My Experience with the Centurion Card

How I got the Card:

I am by no means wealthy - not at all. I've actually overdrawn my checking account more times within the past two years than I've made deposits my entire life. My uncle is though and when I was a child we were close friends but my parents forbid me from speaking with him until I turned 18 and would be able to decide for myself. The reason for this was he was investigated for a hotel in New York that he owns that drug lords were operating out of back in 1994. Well I turned 18 two years ago but the subject of seeking him out never really crossed my mind. Then I met him at a wedding and I saw him pay for his drinks with the Centurion card. I was still rocking my BofA platinum plus Visa but I had been doing a pretty good job of building credit - paying in full every month. We talked about everything, I was convinced that my parents did not give him a fair chance and if you knew my parents you'd know how they are. Anyway, I manage a few CD's for him and he agreed to put me on his account as the secondary account holder for the Centurion card. Now, many people would say this is a waste of money to pay $1500 annually before you can spend a single dollar. My friends asked why I didn't just ask for that money instead of getting an "elite" card. Well in my family its an unspoken rule to not give money - its just a sign of respect. And it was between the card or a car - and I'm not one to milk someone for their money - I initially was interested in how he got it and in that conversation he saw my interest as an opportunity to make up for all my missed birthdays as a kid. From a more practical standpoint, paying $1500 for a card seemed to make sense to me considering my lifestyle and spending habits. I could upgrade to first class every time I fly (~10 times a year), free companion tickets for when I fly, upgrade to suites for hotels (so my friends and I all save money on our roadtrips), and get reservations whenever I wanted at restaurants - I just hate waiting. Well that's the story of how I got the card - now onto more interesting matters such as what the card has done.

American Express Centurion

- Well when I got the card, I was surprised to see it looked a lot different than the cards I saw online. I had done a lot of reading in anticipation for the arrival of the card. It came Fedex in a rectangular white carton. As I opened the heavy welcome kit, I saw a black and GOLD card with a special handwritten note attached. I had been chosen as one of Amex's clients for a prototype card that they wanted to test. As I picked the card up, I saw that everything was laser engraved. This card was not as low key as the true centurion card, it is much heavier, shinier and better looking. Unfortunately, it said the card would only be active for a month then they would change my account number and send me the original card. The welcome kit came with a personal letter from the CEO of American Express Ken Chenault (Interesting Fact: He is one of the richest black men in the world). It also came with a nice bound booklet detailing all the information about the card and papers for Hertz Gold Club as well as card registration. I will put these pictures up eventually.

How to Get a Centurion Card:

It's no longer as exclusive as people like to think - atleast as cardholders think. The only requirement is to spend $250,000 annually on an American Express Platinum card. After doing that, simply call up customer service and they will approve you for the Centurion card. With that phone call comes a $5000 initiation fee and $2500 annual fee. In other countries, the requirements are different - much lower actually. The reason for the large amount of cards out there is the low $250,000 requirement - most businesses go through this in one month on infrastructure management alone. Personally, I think it is much more significant to have a personal centurion card than the business one - every CEO has one nowadays but to have one with your name on it really means much more.

More details to come later. Any questions?