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Anybody have experience with getting a black card?
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My sapphire reserve has been a good companion for a while but I'm hitting spends of 250k+/yr across my cards. Don't know if I'm even close enough to getting a black card, and if I am, if it's worth it at all. I figure there has to be another step up from my sapphire reserve in credit card benefits though. So far I've just heard people talk about black cards through rumors. Would love to hear personal experiences.
Edit: also to clarify this is personal spend. Not biz
(Also I have no clue what to flair this)
Top Comment: Centurion upped the benefits this year to account for lack of travel spend - upon calling they also gave a credit against the annual fee. If you have centurion for bragging rights, then it is great for that, and for giving generally decent benefits across a wide swath of services. However, any one of these services can be done better by specializing your providers. For example, there are services that for around $5k per month will get you access to reservations and events at levels far higher than the centurion (think opening nights, exclusive galas, chef’s tables, etc). Beyond that, it’s really just a credit card with great benefits. Where it has been very helpful is with crazy financial requests, not so much concierge requests you hear about on social media. For example, if you need to put a $400k-$500k charge on the card when your normal monthly cadence is $50-70k a month, call up and no problem. Another boring day at the office. Try doing that with your retail card. Any private wealth card will provide a similar service, the difference is that with centurion those agents are always at the ready and you don’t need to wake someone up from their deep slumber back in New York. To be fair the platinum card offered much the same benefits on the financial side, so I’d recommend starting there and seeing if you feel your life is missing anything. If it is, you can call up the plat line and request a centurion card. If you’re FAT, you’ll get that invite (they do quick asset verification and some other research). Hope this helps.
How many people on Reddit actually have Amex Black Cards?
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I have one, got a personal one in 2019, but I always wanted to know if its as exclusive as they say it is.
Do you have one? How many years with Centurion?
Top Comment: Nowhere near as many that claim they do.
Amex Centurion "Black Card" is a waste of money
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At least for the UK anyway!
Originally I liked the card, aspired to get it - especially since coming from a low income family - but I never actually use it ever anymore.
All my major payments are done via ApplePay, so no one actually sees the card per say, and most of the time the benefits over here in the UK are rubbish.
Is there any unheard of benefit, that I am not quite acquainted to?
The concierge is decent, especially if you are on a trip or business, you can just get them to arrange everything via a quick call to them (one of the only few reasons I hold on), but they cant get me into the top restaurants in London and all these crazy stories I heard were false, in the UK at least, so it is rather unfortunate.
Apart from that, the points system is rubbish, I end up just using the BA AMEX for the companion voucher, Barclays Plus, and then the other credit cards.
The only real reason I hold onto the card is purely for business, in my area, specifically, I just bring the card out deliberately when paying for dinner for clients, to show I am "doing well" and can handle their business. Its literally a Flex card, I wouldnt even say that you get "better service" by showing this card either.
Any fellow Centurion holders, please do let me know if there are any real benefits, that somehow I missed or I am not using properly. Appreciate all responses
Ale
Top Comment: The US card does technically breakeven and actually exceeds it's value. Free Equinox Membership (4k worth) $1,000 Saks Credit (1k worth) $395 Clear Credit ($395 worth) $200 Uber Credit ($200 worth) Elite statuses you get for Hilton and IHG (free upgrades, 4pm checkout, free breakfast). Elite status for Hertz (the company will pick you up and hand you the car). Delta Platinum status (free upgrades to first class when available, free checked bags, priority boarding). Free lounge access to all networks of AMEX lounges including Delta, Priority Pass and so on. +2 free guest and no lines. For all intents and purposes it's actually a great card, but your gym must be Eqinox. If you fulfill that requirement you'll get thousands of dollars of luxury value and it becomes exceedingly worth it. Personally, if I lived a luxury life of travel and my gym was Eqinox I would 100% want the card too. You get all your money back through lounge access and travel perks.
Have you ever seen someone use an Amex Black card?
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I was just at the grocery store checking out at the self checkout. I noticed the guy next to me whipped out a Black card to pay. First time seeing one in real life which was cool. Jokes on him though, I'm getting more points than him with my Gold.
Top Comment: Black card users don’t care about points 🤷🏻♂️
Centurion (Black) Card
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So I was just on the phone to Amex to request an update on whether or not I’m eligible for a Centurion card invite. I regularly spend 6 figures per year on my Platinum and have been doing so for 2* years.
The lady on the phone proceeded to tell me that the only way to be invited to Centurion card is via a person that already has said card. I thought this was incorrect, so she went away to check and later came back to confirm the statement was true.
Has something changed or have I just been misinformed? I hate to sound rude but it wasn’t the UK call centre and I regularly get incorrect information when I don’t call from 9-5 in the UK.
Top Comment: She's kind of right.... in the sense that you essentially do get invited, and enquiring about it isn't likely to get you there. Pump those rookie numbers up, go spending like Michael Jackson at Harrods.
Ok...black card is worth it!
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Joined a wonderful intimate event with Ed Sheeran. Pretty amazing experience with a great pre and post concert bar and meal - and with a nice little gift basket which cost nearly as much as the tickets!
Membership has its privileges!
Top Comment: You just called me poor in so many languages
Black Card
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I run an e-commerce business and I spend around 70-80k a month currently. I just started spending this much around 2 months ago, however, I always spent at least 200-300k a year for the last 2 years. How much more do I need to spend to be offered a black card?
Top Comment: The exact requirements to be invited to own the Centurion are not public. But last I have seen the current understanding is you need to have an income north of $1,000,000 (unsure about business income) and a yearly spend of around $350,000 for personal and $500,000 for business on existing Amex accounts, with a preference for spending on Platinum. A reminder, while a status symbol, the Black Card is not in anyway a smart card to have. The fees and limited rewards make it a fairly poor card by itself.
Why do people get the Amex Black Card/ seems like the perks are overly priced for what?
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One of the executives I Work with has an Amex Black Card, and the pros didn’t sound like the outweigh cons. I am not an expert
Top Comment: It’s not about the card benefits. The centurion has a much more flexible transaction algorithm than the platinum and business platinum and it has a dedicated team. If you call up and say I need to put $5M through the card right now it’s not a problem. As far as card perks are concerned, the only real show stopping benefit is on the business centurion, which has a 50% MR rebate on award bookings.
Centurion Card
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Does anyone have a Centurion card (Black card)? Is it worth it? The membership cost is pretty steep (10K initiation per card; 5K annually per card). What perks do you use, and how is it different from Platinum?
Top Comment: Yes. And if you have to ask whether or not it’s worth it on Reddit, it may not be worth it for you. Equinox membership, Hertz Platinum, Delta Platinum, Hilton Diamond, skip the line and reserved seating at Centurion lounges.
Black Card with $2m a month in business spend
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Anyone gotten the black card quickly with obscene amounts of biz spend.
I have an online ecommerce brand and we are spending about 2m a month expected 3m a month next month on Ad spend FB and Google.
Wondering if spend like this will quickly get you a black card or if it needs to be personal.
I am new to amex one year since spending.
Top Comment: Minimum 1 year card membership. Recent data points from folks I know indicate that business centurion spend threshold is ~$10M annually, personal is >$1M annually in categories that Amex cares about. The key here is consistent spend, not a one-off big month or three. With your level of spending, you should soon (if you haven’t already) been assigned an account manager. You can request Centurion via them, too. Source: personal Centurion holder who recently inquired about also getting a business Centurion.