Centurion here I come.....

[Cruiser Elite]

Fair enough - I was really referring to initial marketing/premise of the product, more along the lines of it being a 'very exclusive' invitation only product.

Ah ok gotcha - I think AMEX would like to think that Cent is 'very exclsive' - still 'very expensive' IMHO - but inferring that Cent holders or prospective Cent holders are not concerned about bonus points is akin to saying that 'fat kids don't like ice cream'.

 

[scheps]

I have been invited with an annual spend of $80K

cool, i havent had amex for that long but if its 80 to qualify then i might be up for an invite except i couldnt justify the annual fee. My other half would kill me i think :mrgreen:

 

[exp1k]

I just received an invitation and am also a bit sceptical about the additional benefits over platinum.
I had about 75 stays in luxury hotels this year, mostly overseas, but never booked with AMEX. I also already have all the frequent flyer benefits I need.
What I really like is the platinum insurance for missed connections or delayed luggage. How are the centurion benefits in this respect?
Is it also $700 per incident or more? Does anyone have a pdf/link of the centurion insurance T&C?

 

[sparoz]

I just received an invitation and am also a bit sceptical about the additional benefits over platinum.
I had about 75 stays in luxury hotels this year, mostly overseas, but never booked with AMEX. I also already have all the frequent flyer benefits I need.
What I really like is the platinum insurance for missed connections or delayed luggage. How are the centurion benefits in this respect?
Is it also $700 per incident or more? Does anyone have a pdf/link of the centurion insurance T&C?

IIRC Cent is better in terms of higher value per claim but I don't remember by how much. Apart from that, it's mainly plat benefits. Just used the Hilton Honors Diamond status - which is pretty good and now I am going to be more willing to book a hilton in my next hotel stay.

 

[wandersen]

I just received another invite yesterday. My current spend is probably about $80K in the last year. I had a centurion for a couple of years but changed back to platinum as I just couldn't see the value. Nothing's really changed on that front - the fee of $4300 juust doesn't give me much more over platinum. I'm already platinum with Qantas and have an earned Hilton Diamond card - what more can this give me ?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Cruiserette received an invite yesterday also - I think AMEX really casting the net far and wide now

 

[Stephen65]

When I declined the invite I rang up the Centurion rep and explained why - the benefits over Platinum were too marginal to justify the very much higher fee. If everybody declining were to give feedback to Amex when declining then the message might get through. I told the rep that they either needed to improve the benefits - I suggested permanent CX diamond - or reduce the fee because at the moment the offer was not attractive.

 

[haydensydney]

I think AMEX really casting the net far and wide now

It would appear that way.... I mean a $80k AUD spend? Wheres the exclusivity that Amex rant on about re: their top tier spenders/clients?

It's difficult because Amex have always had a embargo on talking about membership numbers and their invitation process. So we can only speculate that it's because of a drop in existing members or a desperate grab for more fee's. Diluting the brand in this way just makes the proposition less valuable to it's existing members.

 

[Stephen65]

I suspect that's the reason behind the lower quality of the recent invitation kits - Amex are casting a wider net and know that many of those invitees will decline and so are spending less on invitations. Personally I think this is counterproductive as the cheap invitations merely reinforce the impression that the product is not that exclusive any more.

 

[oz_mark]

Maybe there is a secret, even more exclusive card above Centurion no one here knows about

 

[Stephen65]

They could call it a Tribune card

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Cruiserette has about 20K monthly spend - she was tickled pink when she opened the package - then reality set in - 'This card will cost me how much?' - '4.3K annually' - 'Forget it - only tuggers would pay that much!' - 'But Cruiserette I have Cent' - 'I rest my case.'

 

[Hawkeye]

Still no love from AMEX here.

I would be more than happy to take up the offer if invited, because from what has been discussed on this forum, some of the benefits (particularly those related to travel) would be of real value to me. The "bling" factor of the card is not relevant to me.

The qualification triggers are indeed mysterious - no problems with a sizable annual spend, including luxury items, airline tickets, hotel reservations, and restaurants, all of which would be considered discretionary. I've also used platinum travel and lifestyle concierges on several occasions (with variable satisfaction).

So clearly, if they are on a recruitment drive, it seems to be a little off-target. Having said all that, I remain very happy with the platinum card.

 

[exp1k]

One improvement I would like very much, is if they make flight and hotel bookings available online. We are in 2012, not in 1988.
I don't want to spend ages IDing myself and explaining what I want to someone, etc, I just want to book online where I can compare the prices and make an informed decision. In the US FHR is available online, why not here?
If I can see and compare the benfits I get from using AMEX, for example their business class fares or the companion deal, etc, then I am much more likely to sign up for Centurion. Spending $4300 in the hope of maybe getting some benefit out of it is not exactly very tempting in todays economic climate. And quite obviously lots of people who had the card and know the benefits are jumping ship. Otherwise they wouldn't now invite everyone and their dog (including myself) in order to keep their numbers up.

