16 With A Black Card, Harrison Gevirtz
Move over Bow Wow, meet Harrison Gevirtz. Harrison is a young entrepreneur/internet marketer that has done quite well for himself at such a young age. I can only imagine what the local high school kids think. He can’t go to the bars quite yet, but he could sure throw down on some candy! Without further ado, this installment of reader spotlight is on Harrison Gevirtz.
What is your name? Harrison Gevirtz
Where are you from? Santa Barbara, CA
How old are you? 16
What do you do for a living and do you also go to school full time? I used to be a big search engine marketing affiliate but now I focus on Small Business Search Engine Marketing ( www.blitzlocal.com ) and Social Network Application Monetization ( www.leaderclicks.com ). I do not go to a regular day school, I go to an independent studies program where I go every Tuesday for about 45 minutes.
Do you plan on going to college? If so, what for? I really have no plans as of now to attend college. But this can always change
How long have you been a Centurion member and do you have a personal or business centurion card? I have been a centurion card member since June and currently hold a personal centurion card.
What made you want to get the Centurion card? I travel quite a bit (I’m out of town as I write this to you) and have heard great things of the benefits with the centurion card if you travel a lot.
Did you have to call and ask to apply for the card or did they invite you? I had called before I had spent the 250k and they told me that they would call me back when qualified enough for the centurion card.
What is your favorite aspect about the card? Free nights at the mandarin oriental, and the fact that it’s metal - I always joke that if I sharpened the edges it could hurt someone.
Being so young, your friends must be in awe of the card. What have their reactions been like? “Oh S*#t” etc. Some of my friends didn’t even know what the centurion card was!
Have you bought anything extravagant on the card yet? Of course: Bought A Watch & A lot of clothes in the bahamas, Bought 200 itunes gift cards last week, Bought caviar dinner’s (RIDICULOUS), and of course Booked some hotel suites.
What has been your largest month to date in terms of spend? About $180k
When you weren’t using the Black card, which Amex card where you using? Platinum Card, & the Delta Reserve Card
Any advice for other kids your age on how they can become successful? Depends on what they are doing but I always tell my friends to never let people treat you poorly based on your age. Demand respect & don’t let people judge success by age.
If you want some more information on Harrison you can go to his site above, or check out this recent interview by Jeremy Schoemaker.
Amex Concierge Made Vegas Trip Awesome
I just got back tonight from my first trip to Las Vegas, I really can’t believe I have never been before. As a disclaimer to this post, I am personal platinum card member and used my platinum concierge, I am assuming the Centurion concierge is equal to or better than the platinum concierge.
Since I had never been before, the first thing I did was call my concierge and ask for a little help with the planning since that’s what they’re there for. My concierge put together an overview of the city, its highlights, history, landmarks, must see’s, etc and emailed it to me. It really was an awesome guide to the city. She also sent me a list of popular restaurants and clubs, asked that I tell her which I wanted to go to and she would take care of the rest.
After going through the list I decided I wanted to try Wolfgang Puck’s Postrio in The Venetian. I called my concierge back, told her the day and time, and she took care of the reservations. She also asked if I would like to have a bottle of wine waiting for me when I got there, so I said sure, told her I liked Pinot Noir, and it was done. I showed up to the restaurant, no wait, they took my girlfriend and me right to the table, and had a bottle of Pinot Noir waiting. I couldn’t have asked for better service.
In addition to restaurant reservations, I asked her to put me on the list for Ghost Bar at The Palms for Friday night. She emailed me, confirmed I was on the list ,and gave me the cell number of the VIP host. I showed up at 11PM, walked straight to the front, asked for the host and said my Amex concierge had called ahead for me, and they let us right in. No cover, no wait, it worked out perfectly.
This was my first time using the concierge and I was really impressed at the level of service and offerings they had. My expectations might be lower than some, but I was definitely glad I used them and will continue to use them in the future. I highly recommend getting the Platinum card (if you can’t get the black) to have access to the concierge service. Totally worth it. You can apply for a Platinum card here and get 25k bonus points.
What have your experiences with the concierge service been like?
Guy Prank Calls Centurion Service
I will say up front that I found this article on a forum and can’t verify if it is real, but it seems to be real. Apparently, this guy prank called the Centurion service number and pretended to be a rep for Barack Obama and said Obama wanted a black card. To make a long story short, he got them to waive the 250k spend requirement to get Barack a black card, didn’t actually get a black card, and wound up getting a supplemental Gold card with Barack’s name on it. Pretty funny read/audio clip.
