Centurion “Extra” membership benefits.

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pax1a

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2004
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Hi,
Does anyone know of any “special” offers which are made to Centurion (Black card) members?

Originally Amex offered card holders instant membership to Starwood Preferred guest at platinum level.
This year they offered Hilton HHonors membership at Gold (seems to be a bit second rate compared to the starwood)

Are there any other good offers that card members have been able to find?


Cheers
 
Hi Pax1a

I am a Centurion card holder, and I can confirm that AMEX is offering an upgraded SPG membership this year though I'm not sure that it is Platinum - it might be Gold. I have sent my forms back and am waiting for the upgraded card which is why I can't be certain which it is. Hilton HHonors Gold membership is still being offered, as is AVIS President's Club and Hertz Gold membership. I switched from Hertz to AVIS because of the President's Club card because you get an automatic two-class upgrade (eg book an Astra and they'll give you a Commodore for the same price).

I also find the companion fares on Emirates and other airlines (but not Qantas :() to be very useful. This enables two people to fly in J or F for around the same price as a single ticket. Also of benefit are "guaranteed" upgrades (subject to availability, etc) at a number of hotels and also some free hotel room nights. For example, we are spending three nights in HKG on our way to LHR in September and we will only be paying for two nights at the Mandarin Oriental Landmark because of a Centurion benefit which gives us a free night at that particular hotel.
 
Hi All

First time here! I also hold a centurion card since mar04 and there are few changes then but the followings are current:

Starwood Platinum Level (at present but after feb07 it will be downgraded to Gold)
InterCon Platinum membership
Hilton Gold VIP membership
Priority Pass for both main and supp card holder
MAS Enrich Gold membership
Hertz Gold
Avis President's

Hope that helps.

regards
kito
 
This is great for people who have two credit cards!!!

:arrow: This is great for people who have two credit cards!!! Look at what you make from others work!!!

**** Link deleted. See later posting ****
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: This is great for people who have two credit cards!!!

GERKON said:
:arrow: This is great for people who have two credit cards!!! Look at what you make from others work!!!
X

I don't recommend following this link at all.

While I can't determine exactly what's wrong with the executable, it looks very suspicious to me like an installer for a backdoor trojan

So bottom line - I don't think it will help you with credit card reconcilliation! In fact it might help someone else reconcile your passwords with your Internet Banking et.al

(I'm more than happy to retract these statements if I am wrong ... but doubt I am).
 
Homer said:
Hi Pax1a

I am a Centurion card holder, and I can confirm that AMEX is offering an upgraded SPG membership this year though I'm not sure that it is Platinum - it might be Gold. I have sent my forms back and am waiting for the upgraded card which is why I can't be certain which it is. Hilton HHonors Gold membership is still being offered, as is AVIS President's Club and Hertz Gold membership. I switched from Hertz to AVIS because of the President's Club card because you get an automatic two-class upgrade (eg book an Astra and they'll give you a Commodore for the same price).

I also find the companion fares on Emirates and other airlines (but not Qantas :() to be very useful. This enables two people to fly in J or F for around the same price as a single ticket. Also of benefit are "guaranteed" upgrades (subject to availability, etc) at a number of hotels and also some free hotel room nights. For example, we are spending three nights in HKG on our way to LHR in September and we will only be paying for two nights at the Mandarin Oriental Landmark because of a Centurion benefit which gives us a free night at that particular hotel.

Be careful. As centurion member I have the following observations to make.

SPG was downgraded to Gold this year. Avis Pres club two category upgrade only begins at middle level cars, above Astra I think and Avis charge as much for a Camry as a Comm anyway. In oz the top car you can get is a base model Statesman. If you rent a full size SUV in the US there generally is no upgrade to be had anyway and they actually charge more for a mid-size SUV. Pres club rates don't always work, double check the rate you are being offered, it may be the same as the GP are getting....complain. Companion fares are on a strictly limited basis and are at full published fare so often only end up marginally cheaper than discounted fares even with the 2 for 1, often not available especially during peak times and are often available to the public anyway, eg on MAS and JAL. You can usually get better hotel rates straight from the hotel than through Centurion because they give you an extra night based on the rack rate, sometimes so much better that the extra night is cancelled out, though this deal can be beneficial, its hotel and date dependent. I am very 50/50 on Centurion.
 
maninblack said:
Be careful. As centurion member I have the following observations to make.

I am very 50/50 on Centurion.


Yep, which is why I have stuck to my 'silver' card.
 
This "Black Card" is no longer prestige in the World's Card Market particualr in Australia as Amex been throwing the black card to most of thier card members, some of them not even have to spend a lot (less than 60K a year)!

This could be due to the membership fee that they charged is really a huge income for them!

Look out! They might even considering an annual fee increase very soon as they have already done it in other countries while Australia card holders still get very minimal beenfits compares with Hong Kong, US and UK!

Nowadays, every 10 Amex customer, at least 5 of them is carrying Black and the other 4 in Platinum and only 1 in Gold.

