Centurion

I will bet anyone that the H Diamond 100,000 benefit will be removed if it garners more attention. Just like Delta Platinum now has a segment requirement to fully activate benefits.

SLOhCar

Probably. That's why I've always been a lurker on FT and never posted anything until a few days ago. I don't mind sharing information pertaining to the Centurion Card with other Centurion Card holders to help each other out but since this information on here is made public to anyone, it can jeopardize current Centurion Card benefits as it already has in some instances. If you search around the internet, you'll be able to find forums dedicated to the Centurion card and only Centurion card members.

Spoddy

Sharing information with other Centurion card holders, certainly wouldn't devalue any benefits as they're entitled to them anyway.

Also, hiding information from non-Centurion card holders is about as useful as Platinum card holders hiding info from Gold/Green card holders... it makes absolutely no difference at all.

So what if you get more benefits than others - you have a different card! It's almost like complaining about telling an E passenger what an F passenger gets... it again doesn't matter. It doesn't devalue the benefits the F passenger is going to get regardless.

If anything, it strips the mystique of the card that some non-card holders may hold, and perhaps Amex won't like that, however I haven't heard nor read anything about Amex asking/telling anyone to keep quiet on the benefits at all.

stimpy

Yes I agree. I'm a charter member of Centurion, but still I've benefitted a lot by reading things in this forum. What this ultimately means is that Amex sucks at communication, but we all know that.

Centurion

There are some Centurion benefits that are not shared on Flyertalk and it would devalue them if they were shared widely. They are not that great or secret keys to kingdom excrement. And yes they get taken away. The Platinum Delta issue would be an example. You can go back in time to TWA American etc. And Amex has some very nice perks that are not shared with Centurion card holders. In particular I can think of a Amex Open deal right now that is fantastic and it dies in July..wait now August.

tangfish

Another fairly disillusioned Business Centurion here.

I agree that value has dropped precipitously since I've had the card (I think about 10 years as well). Though to me I have seen a bit of hope lately, not all by their doing but hope nonetheless.

SPG Platinum and Star Alliance losses were huge. That cannot be understated.

Delta Platinum is very useful to me, especially being based in SEA where they are doubling down in a war (good for us!) with Alaska Airlines. If I did not happen to be based in SEA then this benefit would be of significantly less value. So there's that.

I do really like the GoGo internet benefit (I know it's not much $ saved but honestly it does make flights go by a lot faster and hey- something, anything I find a lot of use in is a good thing, even if it's not a major benefit).

I just used the Hertz Platinum for the first time and was upgraded to a brand new GL450 for a 10 day rental that worked out to a paltry $23/day all in. Now THAT was nice. Since I've only used it once I have no idea if that was a freak thing or a sign of things to come. Hopefully the latter.

I do have to say that where the whole thing really fails and I think there's the most room for improvement is the travel counselor services. No matter who I get on the phone there is never an instance where it saves me time or money. Quite to the contrary it always takes an absurd amount of time to get across what I am trying to do and the person on the other line usually has a total lack of regard for saving me any money. Just because I have a centurion card doesn't mean I want to hand my hard earned $ over to the airlines and hotels without a second thought. It's not that I want them to help me book Motel 8s or the overall dollar amount of my trip - I want a good VALUE for money spent, and hopefully better or more efficiently done than if I were to do it myself. I think anyone who visits FT is going to be reasonably skilled as a travel arranger him/herself.

The Concierge is not too much better, but the ability to SMS with them is an improvement that makes me actually use it (even though they ask the same inane questions each time, that I wish could just be notated in my profile).

The last thing is a whopper and honestly is the reason why I don't spend on my AMEX - the value of Membership Reward points. Yes I know they just bumped our rebate up to 30%, but that means for every dollar spent I get around 1.3% in value back. My current setup with a BofA (BofA! Not exactly an outside the box thinking sort of company) nets me back 2.62% of everything I spend. There's no comparison; that's double for chrissakes. Thus, I only spend on the AMEX for things I might need to use its benefits on, like purchase/return protection or plane tickets for the lost baggage benefits. All other everyday spend goes on the Visa.

