Concierge Services - Does anybody use them?

[Daver6]

They keep two for AMEX - one for Platinum charge cardmembers and one for Centurion cardmembers. Both tables are typically booked out months in advance (i.e. the AMEX tables are booked out) on Friday and Saturday nights but you can get lucky earlier in the week. My advice is to book early, be flexible with your seating time and don't be surprised if the concierge can't get you a table.

I don't really know how easy/difficult a general booking is there, but the sounds like pretty general advice for any table booking at a popular establishment. How is the concierge service improving on things in this scenario?

 

[boomy]

They keep two for AMEX - one for Platinum charge cardmembers and one for Centurion cardmembers. Both tables are typically booked out months in advance (i.e. the AMEX tables are booked out) on Friday and Saturday nights but you can get lucky earlier in the week. My advice is to book early, be flexible with your seating time and don't be surprised if the concierge can't get you a table.

Well, if I book early I can just do it online with Dimmi and earn some QF points
I thought the concierge service can get relatively last minute bookings (unless taken already by other AMEX members).

 

[Renato1]

There are concierge services and then there are concierge services. The bank-issued cards seems to have call centres of young people using a concierge app; I can google all by myself and make better decisions/have more experience than these people. However AMEX often hires former hotel concierges for its offering and, while they struggle a bit to help you if you're outside Sydney, I have found that if you latch onto the right one they can be very useful.

Thanks for the amusing and highly insightful explanation.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Homer]

Well, if I book early I can just do it online with Dimmi and earn some QF points
I thought the concierge service can get relatively last minute bookings (unless taken already by other AMEX members).

Good luck with using Dimmi. I don't think Quay puts any inventory up there and I just checked and couldn't find any dates whatsoever.

Yes the AMEX concierge can get relatively last-minute bookings but my point is that the AMEX tables at Quay are typically all booked months in advance anyway so they usually aren't useful for last-minute bookings.

 

[diningdecadence]

I guess there is concierge and there is concierge - stating the bleeding obvious huh?

Recently received ~$2K in savings on 4 accom bookings through Prestige Concierge on their 'Stay 4 / Pay 3' promo - now that is significant concierge benefit.

you staying in $500/night accom's cruiser? i've got a quote from them for later in the year for SIN which I might actually take up - previously been unimpressed by their offerings.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

you staying in $500/night accom's cruiser? i've got a quote from them for later in the year for SIN which I might actually take up - previously been unimpressed by their offerings.

Yep - off to PVG early morrow but happy to post details on my return - more info in the Citi Prestige thread.

I should add all 4 bookings where we have earned the 'free' night are indeed 5 night bookings and not 4 - that may help a little or may not - don't know.

 

[JohnK]

I've always had a feeling that using concierge services was going to cost me a lot more than I'd be willing to pay.

Of course I could be mistaken but if you don't know what you are missing it can't hurt. Right?

 

[Moindardt]

I was reading the Citi Prestige thread over the weekend. Saw a post on there about tix to the Brisbane Roar v Liverpool game in July. Missed tix at both the Australia Soccer and general releases.

Anyways, I thought I would give this concierge thing a go. Rang Amex Plat and Citi Prestige to see who could get tix. Scalpers selling for $350+ for nosebleed and wasn't able to find one for 3 ppl together. Amex came back with 3 in the nosebleed NE corner for $250ea. Citi came back with 3 seats (he thought they were just to the side of the goal) for $160 total (2 kids). Won't know exact seats until tix come out 2 weeks before, but the kids just ecstatic about it.

Did an Amex travel for a week for 6 in the snow at semi-decent place. A real decent budget, 7-10k for accom, ski gear lessons and lift etc. Said she could easily do it. Came back with almost $18k for a 3 star place (albeit ski in ski out). It did include breakfast and dinner (at $180 per person over the first 2).

So Citi 1 from 1 and Amex are 0 from 2 at the moment. Hopefully Amex will come through with tables at the places for Europe trip in Sept/Oct. They said they had them, we just had to get back to them with the dates.

 

[Renato1]

I've always had a feeling that using concierge services was going to cost me a lot more than I'd be willing to pay.

Of course I could be mistaken but if you don't know what you are missing it can't hurt. Right?

