MrMosby

Does anyone know who provides concierge for the following card?

American Express Platinum
JPM Palladium
JPM Ritz-Carlton Rewards
Chase Sapphire Preferred (Visa Signature)

I know Circles is one of the companies that does it, but I'm curious who provides service to each company, if some are internal, etc.

bribro

Totally OT, but CSP is plain ol' Visa Signature, and Palladium is either Les Concierges or Circles (based out of SF and Altanta).

waxyjax

Hi FTers!
I have a Citi Executive MasterCard and was wondering how useful their concierge service is. I've actually never used it for any of my credit cards.

I've always heard Amex's concierge service is great. Just wondering if these services are helpful - especially for seasoned experts like all you guys!

kcmd

I've used Amex concierge services to order flowers etc, however they have not ever been able to get me into restaurants that are booked solid, I tried to use them once even for suggestions and you could tell they were Google(ing) as we spoke to make suggestions. Not a service that's worth the annual fee. I have one but not sure for how much longer.

Xylem

I used the Visa one to book a hotel. Good rate but not cheaper than I could have gotten with some research, but I was in a hurry.

Doctor of Credit

They are OK, nothing special and remember they generally aren't price driven. You're going to be better off using the hotel concierge if you're staying at a hotel as they rely on tips and will work hard to get you a cheap price if you let them know it's a priority. Below is my review taken from my mastercard benefits page.

I’d suggest reading a few of the following in depth reviews to get a gauge or how useful this service is:

• Finance Buff Review
• Credit Card Forum Review

The above post contains a link to a site I own. I've included all the relevant information so you don't need to click over to there.

waxyjax

thanks, guys! You've confirmed my assumptions

2tall4economy

Hi all, was curious what card out there people like the concierge service of. Last I saw a thread on it was about 2 years back and at the time it was:

1) Palladium / Ritz (which was ok but not great, especially considering the AF)
2) Visa Signature
3) Amex Plat

Any changes?

mia

I think the question is too broad. What type of services would you ask the concierge to perform?

See also this recent thread, if you have not:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...edit-card.html

2tall4economy

Thanks for the thread though not quite what I'm after.

To answer your question, I've used one or more of the concierges above for the following tasks (ranked from how successful they were to least successful, across all concierges):

1) Local Living advice (such as "I'm going to be assigned to Luton England for 3 months - let me know where 2-3 grocery and movie rental stores are and which has the best selection")

2) Locate a USA-market item or very specific global item in whichever foreign country I happen to be in (for example, a bottle of Château Lafite Rothschild in Seoul or a Delsey luggage repair shop in Melbourne)

3) Provide travel / trip planning at a high level (for example, "I'm going to be in Sydney for 1 week on xxxx, give me a afternoon-only dining and sightseeing itinerary for the week)

4) Dinner reservations for high end places in foreign countries (for example, "send me the top 10 restaurants in Shanghai that serve Italian food and I'll let you know which one to make a reservation at").

I have various stories behind each of those but probably not for this thread. As a whole they usually fall on their faces - seems like if you live anywhere other than the USA (and specifically NYC) it's a crap shoot.

Back when I had all 3 options available to me, AMEX couldn't deliver on a single one of the above, Visa did it decently but couldn't manage the 4th, and Ritz card had about the same result as Visa but provided more personal interaction.

Wondering if it changed.

BA_Jfan

World MasterCard and Visa Signature among other programs offer a phone concierge service. Whats the business model behind it? Do the CC companies make money, lose money, or break even on it?

Also, do people actually find them useful? I had tried the visa signature service once and found it just ok.

jediwho

This is the response I got from Visa Signature concierge when I contacted them this morning regarding finding a charity to pick up furniture from my apartment. Looks like the experiment from Visa and MC to offer concierge service with Amex is almost over:

10/17/2014
Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you for using the Visa Signature Concierge Service which is provided as a complimentary benefit with your Visa Signature credit card.

In an effort to maintain and develop our strengths, we are placing renewed focus on our core competencies. Unfortunately, the service you requested is outside our scope of support. Should you need assistance with designing a trip, arranging a special occasion, finding the perfect gift, or setting up dinner reservations, the Visa Signature Concierge is here to assist you.
In addition, as a Visa Signature cardholder, you receive preferred access and discounts to popular entertainment and sporting events, unique dining experiences, and savings at premium retailers. Plus, you benefit from the best available rate and VIP guest status when you book through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. For a list of all your cardholder benefits, please visit visa.com/signature.

If you would like to take advantage of all Visa Signature Concierge has to offer, please call us at the number provided below and set up a cardholder profile.

Sincerely,

JAGMAP

That's beyond lame and lazy.

I find Amex Concierge (Circles) to be the best. I have Chase/Ritz, Citi/AA Exec, Citi/Prestige and Merrill/Visa concierges as points of reference. Citi/Prestige (TenGroup) has stepped up their game 100-fold but nowhere near as seasoned/polished as Amex.

jediwho

For World Mastercard, it depends. Your card issuer needs to be offering you the Mastercard concierge service. For instance, while Virgin Atlantic offers concierge service, it does not subscribe to World Mastercard concierge service and outsources it to someone else. So, I am speculating that the business model is they charge World and World Elite card issuers an annual fee for offering this service and it's probably a breakeven proposition of MC.

Regarding Visa Signature, read my post below. Looks like they recently decided to offer very focused concierge service dedicated to events and reservations and have moved away from a service that helps with one-off problems and chors.

The Visa move does not surprise me since almost every Visa card is a Signature card. It is so fragmented that they had to draw the line in the sand on what they could offer to the general public without being a cost burden. Of course, this dilutes most Visa Signature cards by at least 10%, IMHO.

MrMosby

What's currently the best premium card concierge service? I know it's very subjective but in general I care about -

• Answering as soon as I call
• Their ability to do something quickly that I wouldn't be able to without a lot of time (find where to buy something locally, legitimate restaurant recommendations, etc)
• Ability to get tickets/reservations for events/places I'm not able to myself (pre-release, premium seats, etc).

I've had experience with American Express Platinum Concierge, but for the most part they have been pretty useless to me. In fact the last time I used them I called, waited on hold for 10 minutes, had the IVR drop my call, and then called back waited 8 minutes only to have them not able to get me a reservation at any of the the three restaurants I was looking for.

I've had experience with JPM's in-house Concierge with my Ritz-Carlton card and to be honest they were phenomenal, but I don't stay Marriott so I didn't keep the card I'm not CPC either so I can't get Palladium, which at least gets UR, to keep their concierge service.

I know there is also the Citi Prestige (where you can get a dedicated Concierge) and also the Barclay's new Gold/Black Master Cards that I don't know how I feel about yet.

Anyone willing to share their experiences/comparison?