Originally Posted by
ILUVCITIBANK
AMEX's CENTURION perks, at least for the US, are such a paper tiger, already diluted to what they rolled out with, that there is really not much lower it can go. The PLAT card now is functionally equivalent to the CENT card in terms of bundled perks, which begs the question of "why bother to pay more for the CENT card ??...
..Literally, the only reason I continue to hold the card is because I am grandfathered at the $1000 annual rate, thus my incremental cost vs holding the PLAT card is negligible...
How many people are grandathered in at that rate? If there's a fair number, then the argument that Amex is cutting costs to keep their overhead below $2500/card makes sense. If your weighted average annual fee is $2100 per had, then that is the amount of benefits you will aim to bundle in. I'm sure they are willing to operate the benefits portion of the card at a discount, but only so far!
Secondly, I guarantee you that their airline and hotel partners are shaking them down for more money. Everyone views AMEX as a company with deep pockets, particularly airlines! With 4 of the 6 major airlines recently in/out of bankrupty you can bet they renegotiated the rates they charge Amex for the status.