Amex Centurion - Titanium
Discussion
This is not supposed to be a "look at me thread", but I've just received my updated card made of Titanium (apparently). It promises a host of extra benefit but the annual fee has gone up three fold!
Anyone else been sent this? I'm in two minds whether to keep it given the increase in fee.
Anyone else been sent this? I'm in two minds whether to keep it given the increase in fee.
I used to work for Amex - did a lot of analysis stuff for Centurion too.
Simple answer is are the tangible & non tangible benefits worth the fee to you personally? Are you using all the services? The stupidly rich will, the more normal wealthy may buy the benefits seperately and be prepared to concierge themselves/personal assistant.
A large part of 'invite only' card is being able to put it down on the table as a status symbol to people with you who are stupid enough to care/shop staff who are poor and jealous.
Simple answer is are the tangible & non tangible benefits worth the fee to you personally? Are you using all the services? The stupidly rich will, the more normal wealthy may buy the benefits seperately and be prepared to concierge themselves/personal assistant.
A large part of 'invite only' card is being able to put it down on the table as a status symbol to people with you who are stupid enough to care/shop staff who are poor and jealous.
Edited by amir_j on Thursday 16th April 11:24
amir_j said:
I used to work for Amex - did a lot of analysis stuff for Centurion too.
Simple answer is are the tangible & non tangible benefits worth the fee to you personally? Are you using all the services? The stupidly rich will, the more normal wealthy may buy the benefits seperately and be prepared to concierge themselves/personal assistant.
A large part of 'invite only' card is being able to put it down on the table as a status symbol to people with you who are stupid enough to care/shop staff who are poor and jealous.
Thanks. That's what I'm kind of thinking. The most useful parts for me are the travel services (which are excellent), a couple of the memberships (Starwood etc.) and the travel / medical insurance. The insurances are worth about £400 odd I reckon so I was happy to pay the rest as a simple fee, even if I didn't use it that much. However upping the fee to £1,800 means that they need to offer something pretty spectacular aside from the supposed kudos.Simple answer is are the tangible & non tangible benefits worth the fee to you personally? Are you using all the services? The stupidly rich will, the more normal wealthy may buy the benefits seperately and be prepared to concierge themselves/personal assistant.
A large part of 'invite only' card is being able to put it down on the table as a status symbol to people with you who are stupid enough to care/shop staff who are poor and jealous.
Edited by amir_j on Thursday 16th April 11:24
I've been spending around £10-£12K per month on my Amex Platinum since I got it in 2004 (put large company expenses on it).. this year I got the £300 annual fee and called them up and said
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Edited by Murcielago_Boy on Thursday 16th April 17:53
Murcielago_Boy said:
I've been spending around £10-£12K per month on my Amex Platinum since I got it in 2004 (put large company expenses on it).. this year I got the £300 annual fee and called them up and said
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Standard practice as per all companies across industriess- with amex if you are significant spender (ie make enough for Amex via transaction fees) then the cancellation team are authorised to do this, if not then may offer you a free gold/green. They get calls from Platinum holders at a few a week from when I was there- demanding (literally) a centurion. Its so funny as often its "A guy who works under me has one and I don't?!!"ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Edited by Murcielago_Boy on Thursday 16th April 17:53
Will be a case of you writing in/internally referred to Centurion applicaton person(s) to consider on a case by case basis.
p.s. If I was spending 130k would be tempted to replace/also get the cashback card/British airways card so can get extra cash/airmiles. Or the business cards will give you annual statements suitable for accounting.
Edited by amir_j on Thursday 16th April 23:08
amir_j said:
Murcielago_Boy said:
I've been spending around £10-£12K per month on my Amex Platinum since I got it in 2004 (put large company expenses on it).. this year I got the £300 annual fee and called them up and said
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Standard practice as per all companies across industriess- with amex if you are significant spender (ie make enough for Amex via transaction fees) then the cancellation team are authorised to do this, if not then may offer you a free gold/green. They get calls from Platinum holders at a few a week from when I was there- demanding (literally) a centurion. Its so funny as often its "A guy who works under me has one and I don't?!!"ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Edited by Murcielago_Boy on Thursday 16th April 17:53
Will be a case of you writing in/internally referred to Centurion applicaton person(s) to consider on a case by case basis.
p.s. If I was spending 130k would be tempted to replace/also get the cashback card/British airways card so can get extra cash/airmiles. Or the business cards will give you annual statements suitable for accounting.
