mia

There isn't, if your card is issued in the USA.

LAXRuss

Since at least 2007, IDC/IEC Centurion has offered the supplementary cardholder Virgin Atlantic Gold. Now with the Delta Alliance, this is also helpful because it guarantees the Delta Sky Priority benefits and complimentary domestic economy comfort seating, even if not the medallion upgrades in addition to the Virgin Atlantic status. Now in February they are raising the annual fee from $/EUR 2.8K to $/EUR 4K for everyone. For that, as I understand, they are adding a personal account rep and extending Priority Passes to all additional cardholders on the account.

tjk1976

Let's be honest, it seems fairly obvious to me that Amex has figured out that they can push the envelope pretty far in terms of how far they can get away with diluting Cent benefits without losing members. Some time ago, they seem to have figured out that they have most existing Cents psychologically handcuffed to the product for two reasons: 1. most won't walk away from the sunk cost of the exorbitant initiation and annual fees; and, 2. most put a high value, higher than most would likely admit, in the "wallet candy" value of Cent membership, as an earlier poster described it. Thus, they can tinker with which airline and hotel programs are included knowing that some Cents will moan a little, but the revenue will keep flowing in. It's also worth noting that not only have they diluted the value of the product by reducing some benefits and stripping away others entirely, but they also seem to have markedly increased the number of Cents in existence, which has numerous ripple effects that affect the value of the product. I think the fact that they openly discuss plans to substantially increase the number of Centurion Lounges in North America supports this theory. It's certainly a far cry from the early days of Cent when they practically still denied its existence.

Steve M

I don't. The Centurion Lounges are open to Platinum cardholders as well, which far outnumber Centurion cardholders.

DrivingRain

Just talked to Centurion, there is no exception for Centurion holders:

Beginning May 1, 2014, all customers who receive complimentary Delta Sky Club access as a benefit of their eligible credit or charge card will no longer receive complimentary guest access. A $29 fee per guest will apply.

LynchMob

This is getting out of control. Amex you better stop the bleeding and quick

aviators99

This sucks for Centurion and Platinums alike, so it won't be part of my reasons stated for downgrading in July. It may influence my Delta Platinum Medallion Choice Benefit for this year, though, which is a Centurion-specific thing. The lounge passes may be worth something now.

tomhuber2003

I was going to ask so thanks for the opening...

What is the diff between Centurion and Amex Plt? With my corp discount My Amex Plt is only $350 a year. What do you get with Centurion besides a cool name?

mia

Demand for lounge space exceeds supply at peak times. A price increase is one way to restore balance. Another way is to increase capacity, which American Express seems to be doing by building the Centurion Lounge network.

It will be interesting to see if AA and UA follow DL's lead, introduce premium priced club membership levels, and strip guest privileges from the base level. I wonder if any airline has the technology to implement variable pricing for guests? It might make sense to charge a higher guest fee at peak periods.

Frankly, I am surprised that Delta and American Express did not decide to eliminate Platinum card access to SkyClubs. This could be a point of differentiation for the SkyMiles Reserve card which competes directly with AA and UA cards.

DrivingRain

Sure, but it would not have been surprising to see a carve-out for Centurions.

tingalex

What I'm starting to get pissy about is the fact that all these cuts to lounge access for plats affect Cents equally. Where the f**k is the added benefit of the cent ???? To me, if they're looking to create differentiated product offerings (just as Delta has done by introducing two tiers of Skyclub membership), one would think that plats could bring zero guests, but cents would still be allowed guests, for instance. When Amex negotiates these lounge contracts, why are we always treated on the same level as plats, despite paying thousands more?

LynchMob

Amen!

sdix

Ditto

sdix

So January 1st I was actually expecting a communication from Amex about all the cool enhancements that they are offering Cent members. Silly me. Instead benefits get reduced then further reduced with todays DL (not Amex) announcement.

I'm holding our for Cent DL Plat status to be upgraded to Diamond. If this happens then that's equal to the new top tier lounge program so Cents would not loose guest privileges.

I guess I can only hope

greenythebeast

I believe Diamonds will only get the individual skyclub membership, not the Executive tier.