Yes, that's been my impression too.

Also the other issue - that my wife might see something she wants which I would normally be unwilling to pay for.

On the other hand, if there is value to be had, I'd be interested.
Cheer,
Renato

 

[sydneyconcierge]

There are 3 different call centre concierge in Australia, depending on which credit card you have. I worked at 2 of them, before starting my own personal concierge company.

I wrote a blog post about this very thing, after I had worked at the first call centre, but before the 2nd one - I can't post links so please search for 'putting the personal into concierge' on the Concierge Connections website.

To be fair, the second one (Visa Concierge) is much better, as they do take your credit card details, store them securely of course, and so can make purchases (eg - tickets on your behalf).

Also, the call centre concierge I am referring to in my blog post was over 2 years ago. Their procedures may have changed, and I am sure their staff has.

I still stand by my comment that you get what you pay for in life, but credit card concierge is worth a go (you don't know til you try it, right), and as others have pointed out, the result largely depends on which concierge you get.

Also, to clarify a few points which have been made...

* Usually you won't pay more for something through a concierge, than if you found it yourself. If they do quote you more, they are not trying to rip you off. They might not know a great website/deal that you do. If you have already found the flight/product etc cheap somewhere, tell the concierge that you are wondering if they can beat that price.
* Some things will be quicker for you to do, than to explain it to a concierge and wait for the results. Other requests such as accommodation in 6 cities in Europe will probably take you hours.
* They have access to translation services and often members of the team will speak various languages, so they are definitely worth trying for requests where you need to call overseas and their English isn't great.
* They do have access to sold out tickets, although the ticket provider will charge a premium fee for these.
* They do not have an allocation of tickets.
* They will also queue on the phone/internet for you, when a popular event goes on sale. This is priceless if you have a meeting scheduled at the same time, or can't be bothered queuing. They cannot guarantee they will get you tickets this way, but the odds are higher than you trying by yourself.
* Yes, Amex Concierge has reserved tables at top restaurants. They often book out in advance, but not as far in advance as the non-Amex tables.

NB - all of my comments are based on my experience of working at the 2 call centres. Things may have changed since I was there.

And yes, my company can do all this plus more. Check out Concierge Connections.

 

[jpp42]

I don't really know how easy/difficult a general booking is there, but the sounds like pretty general advice for any table booking at a popular establishment. How is the concierge service improving on things in this scenario?

For Quay, the general bookings are full many months in advance for any​ day of the week.

 

[Sdtravel]

I tried to use them several weeks ago.
Basically i had some questions about the platinum extended warranty cover. I had tried to find out from ANZ but got into call centre ping pong. Finally was directed to Zurich insurance and was transferred to them but after about 25 min waiting gave up (this was after about 20 min of call centre ping pong). Tried a few more times and even after 30min waiting they never picked up.

Anyway I called the ANZ platinum concierge hoping they could wait rather than me. After explaining my questions to the concierge was told thats not something they can help with and i needed to call the insurance company myself.
I had thought it was a fairly easy request, just wanted to know about process and min/max amounts, replace or repair. I didnt need them to do a claim for me just ask questions.
I guess they are really only there for booking things for you and doing travel arrangements. They arent there for much outside of this or to save you waiting in their own call centre queues.

Anyway thats my 1 experience for using them.

 

[PLANT]

My experience was in 1999 when I needed accom in London. It was CBA gold card. They said only for emergency, I said it is emergency I need directions to CHEAP accom they checked and directed me to it.... Cannot remember if I paid for it on the card!
Otherwise Pies grand final tickets requests via plat card got no results or $1500 packages for tickets.... Useless!

 

[ronicat]

I've had success with both Citi and Westpac concierges. Tickets to a concert that was booked out, pre-release tickets, and table at a restaurant for a group. We were overseas and needed a booking for a city we didn't know when we landed in Aus. Gave them criteria including expected cost. Saved time ringing around while we travelled.

 

[Plutonus]

I generally use them for things that are inconvenient for me, such as getting tickets/similar from businesses in Europe only open in their respective local hours. I've found as long as you are very specific they will get on with it, if your request is vague there will be much back and forth.

