Originally Posted by
spgplat21
Anyone doubting the number of people willing to sign up for a $600+ annual fee card for free lounge access should visit a centurion lounge. Blows my mind every time I walk into one.
I think that comparison is more nuanced than you are making it out to be. I think the two situations are materially different.
- There is no way to organically earn access to Centurion lounge (except for guest access).
- Amex has a huge corporate card program for its cards so many folks aren't paying the annual fee. I don't know if there are Bonvoy corporate cards but I haven't seen one and they are certainly far less common if they exist.
- There is a community of folks churning credit card rewards and there are many Amex Platinum flavors to churn. No lifetime language is increasingly honored more in the breach than in the observance. So there are plenty of folks who will get a Platinum card for one year double dip the benefits (since they are based on calendar year), get a great signup bonus and then cancel. The Bonvoy cards are just less desirable to this group due to tighter rules on churning Bonvoy cards and less valuable signup bonus.
- While this will vary by individual I think the Amex Platinum credits are easier to value and possibly do a better job of offsetting the annual fee cost. I hold the Brilliant card and the major wildcard for me is what is the value of the 85k night cert to me? I have had no issues maxing out the 35k and 50k certs but there are a lot more properties you can use them at for good value. There are just fewer targets that max out the 85k cert and for me at least I am less in to luxury properties than some. This becomes even more of a wildcard next year. I just have plain low trust in Bonvoy even by the standards of loyalty programs generally.
Last edited by 36902BRF; Sep 23, 2022 at 7:41 am