DrDave2006

Who is their concierege service? Do you know? I have this card yet have not yet used it.

GMT II

I believe its VIPDesk. But I am not 100% sure. Unlike the MC world version of vipdesk they announce themselves as from saks world elite. They also dont have you sitting on hold for them. One or two rings max and you are connected.

DrDave2006

What kinds of stuff have you had them accomplish? Any hard to get reservations? Stuff like that?

boxinbull

They are upgrading all plats to world elite plus for free very soon. They weren't enough wce i guess. I got 2500 bonus for buying something in the store as I don't shop much just use the travel upgrade bennies.

GMT II

I use the service for errand running work. I typically give them little projects to do that I cannot be bothered with. Example: I need some presentation books created and wanted a price list of the services for various stores. Also very handy for hard to find gifts.

awake

Lurker, when I first read this. I thought "hmmmm. it does not make any sense to pay $24 per visit".

After thinking about it, I am starting to see the light.

a. I live near a DL hub
b. I travel 90% on DL
c. I have Fidelity AMEX Plat which only costs me $320 per year.
d. I can use the AMEX Plat to get into a lounge on 90% of my outbound flights and most of my return flights.
d. I have Citi Chairman that I used to get Priority Pass, but it costs $500 per year.

$500 = 20 visits (@ $25 each) to Priority Pass lounges with the Saks card. Based upon my travel pattern, there is no way that I would use this benefit 20 times in one year. Therefore, I could actually sav move money by paying $25 for each visit.

mia

An important variable is how frequently you travel with others who would join you at the club. American Express Platinum, Citi Chairman, and (IIRC) a club membership allow you to bring guests at no additional charge, but a standard Priority Pass applies the $24 charge for each person.

STAM4NICK

Just wanted to post my experience about the travel feature on this card -- Saks World Elite MasterCard.

Long story short I ended up getting this card only because I thought I was “renewing” my Saks charge. My account had expired, so applied for new one in store for 10% off first day, I ended up getting the full gung ho Saks World Elite MasterCard.

Anyways onto travel.

To avoid identifying myself let me just list a few random thoughts and expectations and notes without telling the whole story.


Let me outline my expectations for this booking:

1. Specific seat requirements on my two flights (next to Dad on different Record Locator)
2. AA VIP upgrade certificates (from my Dad’s account) applied to my reservation roundtrip (this is allowed by AA, but wanted World Elite to handle)
3. Cell phone # in AA reservation viewable on AA screens in case of “sir your flight has been CXLD we would link rebook you on X”
4. FF# entry into the reservation
a. Even maybe asking for all my FF# for a full profile and preferences setup on my first call to them
5. Faxed or emailed a PDF customized/branded itinerary
6. Faxed or emailed a PDF customized/branded ticket receipt
7. Delineation/explanation if the Record Locator was a travel agent record locator or an airline record locator
8. Any kind of pull or special status Virtuoso has with AA would be explained to me or offered to me or applied to me
9. courteous agents, knowledgeable agents
10. calling AA on my behalf if they can’t see what they need on their screens


I called the World Elite Concierge 800# on the back of my card as I did not have a dedicated 800 travel# other than the 877 one on the website – priceless.com. I said I needed to book airline tickets to X, so I did not know if you handled that or someone at Virtuoso does. She put me on hold (all the Concierges are very very nice by the way) and connected me live to an agent. She was very very helpful and perky. I had done some research myself already so knew my dates, flights, times, airlines etc… She took my name, address, work# to call me back, and cell# and email address. She quoted me the fare (“very reasonable” was her quote) and mentioned the booking fee ($35).

1. I was not asked about seat assignments
2. I was not asked for my FF#
4. She said they were on hold until 12M following day (after I asked if I could put them on hold)
5. She gave me the Record Locator
6. I had to ask for the 800# to call them back to which she gave

A copy of the itinerary was sent out to me via email – Mind you this was a generic auto generated email to go visit a link at www.virtuallythere.com to view my itinerary that was on hold. I imagine they use Sabre at Virtuoso. More details on these emails below.

Ticketing call (next day):
I greeted her at first with that I have a reservation on hold that I wanted to ticket.
They look up your reservation by name – last name, then confirm first name and destination and date.

She confirmed the fare, the booking fee, the destination and the dates. I had to ask her to confirm the seat assignments just to be sure (this was after calling AA for seat assignments and linking conf#s). I also asked to confirm my cell# and she said she shows it as ###. Then she asked me for my MasterCard number “whenever you are ready.” I gave her my Saks World Elite card and expiration.

By her comment I might imagine that one can use any MasterCard and not a Saks or World Elite platform card for ticketing, bookings, reservation through them.

