Centurion (and later Business Centurion) since 2003.

Honestly, I feel like ranting too, so I know where he’s coming from.

For starters, I don’t mind the AF increase in terms of cost. I hate it in terms of “value”. It feels like someone has forced me to buy gift cards to Equinox and Saks, and I don’t like either of them. I’m sure some people live near an Equinox (I don’t have one within two states of me) and can make use of it, but that is a very unilateral decision to ram down people’s throats, hoping that more people will appreciate it than hate it. The number of people who hate it, like me, is not zero. So, I think it was an incredibly bad decision on the part of Amex. I will not use it, ever. Thus, they’re forcing me to buy something that’s going completely to waste, which I do not appreciate as a somewhat long tenured member. Same with Saks, it’s a dang chore, or I just toss that gift card in the trash unused. Either way, why force that on someone?

I wish they took a page out of Delta’s Choice Benefits. Nothing is perfect but having some amount of say in how our AF is applied engenders a ton of goodwill, in my opinion.

I for one want more benefits that very clearly enhance my BUSINESS- which gym memberships and fashion shopping do not (directly).