MYTH BUSTER: There IS a spend limit on the Centurion card!!

[ejb]

Thanks guys, it is something I will consider soon.

ejb

 

[pauly7]

T Depending on what your risk rating is with American Express , the exposure limit may vary. It is perfectly possible for a green card holder to have a higher exposure limit than a platinum card holder depending on past history


Dave

Or if your green (corporate) card is backed by a multinational.... ahhhh

 

[NM]

They are both OW Sapphire status so have pretty similar benefits. If you travel to the USA, then the ability to use ...

your Qantas Lifetime Gold status to get into AA Admirals Club lounges for domestic flights may be of value.

 

[straitman]

Or if your green (corporate) card is backed by a multinational.... ahhhh

They still run it against spending patterns and if the patterns are changed too dramatically without explanation then they can and do lock the card until you have discussions with them.

Been there done that so to speak.

 

[RichardKopf]

My understanding is that all Amex charge cards have a 'comfort level' which is approx 1.5 times your average monthly account, unless you agree to have the account commercially underwritten an give Amex 2 years of financials.

Our average spend is 125k per month and my comfort level is about 180k. When I reach that 180k level, I usually get a call asking if I'd mind paying the account down t stop transactions from declining.

I wish this didn't happen, but I understand their reasoning.

 

[Flying Fox]

Thanks for the information.

Doesn't sound like a problem that I would have! I always seem to keep my monthly spend below $180K

 

[Febs]

My understanding is that all Amex charge cards have a 'comfort level' which is approx 1.5 times your average monthly account, unless you agree to have the account commercially underwritten an give Amex 2 years of financials.

Our average spend is 125k per month and my comfort level is about 180k. When I reach that 180k level, I usually get a call asking if I'd mind paying the account down t stop transactions from declining.

I wish this didn't happen, but I understand their reasoning.

Is that per card, or collectively for an entire organisation's collection of cards?

My monthly spend varies wildly - $200/month is not uncommon, nor is $10,000/month. Sometimes it's been up to around $19,000/month. Earlier this year I had a few months of around $500, but my last few months have been around $3k, $4k and $6k.

I've never been contacted by Amex nor had a transaction declined, I wonder what my comfort level would be? (Green Corporate Charge Card, but one of the ones where it's my responsibility to pay it off.)

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[Dave Noble]

If you phone AMEX and explicitly ask, they should tell you what your exposure limit is

Dave

 

[lovestotravel]

If you phone AMEX and explicitly ask, they should tell you what your exposure limit is

Dave

Yep, they can tell you that or they can tell you if a certain transaction amount will be approved.

I hope they look back further than 3 months as in the past 3 months I have spent zero on the charge card...

 

[yohy?!]

From my experience with Amex the amount you can spend varies depending on a number or factors:

-The highest amount you repaid (on-time) in the last 24 months
-Your payment history in the last 24 months (paid within due date/30days)
-Your overall account risk rating (current exposure across all Amex products, credit score, membership tenure etc).
-The types of businesses you are spending at (eg a supermarket would be considered a safer/less risky transaction than a massage parlour )

It is a very complicated system and is constantly changing, basically the authorising system performs a cost benefit analysis of Amex approving vs declining a particular transaction.

If you are spending 'out of pattern' generally it's best to call them first so they can run a dummy transaction to see if it will go through. They can then put a support on your account to prevent the charge from being referred in or declined.

Alternatively I have seen in the past instances where customers arranged to have a bank guarantee/financial evidence added to their account that would ensure that spending to a certain level would be guaranteed.

Alternatively you might prefer an Amex credit card if you prefer to keep things simpler but I think you will find once you have shown you can repay on time that the amount you can spend will be greatly increased in the future.

 

[SOPOOR]

to the op, is it possible to post up a statement,

I just wanna see what a credit card statement with 700,000 worth of purchases look like (I don't want any personal info),

I suppose if you are spending that much per month, it would be safe to assume that some proportion of it would be travel, so getting the free AUS to USA flight might be of some help but not a major factor as an incentive.

just my 2c

 

[Oneworldplus2]

It is perfectly possible for a green card holder to have a higher exposure limit than a platinum card holder depending on past history
In many ways the varying card colours are a vanity thing and to squeeze extra money out of those who will spend it ( similar to vanity plates for cars ); there are some benefits of the differing cards, but in the key spending area they are the same

Dave

Totally agree on this. It's just a card and a certain colour. What is more important is how the card functions and what parameters are set to that card. I know of people that have been approached by a banks "Private Bank" side, to get them on board as they are a very high net worth individual. They have declined in each and every case.
I asked why they would do this, as been a member of a banks "Private Bank" arm sounds pretty cool. Reply i got was, "Why would you go to St George Private Bank Plat Visa, when you get more points on the Westpac/NAB/CBA card?
That is just 1 example.

I also heard a rumor a few years ago that one of the Arab Sheiks bought a 747 and just put the whole thing on his CC. I'll google it and see what comes up, very interesting.

 

[PaulZ]

Reply i got was, "Why would you go to St George Private Bank Plat Visa, when you get more points on the Westpac/NAB/CBA card?
That is just 1 example.

Well St George Private Bank Visa Card was a very good deal... 1pt per $1 unlimited... well it was a good deal for me for about 4 years... then they changed it to 0.5pts per $1... Then I just cancelled it... Still got well over 1m points out of it.

Now I am looking at the ANZ Private Bank Credit Cards... 0.75pts per $1 unlimited and 1.5pts per $1 on the AMEX unlimited... probably the best in the market...(since Citibank are actually imposing their 120,000 annual limit now!

 

[Mal]

I also heard a rumor a few years ago that one of the Arab Sheiks bought a 747 and just put the whole thing on his CC. I'll google it and see what comes up, very interesting.

Largest approved Amex purchase I can find discussed on the net is the purchase of a painting by Eli Broad in Los Angeles in 1995. $US2.5 million.

 

[samh004]

Largest approved Amex purchase I can find discussed on the net is the purchase of a painting by Eli Broad in Los Angeles in 1995. $US2.5 million.

And a 747 is significantly more. But why would you buy a plane on an AMEX anyway, is there something in the points catalog that costs hundreds of millions of points?

Might be a good way to get status with AA

 

[Oneworldplus2]

And a 747 is significantly more. But why would you buy a plane on an AMEX anyway, is there something in the points catalog that costs hundreds of millions of points?

Might be a good way to get status with AA

Probably just a rumor.

Why would you need status with AA when you have your own 747? lol.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Largest approved Amex purchase I can find discussed on the net is the purchase of a painting by Eli Broad in Los Angeles in 1995. $US2.5 million.

Although not AMEX, there was that guy that bought the $248m DVD from amazon not too long ago (he claimed he was entitled to his 2% cash back even though there was a pricing error)

 

[SOPOOR]

Was just curious,

is there anybody actually with a centurion card out there?

not a friend of a friend of a friend,

Id love to hear of your experiences, and your views on it.

anybody out there with one of these cards, as I have personally never seen one before!

 

[Mal]

Was just curious,

is there anybody actually with a centurion card out there?

There are at least 2 people who post here who have one, and others who have been offered one... So hopefully someone will reply publicly or privately.

 

[samh004]

as I have personally never seen one before!

If you ever seen one you’ll find it’s very underwhelming