seacarl

Isn't the main point of Flyertalk forums how to hack money and travel? How to get above averages returns, treatment, and experiences? Cost-benefit analysis and personal experiences are relevant.

I have had the Centurion card in the past. When I got it there was no initiation fee, and the annual fee was $2000. It got you top tier status on Delta, USAir and Continental. It got you top tier status at SPG and Hilton. It had superior benefits to the Platinum card in every way. Hertz Platinum service meant something. Priority Pass didn't come with any limitations, it got you into lots of lounges in USA and included restaurants with PP started adding them.

I can't say that I could totally figure out whether the value was worth it, but the odd times that I strayed to another airline either because of IRROPs or they were most convenient, it was good to have access to better seating and usually priority lanes, and to generally always have someplace to credit flights with partnerships, and to have partner lounge access across alliances.

Over time the benefits were whittled away, again and again. Sometimes it was Amex's decision, sometimes external actors. US and CO are gone and I have lifetime status on UA and AS now, and DL Platinum is really Platinum light and at best a mid-tier status. Hertz Platinum is no more. The U.S. airlines largely eliminated domestic Priority Pass lounge access with the creation of PP Select, and Amex went one step further with eliminating the restaurant benefit. Amex added 5x points on airfare purchases to the Platinum card but not the Centurion. They put Gogo inflight on the business Platinum but not the Centurion. They took away $200 airline fee credit from Centurion but not Platinum. And then they doubled the annual fee from $2500 to $5000. For me that was the straw that broke the camel's back (together with their no-common-sense denial of honor my request to credit the Nexus fee in lieu of the Global Entry benefit as Nexus includes Global Entry.)

The hotel program benefits have always been marginal in my experience. You can get similar results from Virtuoso agents or the partner programs for Park Hyatt, Four Seasons, etc. if you want to stay at those properties. And there are often considerably cheaper corporate rates than the rates required for the hotel program benefits.

I can't find the value in Centurion. So the question would be, and why the topic is interesting, am I missing benefits? Does someone else find hidden value? If it's just for boasting, they are targeting a different person than me and it's a mismatch. I did cancel my card after figuring out how to max a few of temporary benefits in 2020.

HawkeyeFlyer

I do not care how they spend their money. I was commenting on WHY they spent it. I have spent lots on things that many would find crazy. I had the Business Centurious for a few years

And by the way, not to many Rolex under $10k anymore

RedSun

Because when people are outside the ring, they want to get in. They want to compare. The few who are inside the ring had enough and can't justify the cost.

FlyingChuck

Don't have the card, but prior to the fee increases, wanted the business centurion. Under the right circumstances, this card becomes 3% cash back using the following benefits:
- Transactions $5,000 or greater earn 1.5MR
- 50% MR rebate when redeeming for flights

Depending on where you'd otherwise push non-bonus spend (2.625% cash back in my case), the difference can easily cover the fees if you have enough $5,000+ transactions and spend enough on flights.

seacarl

I have bought some flights through credit card portals, but I find the process to be more cumbersome than booking direct through the airline websites. At a minimum it introduces extra work to ensure that frequent flyer numbers, known traveler numbers, etc. get entered. Generally can't select seats, or not preferred seats, or manage upgrades. Sometimes don't get shown as many flight options or fare categories. It can be done but can be PITA. And it can mean that if you want to change anything you get pushed back to the portal, which is treated as a travel agent by the airline, rather than being able to make changes directly with the airline. If the benefit flows automatically so long as you use the right credit card to pay for the ticket, then that is much better. I don't recall whether you can retroactively apply MR points or are forced to buy through the Amex travel portal

willliamjia

I understand it is annoying AME incresed the annual fee several times, especially last year from $2500 to $5000. For many people. centurion lost its value. But for most card members like myself, we still value the card. First, we spent millions every year, most other credit cards have no such high credit limits. Second, Centurion offer 1.5 MR per dollar over $5000. Third, when you use points to buy air tickets on Ame travel, you get 50% points back(platinum gets %35 back). Last, if you buy first and business air tickets on AME travel, you will get airport arrival and departure service for the most airports in the world. Remeber last time you were stuck into the long waiting line of immigration.

If the annual fee increase to over 20k and there is no change for centurion benefit, i might cancel this card. Everybody has different view of value. please do not use yours to judge other people.

mia

American Express Green, Gold, Platinum and Centurion have equal spending capability. To justify the difference between the cost of a Green card and the others we need to look at other features.

willliamjia

That is totally different. For centurion i can spend nearly one million one time. Platinum never over 100k. i still remember the old days i used 10 credit cards to buy a single stuff.

LondonElite

The color of your card has nothing to do with your credit limit. There are without doubt Green Card holders who have a higher credit limit than some Centurion holders. I would guess that Warrant Buffett has a higher credit limit than I do.

Bm86

my limit on my platinum is 100k. They told me that’s as high as they will go on the platinum. I have to send a wire if I want to spend more than 100k.

LondonElite

That's probably a case of going that high for you, rather than the product itself.

Bm86

possibly, we will see what other people say if they have the same experience. Sounds like other people have had the same issue though. But they told me on the phone last year that they won’t allow any platinum card to spend over 100k without wiring first. They 100% made it seem like a product issue with instead of a limit where they will only allow me 100k. Do you have any experience with them allowing more than 100k without a wire first?

LondonElite

Only anecdotal on Gold and Platinum, but in both cases they were for amounts in excess of that.

Bm86

hopefully more people can weigh in. I really want to know if the Amex rep lied to me or not. Thanks for the info

gengar

Probably a misunderstanding, I've had no problem charging 100k+ on the Plat.