Hi I held the Centurion card for 5 yrs and yes its an amazing ego boost to be invited but the benefits that I used where all available on Platinum at 25%less annual fee. Australians are not very impressed by it ...but in the States people understand it is invite only. If you have a great Personal Assistant then the concierge is will not be of interest. Although the same staff operate the Platinum Concierge . I use this service several times a week and had built up great relationships with several key staff. Unless you demand they fob you offer and do not go the extra mile for you.
The Frequent Flyer points where 1.5 same as Platinum.
The Travel department is average and I would never use them. The original Centurion offered Platinum SPG...My advice stick with the Platinum !
i could not agree more.
as my 4th centurion anniversary approaches (read: 4th time $4300 annual fee) i'm once again really struggling to justify its value. without a doubt, it is the best wallet jewellery you can wear, but objectively, there is little that i find that compensates for its egregious fee. here in australia the centurion annual fee is amongst the highest of any country in the world and our benefits are embarrassing compared to those that other countries' centurion members receive. after reading some of the glowing reviews from other centurion members here i wonder if i'm either crazy or walking around with a "kick me amex" sign on my back that i don't know about.
i routinely wait on hold when i call to cardmember services, the concierge or the travel service--often for extended periods; the last time i used the travel service (for a last minute hertz car rental reservation) i was quoted over 3x the price that i ended up with by double checking directly with the car rental website; i've given up trying to have them find good deals on biz and 1st class airfares despite all the fare guarantee noise that they recently sent us in the mail; claiming on the baggage delay insurance has always proved a hassle with the number of original receipts, original boarding passes and proof of delays required since they changed insurance providers; trying to get a table at aria was impossible last time i tried to book a last minute dinner reservation; my request to the "exceptional" concierge service for help finding an out-of-stock hermes wallet was rewarded two days later with an email reply stating that "the sydney store is out of stock" and perhaps i could "try looking on ebay" (i called hermes in paris directly and they referred me to a store that had it in a matter of minutes); we've lost the one elevated ff membership level we used to get (but how useful was mh gold anyway); gotta love that complementary priority club platinum membership for all the holiday inn stays we do; priority pass and spg gold come with the platinum card at less than 1/4 the centurion fee; i presume that most of us are frequent enough travellers to find the qf club membership of specious value; we get a silly website riddled with broken links, things that don't exist (i.e. centurion diaries) and outdated offers and terms and conditions (although they did finally update the "valid through december 31, 2008" displayed on the centurion partner hotel benefits page last month); i have had terrible luck hearing back from people when they promise to "get back to me".
to centurion's credit, i find the one free night at each of the mo properties each year to be a great benefit. and the new hilton diamond level is a welcome improvement but doesn't replace the guaranteed late check-out of spg platinum.
i wish i had more positive to say about my experiences with the centurion card. i truly wanted it and *really* tried to like it when i first received it. but over time the regular disappointments, constant diminution of benefits and poor levels of service have taken their toll on me. if amex didn't brag about their "unparalleled" levels of service and "exceptional value" that the centurion card provides (quoting directly from pierric beckert), perhaps i would find it easier to accept the spotty service and thread-bare benefits that the australian centurion card provides.
to me, the australian centurion card represents a cruel parody of expectation set against what it actually delivers.
if it weren't for $100,000 worth of grief i'd get from my +1 for downgrading to platinum (who loves the attention the titanium card occasionally draws), the decision of what i should do the next time the $4300 fee is due would be a no-brainer.