 

[Renato1]

I was reading the Citi Prestige thread over the weekend. Saw a post on there about tix to the Brisbane Roar v Liverpool game in July. Missed tix at both the Australia Soccer and general releases.

Anyways, I thought I would give this concierge thing a go. Rang Amex Plat and Citi Prestige to see who could get tix. Scalpers selling for $350+ for nosebleed and wasn't able to find one for 3 ppl together. Amex came back with 3 in the nosebleed NE corner for $250ea. Citi came back with 3 seats (he thought they were just to the side of the goal) for $160 total (2 kids). Won't know exact seats until tix come out 2 weeks before, but the kids just ecstatic about it.

Did an Amex travel for a week for 6 in the snow at semi-decent place. A real decent budget, 7-10k for accom, ski gear lessons and lift etc. Said she could easily do it. Came back with almost $18k for a 3 star place (albeit ski in ski out). It did include breakfast and dinner (at $180 per person over the first 2).

So Citi 1 from 1 and Amex are 0 from 2 at the moment. Hopefully Amex will come through with tables at the places for Europe trip in Sept/Oct. They said they had them, we just had to get back to them with the dates.

Interesting to read, thanks.
Are you going to try them again?
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

There are 3 different call centre concierge in Australia, depending on which credit card you have. I worked at 2 of them, before starting my own personal concierge company.

I wrote a blog post about this very thing, after I had worked at the first call centre, but before the 2nd one - I can't post links so please search for 'putting the personal into concierge' on the Concierge Connections website.

To be fair, the second one (Visa Concierge) is much better, as they do take your credit card details, store them securely of course, and so can make purchases (eg - tickets on your behalf).

Also, the call centre concierge I am referring to in my blog post was over 2 years ago. Their procedures may have changed, and I am sure their staff has.

I still stand by my comment that you get what you pay for in life, but credit card concierge is worth a go (you don't know til you try it, right), and as others have pointed out, the result largely depends on which concierge you get.

Also, to clarify a few points which have been made...

* Usually you won't pay more for something through a concierge, than if you found it yourself. If they do quote you more, they are not trying to rip you off. They might not know a great website/deal that you do. If you have already found the flight/product etc cheap somewhere, tell the concierge that you are wondering if they can beat that price.
* Some things will be quicker for you to do, than to explain it to a concierge and wait for the results. Other requests such as accommodation in 6 cities in Europe will probably take you hours.
* They have access to translation services and often members of the team will speak various languages, so they are definitely worth trying for requests where you need to call overseas and their English isn't great.
* They do have access to sold out tickets, although the ticket provider will charge a premium fee for these.
* They do not have an allocation of tickets.
* They will also queue on the phone/internet for you, when a popular event goes on sale. This is priceless if you have a meeting scheduled at the same time, or can't be bothered queuing. They cannot guarantee they will get you tickets this way, but the odds are higher than you trying by yourself.
* Yes, Amex Concierge has reserved tables at top restaurants. They often book out in advance, but not as far in advance as the non-Amex tables.

NB - all of my comments are based on my experience of working at the 2 call centres. Things may have changed since I was there.

And yes, my company can do all this plus more. Check out Concierge Connections.

Very instructive, thanks.

Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

My experience was in 1999 when I needed accom in London. It was CBA gold card. They said only for emergency, I said it is emergency I need directions to CHEAP accom they checked and directed me to it.... Cannot remember if I paid for it on the card!
Otherwise Pies grand final tickets requests via plat card got no results or $1500 packages for tickets.... Useless!

You were trying to get them to do then, what one does nowadays with the Booking.com app.

Though when one says CHEAP, I can imagine that it would be difficult for them to interpret.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I've had success with both Citi and Westpac concierges. Tickets to a concert that was booked out, pre-release tickets, and table at a restaurant for a group. We were overseas and needed a booking for a city we didn't know when we landed in Aus. Gave them criteria including expected cost. Saved time ringing around while we travelled.

For all the negatives, it's good to see positive outcomes.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

I generally use them for things that are inconvenient for me, such as getting tickets/similar from businesses in Europe only open in their respective local hours. I've found as long as you are very specific they will get on with it, if your request is vague there will be much back and forth.

Thanks. That is one thing that could otherwise may be difficult to do, regardless of smartphones and the internet.
Regards,
Renato