Centurion Card - Is it worth it?

[bossreggie]

I have always had a policy of not paying for a credit card or credit card interest.

It would be like the whole "Swiss cheese model" Swiss cheese model - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for someone to get so much out of the Centurian benefits that they actually justify the annual fee. (That being said, it is actually possible.)

It used to be very exclusive many years ago but that has long since passed. Obviously it's not going to be offered to EVERYONE, so there is still that "prestige" around it.

There are WAY better, and more exclusive cards out there which do not cost a cent. (or penny in my case)

IMHO,a private bank VISA/Mastercard Debit card is more exclusive than Centurion. These are banks who wont ever have Indian call centres or "tellers". In some instances you can't even open an account with less than 7 figures and a Net worth less than $10Mill. To me, that's exclusive. If you are one of their clients, you actually get personal service.

Let's be honest..... If you have the money, why would you need your credit card company to arrange things for you? Also, I think you would find more relevant advice on travel related subjects on this forum than a from call centre operator earning $60k.

My opinion only, and YMMV.

Boss

 

[Jane-Doe]

Probably via getting the Plat Reserve for free.

Yep, you get free Plat Credit Card, with flight attached.

 

[Extasea33]

Also I believe the Priority Pass membership can also be for a supp card holder too.

Also get platinum with Priority Club and SPG.

It still doesn't add up to $4200 worth..

There is only one QC membership but both primary and sup can get priority pass.

You do get platinum with priority club and & HH but only Gold with SPG.

Oh and the annual fee is $4300

 

[exp1k]

One of the biggest benefits in my opinion are situations where you show the card to people who know what it is.
For example, when you check in to a hotel and the check in person knows what the card is.
Sometimes they go above and beyond to make sure you get a nice suite upgrade etc.

I'm guessing the likelihood that these people know the more exclusive private bank cards is almost zero, while quite a few of them know what the black card is.
Of course it is hard to put a price on this "unpublished benefit", but I just want to mention that it is not only about adding up the published benefits, most of which are rather useless to people who travel frequently (as they will already have most of these benefits anyway).

 

[nlagalle]

There is only one QC membership but both primary and sup can get priority pass.

You do get platinum with priority club and & HH but only Gold with SPG.

Oh and the annual fee is $4300

Ahh must have changed from last year as SPG was platinum then... pity I just threw the fancy book out..

 

[Stephen65]

I had a long discussion with the rep over the phone when they offered it to me and tried to explain that many of the benefits they were offering were pretty unimpressive. For example QP membership - most offerees are going to already have it for free via QFF status or be travelling business class anyway and if I really wanted it I could buy it myself for a few hundred dollars. Same for Priority Pass. Platinum SPG instead of Gold is nice and there are some incidental benefits over Platinum but many of them were of, at best, very limited utility for people resident in Australia.

What I told him they should be offering are things that you can't easily just buy for yourself or earn via reasonably moderate amounts of travel - something like WP status or permanent CX Diamond or guaranteed discounts with rental cars beyond the standard loyalty program. Whatever they were offering would have to be a LOT better than Platinum to make it worthwhile to me.

 

[bossreggie]

One of the biggest benefits in my opinion are situations where you show the card to people who know what it is.
For example, when you check in to a hotel and the check in person knows what the card is.
Sometimes they go above and beyond to make sure you get a nice suite upgrade etc.

I'm guessing the likelihood that these people know the more exclusive private bank cards is almost zero, while quite a few of them know what the black card is.
Of course it is hard to put a price on this "unpublished benefit", but I just want to mention that it is not only about adding up the published benefits, most of which are rather useless to people who travel frequently (as they will already have most of these benefits anyway).

I know where you are coming from. In the instance you write above, I can see a tangible benefit. I guess, particularly in Australia/South Pacific it will be more so.

To be fair, most that hold a Private Bank issued credit card will hold Top Status with the hotel anyway.

