Originally Posted by
synzero
I read this topic despite the fact that I will likely never be a Centurion member, but of course all the comments make me never want to be one. Meanwhile in Platinum land the concierge service which used to be somewhat interesting has become utterly pointless; I had gotten some amazing recommendations and experiences through them in the past but they now seem to be literally outsourced to India now.
For this reason I've been looking into concierge services: Quintessentially and Velocity Black. Quintessentially is out of my price range for the services they offer but Velocity Black looks quite interesting. A Platinum card plus Velocity Black seems like it might be a much better deal than Centurion as it stands, and I'm even considering it.
I currently pay for Velocity Black besides Centurion, and it’s pretty good. Quintessentially service has been going downhills for quite some time now, and I rarely bother using it even though it was offered for free.
Velocity black has the highest success rate for dining in London from my experience, and the travel side can trade blows with CTS (based on my UK experience) and other travel agents. Centurion FHR still edges out wherever available. Both are pretty good for flights lately.
Velocity also has an art sourcing service — obviously, it’s not as polished as having a curator, but they can come in clutch if you have a renovation project, and the only alternative is factory pieces the interior designer will charge a premium.
Whether the service standard is sustainable remains to be seen — Quintessentially, Aspire, Ten etc. all have massive ups and downs depending on how many white label clients they take on, and it’s only reasonable to suspect Velocity would do the same in the future. While I haven’t used Centurion long enough, my friends’ anecdotes suggest Amex is actually more stable than many of the competitors.
Also, Velocity Black might be more expensive — depending on how you value Centurion credits. You could recover some fees with Saks and equinox in the states (and maybe the pitiful Harvey Nichols and ...... booze credits in the UK). There is no such chance with Velocity, and I think their founders very much believe they are positioning themselves above Centurion and below 20k a year Mayfair boutiques and well trained PAs + corporate travel agencies.