I was comparing the FHR catalogues for Platinum and Centurion (they are both available online) and it seems the extra Centurion benefits only apply to a small number of hotels and mostly only if you stay multiple nights. Even though I travel a lot, this means I can only benefit from it maybe at most once or twice a year.

Back to my previous question: Are the missed connection and delayed luggage benfits also $700 per case as for the platinum card or are they higher?

 

[pshepvic]

Back to my previous question: Are the missed connection and delayed luggage benfits also $700 per case as for the platinum card or are they higher?

The $700 + $700 for emergency expenses after lost luggage are the same. The main difference is the annual limit on lost/stolen luggage/possessions is $50k instead of $30k. I've calculated the cost of replacing luggage before and adds up quickly when two of us travel (2x iPad $2k, laptop $1500, Bose headphones x2 $1k, 2x mobile phone each $3k, SLR camera and 3 lens $4k, point & shoot camera $300, ... There's nearly $12k already and that's before I've included any cash, clothes, suitcases, purchases, gifts etc). I do trips almost weekly to Sydney (although I don't take all that stuff every week) plus 3-4 international trips a year, I appreciate having the higher limit. Considering an annual travel insurance policy that is the equivalent of the Amex one would cost you around $1500-2000 I think the card is good value, just for the insurance alone - especially considering it covers two of us at the Centurion level and another 4 cardholders at Platinum level.

They've paid out on four occasions for me as well - with no fuss, a speedy claims process, and on two occasions actually paid more than I expected because there were some things that they covered that I didn't think would be!

 

[exp1k]

The $700 + $700 for emergency expenses after lost luggage are the same. The main difference is the annual limit on lost/stolen luggage/possessions is $50k instead of $30k. I've calculated the cost of replacing luggage before and adds up quickly when two of us travel (2x iPad $2k, laptop $1500, Bose headphones x2 $1k, 2x mobile phone each $3k, SLR camera and 3 lens $4k, point & shoot camera $300, ... There's nearly $12k already and that's before I've included any cash, clothes, suitcases, purchases, gifts etc). I do trips almost weekly to Sydney (although I don't take all that stuff every week) plus 3-4 international trips a year, I appreciate having the higher limit. Considering an annual travel insurance policy that is the equivalent of the Amex one would cost you around $1500-2000 I think the card is good value, just for the insurance alone - especially considering it covers two of us at the Centurion level and another 4 cardholders at Platinum level.

They've paid out on four occasions for me as well - with no fuss, a speedy claims process, and on two occasions actually paid more than I expected because there were some things that they covered that I didn't think would be!

Thanks, that's what I suspected. I really like the Platinum insurance. But with the 30k vs 50k annual limit it means that your luggage would have to be stolen two to three times a year to make the Centurion worthwhile? That sounds a bit unlikely. In my case it would be even more often.

 

[pshepvic]

Thanks, that's what I suspected. I really like the Platinum insurance. But with the 30k vs 50k annual limit it means that your luggage would have to be stolen two to three times a year to make the Centurion worthwhile? That sounds a bit unlikely. In my case it would be even more often.

It's unlikely yes for that to happen to me. But there are 6 of us covered by the insurance policies - so it gives two of us $50k each, and 4 $30k each. Total of $220k cover for $4300 a year. Don't know of any other travel insurance that provides that kind of cover for the money. Also means if I travel with a friend (which I did recently) who checked their bag in under my name (saved us quite a bit in luggage fees on JQi) then their stuff is covered.

In reality I guess if I had a total loss in luggage that came to $20k, I could take out a policy separate for the rest of my trips for the year, and save $3400 on the annual fee. But when you also look at the fact that I've got cover for 6 people plus their spouse/children that's really the equivalent of 6 Plat Charge accounts ... 6x$900=$5400.

That might not be a comparison that suits everyone I know. But it does for me, so all the other hotel benefits, events, companion fares (which I've used before and have saved >$5k) are icing on the titanium cake!

 

[exp1k]

I decided to sign up

I calculated that the additional points I earned last year with the platinum card (the points on top of 1.5x annual spend) are worth more to me than the annual centurion fee. This basically gives me one "free" year to test how good the card is and if it is worth the annual fee for the second year.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

So here we are 11.5mths into my first Centurion year and I am far from convinced that Centurion offers me anywhere near the $3,400 in value over and above Plat fee.

The $4.3K Cent fee was actually charged to my account on Mar 22 2011 - so I was expecting renewal some time second half of Mar 12012. I called my designated 'Relationship Manager' on March 5 and indicated we needed to talk about Cent benefits as I was tossing up cancelling card.

