I have a MBNA Quantum Mastercard. Don't use it much. It doesn't earn any points, but it is free and has some benefits. Nothing really above what most other platinum Visa/MC, though, that I have really noted. You do get dedicated cust service, though, I think, and it has some kind of concierge service that I've never tried. The translucent card is very cool looking.
My UA MP Rewards Visa Signature (mouthful!) has concierge too, far as I know. It's free and earns 1 mile per $2 spent. Supposedly Visa Signature has no preset spending limit. I can't imagine the concierge service on these free cards is anything close to equivalent to the concierge service on Amex Centurion, tho.
It's my other MBNA card that I use the most, though, I think. It's a Platinum Visa from LL Bean. The percentage you got back was higher at first; it's down to 3% for LL Bean purchases and only 1/2% for other, payable in $10 coupons. It used to be at least 1% for other purchases. But you still get free shipping on all orders. (Free monogramming too if you're into that; I'm not.)
The one thing I've seen is that the gold and platinum Visa/MCs have moved plenty downmarket. So perhaps the Quantum *does* have more benefits than today's platinums, but probably not by much. Heck, I don't know if I even have a gold Visa/MC anymore, let alone a classic. I don't carry any of the pay cards; just don't get that kind of use out of them.
Diners at $80 annual fee still looks like the cheapest entry into primary rental car insurance. They have a concierge service in that package too. If Amex doesn't have that kind of service trickling to at least the Platinum card, they're slacking. Or it had better be something a whole lot better than these guys. (Diners' concierge is outsourced; so, quite probably, are any that are tacked onto MC and Visa cards.)
Oh, as for that Visa Infinite, the added things over Visa Signature are minimal. Considering one can get Signature-level cards for free, it wouldn't be worth paying too much for the benefits of Infinite. I suppose it may compare to World MasterCard, which is MC's level above Platinum. The trouble with all Visa and MC levels, though, is that the final list of the benefits is set by the banks and may not necessarily include all those listed even though the card is what it says. I figure the MBNA Quantum is roughly just a Platinum MC. None of these compare to what is on an *Amex* Platinum or Centurion, really.
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--Greg
[edited to add final paragraph]
[This message has been edited by CrazyOne (edited 03-08-2002).]