DJ_Iceman

This is going to sound like heresy on this board, but I just don't care *that much* about rewards, points, and bonuses. I always thought I was getting enough value out of my MR points and it wasn't worth it to me to go to what I considered extreme measures to absolutely maximize every possible point I could earn. And no, I never sought any retention offers--I always thought the platinum card fees were reasonable for the benefits I got so (using the same reasoning as to why I didn't seek out every single point) I didn't see the need to play the "I'm going to cancel this card unless you bend over backwards for me" game.

synzero

This makes a lot of sense. If you're actually spending everything on the Platinum with 1x then no wonder they think you're a candidate for the Centurion. My wife and I are a "one tech salary" family (roughly half your household income - since I like pre-IPO startups the rest of my income is in stock options, which could be worth anything from nothing to millions but we budget assuming my cash salary is all we've got) and it didn't occur to me that Centurion was even potentially in range -- I figured you had to have an order of magnitude higher income. I just read these Centurion topics out of spectator interest. But even if my income doubled I doubt I will ever get an invite, since unlike you I actually do care about maximizing my point returns and I only use my Platinum card for big purchases (return and purchase protections are great with Amex) and otherwise use the card mostly for the perks, which I love. I actually wish I could justify using the Platinum card more since I have actually gotten some reactions to it in the past, though I imagine with the proliferation of metal cards like the Apple Card that will get less over time. (Here in Korea where we are for the duration of the pandemic, it does get a reaction since there isn't a big metal card thing going on here, so the Platinum card is quite unusual -- however even here I don't have that much reason to use it). Most of my everyday spend goes to the much less bling-y Chase cards (love those Hyatt redemptions).

I have thought that if I did want to switch to Amex as my main "system" I would probably get a real Green card to maximize my point returns while staying within the Amex ecosystem.

But honestly since I wouldn't use that Equinox membership I can't make the fee structure work out.

I am curious to see if Amex releases an "in between" card if I could make the value prop work. I'm not sure how they'd do it since Platinum is actually pretty good as it is.

Gasolin

How long are you staying in Korea? I am doing the same thing, but I am thinking after a certain number of days, you need to pay taxes to Korea as well, no? Is that your plan?

synzero

We are staying as long as coronavirus is raging in the US, which may be well into 2021. We have a son in preschool here and we wouldn't want to send him to any school in the US in person. Not to mention just in general being able to live life close to normal here with much less risk than back there.

With respect to taxes yeah after 6 months you're supposed to pay taxes on your worldwide income. However there's no double taxation; you get a tax credit in the US for taxes paid to Korea so in the end you shouldn't have to pay extra tax. There's a flat 19% rate for expats and I think that will end up being advantageous for us. Plus health insurance is lower in Korea and after six months we are now enrolled in Korean national health care.

I recommend getting a Korean accountant; that's what we are doing.

cfabar1

I have not received an invite so far in 2020.

Gasolin

Thanks, appreciate the insight. May I ask which visa you both are on, you and your spouse? I agree for the life in general. Do you mind if I get in touch in PM? You got me curious, and there is clearly a benefit of staying in Korea.

synzero

Sure, feel free to contact me in PM.

nf21

Unfortunately, I have spent over 2 million dollars on my personal platinum and still no invite!! In fact, I've purchased several cars on mine including a $650,000 Ferrari, two $200,000 Range Rovers a $300,000 Porsche and a $215,000 G wagon this year. I'm currently in the process of building a boat and have submitted several $100,000 progress payments to the boat builders (via amex) as well. Not withstanding those expenditures, I'm an avid watch collector with a fairly decent collection (approximately $2,000,000) (all of which were purchased on AMEX). I travel domestic and International (with Delta) quite frequently and stay in 5 star hotels (Fine Hotels and Resorts) (when available). I have been a member since 2014, have the Delta Platinum card, Platinum personal card and two different Platinum Business cards. My spending average (personal Platinum) has always been rather high and on the rise and my average FICO score with all there bureaus is 800. I presume my lowest spend being the first two years at around $500,000/per annum. I recently reached out to Centurion via my personal Platinum Card representative and for the first time was told that they would be reviewing my profile and would give me an answer either way and hopefully within 72 hours. They mentioned that my profile was defiantly a good candidate for Centurion and asked if I would at all be opposed to the Business Centurion if personal wasn't possible. I mentioned that I would, however, most of my expenses are of the personal nature considering I sold my two largest companies recently and was in the process of growing my current two businesses. Since the inquiry it has been 5 days. I re-reached out to the Centurion representative that originally helped me and they indicated that my account was still under review and would get back to me early next week. They again informed me that I was a great candidate for Centurion so hopefully there would be good news next week. Until now my experience has been: "Thank you for your interest in the Centurion card, we will notate your account that you are interested in possibly becoming a member and let you know by mail if you are selected, have a great rest of your day." FYI I am 37 years old and primarily reside in Las Vegas, NV (residence) with secondary locations being Denver, CO and San Diego, CA

gbd9930

I have inquired a few times this year with no success. Get the standard "we'll take your name and we review invites every so often" response which I assume if their polite way of saying no without actually saying it. Have spent over $350k on a personal platinum this year and will probably be at over $500k by end of year. That is a bit higher than last year which was closer to $200k. Live in a big city though so maybe that's small potatoes.

LondonElite

It’s a bit on the low side, but what type of spend is it?

Welcome to FT!

gbd9930

Thanks for the reply! Most of it is on fine dining in my home city (50%), some higher end type shops (15%) and some travel (15%). Otherwise, normal random day to day stuff.

LondonElite

I think you are in for a wait. There is an interest in airfare, hotels, dining, higher end merchandise, and all of that on a sustained basis.

gbd9930

Thanks; for what it’s worth I would say that makes up the bulk of my spend. Less travel than usual this year but only due to COVID

Bm86

im similar to yours. Requested an invite a couple times this year. Been Amex member since 2005, spent $250k or more for multiple years. Last year was $320k, this year is $720k so far. Probably get close or break $1,000,000 by end of year. I feel like I’m in a fairly small market where I am, so hoping that helps my chances

DMSFCA

Out of curiosity if you will say, what kind of spend are you doing on your card, is it varied? I get the impression they’re starting to actually look at the things people spend on their existing card, trying to avoid the folks that sell Google ad words or some thing that generates a lot of churn.

Back when I got mine it truly was just a threshold you had to cross, it seems a little more complicated now.