Anyway, I do get the feeling that someone up there is actually listening lately, but their changes take time to reach us. This is an improvement over the preceding few years and so I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

erisaguy

but somehow I keep renewing. the delta benefit has been valuable to me. I've been upgraded on virtually every segment and can always guarantee a good seat (usually exit row). And when I fly delta I use the lounge.
I havent used Hertz much yet, but I plan to. I have called Amex so many times complaining and threatening to cancel, always enumerating all the benefits taken away. I would say they could care less.
The rest of the "benefits" seem pretty worthless and they haven't added any in a long time. And the gogo only applies to business centurion and I have a personal card. Very annoying . . .

tangfish

Hey, we've got to have at least ONE perk for having a considerably uglier looking card

Changing the topic a bit, has anyone enrolled or used the National rental car benefit? I got halfway through the signup process years ago and then balked for some reason I cannot recall now.

DMSFCA

Totally disagree. Also a charter member from the beginning (remember the letter saying they would never raise our annual fee? haha...)

My card has been recognized as the infamous "black card" maybe 7 or 8 times, no more than a dozen in all the years I've had it (10? 15 years?) and the tens of thousands of swipes I do every year or so. I use it for everything except those parking garages where you have to insert your card into the beast machine as mine was stuck once and getting it back was no small affair.

At a bar or restaurant nobody sees it until you settle the bill so there are no magical free drinks or the chef doesn't come out to give you special dishes. For a while I'd get the "wow this card is heavy!" line but I haven't even heard that in ages. When someone would comment on the heft I'd say that it makes a great box opener (it does) and we would have a laugh.

Admittedly I don't frequent Miami nightclubs or wherever this kind of thing would get you anything but I've traveled completely around the world, several times just this year in both directions and stayed at some of the best hotels anywhere, ate at some of the most amazing restaurants, was over served in some crazy bars and nobody gives me any special recognition because I pay a $2500 annual fee.

I, like the others do a gut check every year when that annual fee arrives and I don't do the math that closely because it's probably not in my favor but there are a million things I could do in general if I really wanted to cut corners and I'm at a point in life where I don't really need to and the few perks I use with the card are enough to nudge me over the edge of another year of membership.

robertw477

Very interesting. I can justify Plat card but never Centurion even with some of the prior benefits.

Rob

bubu-SNA

...I voted with my wallet when the Centurion benefits started eroding. AMEX could care less, not even a call from the "relationship manager" on where the deep 7 figure spend went. *cough* chase *cough*

While I still carry the centurion in my wallet, its now used solely in strategic situations where I know I'll likely be taking advantage of the extended warranty benefit. How do I justify the $2,500...by using the "double the mfg warranty" up to 5 years (vs. 1 additional year with platinum). Its the sole reason this card is still a value prop for me...

Delta Platinum "lite" is craptastic, Hertz Plat is a nice benefit...wish I rented cars more often, and what else is there...free gogo & boingo? That about sums up my thoughts on the card. Everything else can be obtained with a Platinum card or SPG.

When (not if) the extended warranty benefits erode I'm canceling. Call me a pessimist, but its only a matter of time. Icing on the cake is that a gold rewards card offers more MR earnings then a Centurion!

sdix

Diamond forces - The ability to force a room to be available when the hotel is sold out. Properties need to register certain periods when they will not allow a force. Recently I seem to be going to places where there is always some big event.

I travel globally and admit I do get nice upgrades outside the US however inside the US I usually get "upgraded" to teh room I actually booked.

b8b

In 7 years, I haven't used this extended warranty benefit once. Can you tell me how you use it? How well does it work? Is it a pain to use?

I tried the purchase return benefit, it was such a nightmare it turned out not to be worth it.


I too miss out on these two benefits with a personal Cent card. Are there any other differences?

Can you add additional Cent cardholders or are you limited like personal cardholders? This is another decline in value, at least for me.

SLOhCar

Sharing information among Centurion members doesn't devalue benefits which is why I clearly said I don't mind sharing info. with other Cent members.

Also, as far as I'm concerned ... If someone is not a Centurion card holder then they don't need to know what benefits I'm getting as a Cent holder. The Cent folks who go around parading the cards benefits to everyone are just likely trying to invoke envy but in the process they are putting the cards benefits at risk.

For example, when the Centurion lounge first opened their doors, Amex made it very clear that they were complimentary ONLY for Cent. This info. was made public, to non-centurion members and now you have millions of Platinum members wanting access and Amex caved in. Now the Centurion lounges are crowded and the overall experience of this benefit diminished.

We can agree to disagree about the impact of sharing Cent benefits with non Cent members.

NYCFlyer10001

I still don't believe that there are secret magic unpublished benefits.

I think people like to perpetuate this myth to try to justify continue holding the ludicrously overpriced and underbenefitted Centurion card. "Oh, no, trust me, if you were on the inside, you'd know how awesome it was!!!"