Talk:Centurion Card
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Anyone else agree that both the article and the talk page need major clean-up? ANON 12/28/07 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.189.14.201 (talk) 05:40, 28 December 2007 (UTC)
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[edit] Card Fees
I've heard that the annual fee of the Centurion card by American Express is now $1,500.
Edit
I read $2500 as of April 2004. Its $2500 for 2006 I just got my card and that's the new annual fee.
< 10k on the planet is perhaps a bit iffy. I've spent extensive amounts of time in Apple Stores for reasons that shall remain unexplained, and I've seen easilly one Black Card a week, sometimes more. Either there are more than that mere 10k around or small Apple stores are a hit amongst the worlds rich.
I added a link to the Snopes entry about this card which does cite references. Perhaps we can move this out of the 'articles lacking sources' category?
<10k on the planet is very unlikely. Centurion magazine's publication in Hong Kong alone exceeds 10k. --theorb 15:20, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
When AMEX doubled the Centurion annual fees last year (Jan. 2006), I asked CS if it's still worth it to renew the card and how many cards are there in Hong Kong, and at the time I was told it was already in 5 digit numbers... I'd think it's more like maybe 250K users worldwide? It's not really as rare as people think...
[edit] Titanium card?
I find it very hard to credit that any credit card issued might be metallic (harder, and more expensive to manufacture, problems with airport metal detectors etc...) , so, is there any creditable sources to that? and, no, unless given good reason to believe so, I don't regard a geocities site to be creditable, espêcially as it does admit to not being official and takes full measures not to get sued on that account. --Svartalf 23:54, 18 July 2006 (UTC)
I put in a link to a relatively credible blog as a reference, but I since my parents have the card, I can affirm that it is now cut from titanium.
I have also added another link to a flyertalk thread discussing the titanium card. I can also confirm it exists as my parents have it as well. It is the same size as a regular credit card, just significantly heavier. makes a loud clanging noise when dropped on a counter or such. --Fmerchant 16:37, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
As a Centurion member since 2004, I can tell you that it is titanium metal.. It's as plastic as the regular green AMEX but just black in color, in fact, I just modified and deleted that line in the article. It's not as rare as people might think, I'm just an average person and I've been using it since it came out, so stop spreading myth, lies etc...
Say what ya will, I just held a japanese Amex Centurion in my hands, pulled it right out of the box it was delivered in, and it is mat black titanium. I'll try to get some photos (obfuscating the name and number of course). 203.178.130.168 08:43, 16 March 2007 (UTC)
- I think it's safe to say that much of the above counts as original research. The only credible source I can find is page 85 of the May 2007 issue of Esquire magazine, in which Halle Berry tries to pay for dinner with a titanium Amex card. Orthografer 04:41, 25 April 2007 (UTC)
YES, it actually is titanium metal! My husband got his in January of 2007. It's totally different from a regular plastic credit card. It actually feels different & it weighs way more than a plastic card. It doesn't bend at all. I believe they have just started replacing existing customer's plastic cards with the new titanium. It's funny...when we go to restaurants & retail stores staffers always check it out & ask questions. --
YES and NO ;) (July 30th, 2007) The Centurion card is not titanium in all countries. It was first launched in black plastic. Titanium cards were then tested by a few hundred holders (in Germany for example) before they were launched for all others. I have an Amex Centurion (international dollar card, issued and managed by Amex UK) for many years, and my card is still black platic. I assume it will be issued in titanium some day also.
Finally in Hong Kong (Nov 2, 2007) I just got confirmation from AMEX HK that titanium replacement cards will start to be mailing out to Centurion holders by mid Nov here in HK, joy :D —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.198.216.22 (talk) 08:17, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] American Express Red
Is there a resource about it ? Maybe we could start an article ?Hektor 17:12, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
I assure you all that the black card is now made of metal, titanium. Its thin like a normal credit card, but definitely metal. I have the card.
US cardholders are indeed getting the titanium version of the card, I received my replacement (unprompted) and it is indeed a metal of some sort. I don't care for it - it has gotten stuck in a few automated machines and draws more attention to it from retail staff.
Hello I just got "Black Card", the thing i like about it is u get gold or silver status on frequest flyer programe of most of the airline i fly. and get excess to most of the airport lounge.
The Black Card is definitly titanium, therefore thicker and heavier than a normal card. You have not seen the official "Black Card" if you don't notice the difference. I am a server at an exclusive resturant and my regular pays everytime with that same card.
[edit] Availability and Costs
The annual spending requirement to get an invitation for Centurion card is not as substantial as the amounts stated in the article. Please cite reference. --theorb 02:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
The annual requirements are correct for USA. There are several references on the referenced sites in the article. Ron Schnell 08:52, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
I am sure that the spending requirements to get an invitation is much less in other countries at least. The other issue is that the site's that are referenced are not American Express endorsed, which means that the validity of the information may be disputed. --theorb 03:45, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
Poster "theorb" is very uninformed regarding this card. Each satement that has been disputed by this poster is actually correct. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.86.212.99 (talk) 01:46, February 8, 2007
I am sure the annual spending requirements for a Centurion card inviation in Hong Kong is not as substantial as the amounts stated in the article because I got an invitation for Centurion card without spending as much as the amounts stated in the article. The invitation kit that I posted is one that I received myself. Not sure how much more informed can I be. --theorb 02:34, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Nothing in the Wikipedia article states whether it matters (to qualify) if you charge $250K on a business card v. $250K on a personal card. Does anyone have experience acquiring the card by accumulating charges to your business credit card?
I received the card bsaed on spending with my business card. The rules are 2 years with the business card (or personal). No missed payments, and at least $250,000 spending in one period of 12 months (does not need to be in a single year). The latest card is made of titanium, and is incredibly annoying when you travel - it goes off in airport metal detectors. It also draws too much attention as it often is difficult to pull through a credit card swipe - it always illicits questions. JPShepherd 21:46, 24 June 2007 (UTC)
Does the $250K need to be spent on a single card, by a single card holder or by a single account? What if you have $250K in spending across 4 AMEX accounts for which you are the primary card holder (e.g. 3 business accounts + 1 personal account) with multiple secondary card holders on one of the business accounts? (Anon) 21 July 2007.
Answer: The $250k can be spent across multiple personal cards or a single business card. You cannot combine the two, but as long as you are the primary cardholder on multiple personal cards it's okay.
In Hong Kong, the annual spending on a personal card to receive a Centurion invitation is more like US$50k to US$60k. Not that hard to get an invitation actually. theorb 17:41, 15 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Vandalism
Removed Vandalism in Cultural References section
--Daishi808 18:59, 1 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Are those really imitators
The Morgan Stanley i24 card, in particular, seems to me to be intended as a competitor to the Amex Platinum rather than the Centurion. The i24 annual fee is similar to that of the Amex Platinum and, like the Amex Platinum it is widely marketed and anybody with a good credit history and a typical professional/management level salary can apply without previously being a customer. In fact i24's website seems to go out of its way to present the card as a practical choice and good value for money, rather than presenting it as an 'exclusive' card like Centurion. On a superficial level, i24 is also a light coloured card, not a black card.
So in short, I don't really think i24 belongs on a list of Centurion imitators. I'm not sure about the other cards listed there. Eggybacon 18:18, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Popular Culture Section
Can we remove the warning on the main page about popular culture sections being discouraged? This is a special case: originally, the card's existence was a "secret," and popular culture played a key role in telling the world that the card existed. The amount of popular culture references also helps us to estimate how many of the cards exist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.189.14.201 (talk) 08:32, 7 December 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Link to flyertalk
The flyertalk forum is indeed a forum, and in general forums should not be in wikipedia articles. However, it does contain definitive information, and it well moderated, and any misinformation is quickly corrected. The problem is that it is the only place with such a large amount of info on the card described by this article. The guidance for links does not say that forums *must not* be linked, and if there was to be an exception, to me this is an appropriate one.
Please discuss here instead of just removing. I would like to discuss further. Ron Schnell 04:45, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
At first I thought the links to FlyerTalk were mere spam. However, after further exploration, I recently joined FT, and it is a great resource for learning about the Centurion card and related matters. For example, on FlyerTalk, I learned that some people have received the Centurion card by request -- i.e., they were not invited, but asked for cards and got them. Also, if you get to know the culture of FT, you would probably realize that its owners would not spam Wikipedia. While I wouldn't go out of my way to post a FT link here, I believe that those who do, do so in good faith. ANON 30 November 2007 (Peace)
I think the links and references section need a complete overhaul. They list sites such as amex-black who it seems gets a lot of their information from flyertalk, and by wikipedia standards would not be a verifiable source, however sites such as M-SITE, one of the first centurion sites around which is run by a centurion card member and filled with tons of information, and also my site featuring the only full detailed comparison for the centurion card around, are shot down. http://www.jblackbelt.com has 3 complete compairsons as well as a complete list of the centurion benefits with information that comes from the AMEX platinum and centurion websites, and the platinum side can easily be verified. I think there is something wrong here, and that some sites are getting special treatment, and its something that is not fair. When I brought it up with a wikipedia moderator I was told to discuss it here. I am wondering if any others feel the same way?
Jblackbelt (talk) 02:31, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Invitations no longer sent?
The American Express Web Site has the following to say about the Centurion Card: "Available by invitation only, The Centurion Card is the world’s rarest American Express Card and confers a level of service that can be extended only to selected individuals worldwide." This seems to flatly contradict the statement in the opening paragraph of the article, which claims that invitations are no longer sent. If no citation is provided, I'll probably fix this soon. -AdamRoach (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 21:26, 29 February 2008 (UTC)
>> The number of invitations sent depends on each market where the card is offered. This information may not be accurate for all countries, and should be amended. Invitations for the International Currency Centurion cards are still sent. Ahrz (talk) 01:06, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
