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Commentaries |
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Credit Card Commentaries |
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American Express® Centurion Card (Black Card)
Issued by American Express |
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| Total Posts: 61 |
Average Rating:
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Category: Charge |
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Showing 1 - 10 of a total of 61 Commentaries |
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1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-61 |
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| "get your own Blamex!" |
| if u want a real black american express card and can afford it, email icurme @ gmail.com |
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| Most attractive feature: concierge services, travel benefits |
| Least attractive feature: nothing! |
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| Posted by: Blamex |
| Date: 11/29/2010 |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "Day one is great - then it stops" |
The card is now very expensive ($2,500) and more difficult to obtain ($250k a year and even then no promises). I had to spend close to double that and make endless calls for months to get invited.
However, once you get the card you receive benefits that you cannot get overnight for any fee (e.g. gold airline cards which mean free upgrades 80% of the time, hotel cards which do the same although far less often, and the snug feeling and weight of metal - titanium made - in your wallet).
Now - once you get past the automatic perks, it all ends:
Don't try booking travel through Amex, you will pay less and get better options yourself or with a normal agent.
Don't try the concierge expecting miracles, the miracle is if they follow through or call you back.
Don't try the other benefits such as shopping or dining - the big "partner" merchants just aren't impressed with the card anymore. Your friends/associates will change their tune when they see it - few others will. I have yet to see anyone at their airline, retail, or dining partners bat an eye when I hand it to be swiped.
Bottom line - you pay $2,500 for airline and hotel elite cards and self-confirmation (or showing off, depends on your personality). Don't expect anything else, and you will be happy. |
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| Most attractive feature: "Automatic" benefits that come with the card |
| Least attractive feature: Customer service or other "human based" benefits |
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| Posted by: S.Bling |
| Date: 2/14/2007 |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "the truth" |
| Amex has always offered top service no matter what level card you have. If your extended the invite for centurion and you don't mind the fees,hype etc..more power to you. If you have a platinum Amex, I'm sure your doing just fine. Centurion won't make your life turn from good to wonderful. |
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| Most attractive feature: customer service/cardholder perks |
| Least attractive feature: all status and not much more |
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| Posted by: B |
| Date: 10/1/2006 |
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This person does not recommend this card.
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| "AMEX Centurion (Black & Gold Card)" |
I've been reading these blog comments and it seems to me as though a lot of people don't really have a card. Here are my thoughts.
I'm sure the travel services are really nice. However, since my assistant handles those details for me anyway. It's really a benefit for her and not me.
Second, I've actually had problems using the card because it does not look real. And now that they changed the design. It now looks and feels so different most people believe it is fake. (I've actually had to pull out my Wells Fargo ATM card before because the retailer would not accept it.) I'm wondering if this has ever happened to any other members?
When someone does recognize the card. I get asked all kinds of questions. And people start really kissing ass, to the point of embarrassment and irritation.
The only time I can remember using my card and not being embarrassed was when I purchased a card from a Mercedes Dealership in Encino and they did not change their attitude at all. Very professional. I should note that they were very nice before the card as well! By the way I found out later, I could have gotten a better price on the car if I would have financed some of it. So you decide if having your ass kissed is more important that keeping some of your money yours.
One benefit I haven't used but a friend of mine has is that AMEX will send you lots and lots of gift certificates. They had their entire vacation home furnished with Crate & Barrel certificates didn't cost a penny! That's pretty cool.
Lastly, AMEX does not necessarily stick to all the requirements for the card. It is really based on your relationship with them and whether or not your purchasing habits would benefit from a membership like this.
Frankly, I keep my card simply because I don't want to give up the status. However, I could spend just as much and do just as much with my plain old platinum as I use this for without the idol conversations.
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| Most attractive feature: Not waiting on hold for a three second question. |
| Least attractive feature: When you present the card. Clerks tend to want to ask you all about it. |
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| Posted by: Gabriel |
| Date: 8/21/2006 |
| Recommend? |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "Charter member of Centurion, but no more" |
| Hi all, to share my experience with Centurion, I don't think they quite understand what it is like to make a living or provide a service and talk to you like an amateur in accordance with that. I don't need coddling, but to be treated like an idiot, and to be lied to on account related matters, offered champagne cases etc that didn't arrive when i raised grievances to stop me from cancelling, and getting palmed off with snotty schoolboys in CS who have no IQ, is not what I signed up for. Straight business dealings, I pay what I owe and I want a product. They don't deliver any premium product, and they reneged on promises to make good on their cock-ups twice. Unforgiveable, may talk to TenUK, quintesentially and/or Coutts Signia to see if they are muppets as well...I'll be demoting to green card status so I keep my rewards/miles, after they are mopped up I'm out for good. |
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| Most attractive feature: Hotel rates |
| Least attractive feature: Service, integrity (there is none) |
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| Posted by: jay |
| Date: 8/31/2005 |
| Recommend? |
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This person does not recommend this card.
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| "Centurion" |
| For those who own one and make the most of all the benefits that come with the card, the cost of the card is not even a issue. If you complain about the membership fee, you should have gotten one in the first place. I just returned from a trip to Antigua and decided the last minute to fly back a day later. All airlines where oversold and the only way back was via private Jet. CTS arranged a jet to fly to Antigua via TAG Aviation and pick us up. We had everything arranged with CTS from the villa rental to the boat charter....without CTS you are guessing......with CTS it is guaranteed. It's the only card I use, period. |
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| Most attractive feature: Unbeatable service, personal rep., benfeits galore |
| Least attractive feature: had 1 bad CTS experience. |
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| Posted by: LEO |
| Date: 3/28/2005 |
| Recommend? |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "Yes, I'm a real USA holder of the card..." |
As I read some of these reviews, I get the distinct impression that several of the people don’t really have the card.