Edited by amir_j on Thursday 16th April 23:08
JRM said:
amir_j said:
Murcielago_Boy said:
I've been spending around £10-£12K per month on my Amex Platinum since I got it in 2004 (put large company expenses on it).. this year I got the £300 annual fee and called them up and said
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Standard practice as per all companies across industriess- with amex if you are significant spender (ie make enough for Amex via transaction fees) then the cancellation team are authorised to do this, if not then may offer you a free gold/green. They get calls from Platinum holders at a few a week from when I was there- demanding (literally) a centurion. Its so funny as often its "A guy who works under me has one and I don't?!!"ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: "Yes you are if you want the card"
ME: Fine. Cancel it.
AMEX: We'll put you through to cancellations.
AMEX (cancellations): Why would you like to cancel the car sir?
ME: I'm not paying £300 membership given that I spent £130,000 on the card last year
AMEX: I'll reverse the £300 membership charge immediately sir - my apologies. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Worth a try if you spend a lot with them. As an aside, I wouldn't cancel the account anyway as I LIVE off the card and the company have NEVER let me down.
Although I "think" I qualify for this Amex black, not been invited yet. At £3k for year though... that's a bit steep.
Edited by Murcielago_Boy on Thursday 16th April 17:53
Will be a case of you writing in/internally referred to Centurion applicaton person(s) to consider on a case by case basis.
p.s. If I was spending 130k would be tempted to replace/also get the cashback card/British airways card so can get extra cash/airmiles. Or the business cards will give you annual statements suitable for accounting.
Edited by amir_j on Thursday 16th April 23:08
1 Amex point = 1 Virgin Air Mile = £1 spend
I flown "upper class" to the USA a number of times totally free (each flight is about 100,000 airmiles)
Murcielago_Boy said:
Amex enrolled me on the "Virgin Flying Club" which is a nice perk if you can put a few quid through the account.
1 Amex point = 1 Virgin Air Mile = £1 spend
I flown "upper class" to the USA a number of times totally free (each flight is about 100,000 airmiles)
Or get the Virgin card itself as well, £1 = 2 virgin airmiles, x6 on ceratin expenses and you get a free companion flight, quite nice to take OH along if you want to comnbine a leisure and business trip.1 Amex point = 1 Virgin Air Mile = £1 spend
I flown "upper class" to the USA a number of times totally free (each flight is about 100,000 airmiles)
centurian then for the other stuff.
Mine just arrived by DHL yesterday but once I realised what the fee is I'm not sure its worth it over the normal Centurian card.
J-Skid - Did you change over. If so what do you think, is it worth it so far??
Murcielago_Boy - I did the same thing a few years ago when i was thinking of reverting from my Black back to Plantinium as I thought the service was better. I told them the card was not worth the fee and given what i spend with them, anything between £2 & £6K a month and they were going to allow me to cancel it. There must be a level of spending where they don't want to loose you as a customer, with me they were!!!!
J-Skid - Did you change over. If so what do you think, is it worth it so far??
Murcielago_Boy - I did the same thing a few years ago when i was thinking of reverting from my Black back to Plantinium as I thought the service was better. I told them the card was not worth the fee and given what i spend with them, anything between £2 & £6K a month and they were going to allow me to cancel it. There must be a level of spending where they don't want to loose you as a customer, with me they were!!!!
I've had a Black Centurian for around 6 years, and been an Amex user for nearly 20 years. Good service, and like other comments on here, they have never let me down.
I heard they were planning on upgrading and making it titanium with 'extra exclusivity'.
So a DHL package arrived yesterday. All the fancy packaging must have cost them a fortune. Probably why they are trying to pass on the ridiculous increase in annual fee. Yes, the multi millionares won't blink twice, but loyal users who keep their account in order and use the card regularly just get moved sideways without alternative options.
1. Increasing the fee from £600 (already toppy) to £1800 a year, now cannot be justified.
2. The new card really doesn't offer any ground breaking benefits. If you fly business most companies normally lay on a chaufuer anyway
3. More and more retails are refusing to take AMEX because of their high fees. I found B&Q are the latest to stop, just this last weekend. I expect this to only increase as the credit crunch continues.
4. No air miles or cash back benefits
So all in all I'm a little dissapointed with their latest move and I for one will be outing the Amex. Sad, but they really are taking the p*ss.
I heard they were planning on upgrading and making it titanium with 'extra exclusivity'.
So a DHL package arrived yesterday. All the fancy packaging must have cost them a fortune. Probably why they are trying to pass on the ridiculous increase in annual fee. Yes, the multi millionares won't blink twice, but loyal users who keep their account in order and use the card regularly just get moved sideways without alternative options.
1. Increasing the fee from £600 (already toppy) to £1800 a year, now cannot be justified.
2. The new card really doesn't offer any ground breaking benefits. If you fly business most companies normally lay on a chaufuer anyway
3. More and more retails are refusing to take AMEX because of their high fees. I found B&Q are the latest to stop, just this last weekend. I expect this to only increase as the credit crunch continues.
