American Express "Black"?

Want to buy a Gulfstream? This is what you'd use.. the sky is the limit.

As I think one FChatter pointed out, the irony is that most retail establishments aren't familiar with the card so you'd probably have trouble buying breakfast with it at your local coffee shop.

C.

 

I thought they stopped giving them out.

It is the Centurion Card. What I heard is if you use your amex for a certain amount each month they would invite you to get a black card. Supposedly you get more upgrades when you use it for hotels and flights and things like that. You also get a number you can call 24 hours and they can arrange anything you may need, like a concierge I guess.

 

Do a quick search for this and you will see it has been discussed at length. You should be able to find all the info you want on the past threads I believe.

 

No prob!

 

At my business, almost every customer pays with one. They run $ 80,000 charges like they are $200.

 

Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southampton, NY
Full Name: Chris


I'd believe you.

 

Do places really let you charge high dollar items like cars on credit cards? I tried to put my MB G500 on my Amex platinum at Mercedes Benz Manhattan and they said they only accepted cc charges up to $3,000 and that I either needed a certified check or wire transfer for the balance. Who has successfully charged a car to a CC?

 

I have put 10-20,000 down on cars with a credit card - dealer may charge you a 3% fee though. BMW let me do it and so did a caddy dealership. Porsche said no.

 

I dont think coffee is the primary purchase with something like this. Go in to a top class department store, art dealer, jeweles etc, they'll know what its all about. And surely part of the appeal is that not everyone knows what it means?

 

I'm sure he'll chime in- but a fellow fchatter (and good friend) bought a BMW M3 on his black card..

 

The official policy is you have to spend $150,000 a year on your AMEX to be eligible. The annual fee on the thing is $2,500 a year.

As far as limits, AMEX has always prided themselves in never having any spending limits for all of their cards. Everything is on a case by case basis whether it's green, gold, platinum, or black.

I'm thinking of going back to my green card, it's a novelty at this point if you want to be unique.

 

To qualify,besides having top credit rating,you have to spend over $150k a year using "lesser" Amex card.
I think they look at your spending pattern in the last 2-3 years.
And yes,you always get a Suite upgrade in top hotels.(unlike the Platinum,where it's subject to availability,meaning at the hotel's discretion)

 

I don't know, it seems more of a 'look at me thing'.
If it doesn't get me a free set of HRE's every month, I don't think it's worth it

 

Me and a friend were talking about printing up Black Card stickers and selling them on ebay. You could stick them on your normal card, it would have cut outs for the numbers and name.

I figured I could sell them to the same people buying all the fake LV and Gucci stuff on there.

 

That's funny, they let me put $5k down on a '02 G500 a couple of years ago. MB doesn't want to pay the cc charges.

 

There are some decent perks that come with the card. AE Centurion has deals with many hotels. At one time the Mandarin Hotel in S.F. was offering the standard upgrade, but also gave a discount of 50% on the room. You also get automatic late check out, 4:00 p.m. I believe, but you have to book the room through the AE travel concierge.

The card gives you free v.i.p. membership to many of the car company's such as Avis, Hertz, etc. They also give you free membership to many airline starting at gold or better level, even without having any miles. The card also gives you access to the airport lounges. Entry into these clubs is free for the card holder and $20 for each guest. Holding a first class ticket is of course free without any membership.

The card originally was available for $1,000 per year, but has now been increased to $2,500 per year. If you joined early it's still $1,000.

 

It's ALWAYS prudent to call AMX if you are (Lets say) going on a trip and you will spend 3-10X your average monthly spending. It saves charges from being held up at processing (Which will put you on a phone with an AMX rep).

 

Ive got one! I got it a few months ago with an invite by amex to sign up. It came in a wooden box with a cert. and all that BS. Ill see if i can get a pic when i get home.

But i "cheated". I do spend HUGE amounts on the card, but mostly all of them are business expenses. I even stated that when i bought the card, the most of the purchases are business related, they just didnt seem to care.

It aint that special. Having a Amex Black means you spend too much with your credit card. Besides, it just a piece of plastic....

 

Just to clarify things.

Amex do NOT deliver the card with a "Mini-Computer".....

Amex do NOT deliver the card with a Security guard.

They do call me on aniversaries, but last time for my wedding aniversary, the asked if i wanted to book a premium prefered restaurant (Amex getting a kickback??), so after that i said no more calls to me.

There is no limit to how much you spend. But when a big purchase is made, they always ring me up straight away. When i close a deal with the card, it gets annoying, they ring right in the middle of discussion.

Is it worth the 3k.year? No IMO

 

had one since '02. the concierge service is worthwhile. the travel perks are useful too. i did try to buy a 456 with it and the dealer said they would but that i would have to pay the fee, so i declined.
but now i find that i dont really spend enough to justify the fee so am thinking about going back to a green one just for the hell of it !

 

I had a feeling there was a special invite for Black Centurion.

LOL, that's how my credit status bumped up when I was working in the silicon valley industry. I was issued a Corporate AMEX with a catch... it had to be proccessed in my name and hopefuly, the company would reimburse on time. Thankfully they did! Two years of AMEX bills totaling several thousands of dollars in expenses looked pretty good on some computer file with a bunch of numbers associated to my name.

Digital computer information, though very powerful, is not always truth