BenSenise

i think the fact that your spend is "nowhere near to the amounts which have been quoted here" supports the argument that it's not just how much you spend but what you spend it on.
one could charge 100k/month at mcdonald's and not get an invite whereas someone who spends 10k/month at high-end hotels, flights in the front of the plane, and good restaurants might get an invite.

would you mind sharing what kinds of things your spend is on to corroborate or refute my theory?

fourstardust

my spend is primarily on hotels, flights and restaurants - the majority at the 'high end' of the market and spread across the US, Europe and APAC. Prior to the invite I held a standard Platinum card (99% of spend was on this card) and an airline Gold card. As I said I am not spending 250k a year which is the most common number i see quoted here. I think it does matter where and what you are spending on - i have two friends who hold the card and have a similar spend pattern to myself but again not in the 250k plus range

Steve M

It also matters hugely in which country the card is issued. Each country has its own Centurion product, with its own criteria. Based on the program membership listed in your profile, I'd guess you are based somewhere in Europe, whereas much of the chatter here is about the US card. Without knowing which country's Centurion product you're talking about, your data points have little meaning.

BenSenise

thanks. this would tend to support my theory.

emcnj

+1 for this. It would be helpful to know what country along with the invitation.

I've spent well over 250k this year through AMEX FHR program/high end hotels and high end restaurants on a US based platinum.

SteveT

Was your invite for a US Centurion?

1q2w3e4r

I used Platinum concierge for something last weekend and asked about the centurion requirements. They indicated that someone from the acquisitions team would be in contact this week to discuss, I'm currently awaiting their call.

I'm predominately interested in if there are better flight deals/options for Business / 1st over Platinum when travelling with the family.

I'll update based on wherever it gets to (I may just call them tomorrow to discuss). This isn't for a US account though

fliesdelta

I posted last year about my experience getting a Centurion invite in the USA. In my case, I started with the green card back in 1986, and since then I've had a variety of products, the green was upgraded to gold, and eventually to platinum, but along the way I also had things like the Optima card back then, acquired the Delta Platinum cobranded card, etc., and had corporate green cards at various employers. My personal spend in recent years wasn't particularly high or high-end/luxury products other than fine dining sometimes. Personal travel was always in mid-tier Marriotts and Hiltons, and so on. Nothing nearly as remarkable as some of the spend described here by people who don't seem to get invites.

But the one consistent aspect of my tenure with Amex: I've never been late paying the bill, and I've been paying annual fees for a long time. Maybe they liked me for the Centurion for that reason? i.e., if I obtained it I'd reliably pay the yearly fee, plus the initiation fee, yet not impose much load on them.

Incidentally, I kept the invitation as a memento, but I didn't think about getting the card even for a second. The admission and maintenance fees are way too steep.

krazieman

I'm going to have to pay about $400k for estimated taxes in January for an investment return. If I put all that on my AMEX Platinum personal (at a cost of 1.87% extra), would be that sufficient to call in shortly after?
Or will Amex discount that spend because it's not luxury items?

747FC

I don't know the answer to your question, but I am impressed that you are willing to spend $15,480 more to gain a Centurion in addition to the normal $10K initiation fee.

Of course, if your $400,000 is based upon capital gains tax, then go for it!

(My calculation is based upon your charge fee, plus the opportunity cost of not using a 2% back card).

gengar

I believe that should read "in the hopes of obtaining a Centurion".

What I'm impressed by is how brilliantly successful AMEX's marketing has been to convince people to act to their detriment just to have some hope of getting a silly Centurion card.

tibook

krazieman

But I also get 415,000 MR points. If I use that wisely (e.g. transfer to Virgin Atlantic with bonuses and book on ANA First Class), that's good for 4 First class round trip tickets to Japan.

747FC

nyc2cal

Why not get the Business Platinum to get 600K points (1.5X)? Would also help make the case for the Business Centurion vs. Personal, the former having more benefits, but I don't think American Express will give you the card for a one-time large charge. They want to see consistency for at least a year.