4. No air miles or cash back benefits
So all in all I'm a little dissapointed with their latest move and I for one will be outing the Amex. Sad, but they really are taking the p*ss.
My cousin has a Centurion account and says the £1800 fee is well worth it. He travels a LOT and he says the hotel upgrades and free companion 1st class flights etc more than pay the fee... combine that with the travel insurance and a couple of other perks and I could see that making sense if you really travel abroad a great deal.
Having said that I would still have a heart attack paying £1800...
By the way, are you Centurion card holders genuinely spending these spectacular sums of money on your accounts that are reported. My little ol' business (not me sadly!) bumps up my spend to about £11K per month on average which AFAIK is actually reasonably significant for a "mere" platinum card holder?
Having said that I would still have a heart attack paying £1800...
By the way, are you Centurion card holders genuinely spending these spectacular sums of money on your accounts that are reported. My little ol' business (not me sadly!) bumps up my spend to about £11K per month on average which AFAIK is actually reasonably significant for a "mere" platinum card holder?
J-Skid said:
This is not supposed to be a "look at me thread", but I've just received my updated card made of Titanium (apparently). It promises a host of extra benefit but the annual fee has gone up three fold!
Anyone else been sent this? I'm in two minds whether to keep it given the increase in fee.
I got the Centurion invitation about 8 years ago. I called them to ask what extra one gets for double the fee of the platinum. Their reply was not a lot - extra insurance (the platinum level seemed fine to me), a table reserved for centurion holders in certain restaurants (usually already taken by other cardholders I was told by colleagues that had them) and show-off value. That was it. The platinum already has the concierge service, travel service, airport lounge pass, flight upgrades and companion tickets and travel insurance, and elevated membership of various schemes like Hilton, Starwood, Avis Preferred Select and Hertz Gold along with the room & car upgrades they entail. So I said no, it's not worth the extra over the platinum.Anyone else been sent this? I'm in two minds whether to keep it given the increase in fee.
I think the reason for the fee hike is the loss in exclusivity - they used to be rare, limited to the likes of Richard Branson, now every tom dick & harry has a centurion card, in London anyway, and I think the original holders complained. My former boss showed me the new titanium the other day but was thinking of cancelling it.
That said, I wouldn't be without an Amex card of some description. When I was abducted in Russia in '98 and relieved of all my cards (I had 8 or so at the time), all except Amex said oh that's terrible, we'll cancel the card and send you new ones to your home address. I said that's useless, I'm in Russia for another week. They said sorry, it's for security reasons. Bit late, I said. Amex however said no problem sir, pop down to the Amex office in the centre of St Petersburg and we'll print you a new platinum card on the spot. And they did. With a pin number on the spot so I could get some cash out. Brilliant service.
Mine's finally arrived, on a purely superficial view the matte surface is a nice change but its a bugger to get out of the wallet, and being really anal, looks like the "hand finished" digits were finished by a chimp.
I presume I can hold on to the Priority Pass that came with the old card, as there's a new PP application in the box?
As for the fee increase, not really a problem as in the 7 years I must have saved many more times the cumulative fee in both time and money.
I presume I can hold on to the Priority Pass that came with the old card, as there's a new PP application in the box?
As for the fee increase, not really a problem as in the 7 years I must have saved many more times the cumulative fee in both time and money.
Edited by Defcon on Thursday 7th May 16:27
This new card sounds just like how I got a Centurion card. A courier arrived at my house with a big black box about 10 years ago and inside all the wrapping was a centurion card. I kept it for three or four years but felt all it did was offer what the old platinum used to offer plus a couple of little extras.
As for qualification, I have no idea what criteria they use for Centurion. At one time I heard that for platinum they liked to see expenditure of £5k plus per year (this was back in the 90's) When I got my Centurion, I worked for other people rather than myself and was only earning £50k or so and spending around £20k per year on Amex when they sent it to me.
As for qualification, I have no idea what criteria they use for Centurion. At one time I heard that for platinum they liked to see expenditure of £5k plus per year (this was back in the 90's) When I got my Centurion, I worked for other people rather than myself and was only earning £50k or so and spending around £20k per year on Amex when they sent it to me.
I am probably not going to keep it - when I travelled a lot it would have been worth it but now I don't travel for work and with a small child my holidays tend not to be very exotic.
Just wondering if any of you have had hassle using the Titanium card? I can just imagine trying to use it in the petrol station and them refusing to believe it is a "real" card since not made of plastic?!
Just wondering if any of you have had hassle using the Titanium card? I can just imagine trying to use it in the petrol station and them refusing to believe it is a "real" card since not made of plastic?!
Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff