Should I keep Centurion or Platinum business?

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RichardKopf

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I have a Centurion card with a free Velocity Platinum (used only for the free flight) plus a Platinum Business charge with a free Plat Reserve (for $400 travel credit). I pay 50% fee on the Plat charge as I have another charge card so total membership costs are 5000 plus 875 = 5875

Cards are used for my business, plus my girlfriend and I both have one of each card to earn for personal spend plus access lounges.

I use Centurion, Plat business and Plat reserve extensively due to each having a separate bonus points cap. In new points system, all spend will earn either 2.25 points on Plat or 2.5 points on Cent

From April 2019, with point caps being removed, and no need to use various cards to maximise annual point earn, I'm considering dropping either Centurion or the Plat business but unsure which, or whether I should, at all as the real additional cost of the Plat, after deducting the travel credit is only 475 but since Cent will earn an extra 0.25 points all spend will have to shift to Cent.

If I drop Cent, the Plat would cost 3250 a year less but I would earn about 400000 less points with the Plat. Most of my redemption is VA J domestic and SQ and TG F/J for intl travel, so points are worth more to me than for some. Due to this and the Hilton and Shangri-La statuses, plus QF Club, I'm leaning towards keeping Cent and dropping Plat

I'm confused, after so many years, which of my benefits come from which card. e.g. does the Accor Plus come with Plat as well as Cent? Is there any reason to keep both cards? Is there any benefit to dropping Cent and keeping plat or should I go with my gut and drop Plat only?

Apologies if this is messy but it gives you an idea of where my brain is on this issue. Any opinions gratefully accepted.
 
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I can't see any reason to keep both. I'd just drop the Plat Business and keep the Cent especially if you want the higher statuses.

If you haven't already you can get an additional card that's used for all business expenses (it's what I do) and if you use a system like Xero you can get a feed just on the supplementary. All my business expenses on the A/C for example automatically feed into Xero for reconciliation but the personal one does not.
 
So I presume you put through about $4m on the cards annually (400,000 difference in points from 10% earning difference)?

Quick and dirty answer: is the 400,000 point difference (i.e. post April: 200,000 VA or SQ points) worth more than $3,250 to you? If so, keep the Cent card and drop the rest (assuming all ancillary perks are more or less the same between the Cert and Plat Business cards).

Also to consider: do you actually use all the points you earn annually? The value of the extra 400,000 points is very much dependant on whether you 'need' the extra points, or you're happy with the points you would be earning on the Plat Bus.
 
I can't see any reason to keep both. I'd just drop the Plat Business and keep the Cent especially if you want the higher statuses.

If you haven't already you can get an additional card that's used for all business expenses (it's what I do) and if you use a system like Xero you can get a feed just on the supplementary. All my business expenses on the A/C for example automatically feed into Xero for reconciliation but the personal one does not.
Thanks. I do have an A/C card and 4 plat supps for business plus the primary and Cent supp for partner. Currently negotiating with Amex for a couple of additional benefits and will likely keep Cent as the extra points and statuses should more than cover the extra cost.
 
So I presume you put through about $4m on the cards annually (400,000 difference in points from 10% earning difference)?

Quick and dirty answer: is the 400,000 point difference (i.e. post April: 200,000 VA or SQ points) worth more than $3,250 to you? If so, keep the Cent card and drop the rest (assuming all ancillary perks are more or less the same between the Cert and Plat Business cards).

Also to consider: do you actually use all the points you earn annually? The value of the extra 400,000 points is very much dependant on whether you 'need' the extra points, or you're happy with the points you would be earning on the Plat Bus.

Thanks for your reply. I DO use most of the points I earn but also trying to build up a little bank as I won't have the business spend forever. The points saving is helped that I used to use many Amex points transferred to SPG and redeem most hotel stays but with the new Marriott transfer rate, I will switch to paying for rooms most of the time, so those extra points will go into my retirement bank. :) I hope not to have to downgrade travel class when I retire so I do 'need' the extra points.
 
This makes it a bit of an easier decision; just weight up whether you rather have 400,000 AmEx points or $about $3,200 in your pocket.

P.S: What differences in "statuses" you guys are referring to?
 
P.S: What differences in "statuses" you guys are referring to?

Centurion for example I believe is Hilton Diamond, Shangri-La Diamond, etc. whereas Platinum is only Gold/Jade.

(I only have Plat so correct me if I'm wrong)
 
Centurion for example I believe is Hilton Diamond, Shangri-La Diamond, etc. whereas Platinum is only Gold/Jade.

I see. If this is the case, I would keep the Cent and drop Plat (i.e. for me, 400,000 AmEx point is worth about $2,000-$2,500, and with the added perks it could get very close to the $3,250 threshold OP has).
 
Centurion for example I believe is Hilton Diamond, Shangri-La Diamond, etc. whereas Platinum is only Gold/Jade.

(I only have Plat so correct me if I'm wrong)

Statuses and other travel benefits offered to Cent are:
- Qantas Club
- Emirates Gold tier
- Hotel statuses:
Of these, the Hilton and Shangri-La are most attractive but I don't assign a value to them as I have Marriott Ambassador/LT Titanium status and prefer to stay where I'll be looked after. Having said that, there are occasional Hilton and Shang stays.
 
I'd pay $3200 for 400,000 points personally so would keep the Cent. That said - you won't get the Accor Plus with cent so if thats important, take that into account
 
I see. If this is the case, I would keep the Cent and drop Plat (i.e. for me, 400,000 AmEx point is worth about $2,000-$2,500, and with the added perks it could get very close to the $3,250 threshold OP has).
I definitely agree that 400k current points are worth more than $3250.00 but in a month their value will halve, so at today's value, it's 200k airline points. I guess you can make a case that it's worthwhile as a business to Europe on SQ is worth $6500 when you can get D class so the extra $3250 spent on Centurion buys you a ticket in J to Europe. You don't earn points or status, but I guess it's still a good deal... so stick with Cent, for now.
 
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