aa4ever

While I agree that this is outcome is the one Amex desired, I'm not sure I completely agree with you that this is fundamentally far more expensive and that day passes are necessary. We don't know how many day passes they're selling; I can't imagine all that many since most people probably a) don't know these exist and b) don't want to spend $50 a person (even with nice F&B). Which would mean that the revenue from the day passes may not be that great. To be fair though, if they're not selling that many day passes, then non-plats/centurions aren't really filling up the lounges.

In terms of costs, agree that there are some big fixed costs and also some pretty decent variable costs (i.e. labor), but the marginal cost of an entry is going to be pretty low (figure a couple dollars for food and drinks). If they were paying a high enough swipe fee to the airlines (I sort of remember hearing somewhere on hear that it was in the $20 range) then this might not be all that much worse for Amex. I honestly have no idea, since I don't know what rents, labor, etc go for in an airport but I could see a hypothetical situation where, if the numbers are large enough, this is better/not much worse for them.

aa4ever

Not sure why Amex would want to get into a market where there are plenty of well-developed options. Why not just join one of those clubs? Those clubs usually have affiliatiations with other clubs around the world, so don't even have a huge need for an "Amex network" of them.

Plus, the costs of developing a club, in an area where that would be desired (i.e. around Grand Central in NYC), would be astronomical. I'd rather them spend their money developing things in places where there is less quality competition (i.e. airports).

drwilliams

The cost for F&B will be much higher than this. A couple dollars per person would be fountain pop and pretzels.

wesheltonj

They did that in the 80's and they were all closed about 25 years ago. They were called, you guess it Centurion Club. By the way, no Centurion card existed at that time just the lowly Platinum Card.

alveoli0

I happen to agree about the travel insurance. I have only filed one (thank god!). Broke my neck in a freaky accident on the beach while on vacay in Hawaii. Scary times. They took care of me and my family and arranged every single detail including having the ER aware that I was coming in. They then followed up with my wife on a few occasions to see if they were doing fine. Work travel insurance gave me the run around when I called, so hung up and remembered about the Amex benefits. I did not pay a cent and they did not hesitate to cover any of tests/consults including 3 CT scans + 1 urgent MRI.

Just my 2 cents. (and perhaps platinum card would have been the same...)

Ozchinois

I'm still reasonably happy with my Oz Cent though my spouse hates it when they give away USD$500 hotel credits. It means I will have another trip planned to a Shangri-la, Orient Express, Raffles hotel etc. Our fees have doubled (twice the cost of the US Cent) but supps are still free. Yes benefits are eroding but will keep it until I can't travel as much.

SusanDK

Is this US-based Cent travel insurance? For some reason, I didn't think we had emergency medical coverage on any US-based AmEx.

I have retained my UK-issued Platinum IDC specifically for the excellent medical coverage while traveling for which we also had a good experience. My husband had an emergency appendectomy while on vacation in the U.S. and the entire $30,000+ hospital visit was covered without our seeing a single bill or paying a cent out of pocket.

Pavlos

I remember those, I used to visit the one at Haymarket street when I was in London, they were giving me a hard time if I didnt wear a tie they were issuing
a black centurion card for accessing those clubs alone with the platinum card , thought I always use my platinum card for entry.

alveoli0

Mine is Canadian.

tjk1976

Printed at the bottom of the latest statement:


Important changes to your [Canadian] Centurion Card Benefits

We are notifying you of important changes to your benefits. Please make sure that you also supply this information to any Supplementary Cardmembers on your account.

Removal of the Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Club Benefit

Effective March 31, 2014, complimentary enrollment in Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club Diamond membership will no longer be available as a benefit of your Card. Centurion members enrolled in the Marco Polo Club Gold membership prior to this date will receive a communication from Cathay Pacific with additional information.

Removal of the American Airlines Admiral's Club Lounges and US Airways Benefit

Effective March 21, 2014, Centurion members will no longer receive complimentary access to American Airlines Admirals Club and US Airways Club lounge locations.

Change to the Delta Sky Club Lounge Access Benefit

Effective May 1, 2014, Delta Air Lines will require visitors to pay an entry fee for additional guests. As a result, Centurion members will no longer receive complimentary admittance for spouses and children under age 21 or for up to two travelling companions. For the most current Delta Sky Club access and pricing policy, please visit Delta.com.

For more information on the Centurion Card benefits, please visit: americanexpress.ca/centurion.

FlyerTalker683455

You get a black Centurion card. Isn't that worth all the money in the world? What do you get for a $5000 LV bag? Just a bag, right?

mia

Discussion of National Car Rental benefit teleported to this thread where future readers are more likely to find it:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...executive.html

FlyerTalker683455

Note from Amex Rep:

"I am sorry for the delay in the information regarding hotels in our program offering free nights. I was unable to secure a list of our free night hotel offers for you. . There is currently no reference list available for our <Centurion> card members to review. Not every hotel in our Fine Hotel and Resorts Program offers the free nights.

The free night offer program changes frequently due to individual hotel offer dates for the program.

The hotels offering the free nights are part of our Fine Hotels and Resorts Program. There are many hotels in a large number of cities offering a free night with a minimum stay requirement in certain room categories. "

GNALUZU

I think the rep may have been confused. The FHR program does a good job of showing which hotels are offering a free night, but I think that is not your exact question.

For example, last year I booked the Encore in Vegas for a conference. At the time they were running a promotion through FHR. Stay 3 nights and the 4th night is free. This is what the rep was referring to (I think). The hotels don't always offer that program. I was hoping that they would, but when I booked the Encore again last month it wasn't being offered. It was, however, being offered by other hotels on the strip.

So, I think the rep was saying that they don't have a list of hotels doing the "buy 3 get the 4th free" because it is always changing.

Were you asking about the MO free night?

FlyerTalker683455

This rep is a senior veteran with the customer service group. I asked her to find a list of Centurion Hotel benefits/participating properties, as they used to publish a catalogue of them. That was her response. I am sure she is not confused about it.