Tag Archives for centurion card.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Amex records show the banal machinery behind something much darker: 17 cards, 11 million Membership Rewards points, and a Black Card concierge helping book “decoy” flights for visa interviews.
American Express has been opening a network of airport lounges over the past decade, because that’s where their cardmembers are. After initially trialing the first Centurion lounge with Centurion cardmembers only in Las Vegas, the program expanded significantly. New York is their biggest market, and it looks like they have a new space coming, at least initially for Centurion cardmembers only.
Centurion New York is expected to open in March on the 55th floor of One Vanderbilt, about a block from the Hyatt Grand Central (former Grand Hyatt), featuring food by Daniel Boulud.
The founder of Barstool Sports, David Portnoy, flexed on social media showing himself buying a pack of gum with a Black Card for $1.59 – and the terminal displays his available Membership Rewards balance of 44,403,931 points.
Sure, you can use Amex points at Rite Aid. It’s a poor value, but it’s an opportunity to show the balance in an ironic setting. The employee comments “you probably could go on a trip” and Portnoy boasts “I’ve gotta be a league leader with points.”
Most premium Amex customers live in New York city – more than double the number in second city LA. And, it appears, on average they make quite a lot of money even though I’ve nott found it difficult for readers without such high incomes to get approved for Platinum cards.
The American Express Black Card (Centurion Card) has a $5000 annual fee and you pay a $7500 initiation fee your first year as a cardmember, too. It comes with standard Platinum card benefits (sans the $200 annual airline fee credit), plus Delta Platinum, Hilton Diamond, and IHG Rewards Platinum status. New in the last year is an Equinox Destination Access Membership, and a $1,000 annual Saks credit. Cardmembers sometimes receive expensive gifts too.
The card is getting a refresh. One cardmember sent me details on the package they’ve just received.
The American Express Black Card (Centurion Card) has a $5000 annual fee and you pay a $7500 initiation fee your first year as a cardmember, too.
They send cardmembers occasional gifts. How about a $500 gift card to use, because you’re rich and can afford an expensive credit card?
Marketing is all about knowing who your customers are, and figuring out how to find more people like that. It’s why it matters that marketing staff understand your customer base, and not just have models predicting the characteristics describing who the median customer is. Especially at the high-end, high-touch, send something… a little more personalized. Indeed, maybe a personalized welcome note to someone forking over $10,000 or more up front for a credit card?
What does the new American Express Centurion Card look like? A reader shared photos unboxing the updated Black Card they received in the mail.
The benefits have been updated and there’s also an updated card design, which our reader says is “thinner and lighter” – not what you’d expect from a card designed to be a statement.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
