In Australia, the highest publicly available American Express card is the Amex Platinum Charge. Costing $1,450 per year, Amex Platinum comes with some serious perks including access to many airport lounges and status with multiple hotel chains.

But there’s another American Express card that’s so exclusive, you have to be invited to apply.

Made of anodised titanium, which gives the card its distinctive metallic black colour, the Amex Centurion is not for everybody. This premium, invitation-only charge card comes with a $5,000 joining fee and a $6,500 annual fee (which increased last year from the previous $5,000/year).

There are reports on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum of the $5,000 initiation fee being waived if you ask politely, although it is unlikely that the annual fee would be waived or substantially reduced. So, the American Express Centurion card is quite a serious investment.

Amex Centurion card benefits

The Amex Centurion charge card, also known unofficially as the American Express Black card, comes with some serious benefits.

Points-earning potential

Firstly, it earns more points than any other American Express card in Australia. You’ll earn 2.5 Amex Membership Rewards Premium Ascent points per $1 spent, uncapped. That’s equivalent to 1.25 points/$1 with most airlines, accounting for the 2:1 point conversion rate – making it the overall highest-earning credit card in Australia.

Amex Membership Rewards Premium Ascent points can be transferred to the following 14 airline and hotel loyalty programs:

There’s no credit or pre-set spending limit as this is a charge card, so you would just need to repay the full balance monthly. (However, that doesn’t mean you can spend an unlimited amount.)

Amex Centurion travel benefits

This is where the Centurion card really shines.

For starters, there’s complimentary Qantas Club membership for either the cardholder or a nominated additional cardholder. You also get complimentary Priority Pass membership with unlimited included airport lounge visits.

The Centurion card also comes with free Emirates Skywards Gold tier status and access to Amex Centurion Lounges at airports where these are available.

As with the Platinum card, you’ll receive instant elite status with various hotel chains. But with the Centurion card, you’ll get top-tier Hilton Diamond status instead of Hilton Gold status, as well as IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite and Accor Platinum status.

That’s in addition to complimentary Accor Plus membership, Fine Hotels + Resorts benefits, Radisson Rewards Premium status and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status. There’s also Avis President’s Club and Hertz President’s Circle status.

In addition, there are various personal concierge services, airfare discounts, airport escort services, access to two contactless Prada x Centurion wearables, membership to The 100 Club and other benefits available. Your dedicated relationship manager can even book travel, concert tickets and hard-to-get restaurant reservations.

AFF member Pointy Bird has posted a full list of the Amex Centurion benefits on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum.

How do you get an American Express Centurion card?

American Express does not publicly reveal the criteria it uses in sending Centurion card invitations. But AFF member kallinch has posted some of the criteria on our forum.

In general, you need to have held an Amex Platinum charge card in good standing for at least 6-12 months to be eligible. You also need to be spending at least $100,000 per year on your card and have a high income.

If you meet this (and other unpublished) criteria, American Express may send you an invitation to apply for a Centurion card.

If you would like to apply, it is also possible to request an Amex Centurion invitation. You are allowed to do this a maximum of once every six months. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive a response within 30 days. Conversely, if you don’t hear back within a month, it means you’re not currently eligible.

By design, most people will not qualify for an Amex Centurion card. It is an exclusive and expensive product, and the number of invitations sent out is intentionally small.

Is the Amex Centurion card worth it?

Whether an Amex Centurion card is worthwhile is really a personal thing. Realistically, it doesn’t offer a huge amount of benefits above and beyond what you can already get with a Platinum card for $1,450 per year. That said, there are some additional benefits of value – tangible or otherwise.

For those with an extremely high credit card spend, as well as frequent travellers, the American Express Centurion card benefits may be worthwhile. There is also a small number of people who mainly want the card as a prestige or status symbol.

This is what Pointy Bird had to say about the benefits when the annual fee was $5,000:

I have had it for about 5 months – is it worth the 5k pa? Depends on your circumstances. For me – borderline.
The fee (for my circumstances) is tax deductible. Gets me more points per $ spent than other cards – and as I spend a lot – it nearly pays for itself.
Service is good – One phone call and they found me U2 and Elton John tickets – I could have sourced myself – but saved me time. Free Qantas Club ( I have nil status with any airline), lots of hotel extras ( free room upgrades, free dinners/ breakfasts) and a dedicated person to look after me.
For most people the extra cost over plat charge is not going to be worth it unless you put a value on the prestige.

If you don’t have an extremely high credit card spend and don’t travel often, the Centurion card is probably not worth it – other than for the “prestige” factor. But if you’ll make full use of the benefits, you may see value in it. Ultimately, you would need to decide if the extra $5,050 in annual fees justifies the extra perks beyond those of the Amex Platinum card.

In some cases, the Amex Centurion annual fee may be tax deductible. If your accountant advises that this applies to you, it could reduce the effective cost of holding the card to a more reasonable amount.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.