Spotlight On A Reader - Neil Patel
Sorry for the delay in posting a reader spotlight, I kind of slacked off. This reader profile is on Neil Patel, a well known internet marketer and owner of Crazy Egg, a heatmap visualizer for websites. Neil is a very humble guy as you can tell from his answers below, and if you ever want to enlist his consulting services you can find him at ACS.
What is your name: Neil Patel
How old are you: 23
Where are you from: London, England
Where do you live now: La Palma, CA
Describe what you do for a living and how long you’ve done it: I am an Internet marketer. I help companies place better on search engines and have been doing this for 5 plus years.
How long have you been a Centurion card member: I have been a Centurion member since 2007.
Are you happy with the card, if so what are your favorite aspects: The credit card isn’t bad, but the perks could be better. I have tried to get room upgrades at the Westin or W and when they have suites available Amex wasn’t able to get me a free upgrade when they should have. Or if you use the concierge service they are usually slow and they aren’t too great at keeping you happy. They aren’t good at doing things like getting a dinner reservation at a booked restaurant, but they are good at getting reservations at an empty restaurant.
Roughly, how much do you spend per month/year: To be honest, I have no clue on the spending amount because I don’t pay the bill. 
Have you ever been treated differently because you have it: At fancy clothing stores I have been treated nicer. But as a dotcom guy I usually don’t wear fancy clothes so it doesn’t really help.
Do you ever use it to buy small stuff just to show it off, be honest: Not really. I am naturally cheap, so I try not to spend money on things I don’t need. On the other hand I am great at using it at places like Ralphs so my parents don’t have to pay for groceries with their own money.
Do your friends ever force you to use it when you go out: My friends are very humble and never force me to pay for anything. In fact people like Brian and Greg from Best of the Web or Chirs Winfield always try and pay for things and never let me pay.
What is the largest ticket item you have purchased with it: I am not a big spender, so I would have to say all my expenditures are less than $1000.
What is your most expensive month if you remember: I believe Affiliate Programs spent 200k plus in a month.
Have you used the concierge service, if so what for, and have you used it for anything ridiculous: I try not to use it because it sucks. I have used it for hotel upgrades, restaurant bookings, and suit shopping. They did a good job with the suit shopping, but all my other experiences were not too great.
Do you have any funny or interesting stories that involve your black card: I don’t have any funny stories… the only interesting ones are when cashiers try and swipe the card through their machine when it won’t fit. And if it doesn’t fit, I tell them “it won’t fit”, but they keep on trying.
You Recently blogged about your black card, has the publicity helped or hurt you in any way: It actually has helped me a lot. I got tons of PR from it.
Because of your age, do you ever feel like your black card helps your credibility: It helps a lot. Some people take me more seriously or look up to me because I have one.
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This card is going the way of First Class travel. First it’s only for the rich.. Pretty soon everyone is using their frquent flier points to sit in front, and then the alure is gone. I think AMEX should raise the limit to 10mm in unlevereged cash net worth outside of principal residence.