Do you get the same fare when booking via CTS as you would booking online via AmExTravel.com, i.e. if there is an IAP fare available? Last year I booked an excellent IAP business class fare to CPH via FRA but did it on amextravel.com. Then I realized we could have had the arrivals service in FRA had I booked the flight with CTS. Would they have gotten the IAP fare?

The only times in the past I've ever contacted CTS for flights, the fares and routings they cited weren't close to what I could get by booking direct with the airline, so I stopped contacting them.

I always check on the airline website and/or ITA. If there is a difference, it is too small to worry about.

Yes, but is this the same "pod" of agents that handle regular cardmember services? It used to be that with CTS and PTS, there were dedicated sets of Amex-employed travel agents. You could get one assigned to you, but even if you didn't and just spoke to the first available agent, they were a) full-time travel agents, and b) worked for Amex. I get the sense that the legacy CTS has gone away, and now you have the situation that your assigned "pod" of Centurion cardmember services agents are cross-trained to also do travel bookings. Is that right?

Well, if they are reading this, they should find out whomever or whatever team lead the charge to use Expedia, and either sack those guys or place them in a dept that is completely unrelated to the cardmember experience, e.g., HR, ESG marketing, or something along those lines.

The same "pod" of agents that handle regular services is cross-trained to handle travel. If you book through a human being on that pod, it will not be an Expedia booking. You do not want an Expedia booking if you ever have to change your ticket. Trust me on that. You will spend hours of your life on hold. If you book through amextravel.com, even when logged in as a Centurion member, it will be an Expedia booking.

The "pod" system has been a disaster. I believe AMEX knows this, and has (allegedly) stopped taking new Centurion members because they don't have enough resources to deal with the existing customers. My guess is it became easier for AMEX to overload a "pod" as opposed to an assigned person, and that's what happened.

Probably already gone. American Express outsourced Amex Travel to Travelocity in 2004, changed to Orbitz in 2011. Expedia acquired both Travelocity and Orbitz in 2015.

Whenever I email a request to my Cent team the lead replies instantly with “we are in receipt of your request and someone will get back to you asap”. Sometimes no one responds for days. Sometimes they are very smooth & efficient. Many times, as noted previously, different people respond to same request at different points in time, without coordinating/communicating with each other.

I have now learned that:

"Room upgrade at time of reservation, if available" was supposed to be interpreted as inserting the words "commencement of" before "reservation" � so this language should have said "room upgrade at time of check-in".

The "room upgrade at time of booking" benefit is still in effect for the Mandarin Oriental, St. Regis, et al. but the list isn't on the website.

Safe to assume this is an automated reply, and not an indication than anyone has looked at your request?

It�s not THAT instant, sorry for the confusion. So I�d say no, not an automated response but within 15-20 mins.

Reading the last few posts in this thread has been eye-opening. I had no idea that Centurion travel booked on line went through an overseas Expedia call center. This helps explain why the service I received was so shockingly terrible.

I suspected the Centurion program had been hollowed-out, but hadn't really had occasion to think about it until trying to use them for some stuff lately and finding the service levels to be beyond awful.

Guess after 22 years with the card, it makes sense to shift down to Platinum or Green... also, when researching this, I noticed that Platinum members actually receive higher point multipliers than Centurion for certain charges- can't begin to fathom why.

The state of the US Centurion service is deplorable. While the pod model is being implemented, the long wait times and poor handling hasn't been seen in the UK (maybe just not yet).

The only mishap I encountered so far is the direct line for the executive/pod (which is different from the one on the back of the card) wasn’t able to pick up my account for a few weeks. But I can still ask whoever picked up to transfer the call or just send an email asking for call back.

Tangential discussion of Platinum Travel Service (PTS) moved to a more specific thread: Amex Platinum Travel Services (PTS) vs Amex Travel

Comparison of Amex concierge to paid alternatives, including Velocity Black has been moved: Amex Centurion / Platinum concierge vs paid alternatives

Came here to check up on the experiences of others since my $5k posted yesterday, and I'm pretty sure this is the final straw. In the last month:

• 25 minute wait to get to an agent
• 20 minute wait to get to an agent (the only two times I called)
• Today, got a call from my "dedicated" agent to remind me to use my $2,000 credit before June...and he called at 8am. Where is that an acceptable hour for marketing calls?

I could go on and on, but the service the last year has gotten terrible. If I book something with a US airline for $2,000 plus, I assume the usual free changes down the road when I want to apply? Any advice on doing this so I can downgrade the card asap and get most of my fee back?

Approaching my 20th year with them, I have to say the benefits and quality of service are worse than ever in 2022.