Lo and behold AMEX charge my account $4.3K without any notice or whatever on March 7 for Cent fee for next 12mths.

No advice - no correspondence - no information whatsoever on what might or might not be included in 'complementary benefits package' associated with Cent card for nest 12mths.

Not impressed AMEX.

Discovered this on Saturday as I was working and sent off email to ARM for him to call me ASAP - he called office 6 times yesterday Mon Mar 12 - public holiday in MEL - sharp aren't they.

So I finally talk to him today - he starts off on some tangent about benefits of Amex Lifestyle and Travel programs - I say listen fella don't try to feed me this cough - the 3 or 4 times I have spoken to Cent Travel prices they have quoted me have been significantly higher than what I can find on web - useless IMHO.

(On that matter - guys have posted here that they did indeed receive 1/2 price F fares to Europe with Cent - more info please - were these 'offered' fares or did they surface after you aproacherd Cent Travel)

At moment only discount fares offered on Cent web site are Delta and Virgin with 15% disc - jeez I can beat those prices on Best Flights.

So I am not saying I wasn't going to take up Cent again - I was questioning the value. ARM is going to now give me a list of 'complimentary inclusions' with Cent - which is what they bloody well should have done before they tried to jerk 4.3K out of me.

Benefits of Cent over last 11.5mths - CX MP Diamond Membership a stand out - that gave me 3 upgrades with CX from Y to J - but also got me into Wing lounge 3 or 4 times and got me into F AA Lounge in LAX.

MPD got me status match to Plat at VA - that got me 200 status credits and 50,000pts on Virgin Flyer card - yeah I might have gotten cards anyway - who knows - and we all know value of Vel Plat with anytime access etc.

Also got a coupla upgrades at Hilton here in Melb - got 1 x free night at Waldorf Astoria in PVG - but jeez I am kinda starting to scrape the memory barrell for other benefits - still aint sure if it is worth the $4.3K - sorry let me re-phrase that - it certainly aint worth $4.3K - but not sure what value I would put on it.

 

[Ricardo]

So here we are 11.5mths into my first Centurion year and I am far from convinced that Centurion offers me anywhere near the $3,400 in value over and above Plat fee.

The $4.3K Cent fee was actually charged to my account on Mar 22 2011 - so I was expecting renewal some time second half of Mar 12012. I called my designated 'Relationship Manager' on March 5 and indicated we needed to talk about Cent benefits as I was tossing up cancelling card.

Lo and behold AMEX charge my account $4.3K without any notice or whatever on March 7 for Cent fee for next 12mths.

No advice - no correspondence - no information whatsoever on what might or might not be included in 'complementary benefits package' associated with Cent card for nest 12mths.

Not impressed AMEX.

Discovered this on Saturday as I was working and sent off email to ARM for him to call me ASAP - he called office 6 times yesterday Mon Mar 12 - public holiday in MEL - sharp aren't they.

So I finally talk to him today - he starts off on some tangent about benefits of Amex Lifestyle and Travel programs - I say listen fella don't try to feed me this cough - the 3 or 4 times I have spoken to Cent Travel prices they have quoted me have been significantly higher than what I can find on web - useless IMHO.

(On that matter - guys have posted here that they did indeed receive 1/2 price F fares to Europe with Cent - more info please - were these 'offered' fares or did they surface after you aproacherd Cent Travel)

At moment only discount fares offered on Cent web site are Delta and Virgin with 15% disc - jeez I can beat those prices on Best Flights.

So I am not saying I wasn't going to take up Cent again - I was questioning the value. ARM is going to now give me a list of 'complimentary inclusions' with Cent - which is what they bloody well should have done before they tried to jerk 4.3K out of me.

Benefits of Cent over last 11.5mths - CX MP Diamond Membership a stand out - that gave me 3 upgrades with CX from Y to J - but also got me into Wing lounge 3 or 4 times and got me into F AA Lounge in LAX.

MPD got me status match to Plat at VA - that got me 200 status credits and 50,000pts on Virgin Flyer card - yeah I might have gotten cards anyway - who knows - and we all know value of Vel Plat with anytime access etc.

Also got a coupla upgrades at Hilton here in Melb - got 1 x free night at Waldorf Astoria in PVG - but jeez I am kinda starting to scrape the memory barrell for other benefits - still aint sure if it is worth the $4.3K - sorry let me re-phrase that - it certainly aint worth $4.3K - but not sure what value I would put on it.

Very interesting feedback, I got invited last Sept to Cent but was not sure if it was worth the 4.3k fee, and it seems Plat may be the option for me. Thanks Cruser for that insight.

For some reason it seems to be more about getting the fee and that's it ? Anyway im off to log into my account and send feedback Re the upcoming insurance changes for Plat cardmembers.