New Gift For Centurion Members
It was reported by a member on Flyertalk that Amex recently sent out gifts to certain black card members. A $1,000 Mikimoto gift card, supposedly with no minimum purchase, was sent out to selected Centurion members. As usual, this is for personal cardholders, and you have to be opted into marketing promotions (some previous gifts can be found here). If you aren’t sure, or aren’t opted into it, call your concierge and ask to be opted in. Has anyone received one yet?
Buying a Car with a Black Card
If you’re a black cardholder, the sky is supposed to be the limit on what you can purchase, within your means of course. Have you tried buying a car with it? Good luck. Many car dealers restrict the amount you can charge to a card, saving on the merchant fees they have to pay (2.1% & higher). Some people would like to purchase a car on their charge/credit card to get the points, the points could potentially pay for a vacation or a honeymoon. While dealers will almost always balk at letting you do this, there are some ways around it, but often times you will end up not being able to charge the car to your amex. In fact, you will probably have an easier time charging it to a Visa or Mastercard.
Tips on negotiating with the dealer:
- Negotiate a slightly higher price for the car if you really want to pay for it with a card. This will cover their merchant fees.
- If you’re trying to pay for the car using a Visa or Mastercard, show the dealer the terms of service that state they can’t impose a maximum charge amount. This will probably piss the dealer off, but when threatened, most will buckle. American Express however, is ok with a dealership setting a maximum they will charge to a card.
- If you’re trading a car in, a deal can be worked on the trade in value to allow them to accept a card.
The bottom line usually is that if you want the best deal possible, paying with a card is not going to allow it. If you do end up purchasing the card on your Amex, or even the majority of it, it is best to call Amex and notify them of a large incoming purchases, as they have been tightening the leash on spending abilities. There are some dealers though that will let you charge the whole car to a card, it isn’t unheard of, but odds are most dealers will limit you to <$10,000. Here is a video of a guy buying a new Rolls Royce and not being able to charge the whole thing to his black card.
Has anyone had success paying for the total amount on charge card?
By Invitation Only Events
Both the Black card and the Platinum card have access to Invitation Only events from American Express. Some of the current Invitation only events for Centurion and Platinum members are:
The 2008 Ryder Cup
- September 19-21, 2008
- $3,750 per person with two nights’ hotel accommodations or 468,750 Membership Rewards points
- $2,750 per person without hotel or 343,750 Membership Rewards points
- Max: 4 packages per Card member; 60 packages available
2008 San Diego Film Festival
- September 25 - 28, 2008
- $1,600 per person or 200,000 Membership Rewards points
- Max: 6 packages per Card member; 40 packages available
2008 Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival
- October 10 - 12, 2008$
- 1,650 per Card member or 206,250 Membership Reward points
- Max: 6 Packages per Card member
2008 US Open Tennis Championships
- August 25-September 7, 2008
- Max: 4 per member (limit of 1 for Finals Weekend)
- 14 packages available per session, 2 people per package
| Pre-Finals | Session | Seat/Stool | Price |
| August 25-August 27 | Day | Seat | $1,315 |
| August 25-August 27 | Day | Stool | $1,100 |
| August 25-August 27 | Night | Seat | $1,160 |
| August 25-August 27 | Night | Stool | $950 |
| August 28-September 1 | Day | Seat | $1,960 |
| August 28-September 1 | Day | Stool | $1,550 |
| August 28-September 1 | Night | Seat | $1,810 |
| August 28-September 1 | Night | Stool | $1,320 |
| September 2- September 4 | Day | Seat | $2,420 |
| September 2- September 4 | Day | Stool | $1,650 |
| September 2- September 4 | Night | Seat | $2,270 |
| September 2- September 4 | Night | Stool | $1,550 |
| Semi-Finals and Finals | |||
| September 5- September 7 | Day / Night | Seat | $5,050 |
| September 5- September 7 | Day / Night | Stool | $4,860 |
New Kids on the Block VIP Package
- New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; East Rutherford, NJ; Chicago, IL
- September 23, 2008; October 4, 2008; October 8, 2008; October 27, 2008
- $1,000 per person or 125,000 Membership Rewards points
- Max: 4 reservations per Card member; 20 reservations available in NJ, 30 in all other markets
Experience the wildly popular musical sensations at their finest with an exclusive VIP package featuring private dinner and prime concert tickets. New Kids on the Block will join guests at a private pre-show reception, where you’ll be able to have your photo taken with the group. Afterward, enjoy prime seating as the New Kids on the Block dazzle you with new and classic hits. Each guest will also receive signed merchandise to commemorate this superb experience. Please note that if you have already purchased tickets to this performance, exchanges will be honored.