Consumer who believes they should be treated differently and with a huge spending power should push your bank to issue the "Infinite Visa" or the "World Elite Mastercard" then you will have a different stauts amongs the others!
saks_home_photo.jpg
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infinitevisa said:
This "Black Card" is no longer prestige in the World's Card Market particualr in Australia as Amex been throwing the black card to most of thier card members, some of them not even have to spend a lot (less than 60K a year)!

Nowadays, every 10 Amex customer, at least 5 of them is carrying Black and the other 4 in Platinum and only 1 in Gold.

Sorry to be so unequivocal but what you are saying is absolute nonsense. I have a very senior source at American Express. Only around 1% yes 1 in 100 AMEX card holders in Australia have been offered the Centurion card. Now that is still a lot of people but nothing like the figure you suggest.
 
infinitevisa said:
This "Black Card" is no longer prestige in the World's Card Market particualr in Australia as Amex been throwing the black card to most of thier card members, some of them not even have to spend a lot (less than 60K a year)!

I am sensing some Amex hostility here - 3 posts made - all negative towards Amex.
 
Hi mainblack:

May be I'm really having nonsense here as most of the people I contacted did hold the black card and their spending is really not as heavy as most people think, some of them is really smart that they even cut off the card without activating it as they don't see the value at all, once you have the souce to compare the benefits you will know!

Whatever I say here is not important, just be ready one day when you receive the black box with a normal courier delivery, see whether you are willing to pay the $2,800.00 per annual!
 
Isnt that the point of this thread? The OP is trying to assess the benefits of teh Centurion card so telling them to think about whether its worth it when they get the card delivered seems to be asking for a response along the lines of "Well duh - what do you think I was doing here anyway?"
 
As a current Centurion member i gave my view on the benefits in an earlier post. I just had to respond to the post that claimed 50% of AMEX holders get the Centurion, simply far from reality. No further point to make :!:
 
maninblack said:
As a current Centurion member i gave my view on the benefits in an earlier post. I just had to respond to the post that claimed 50% of AMEX holders get the Centurion, simply far from reality. No further point to make :!:
Indeed those numbers seem very far fetched. I would be one of the 10% of Amex customers who just have a Gold card - so that would make me quite exclusive!

I really can't see the point in being worried about exclusivity with credit/charge/debt cards. I could not care less if I everyone else in the country has the same card. So long as the card gives me benefits I want (award points, reasonable fees, purchase protection etc) then I am happy. I would not care less if 9 out the 10 people in front of me in the supermarket queue have the same card. I don't expect the 15 year old check-out operator to look at my card and say "Oh wow! That is an exclusive card. You much be someone very important."

If the card has the features you want for a price you perceive to be value, then go for it. But to get a card for its exclusivity seems poor judgement to me.
 
NM said:
If the card has the features you want for a price you perceive to be value, then go for it. But to get a card for its exclusivity seems poor judgement to me.

There was a time when I would be lulled by the so-called 'status' and 'prestige' associated with some of these cards. More recently, cards have toearn their keep - which means they have to provide me value for whatever their fees are. If after rule and fee changes they stop doing this, then I have no particular problem with shutting the account down.
 
Re: Centurion “Extra” membership benefits.

Now that the Platinum Card seems to have adopted a number of the benefits that seemed to be on the Centurion Card (like Priority Pass, Gold SPG, etc.) I would be interested if those out there that are Centurion members could say how the Centurion program has improved recently to keep it ahead of the Platinum Charge Card?

I know that previously Centurion's and Platinum's Concierge Service was run by a company called SOS (a friend of mine worked for them) - but that QANTAS have only a few weeks ago left the Platinum Concierge with them, but taken the Centurion Concierge in house.

But of the more tangible benefits (lounge access, airline/hotel status, insurances, etc.) how does the NEW Centurion stack up to the NEW Platinum Charge Card?
 
Nowadays, every 10 Amex customer, at least 5 of them is carrying Black and the other 4 in Platinum and only 1 in Gold.

This guy has to be trolling. There are ~5000 Cent card holders in Aus. If that makes up 50% of all Amex card holders, then there would be only 10k Amex card holders in Aus. My company's two parent companies then have about 30% of all Amex card holders in Aus. I don't think so :)
 
Re: Centurion “Extra” membership benefits.

I haven't checked to see how up-to-date this is, but you can keep your eye on: AmEx CENTURION COMPARISON

Thanks for this - but from what I can see that site is the old Centurion - I'm keen to hear from those that have Centurion on this board as to what improved on Centurion recently.
 
Thanks for this - but from what I can see that site is the old Centurion - I'm keen to hear from those that have Centurion on this board as to what improved on Centurion recently.

When the upgraded Centurion card rolled out last year there was a page on the Centurion web site that listed the new and upgraded features but I can't find that page any more.

One of the new features is the complimentary QC membership. I have given that to my wife. The Centurion Fast Track service which helps get you through immigration may also be new, however I only used it for the first time last year so it may also have existed under the previous card. I am pretty sure that the Frequent Flyer Desk is also new.
 
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