WasKnown

Money means different things to different people. Everyone splurges in their life somewhere. It’s all relative to what people are comfortable spending. $15K year 1 is a lot to some people and requires a lot of thinking. To others, it’s nothing and not worth a second thought.

$15K to someone making $5M a year is like $600 to someone only making $200K a year. Money is relative and very easy to hit diminishing returns on.

seacarl

Everyone can splurge for the things that are meaningful to them. In fact it is often a highly profitable business segment to supply things that people are willing to splurge for. If you as a business owner can monetize what has emotional value for your customer, that is highly profitable. I think that is where Amex is with the Centurion Card. It meets some people's needs and is profitable for Amex. For others it doesn't make much sense. I had the card and found myself moving into the latter category

WasKnown

Ya to each their own. It’s definitely a matter of values and where everyone is in terms of diminishing returns on money.

Personally, I cynically believe there is a lot of intangible value to having the Centurion beyond what anyone can model. For example, since using the JPM Reserve at hotel check-in, I have discovered that hotels magically seem to have better suite upgrade availability (even at chains like Four Seasons where I don’t hold Four Seasons Elite status). The JPMR is less well known than the Centurion so I am curious to see if anyone has experiences (positive or negative) related to this.

Also, I agree that the US culture of building a system of social meaning around credit cards is weird. Not saying it’s good or bad but I want to leverage it if I can.

seacarl

I was not aware that the US has a culture of social meaning around credit cards - I thought that was something that Amex created and tried to create worldwide. At whatever success they can.

I also was not aware of the JPM Reserve card (unless you mean the CSR Chase Sapphire Reserve). It does not seem to me that it has ever made any difference what credit card I present at check-in whether chain hotel or independent, whether Anex Centurion or CSR or something else. In fact I used my Amex Centurion many times wondering whether it would do anything at Check-in and it never did. So whatever magic it could have may be limited to the hotels you book through their travel agency.

WasKnown

I think Amex is definitely a huge contributor to the social aspects of CCs. Personally, I noticed this particularly in major US cities (NY, LA, Miami, etc).

The JPM Reserve is different from the CSR. Like the Amex Centurion it is invite only but unlike the Centurion, invites are tied (loosely) to net worth rather than spend.

Thx for your experience with the Centurion at hotels. Sorry to see that it has not mattered for you. I’m mainly curious about the impact (if any) the Centurion has when being used at

1) Luxury hotels/resorts
2) Luxury good retailers (first party ie BV, Patel, etc)
3) Luxury good resellers (ie RealReal)

IE any data points on using a Centurion to bypass any wait to buy a Birkin directly?

stimpy

Yes the value of the card as you present it depends on the perspective of the person evaluating. There are many stories over the years of special treatment with the Centurion cards, but that mostly happens at high end businesses. Not at Sheraton nor Walmart. I'll also say that I've had much better treatment overseas than in the US when people see the card (with the exception of Vegas casino bosses who give laser focus when they see a Centurion card) Even in places you'd least expect it. For instance in a mostly residential neighborhood of Tokyo, far from the popular tourist areas. Or a hotel in Buenos Aires, etc.

Every year in these threads there are people who say it has no value. And for these people they are correct. But for others there is real value. For me the card has paid for itself for over 20 years now.

mia

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I think American Express's idea was to incorporate some of the function of a 19th century Letter of Introduction into a payment card. This had some initial success, but did not scale well.

WasKnown

Thanks. Can you share some of your anecdotes of success with the softer benefits of having a Centurion? I have seen stories about people being able to buy Birkins immediately after a single purchase with the Centurion. Is that credible?

stimpy

I don't know anything about Birkin, but I did get some very special treatment with Tumi. I happened to stop by a Tumi store in Paris with my black leather Tumi duffel over my shoulder. One of the senior Euro managers was there and saw my Centurion card. We talked and he inspected my bag, which was old and well worn, and he said he would like to take it to their workshop in Germany and re-work all the worn out parts. They would never normally do that for an old discontinued product, but they did for me. Gratis. And I still use that bag today. I think it must be 20 years old now.