Napa Valley Harvest Weekend
- September 25-27, 2008
- $2,600 per person or 325,000 Membership Rewards points
- 50 packages available
- Max: 6 packages per Card member
I personally have not done any of these events, but I was very tempted to get one of the packages for the upcoming US Open. Has anyone done of the invitation only events? What was your experience like?
Oh The Irony
I have Google alerts setup to notify me when people blog about “black amex”, “amex black”, “american express black”, etc. (I’m cool, I know). I got an alert today about a blog post, that normally I wouldn’t link out to, but the level of hilarity in this blog is ridiculous. Basically, someone created a blog to call out people who think “they’re someone” but in actuality they are not. This person apparently decided to call the blog “Yournobody.com” and proceed to trash people. Is he talking about my nobody? Or does he mean you’re a nobody. Regardless, he trashes on these two women holding a black card. I had post this because of the ridiculous nature of the site name, content, and post.
But it does beg the question, who at Google has a black card (as if there aren’t enough millionaires at the company), and why are they letting these girls run around with it?
Amex Earnings Drop, Defaults Rise
American Express announces its earnings earlier this week, posting a 38% drop in 2nd quarter earnings. An interesting quote from American Express CEO, Kenneth Chenault, shows the credit crunch/defaults are being seen across all types of customer bases. Chenault said:
Over the past month or so we have seen clear signs that the U.S. economy is weakening. Unemployment rates, as we know, took the largest jump in over 20 years. Home prices declined at the fastest rate in decades and consumer confidence is at one of the all time low points… This fallout was evident across all of our consumer segments, even our longer-term super prime card members… In other words, more and more consumers who are falling behind in their payments are remaining delinquent.
Does this mean it is hitting Black card members too? I don’t know for a fact, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some were included. As reported earlier, Amex has really been paying close attention to customer charging habits, not allowing some purchases in an effort to limit exposure to consumer risk. It will be interesting to see if they tighten the reigns on the ability to get a black card in the US. I have heard many voice an opinion that it has become increasingly too easy to receive a Centurion card in the US. Membership is current hovering somewhere around 20,000. What do you all think, will they tighten the reigns on Centurion memberships?
On a side not, Jeremy Enke made a list of the 10 things he can’t buy with his black card.
Titanium Money Clip Giveaway
That’s right, I am having a drawing for 3 lucky people to receive a free titanium money clip, the perfect accessory for any fat wad of cash or a black card. Our friends over at Superiortitanium.com, the internet’s top retailer for titanium money clips, were kind enough to sponsor this giveway with 2 natural finish titanium money clips and 1 black diamond titanium money clip (which should match a black card exactly).
What do you have to do to win you say? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, using your email address, and I will enter you into the drawing. I will notify the 3 winners by email, so please use one you will check. The drawing will be at 7PM EST next Wednesday, 7/23.
Good luck to everyone and thanks again to Superiortitanium.com for sponsoring the contest. Be sure to check them out, their money clips make great gifts for birthdays, weddings parties, and father’s day.
Q&A Answers
Here are the answers to the questions received.
I hear that if you go about 6 months averaging 20k per month; on pace to get to the 250k…you are eligible for the black card. Is this true?
No this is not true for the US. They are very particular about meeting the spend and 1year holding a charge card requirement. I have heard of people being turned down just weeks or even a couple grand away from meeting the requirements.
I just received a Centurion Lifestyle Benefits booklet. I currently have a platinum card for 8 months. I’ve spent around 150k so far. Does this mean anything about me qualifying for a Centurion?
I’d be curious to see which booklet they sent you exactly. I wouldn’t think this necessarily means you qualify. However, you can qualify across multiple cards. Has your combined spend across other Amex cards equaled 250k in the last 12 months?
SOY TITULAR PLATINUM, Y NO SE QUE REQUISITOS TENGO PARA PODER OPTAR A UNA CENTURION EN ESPAÑA
GRACIAS
Yo llamaria al numero al reverso de su tarjeta de platino y le preguntaria al conserje. Los requisitos Centurion varian de pais a pais.
If anyone else has any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section on this post.
