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Hi, I have been a member for a while now. The benefits are ok. However. I have experienced a few annoying things with the card. Firstly. The Annual cost is high and you do not get the same perks as the US. You never seem to get the best price when booking flights. You'd think as you are paying the $5k annual fee you'd get the best price. Unfortunately no. To take advantage of the Diamond Service (Meet & Great) + the chauffeur drive. You have to be flying in business and booking through AMEX.
I recently booked the Finnair RTW special for $6k. Amex best rate started at $13k then dropped to $10k. That was booking the same route and time. As I did not book with them I was unable to take advantage of my perks. Only flights booked & originating from Australia qualify for the perks.
The other issue I had was the Hilton Diamond. I recently booked a Hilton room through the AMEX website. Yet when I checked in I was unable to use the lounge or have a late check out as I booked through a 3rd party and not though Hilton directly.
Claiming point onto FF programs is easy and very quick. This is a great perk.
With your RTW savings you can get one hell of good chauffeur service. I think in today's world of ride sharing/ chauffeur on apps its made it really easy for people to book and self manage. This dilutes the value proposition of the Centurion in that perspective.
I think if the flight was only 5-%10% more but they added the chauffeur and did all the organisation it would be valuable. However they need to make $$$.
I was invited to join and declined. As I now have a US address as well I'm thinking about applying there. It's less expensive and seems to offer more advantages.
I have had a C Card for about 8 years and the concierge and travel service is average at best ! As mentioned by someone earlier in this thread prices are not competitive with other business & first class offers for flights. And whilst rewards points will increase next April it is my understanding that transferring them to partner airlines will require 2 Amex points for 1 FF point. This will dramatically negate any advantage in increased rewards. For my spend I will end up with far less FF points transferred which is what i mainly use the rewards for. What other use for the rewards offer value ?
I have had the Card for some years now. There are other benefits like the complimentary travel insurance which is a superior cover to the Platinum Card. Granted you have to spend $250 towards your trip but I have had to use it and they were fantastic. Also a free Qantas Club membership ,Virgin lounge access, Gold Emirates etc . I don't find the travel deals that competitive or the hotel pricing as you end up paying for the perks. There is another credit card that goes with it, free and has a $400 travel benefit.
As far as concerts are concerned, all the Amex concierge will do is call Ticketek for you and have you on the other line, may as well do it yourself
I can only comment about restaurants manjit but that is my experience with restaurants as well. They just ring the restaurant as any of us would and they can't get you in if the restaurant is booked.
I only hold a Platinum Card & while on the topic of Travel service with AMEX. I just booked a J flight return to HKG yesterday for this upcoming now years (I know so late). They got me $1000 off with a corporate rate on VA.
Hi All, I've recently been invited to take up the Centurion Card. As an existing Platinum Card holder I have found the perks and point scheme worthwhile even with the upcoming changes. The question is though, with a 5k initiation and the 5k annual fee is the Centurion card perks that much better than Platinum? I'm aware some one has asked this question before but I was wondering if opinions have changed?
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
Hi All, I've recently been invited to take up the Centurion Card. As an existing Platinum Card holder I have found the perks and point scheme worthwhile even with the upcoming changes. The question is though, with a 5k initiation and the 5k annual fee is the Centurion card perks that much better than Platinum? I'm aware some one has asked this question before but I was wondering if opinions have changed?
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
Associate of mine spends $80~110k/month on online advertising, plus usual travel and other expenses. YMMV.
Hi All, I've recently been invited to take up the Centurion Card. As an existing Platinum Card holder I have found the perks and point scheme worthwhile even with the upcoming changes. The question is though, with a 5k initiation and the 5k annual fee is the Centurion card perks that much better than Platinum? I'm aware some one has asked this question before but I was wondering if opinions have changed?
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
i spend about 90 - 120k a month on the card, a combination of BAS, suppliers, marketing etc.
As you can see by my username I am a huge fan of the card. While it does cost a fair bit, the perks are great, especially while travelling. If you don't travel a lot, then the card is not for you. Hotel and airline bookings are as simple as emailing your relationship manager and gets done within 24 hours. I found platinum service to be rather lacklustre and therefore I prefer Centurion.
I had a Centurion card about 6 years ago, and eventually gave it up.
Pros:
- relationship manager to do all travel, restaurant, special bookings, gift-getting, etc
- you can get into some events, and have special tables at restaurants, that others can't access
- social and business prestige (valuable in some quarters)
- that metal makes for a damn sexy card
Cons:
- fiercely expensive if you like to organise your own travel
- travel through Amex (which brings special benefits) not necessarily best value for money
- booking non-Amex travel drops some perks off.
I couldn't in all conscience justify the then $5k a year fee. Some people and organisations will have no trouble with this. If you get one, enjoy it to the max.
