honflyer

A lot has changed with American Express over the last 5-10 years – and the gap that was created by some long-term-driven, passionate group of executives leaving (Kenneth Chenault, John Hayes..) is becoming more and more obvious.

I don’t fault Amex with trying to make the top product more exclusive – I get the purpose of this product and personally got invited to it about 5 years ago. Today, for the most part, this card is a status symbol and ‘membership card’ and access tool for a certain part of society – however you may want to judge that. For the most part, these customers do not care about points and benefits (yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part this is true, and those people also do not post on forums like these).

However, what really disappoints me is that Amex team behind driving these changes clearly does not know their customers. I am at the bottom end of the average net-worth of centurion cardholders, however, I don’t go to Equinox. I have a gym at home and a trainer coming to my house, and if I go to a gym, I go to a private personal training gym, or group classes like Barry's Boot Camp. I have a house in LA and a place in NYC - I don't know anyone who has a Centurion and goes to Equinox in either cities. Most Equinox gyms are quite mass-market facilities – in Amex terms, that’s the perfect target market for the Platinum card. It’s not the Centurion card customer – the only two Equinox gyms that I’ve been to and know people who go to are funnily explicitly exempt from this membership (all ‘E by Equinox’ locations, which is Equinox’s top line of gyms, are not part of this…), which is funny and pathetic.

I don’t care about the annual fee going up, as it will likely increase the longevity of the card’s most important attribute: exclusivity. However, I do care about realizing that the team of people at Amex that manages the product is completely disconnected from its client base and thinks the fee increase is justified – or, it just doesn’t care, and thinks we’re idiots – maybe we are, after all.

The changes they did to the German card a few years ago (doubling annual fee, although including 1 AU) made more sense - increasing the fee will eliminate a group of people who shouldn't have the card anymore - while they added some benefits which are actually useful for this higher-end target group (VIP services at various airports in Germany).

Again - what makes me said is that the Centurion team actually believes that Centurion customers go to Equinox... I really don't get it!

scubadu

Ummm... have you actually read this thread, like at all?

It's seems to be chock full of Centurion cardholders who are falling all over themselves to try and activate the Equinox membership not just for themselves, but for their additional cardholders as well.

You are way, way overgeneralizing your own use case.

Regards

BeantownFlyer

and you can join the E clubs or the more exclusive executive membership available at the old SCLA locations and just pay the difference in rates

LondonElite

No, not at this point.

GUWonder

Amex’s fee hike and marrying it with a different benefit features mix isn’t about making the card more exclusive. This is about making Amex more money in the way of fee revenue and making the remaining customers’ accounts more profitable for Amex ... and doing so at the customers’ additional expense on average.

PMFR

Currently on the Business Centurion website:
"If you are interested in being considered for invitation to Centurion Membership, please provide the information below"
Goes on to the form for name, address and current Amex Card.


Centurion Membership is by invitation only.
Centurion Membership is by invitation only.

If you are interested in being considered for invitation to Centurion Membership, please provide the information below:Centurion Membership is by invitation only.

If you are interested in being considered for invitation to Centurion Membership, please provide the information below:
If you are interested in being considered for invitation to Centurion Membership, please provide the information below:

GUWonder

https://iforms.americanexpress.com/i...k=loginpageEOI

Not limited to just those interested in Business Centurion cards.

Has there been such an Internet link in prior years?

Jay66

They probably just got tired of everyone calling in and asking their account to be noted

GUWonder

Perhaps; but if so, then when did it result in this kind of link being put online by Amex?

SusanDK

Does anyone think this is the total refresh for 2020 or might there still be some perks added?

Would love to see another high tier hotel program (or higher tier Marriott than Gold), and another airline (Star Alliance?).

stimpy

I already have lifetime Marriott Titanium and United Lifetime Gold so I vote for better FHR benefits. Like guaranteed Club and suite upgrades. If I can join the greedy crowd. DL Diamond too.

Jay66

Did anyone receive their card yet? First reports on a FB Group indicate they received it. Apparently it comes in a Tom Ford card holder and has quiet the "textured" look, comparable to a "Frying Pan".

mia

American Express is a mass market company, and Centurion is a mass market product, in the sense that it is a standardized take-it-or-leave-it offering.

BeantownFlyer

My online account shows the card requested on 10/31 with delivered expected next week. Not sure why it takes them two weeks...

stimpy

Maybe there are a couple million of us now.