You can see many posts here Report Centurion "WOW" Offers, Invites, Gifts

One fine benefit I wrote about in that thread was the free Rolls Royce loaner for a day. Only when I contacted the Rolls Dealer in So Cal after the promo ended, he said sure I can even loan it to you for a 3 day weekend (it was Super Bowl weekend). And when I brought it back he said I could come back any time and he would loan out other Rolls models.

I've had countless suite upgrades beyond what I should have gotten with FHR. Especially with Mandarin Oriental hotels and occasionally with Four Seasons. And even a couple of Trump hotels.

SteveT

No, that's not true.

EWRFlyerNJ

lol there is no waiting list for a birkin. At any given time, the major stores have 3-5 in stock. Celebrities get theirs from the company … “regular people” need to have a history of buying products over several years and then they review your account with the store manager to decide if you will be offered one, when you ask for one. And, once you get one you can buy as many as you want going forward because your account is tagged as being a birkin buyer. This is how it worked for me.

jem008

In fairness, I think there’s an art to presenting the card. I’ve received penthouse accommodations @ The Post Oak in Houston, multiple FS’s around the states, as well as W/Ritz properties at time of arrival. This happened for me occasionally for me with my platinum card - but I was typically quoted a fee to upgrade beyond one category. This hasn’t been my experience with Cent.

With respect to luxury goods many boutiques (LV, Prada, Burberry, Hermes) have certainly taken note of the card at time of payment - and all have taken down my info AFTER they saw my method of payment. At LV, I now have early access to all limited edition collections and the direct number of my regional sales manager. I recently expressed interest in a Rolex Yacht Master II at a local watch boutique on a Tuesday afternoon, and the manager informed me that these are rare and if they receive one that they’ll place one phone call to the interested party - if unanswered they’ll proceed to the next person interested. I explained that my job doesn’t allow for me to be constantly ‘at the ready’ by my phone and asked if they would save my payment information in their customer database. I presented the Cent to the manager - and received a call 4 days later saying the watch had arrived. Coincidence? Perhaps. But anyone who has recently been in the market for a Rolex timepiece knows that getting your hands on any new watch has been a monumental task.

I couldn’t agree more with the previous post saying that the card has no tangible value in non-high end environments. When I walk into a Marriott or chain steakhouse, I might as well be using my Chase United Club Card. But in places where most browse and few spend consistently, the Cent’s reputation precedes itself.

WasKnown

Thanks. These are really interesting anecdotes (especially with the post Oak Penthouse!) even if this is not going to be replicable for everyone.

Can you share your “art” of presenting the card? Do you think there are other factors that could be driving this (ie clothing, jewelry, car, companion, etc)?

Judging from your watch choice, I’m guessing you like bigger timepieces

emcnj

I still comb over this thread from time to time to read stories and it still blows my mind that people come along and comment on the thread with the intent of badmouthing the AF, making assumptions about who Amex wants as a cardholder without being a cardholder themselves, or worse critiquing or criticizing someone about their desire for the card. Everyone has their reasons.

I muscled my way into the centurion program by way of business spend through my rep, my invitation was not organic by any means but I still get all the benefits and perks of the card just as any other cardholder.

As far as worth or justification is concerned, everyone’s financial picture is different. Some don’t care, some write it off, some make use of all the benefits and can clearly see their ROI.

I know for me personally the card was more of a personal achievement / bucket list item rather than maximizing my use of the benefits and perks.

With the increase of CNP and touch less / wireless pay I think Amex needs to focus more on relationships and personal touches for its cardholders, but I wouldn’t necessarily leave if they didn’t. I agree that the merchants you frequent, your social engineering skills, along with the way the card is presented is what can open up or unlock doors, but the onus really shouldn’t be on the cardholder to make those things happen. However as centurion holders I would say a vast majority are resourceful enough and have the logic to use it as a tool vs a magic wand when the opportunity presents itself.

WasKnown

I agree. More than anything, for some people $15K + $5K per year is a big expense that needs to be justified carefully. For others, it is not something worth consideration. IMO you either want it or you don’t.

Would you be willing to share info on this process either here or through DM? I am currently working with an account manager who has provided some guidance on our business spend. I have not moved much of my business spend yet to Amex for reasons unrelated to the Centurion. However, it has been indicated to me that spending at this level over a prolonged period of time should be enough. Is it OK to trust an account manager on this?