SPECULATION: new USA card priced between Centurion & Platinum?
 

Doctor of Credit is reporting that a card between the Platinum and Centurion card is indeed in the works. It supposedly will be invite only like the Centurion card.

https://www.doctorofcredit.com/rumor...num-centurion/

Good to know!

Still waiting on my invite for a Personal Centurion and a Business Centurion... One decade later.

So who knows if I'll ever get either this or the in-between-er despite the right kind of spending and loyalty. :(

I hope Amex doesn’t call it the Platinum Pro or American Airlines might sue them.

Well, given the rumors, this take didn't hold up for very long.

I would be interested in an in-between card if it eliminated some of the benefits I don't use from Centurion and retained others. Time will tell. A comment in the DoC post cited above suggests it would "have most of the Centurion benefits except concierge and Equinox and would be Delta Gold instead of Platinum."

Let's wait and see. I think the name Optio is terrible.

Do people with non-vanilla Platinums (e.g. Schwab) also receive invites to Centurion?

EDIT: WOW! You mods sure are mind readers. How did you know my question had the new card in mind?!?

Perhaps this new card is the real reason American Express has created a link to report interest in a Centurion invitation?

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

I may end up eating my words, but I find this such a strange strategy, especially since they have revamped Platinum in most markets, made it more expensive, and issued metal cards. The aspiration, if there is some, is to get up to Centurion, not some new intermediate stage with presumably enhanced Platinum benefits.

I do wonder what colour they'll choose, should this go ahead. What is left?

I can't tell from the link whether this is US only or worldwide?

I would be in if the benefits of Aspire, Platinum, Green, Gold, and a DL Card (or some combo of the aforementioned) were thrown in. It would be nice to just have one card as opposed to the multiple card strategy I currently employ.

Safe Travels

The end of the era of there being more to gain from paying multiple cards’ fees than from paying just one card fee to Amex isn’t going to happen anytime soon. Amex has a massive dependency on its fee revenue streams and on its partner affiliates for its card portfolio in a travel marketplace that has become increasingly oligopolistic and seems to be headed toward being no less concentrated than is currently the case.

Centurion benefits are becoming less about travel in ways than they used to be.

If you expand the full text of the link you can see something which suggests that it is USA only:

https://iforms.americanexpress.com/iFormsSecure/un/iforms.do?cuid=centurionEx_en_US&evtsrc=link&evttype=0&intlink=loginpageEOI

Thank you...not so easy on mobile!

I do not see that American Express has enough travel-related ammunition to differentiate $5000, $1500, $550, but I see this as a good predicament if it spurs some creativity rather than finer distinctions in elite status and lounge access.

For example, in 2007 Sotheby's launched an interesting card at the worst possible time:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cred...astercard.html

There are many similar things that a company like American Express could do to make their top tier cards engaging.