It's in Europe, Asia and USA where the real recognition of these cards is apparent. A major hotel may see 100+ Centurian cards a week, whereas they may see a Private Bank issued card once or twice. (I'm not talking about Australian "Private Banks" here. I'm talking about the European institutions which cater to those with serious money)

AMEX has done a great job of marketing their cards, and many see them as aspirational. A little like Airline Status or a Mercedes Benz.

I have no cap on points. My bank offers a concierge service too. I never use it i can get a seat at any restaurant, sporting event, concert etc, I feel like attending. I'm a self funded retiree so pretty much all my spending nowdays is for personal reasons. I'd spend $4k on a bottle of wine, before I'd spend it on a credit card.

As I said in my original post. There will be SOME who could justify a Centurian card. If you have enough money/income to get one...... Chat with your bank...... They may offer you a better deal on one of their cards.

If my bank told me they were going to charge an annual fee for my card.... I'd negotiate with them. If it didn't work, I'd change banks.




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[Simo]

I am with a small credit union and I use a Visa Debit Card.

I have the CEO's direct phone number.

I would guess that not many people would have ph number of Amex CEO.

 

[Extasea33]

An Australian investing large sums of money in European or American banks....OUCH, they should give you a free card, and it should be made of solid platinum

 

[bossreggie]

An Australian investing large sums of money in European or American banks....OUCH, they should give you a free card, and it should be made of solid platinum

I'm a Kiwi..... But I spend a lot of time in Europe. I expect when my home in London is fully renovated, I'll probably be based there. I am an Australian resident for tax purposes though! (My accountant says I'm stupid for being one)




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[11sjw]

One free flight?

Any more detail on this because I haven't heard about this benefit to date...?

Probably via getting the Plat Reserve for free.

Yep, via the Reserve CC.

Apparently there were also deals with certain resorts of "stay two nights and have a free round of golf." Strangely enough none of them were in Newman or Paraburdoo, my two most frequent travel destinations :-(

 

[awilcockson]

I'd spend $4k on a bottle of wine, before I'd spend it on a credit card.

Can I sit at your table at the Friday night AKL dinner ?

 

[pshepvic]

Just had the call back from the Sales Rep (still no package at all). Some Centurion benefits I wasn't aware of:

1. QP membership. They tried to tell me it was worth $800 odd annually. I argued and told them that maybe in the first year witha nomination fee but after that it is $250-$300/yr. Note that this could be passed onto a supplementary card holder.
2. 2 x Priority Pass Memberships. The limited nature of their usability in Aust was pointed out and she was "unaware of this"
3. 1 free domestic or Intl flight. I knew the domestic part. Flights with any of 7 airline partners.


I did ask if there were any bonus points on offer but apparently due to the exclusivity they don't do bonus points.

The free flight is with Virgin and is again as others have said, a benefit of the Plat Reserve card. You get this with Centurion or Plat Charge free, or can pay $395 (or whatever it is these days). The flight is between most places in Australia and now includes New Zealand (but that's hardly international really - BNE-AKL is closer than BNE-PER isn't it?) I think it may also now include Bali, but can't remember for sure.

I don't know what they mean by it being with the 7 airline partners as it is Virgin Aus flights only. I think the benefits have been mixed up there with the companion fares (they are with more than 7 airlines though - BA CX SQ JL VA DL VS EY from memory).


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[11sjw]

One free flight?

Any more detail on this because I haven't heard about this benefit to date...?

The free flight is with Virgin and is again as others have said, a benefit of the Plat Reserve card. You get this with Centurion or Plat Charge free, or can pay $395 (or whatever it is these days). The flight is between most places in Australia and now includes New Zealand (but that's hardly international really - BNE-AKL is closer than BNE-PER isn't it?) I think it may also now include Bali, but can't remember for sure.

I don't know what they mean by it being with the 7 airline partners as it is Virgin Aus flights only. I think the benefits have been mixed up there with the companion fares (they are with more than 7 airlines though - BA CX SQ JL VA DL VS EY from memory).


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The explanation was one free Intl flight anywhere.

 

[pshepvic]

The explanation was one free Intl flight anywhere.

