you can access Aspire’s Preferred Restaurants Program. Essentially, it’s a city-by-city list of restaurants that they have special arrangements with. This sometimes means they can get tables at those restaurants even when they are full, but often also indicates that you can get a free appetizer, dessert, etc. when on a reservation made by Citi Concierge. The "free stuff" tends to be at particularly high-end restaurants where you're probably already spending a pretty significant amount, but you can login there and see what's available in your city.

http://concierge.citi.com

DaveInLA

I looked at those lists for LA (where I live) and NYC (where I'm going in 4 weeks), and very few of those restaurants actually give a freebie. But I didn't know that I would be able to get a table even when fully booked.

y10k

I have both Amex Platinum and the new Chase Sapphire Reserve card. Based on my data point of one, Amex's concierge service is substantially better (and more effective) than the Chase's Visa Infinite one. I wonder if it is consistent with what everybody else experiences with the new Reserve card.


Here's the story. For an upcoming trip, I wanted to make a reservation for a high-end restaurant in Japan, and I emailed the Visa Infinite concierge first.

The concierge service got back to me very quickly, but asked me to fill in a PDF form before they could actually call the restaurant. The form also indicated they would not help with reservations on the day of international flight arrival, which I found pretty weird: if I'm willing to risk paying cancellation fees, why wouldn't you let me?

Here's the first reply from Chase's Visa Infinite concierge. The CCA form is attached to this thread.


I then reached out to Amex's concierge service, and the response was much easier to follow (no need to sign a PDF form):


After I replied to this email, Amex concierge confirmed the restaurant reservation within 48 hours.