The fare and booking fee do get charged separately on my Saks MasterCard.


I asked how I can get a copy of the ticket receipt and itinerary and she said an email will go out and there will be link to view the itinerary and ticket receipt. It ended up being that same auto generated email to go to www.virtuallythere.com. (This email has no contact information – no tel#, no agents name, no travel agency name, just “your sabre travel consultant” was it.) I did not ask about faxing capabilities, but would imagine they would have to print something on their end and get up from their desk and fax it to me. Furthermore I might even expect at this level of service a mailed copy of my ticket receipt and credit card charge slip (if applicable) and my itinerary for my paper records. Though I doubt this will be the case as my address was only asked for in the first call.

Anyways overall, I was somewhat pleased with the service. While all the agents were nice, and helpful and knowledgeable and interested, I would not pay $35 again if they cannot get through to AA and make little requests on my behalf (linking reservations, special seat assignments, upgrades). And furthermore I would not pay $35 again for a generic itinerary where I have to read my email and visit a website to pull it off.

I will add that in the notes of the reservation it does say MC WORLD ELITE. Though, that may be more for them and their agents as I doubt the airline recognizes such a thing.

All told without the details 3 calls to World Elite and 3 calls to AA Elite Desk.

That is just my two cents on the travel agent benefit of this card. Now I know Virtuoso is more well known for full vacation planning, and I was happy there appears to be a World Elite Travel call center/offices in TX for just air, hotel, car bookings. And I know there are business class/first class companion ticket promotions as well, but I think any card that comes with a travel/air benefit such as that should be able to book basic air single passenger itineraries non-stop or connecting (i.e. Chairman Card & Spirit Incentives travel agency)

I hope this provides perspective relative to the AMEX Platinum Travel Service.

Thanks.

jplux

STAM4NICK:


That was a fantastic post.

BTW: Your list of expectations reminds me of...ME!

STAM4NICK

Just some more anecdotal notes on this product per my experience as I thought some her emight find entertaining or of interest.

They sent out an offer postcard for double SaksFirst points Oct 1 – Dec 31 on travel and dining. I called to get the details on the dining. I wanted to know what Merchant Category Codes qualified for the offer. (The MCC#) Was it fast food only, table/waiter service only, both, and what about “miscellaneous food stores”?

I called the customer service for my MasterCard account first. I was told the Saks First program department would know and the rep acted like he knew exactly what I was asking about. I agreed to be transferred to them.

I repeated my need again and at first I was told we don’t have that information. (I had gotten MCCs from other issuers so know they or their processor would have this. Late in the conversation I was told the categories are supermarkets, gas stations, drug stores and dining. But I had to say my offer does not say that—it says travel and dining and I listed the travel categories. She had to check and said two targeted offers were sent out. I asked about passenger railway and if it was part of the travel as it is not listed. She had no answer.

Then she thought I wanted the merchant name list (thousands long), but I insisted that no, these are codes the merchant chooses from a standardized small bucket to use to identify themselves to MasterCard and their acquirer. (I got the impression from the rep that she was essentially telling me that I myself knew more than she does as she had no idea what I was really talking about.) She finally insisted they had no such list, and did not offer up the opportunity to go find more information.

So I asked very nicely if there was someone else who could research this or help me. I was soon transferred to a supervisor, who after a bit of tussle agreed to research it and call me back. She had called MasterCard themselves while I was on the phone and she told me they were not of help to her—OK they should not be expected be. I wanted the MCCs for this offer run my Saks and HSBC, not all of the MCCs. MasterCard has nothing to do with this offer. I had to suggest to her to call the card issuer (HSBC Bank Nevada) as they might be of help instead as they or their processor approves transaction to my account and has information that identifies a transaction as qualifying for the promo. SaksFirst administers the reward program so they too should know what and what does not qualify for the additional points. I even gave her the codes I was looking for to help her out. How come I am more informed than they?

I must say I am loosing confidence in my Saks World Elite MasterCard customer service. I noticed this time I had to go through multiple menus and listen to my balance and cash advance balance and my total limit until I could even get to a meaty menu (other than English press 1)

I have sent some letters to them in Deleware about other issues, so hope the written response is more fruitful.

I will say they are all unfailing kind and polite, just not as informed as one would expect from a premier credit card. (I imagine there is significant call center turnover.)

I’ll save my email correspondence issues with them for another time.

rrgg

I'm thinking of getting this for some of the benefits like priority pass, but I don't plan to make it my primary card. Has anyone done this? The short expiration date makes me wonder if they'll let me retain the account. Thanks.