Not disputing that's what they told you, but I'm pretty sure it's not right. There is no flight mentioned anywhere on the Amex Centurion site, and by default the only one you get is the "free" flight with Virgin through the "free" Reserve card.


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[exp1k]

The explanation was one free Intl flight anywhere.

Sounds like that's just the bonus points you get for signing up for Platinum, I'm not aware you get any bonus points for the Centurion.

 

[RichardKopf]

I had a long discussion with the rep over the phone when they offered it to me and tried to explain that many of the benefits they were offering were pretty unimpressive. For example QP membership - most offerees are going to already have it for free via QFF status or be travelling business class anyway and if I really wanted it I could buy it myself for a few hundred dollars. Same for Priority Pass. Platinum SPG instead of Gold is nice and there are some incidental benefits over Platinum but many of them were of, at best, very limited utility for people resident in Australia.

What I told him they should be offering are things that you can't easily just buy for yourself or earn via reasonably moderate amounts of travel - something like WP status or permanent CX Diamond or guaranteed discounts with rental cars beyond the standard loyalty program. Whatever they were offering would have to be a LOT better than Platinum to make it worthwhile to me.

I agree with some of these points. Many of the benefits are irrelevant to a big spender (personal or business). We earn around 3 million points a year and use them for first or business class travel and some for hotels. That means that many of the benefits are offered free. Because we travel in premium classes, QF Club, Priority Pass, CX Diamond and the comped DJ Plat (matched from CX), have never been used. Free tickets on DJ, etc...not used, as the points buy J tickets.

As the business has a high spend, we have 1 Cent and 2 Plat Bus cards. The main reason is the bonus points. Plat allows 125k bonus points (on 250k spend) and Cent allows 250K bonus points. I can convert these to cash for travel at the rate of 1%, so the Cent bonus is worth $2500 to us. That leaves 1800 in value to justify. This year I spent a comp night at a Waldorf Astoria, and with the HH Diamond and Cent benefits, ended up in a $2000 suite. I wouldn't have paid for it, but it was nice. For the hotel programs that I wouldn't otherwise make status with, the free breakfasts, lounge access, internet, is worth 50-100 per night. I often use the free valet parking at Westfield BJ. That's enough for me to make it work. If you are inclined to use the Cent benefits of FHR, there are great upgrades and freebies to be had.

So, in my opinion, whether the Cent is worth 4300 a year depends mainly on whether you will spend 500k on it, or not, plus use a few of the other benefits. For me, it's a yes, plus my American wife likes to show it off when visiting the US.

 

[Deleted member]

Oh and the annual fee is $4300[/QUOTE]

For the first year? And $2500 pa thereafter?

 

[RichardKopf]

Oh and the annual fee is $4300

For the first year? And $2500 pa thereafter?

The fee is 4300.00 every year. You have the opportunity to earn 250000 bonus points, worth 2500.00, by spending 500k per year. This leaves only 1800.00 of card cost to justify away.

 

[exp1k]

The fee is 4300.00 every year. You have the opportunity to earn 250000 bonus points, worth 2500.00, by spending 500k per year. This leaves only 1800.00 of card cost to justify away.

Strange way of calculating. The business platinum card gives you up to 125,000 bonus points per year (=0.5 points/$ on top of the 1 point/$), while the cent gives you up to 250,000 bonus points. So you only get 125k bonus points more and you don't even have to be a big spender to get these. Just 25 purchases at Bing Lee over $500 also give you 125,000 bonus points (or is there a lower limit)? These are the total bonus points you can accumulate over a year including all bonus points from promotions, as far as I know.

But in any case, there are cards where the number of points you earn is unlimited and where you can earn way more than with a Centurion card. For example the citibank select gives you 1.33 SQ miles/$ unlimited for domestic purchases and 3.33 SQ miles/$ unlimited for overseas purchases. In your case, RichardKopf, you could have earned between 3.325-8.325 million SQ miles with Citibank select instead of "only" 3 million MR points on your $2.5 million annual spend.