I do, and here is my pitch:
I spent a crazy amount of money on my regular Amex, mostly personal, during the 90’s, and passed the $150k mark just for personal purchases, which looking back now, seemed absolutely crazy. I was offered and took the card at the $1000 annual fee, which everyone I knew agreed was insane, plus an extra $500 for a card for the wife (they charge in the USA for additional Cent cards, not in other countries).
If you travel a lot, this card is worth it. Right now, for example, I’m in NYC and flew here cross-country on Delta, First-Class, for $500. I just paid for my annual fee already in that one trip. Now in 2005 you also get the Priority Pass card, which allows you into just about every airline lounge in the world, or at least a few in every airport. That card perk is over $300 alone. Nice when you are stuck somewhere due to a delayed flight and you want to sit in quiet and eat cookies and drink free beer.
If you get the card and register for all the clubs and perks, it is definitely worth the $1000/year that I pay. New cardholders have to pay $2500/yr, which I think is too much, and if they raised mine, I’d have to think long and hard about keeping it. I’ve had mixed results with the travel services, they do answer as soon as you call, never a wait, but I wouldn’t say that they seemed much better than the regular Platinum travel folks, and I don’t use them to remind me of birthdays and that sort of thing.
And unlike a lot of people on here, I don’t slap that card out at every opportunity to show it off, I find it almost embarrassing, kind of like wearing a big gold Rolex covered with diamonds. Maybe that plays well in Florida or other parts of the country, but not on the west coast. I use it all the time when on business travel now to keep my business expenses separate, and most of the time people look at it for a few seconds, often you get the “Huh.. never seen a black one before…” A few times I’ve had people say things like “Holy cow, I’ve HEARD of these things but didn’t think they existed!” At the celebrity-rich Sundance Film Festival I had a guy at the ski rental place say “This is the sixth one I’ve ever seen.” I asked Amex once and they said there were about 10,000 cardholders worldwide. Not too many.
Anyway, if you are getting the card as a status card, you are wasting your money. Most people (90%) don’t even recognize it or respond to it in any way. If you travel a lot and register for every airline and hotel elite level membership you get with the card, it will pay for itself very quickly. If the kind of people you hang out with would be impressed by such a card, you need new friends!
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| Most attractive feature: Elite level status on airlines/hotels |
| Least attractive feature: Expensive, sometimes embarassing |
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| Posted by: Doug |
| Date: 3/23/2005 |
| Recommend? |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "Centurion" |
First off, you have to have been a Platinum cardholder for at least five years. Secondly the Centurion card is like a club for rich people; every month you get a fancy magazine through your door with various articles on expensive cars (last month the SLR roadster!!!), not to mention adverts for yachts and watches left right and centre!!!
Tips on obtaineing the card:
Spend all your money on your amex continually, then have the wife do the same.
After a few months you should get the AMEX card through your door in a nice black case!!!!
P.S. the Centurion is black but on no place does it say centurion. |
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| Most attractive feature: Invitations to various events, for example I was able to test drive a lambourghini diablo! |
| Least attractive feature: The card does come with a price tag, and it is not available to normal cardholders. |
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| Posted by: Adam |
| Date: 3/16/2005 |
| Recommend? |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "Myths" |
My GF has this card, and has recently gotten a complimentary card for me. After reading a little bit about it, and seeing it now on all the "rich and famous" shows that clog the cable networks these days, I asked her how she got it. Apparently, AMEX sent her one. She never applied, certainly never spent $150k last year, and never even called AMEX.
The $150k/year requirement isn't necessarily a hardened rule. Once you get one platinum card or establish a credit rating, thousands of card offers come your way (whether you want them or not).
I believe that these people (the one's that AMEX automatically offer) are the one's they're banking on for advertising and brand recognition.
The Black card is simply a business move to try to get free advertising from the wealthy or famous, in an effort to improve their brand standing and increase other card holders.
She (my GF) rarely uses the card (she has way too many as it is) and didn't really know anything about the services until I told her what I'd learned about it. We're trying it out.
The bottom line is that AMEX DOESN'T necessarily care if you're getting your money's worth from their Concierge service. People have and use this card for the "look at me, I'm utlra rich" effect. Me personally, I don't need someone to buy M/Ms for me in the middle of the night and don't need a personal service to book hotels and flights (chances are, if you REALLY qualify for this card, you have someone that you pay to manage those things anyway). The card is nothing more than a way to inform merchants that you have lots of money and deserve their undivided attention/service. |
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| Most attractive feature: Status |
| Least attractive feature: Fee |
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| Posted by: Sugar Momma |
| Date: 2/6/2005 |
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This person does recommend this card.
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| "black card club" |
| The black card is pretty cool, but the black card club is even cooler. In order to apply for membership, you have to have the amex centurion card and need to leave that snob attitude at the door. www.blackcardclub.com |
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| Most attractive feature: class |
| Least attractive feature: none |
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| Posted by: Ray |
| Date: 12/19/2004 |
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This person does recommend this card.
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Showing 1 - 10 of a total of 61 Commentaries
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1-10 | 11-20 | 21-30 | 31-40 | 41-50 | 51-60 | 61-61
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