boulderlaw

http://gizmodo.com/5542437/how-to-ma...r-every-desire

Surface Interval

I've got a new hobby!

vgacolor

This was actually pretty funny. I have a couple of signature cards, but never used the service. Next time I need a tub of nacho cheese, I will surely use them

onlybeef42

Inspired by that Gizmodo article, I tested the Visa Concierge service to find my wife and her friends some tickets to that Sex and the City movie a couple of weeks ago.

I called and I told them the tickets needed to be at a certain theater brand which has reserved seating, and they called me back when they found a location with open reserved seating.

Probably could have looked it up myself, for about the same amount of effort; however, it may come in handy in the future.

jisaac

Hilarious! Time to upgrade my accounts...

BilllyK

Hi everyone, is there a way to email the visa signature concierge or do you have to call?

Thanks

menton1

Has anyone found any value in this service? I checked them out with an airline fare and they were the same or higher than anything I could find online myself.

Would they be better for hotel deals? Or concert or show tickets? Or are they just basically useless and a fake perk? Is the Amex concierge any better or worse?

mia

In general concierge services are intended to save you time, not money. If anything i would expect concierge prices to be somewhat higher than you could find on your own. Suggest you review this thread for typical uses:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...-done-you.html

menton1

I guess I have the wrong idea about these services. I heard from a friend that he got a great deal on F tickets to the Caribbean. But I suppose these services are much more for "special needs" than anything to do with prices.

Any benefit comparison between Visa Concierge and Amex? Any differences?

mrx900

it really depends on what you are looking for ; I used the VISA concierge to track down an ipad2 in my hometown cuz I didnt feel like calling store after store---within 3 hours, they called me and found one for me....so it can be useful...Most people dont use it cuz they dont know about it.
I also used them to find me halal restaurants in Orlando....cuz I dint feel like looking them up heheh...and they came through...gave me a list/numbers of them around my hotel.

uncflyer16

I've used th Visa Signature concierge on several occasions. A few examples

1) They were absolutely awesome for taking care of Japan Rail rail passes. The concierge actually walked over to the JR rail office to pick up the passes and then fedexed them to me free of shipping charge.

2) This summer we were driving across the country and needed a relatively clean hotel to stay at with our dog. They found an amazingly clean nice Hotel that was well reviewed with a reasonable pet fee. They met my constraints of a $50 or under pet fee and a non-scary hotel...that was just off the interstate within a 200 mile range on an interstate that we were on. It's relatively difficult to find a decent (I.e non Motel 6- ish hotel) that doesn't have a $75 plus pet fee. Our dog basically sleeps all the time on his bed on the floor... so I was relatively adverse to paying more than a $50 fee. DW is skeeved out by budget roadside hotels...so finding a place involved a bit of work (calling hotels about the fee etc.) They weren't as good with the second pet friendly request.. But the Hilton diamond desk had me covered.

3) Before the days of Internet on my phone I'd call them to google something when I was on the go.

My general rule of thumb is to spend 5 minutes on google. If I can't figure out something then I turn it over to them. If language barriers cold be involved then that's another good reason.

I would expect that you are better off buying airline tix on your own unless something exotic is involved. If ou are going some place, you can ask them for suggestions of things to vis and places to dine..but I prefer a good travel book.

Wildcatz1

Hi all
Now having a Visa Signature card I was checking out the benefits and when googling their concierge found https://visasignatureconcierge.com. When you go there it asks you to sign up with your card number, address etc but doesn't tell you if or why this is necessary to the concierge service other than creating a profile.

Therefore my questions to each of you that have a signature card are, is this step necessary, what do you gain if anything from doing this and can you use the concierge without creating a profile (thought on this one is that you should be able to) ?

Thanks all

WC

GoodOmens

Great article. Haven't used Visa's concierge service yet (just got my first Visa Sig card a few weeks ago) but in the past I've used Amex's on a no fee card to book a impossible to get reservation for a restaurant in Paris.

They called back the next day with the reservation and I ended up having one of the best meals of my life. I wish I knew about how amazing concierge services were when I went to Peru to get a reservation at Chez Wong. Services like this are great when there are language barriers.

mike_35621

Hello everyone,

I wanted to share an experience I had this summer. I have the Mileage Plus Explorer card. I took my wife and my parents on a Mediterranean cruise this summer that departed from Rome. I had called the concierge several weeks prior to departure to arrange car service from my house to IAD. I scheduled a 1:30 pickup, which would have gotten us to the airport by 2:00 for 5:00 flight. Plenty of time for us to get through security and relax in the United Club before the flight. At 1:30, I called the concierge to make sure that they were on the way and I was told that they were stuck in traffic. At 2:00, I called back and I was told they were still in traffic but they should be there in 10 minutes. The concierge also gave me the drivers phone number. At 2:15, I called the driver and he told me he was 5 minutes away. Finally at 2:30, the driver showed up and we were on our way to the airport. The funny thing about the traffic is that we basically back tracked the route the driver came to pick us up (route 66 if you are familiar with the area). We arrived at IAD at 3:00. We were able to get checked in, pass through security, walk into the United Club to grab a can of soda and walk to the gate. THREE MINUTES later boarding started. It was not a very relaxing way to start our vacation.

We I got back home, I called the concierge back and filed a complaint. I spoke to one of the supervisors who stated she would do an investigation to figure out what happened. A couple of days later, I got a call back from the supervisor. She found out that the car service company did not dispatch the driver until 1:30 to come get me. He was also in downtown D.C. and would have to come out west past Manassas to my house. The supervisor apologized numerous times and she refunded me the entire amount. I must admit that I was hoping for a partial refund but was amazed that I got a full refund. I know that a lot of these forums are used to tell about bad experiences and losing a level of service, but I wanted to share an experience where someone went above and beyond.

silver-tls

Glad that they made things right from a customer service perspective. However, from a concierge point of view, they failed miserably. I'm assuming they booked your reservation and trusted the car service company to carry out.

Great concierge service would have been them staying on top of the reservation and 3rd party car service to ensure they arrive ontime. You trusted the concierge and they dropped the ball. Sounds like they blamed the car service company but that shouldn't be your problem.