Check the travel insurance terms carefully on Platinum. Last time I checked it covers the primary cardholder only and spouse/children only travelling with them. On Centurion though, my partner is covered when travelling alone on the supplementary Centurion card with Centurion insurance, and another family member with one of the supplementary Platinum cards is covered by Platinum insurance when travelling alone. On Platinum supplementary is not covered unless they are travelling with primary cardholder. So effectively you can have 2 Centurion and 4 platinum cardholders all covered by travel insurance when travelling individually - that’s the equivalent of $7,200 worth of annual fees on Platinum (although you’d get back $2,400 with the travel benefit, so $4800 which is almost same as a Centurion fee). When I joined there was no joining fee - I reckon the $5k just to sign up would put me off now.
Chris C.
Chris C.
Member since 24 Apr 2012
Total posts 1,116
Please post comments only once. If our software determines that approval is necessary, our team will review the message as soon as possible, so please don't try to repost it (you wrote the same thing four times in slightly different ways, which creates more work for the admin team to clean things up).
Aidan
Aidan
Member since 05 Dec 2018
Total posts 94
With your RTW savings you can get one hell of good chauffeur service. I think in today's world of ride sharing/ chauffeur on apps its made it really easy for people to book and self manage. This dilutes the value proposition of the Centurion in that perspective.
Realist
Realist
QF
Member since 02 Sep 2013
Total posts 1
I was invited to join and declined. As I now have a US address as well I'm thinking about applying there. It's less expensive and seems to offer more advantages.
mah
mah
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 18 Apr 2018
Total posts 1
I have had a C Card for about 8 years and the concierge and travel service is average at best ! As mentioned by someone earlier in this thread prices are not competitive with other business & first class offers for flights. And whilst rewards points will increase next April it is my understanding that transferring them to partner airlines will require 2 Amex points for 1 FF point. This will dramatically negate any advantage in increased rewards. For my spend I will end up with far less FF points transferred which is what i mainly use the rewards for. What other use for the rewards offer value ?
Manjit Sadhwani
Manjit Sadhwani
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 05 Oct 2015
Total posts 5
As far as concerts are concerned, all the Amex concierge will do is call Ticketek for you and have you on the other line, may as well do it yourself
Vicki668
Vicki668
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 16 Sep 2016
Total posts 1
I have had the Card for some years now. There are other benefits like the complimentary travel insurance which is a superior cover to the Platinum Card. Granted you have to spend $250 towards your trip but I have had to use it and they were fantastic. Also a free Qantas Club membership ,Virgin lounge access, Gold Emirates etc . I don't find the travel deals that competitive or the hotel pricing as you end up paying for the perks. There is another credit card that goes with it, free and has a $400 travel benefit.
mnc
mnc
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 06 Aug 2017
Total posts 37
I can only comment about restaurants manjit but that is my experience with restaurants as well. They just ring the restaurant as any of us would and they can't get you in if the restaurant is booked.
djcz
djcz
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 28 Feb 2014
Total posts 130
I only hold a Platinum Card & while on the topic of Travel service with AMEX. I just booked a J flight return to HKG yesterday for this upcoming now years (I know so late). They got me $1000 off with a corporate rate on VA.
kisumi
kisumi
SilkAir - KrisFlyer
Member since 15 Dec 2018
Total posts 1
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
johnaboxall
johnaboxall
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 24 Aug 2011
Total posts 384
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
Associate of mine spends $80~110k/month on online advertising, plus usual travel and other expenses. YMMV.
evolve80
evolve80
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer
Member since 29 Aug 2017
Total posts 6
Would you mind disclosing your annual spending amount and also what your spending mainly consisted of please?
i spend about 90 - 120k a month on the card, a combination of BAS, suppliers, marketing etc.
Centurion
Centurion
Member since 06 Apr 2018
Total posts 2
As you can see by my username I am a huge fan of the card. While it does cost a fair bit, the perks are great, especially while travelling. If you don't travel a lot, then the card is not for you. Hotel and airline bookings are as simple as emailing your relationship manager and gets done within 24 hours. I found platinum service to be rather lacklustre and therefore I prefer Centurion.
waratahbay
waratahbay
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 14 Mar 2018
Total posts 6
Pros:
peteshep
peteshep
Member since 15 Feb 2013
Total posts 12
Check the travel insurance terms carefully on Platinum. Last time I checked it covers the primary cardholder only and spouse/children only travelling with them. On Centurion though, my partner is covered when travelling alone on the supplementary Centurion card with Centurion insurance, and another family member with one of the supplementary Platinum cards is covered by Platinum insurance when travelling alone. On Platinum supplementary is not covered unless they are travelling with primary cardholder. So effectively you can have 2 Centurion and 4 platinum cardholders all covered by travel insurance when travelling individually - that’s the equivalent of $7,200 worth of annual fees on Platinum (although you’d get back $2,400 with the travel benefit, so $4800 which is almost same as a Centurion fee). When I joined there was no joining fee - I reckon the $5k just to sign up would put me off now.
Ursus
Ursus
Etihad - Etihad Guest
Member since 24 Jun 2019
Total posts 1
I have held the Centurion card for the last 5 years.