Spotlight On A Reader - Richard M
This installment of spotlight on a reader is slightly different, as it spotlights one our British readers. Richard was gracious enough to take pictures of all his original UK Centurion materials which I will be posting in the coming days.
What is your name: Richard T. Mannion
How old are you: 27
Where are you from: England
Where do you live now: England
Describe what you do for a living and how long you’ve done it: I work for a large software company as a Technical Specialist
How long have you been a Centurion card member: 7 years
Are you happy with the card, if so what are your favorite aspects: Tough question - overall it’s not as good as it used to be. The service and benefits have definitely fallen by the wayside over the last few years. I stay as a member as the benefits I do get the use of (or cover of - Insurance) are worth the £650 annual fee. The Mandarin Oriental benefit alone has made the fee worthwhile in the last 3 years.
Roughly, how much do you spend per month/year: Varies each month, could be as little as £1000, could be £10k
Have you ever been treated differently because you have it: In all honesty, not really. In 7 years, I can count on 2 hands the number of times people have made reference to it, and the vast majority of those incidents have happened in the US. Most people really don’t care, or don’t actually know what it is. It does make me laugh all the hype and myth that surrounds the card - it’s not there to make miracles happen. I think I’ve had more upgrades due to loyalty status than due to the card.
Do you ever use it to buy small stuff just to show it off, be honest: Being honest, when I first got the card yes. But then the novelty wears off quickly, like I said most people don’t really care. A number of my friends have UK Centurion cards (a couple of them are Charter Members from the March 1999 launch) so it’s a little funny if we are out for dinner, and 5+ cards get handed on to the bill at the end of the evening. When the card was first launched in March 99, I was working at Selfridges on their Y2K project and we were talking about the payment system we were upgrading, and Platinum AmEx came up in conversation. One of the tenured chaps mentioned that they had heard of a black AmEx being used by the Duke of Westminster and Prince Charles in the store. A week later, one of the team walked into the office with a Charter Member UK Centurion Card. The packaging it was shipped out in had reference to a quote from a UK newspaper about the long standing rumor of a Black card.
What is the largest ticket item you have purchased with it: Diamond engagement ring for my fiancee in Tiffany & Co. There was a melted lump of black plastic in my wallet afterwards, but the smile on my partners face is not one I’ll be forgetting this lifetime. Fortunately I have my AC card left as I’ve got my share of the wedding to pay for soon which will then be the largest charge.
What is your most expensive month if you remember: About £15k
Have you used the concierge service, if so what for, and have you used it for anything ridiculous: Not as much as I used to - used to use it a lot for event tickets. Nowadays it’s more restaurant bookings - they have been a good help here by getting tables at some places that you normally have to wait ages for. Ridiculous? They did help me track down the company that made the “flying” brooms for the Harry Potter films, so that I could buy one for my house. Another time, I was going to a launch event in London, and I’d left the directions on my work printer - one of the Concierge team actually spent 45 minutes on the phone directing me via a map on her screen.
As a UK cardmember, what are your thoughts about a benefits refresh for the card? What would you like to see included?
Mmm, the “refresh” has been in the works for years (and that is no exaggeration). I’m sure the price is likely to double at least to sync up with the other markets. As to benefits, SPG Platinum again would be nice, so too would some airline status like the US card has. Overall though, the best benefit would be stellar service. It used to be there in the early years, but I feel the quality has dropped off.
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Comments
One of the main reasons why I am trying to post information recently about cards outside the US, is to show the differences. Because you are right Ethan, they are not all the same, nor do they have the same requirements and benefits.
Hi Ethan,
You’re right, the card is very different in each of the markets it is available in. The US has set published criteria for getting a card - meet them and they will take you as a member. The UK criteria have never been published and it’s not open call - they were doing the new member acquisitions in waves. The size of the waves could be as little as 150. So even if you had met the criteria, you could still be waiting a while for an invite. Around the time I got my card, the common understanding was that you needed:
- Preferablly 2 years history (and at least 1 year) with AmEx on another charge card based product
- Clean payment history - no late/missed payments
- healthy monthly spend of at least £5k, the more the better (which would tie into the old US level spend req of $150k)
I had a UK Gold charge card for a month, was then invited for Platinum (it was still invite only then), and then about 18 months later with an average of about £7.5k/month I received an invitation. In recent years, I know of people that have got in with a lower level of spend but they were still insistent on the other 2 requirements.
As it stands right now, it’s easier to get a US Centurion Card as they aren’t taking new members :o)
Thanks,
Richard
Richard M is most likely a good guy, and nothing against him or the UK, but it’s important to remember that the US card is incredibly harder to get than the UK card, and the benefits are vastly different as well. I hate to sound like an asshole, cause I’m not trying to, but the US cards are just totally different cards than in other countries. They may both be black, but that is where most similarities end.