STAM4NICK

I have on used the Priority Pass feature with card one time -- EWR CO Club. I was added to the clipboard list and 3 weeks still no charge yet and hope none come through too.

Do you have a Saks near you? Is is especially useful for that. Travel is great -- they are very nice, but don't send custom itineraries if you do a simple air reservation. They just send the link to go look it up online. Concierge is very nice too. When I say nice I mean they are polite and professional. I have only put two requests to them -- dinner reservations at non-popular NYC restaurants and finding a car service with a special make and model in their fleet (they handed me off to Virtuoso for this one who could not find one, Carey is their preferred/push company for car service). With dining they always ask other preferred times and if you are celebrating anything-- which make me think they don't have pull to get whatever time you want and adding special celebration notes helps them pull good tables. So you give them fodder to do good on your request.

Customer service is STILL abismal.

Good luck.

rrgg

Thanks. I do have a Saks nearby. I think I'll just give it a shot.

dko3tgk

I don't have the Saks WE MC, but I do have the Ameriprise WE MC for the unlimited Priority Pass.
But I don't understand the Virtuoso benefits. I work for a Virtuoso travel company, but not a travel agency. Virtuoso is an elite network of travel agencies, hotels/resorts, cruises and tour companies. Since membership qualifications to Virtuoso are supposedly stringent, for the most part Virtuoso agents are alot more professional and qualified than your run of the mill local travel agent. Alot of it has to do with their regular clientele. Virtuoso, travel agencies deal with mostly top end clients, and usually handle more full service type of travel including air, hotels, tours, etc. And they do offer alot more detailed and customized service on their bookings. The benefits such as special amenities for hotels/resorts, ie. upgrade upon availability, bottle of wine, meal credit, fruit basket,etc, are available to anyone who books through a Virtuoso agent. But what I don’t understand is that you don't need special access from a credit card to work with a Virtuoso agent. You can just call a Virtuoso agency. There are quite a few of them throughout the country. The only thing I can think of is that if they are called by the World Elite concierge they are obligated to fulfill the request even if it’s something small like air tickets only. Most Virtuoso agents are always cautious with new clients that weren't referred and don't like small piecemeal bookings like flights only or a short hotel booking only.
Does anyone know if the World Elite Virtuoso benefit is different from just calling a Virtuoso travel agent directly?

STAM4NICK

I call my concierge and they connect me to the World Elite Travel Desk. That way the travel desk does not have to verify my cardholder membership. I do have both an 800# and an intl collect# to the Desk if I am on the road and need changes or have rebooking needs because of delays or cancellations, but one time the agent had no idea where to get their international collect# and had a heck of a time trying to find it while I was on hold. My presumption is that are NOT dedicated to World Elite cardholders but do simple air, hotel car rental, airport transfer bookings for World Elite, but when destination stuff is involved (tours, guides, activities, events, parties, sightseeing etc….) I think they opt to find you a specialist from the extensive network.
I presume they are in TX, but have been referred to Valerie Wilson Travel in NYC for that car service request I had. Needless to say the agent at VWT could not find my car type after saying she called local dealerships, but had suggested Carey (Virtuoso preferred provider) and the equivalent car type at first, but I chose to do helicopter airport transfer. She booked it for me, with no additional commission as I presume I had already paid World Elite Travel Desk that commission/booking fee—even though it was 3 weeks prior when I booked the air part. I could tell she was wondering why she was spending time on me (long call backs, limited research effort) when all I was doing was an airport transfer and she likely was not getting a commission on this. Also I got a call from a lady, who I think works at home per the Caller ID and phonebook info, following up on my VWT experience to see how it went. (I ended up finding a car service company that has my car type on my own.)

I agree I think you can call ANY travel agent in the Virtuoso network and they will work with you. Though I do think they like to be destination specialists. SO calling them for air is kinda odd as they want to put their skills to use. Though how do you choose, which ones and where.—that is what World Elite Travel Desk is for. I think the hallmark of Virtuoso is that the agents are destination specialists – Cruise, Caribbean, certain islands in the Caribbean etc…. Are they not happy to have the business and commission (flat or negotiated) since many US domestic airlines don’t pay them any more? Are they not looking to build relationships? But then again how many of us use a travel agent for air or hotel bookings. JetBlue can’t be booked by travel agent I think. They are jetblue.com or their 800# only.
If they could find me a destination specialist to the location I go often – air only. I would just call that person directly and skip the World Elite Desk, yet the Desk seems to want to book it for me right away when I call. Yet for $35 I rather expect a custom emailed itinerary, offering to select my seats, and offering to add my FF# all on one phone call.
P.S. I don’t think they keep a profile on us with our FF# and preferences. You have to tell them each time.