2tall4economy

True, the few times I've used the Amex Plat or Delta Reserve Concierge benefit, it's been completely worthless. The answers I get back took all of 30 seconds and google to come up with.

And, for all the bluster about being international, I found that once I moved overseas the concierge was absolutely terrible. They couldn't find more than 2 restaurants in Shanghai for me to take clients to, and 1 of the them I had already told them about (because I used it as an example). There are hundreds of restaurants that fit the criteria I was looking for...

Another time I asked them to give me a list of the top kitchen appliances from 4 manufacturers, and find the lowest available price for them via website or nearby stores. Not only did they not find the highest end appliances (which took me 10 seconds on google), but they didn't even bother to check any websites for pricing alternatives. They just found 1 store and 1 price.

Just a few examples... I get the sense that unless you live in New York, credit card concierges with Amex have zero value.

Back on topic: as it relates to the Chase concierge, don't the Palladium and Sapphire Preferred both use the same concierge service? If so then i'm not sure service is any different for the additional $500...

bluto

Does the Palladium get the 7% annual bonus that the Sapphire gets? I am tempted to try the Palladium for the concierge benefits but I'd have a problem putting charges on the Palladium if the Sapphire earns more UR points. I know it's not a lot, but 2.14 vs 2.00 on travel/dining and 1.07 vs 1.00 can add up on large amounts. Also, it'd be irrational to use a lower earning card, which would be difficult to overcome.

mia

Call 1-877-626-5995 to Apply

https://creditcards.chase.com/credit...dium-card.aspx

Dr_wanderlust

I saw this posted on another site and thought it might interest folks here.

Palladium Credit Card Unboxing


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duasEVnoYmE

GoFastJames

Thats a friend of mine.
I did a open box about this card as well.
I have not had the time to work on the video.

Gekko

No, but if you spend over $100k in a year, you receive a 35,000 bonus, i.e. a 35% dividend :-)

HookemHorns

So I'm intrigued enough to have applied for the Palladium, and was approved next day. To be fair, I have a very solid credit score and income, but I was surprised that the application was so simple.

I currently also hold an AmEx plat (not really thinking of ditching it). Without rehashing the benefits comparison, there's one benefit set that seems very valuable to me that hasn't really been discussed yet - travel insurance. AmEx, like most US cards, offers virtually nothing in terms of travel insurance without an extra cost. Palladium seems to offer some great basic travel insurance for free, including primary rental car insurance, trip interruption and cancellation, medical and evacuation, delayed luggage, etc. I know this isn't for everyone, but it seems to me this benefit could pay the card fee many times over with a single SNAFU (especially thinking of international travel with family).

Thoughts?

jspira

Interesting reaction to the (metal) Palladium card - at the local Chase branch.

Since the JPM PB card looks similar to the Palladium card (although it's not metal), I accidentally pulled out the Palladium card while sitting at one of the banker's desks (I needed a notary stamp, a Medallion stamp, and a few other things, hence the reason for a rare visit to the branch).

The manager was hovering and noticed the Palladium card. "Wow, is that the Palladium card. I've never seen that in person - can I see it?"

His comment (much to my dismay) was loud enough that two other Chase bankers wandered over.

I'm so glad that I can do deposits with the JPM PB iPad app - the less I have to go into the branch, the better.

yOyOYoo

For those of you getting approved for this card, I am curious, what is your income?

idkmybffjill

+1. I'm also curious what the hell you guys do for a living haha...being a 21 year old college student, I sure wouldn't mind going into whatever your line of work is haha

Crashem

In the grand scheme of luxury credit cards, this card isn't significantly more expensive. I have plat card. Tell you what I like:

1) Its a VISA and has no fees for things like BT/Cash Advances etc. and option to keep balance. But hope to never use it.

2) Love the fact I can get UA miles. AMEX has no easy way to turn points into star alliance miles that I can see.

3) The flexible and hidden nature of the spend cap is pretty amazing. I think my initial limit was 45k with the option to double it. They went ahead and let me put 50k on it. I called to verify I could still charge on it since it showed no available balance which they said no problem. Went ahead and logged in later and saw they raised limit to 60k all without me asking. Even better this all happened in the first two weeks of having the card.

mia

Membership Rewards has three Star Alliance transfer partners (AC, NH, SQ) plus Virgin Atlantic which has partnerships with many Star members.

HookemHorns

Probably less than you might think. I don't think there are a lot of datapoints on the Palladium right now, but I can certainly say it isn't limited to the 1% crowd, and the application didn't even ask about assets - only income. Among my friends, I do see a higher number of premium cards among those who are in engineering, business, and hard sciences, especially those who travel a lot. I have a feeling that credit history may be as important as income with some of these cards - I'm guessing the issuers don't want to have retailers seeing denied charges on their flagship products.

You can always apply - I was denied for plenty of cards at 21, spent a while building a perfect credit history, and got an AmEx Plat 3 years after I finished college, having a mid-level engineering salary. I was young and thrilled with the idea of status, I quickly found that much (not all) of the attention was the wrong kind. The travel benefits, though, have been more than worth it...but there are many other threads that discuss status versus benefits.

mia

Any bank which attempts to compete with American Express Platinum faces the same dilemma. American Express collects a half-billion dollars per year in annual fees from USA-based Platinum Card holders alone. This generates an ample budget and great bargaining power when they buy benefits.

Chase, Citi or any other issuer needs to subsidize their card or broaden the customer base. It sounds as if Chase has made the decision to scale up the Palladium cardholder base to generate more fee revenue. Citi did the same with Chairman card, before renaming it "Prestige" and pretty much ignoring it.

It's easy to dump unwanted customers later, if it comes to that.

HookemHorns

Agree 100%. The Citi attempt was a complete flop, but they've never impressed me as strategists. I'm hoping that Chase makes sensible use of their hotel and airline relationships to create a unique end product that is positioned somewhere between the AmEx Plat and Cent, with a price point to match. They have to be able to sell the fact that there are a fair number of disgruntled AmEx users possibly willing to switch alliances if the deal is sweet enough (possible big dollars to UA/Marriott/RC etc).

I'm kind of kicking myself for not getting in on the AmEx Cent early on, so I'm willing to give this a few years to shake out. If the cost-benefit doesn't pay off, I can always dump it in a year or two and sell the card for scrap!