Comments on: Reader mail: How can I upgrade flights using American Express?

By: james

james — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:55:45 +0000

rofl @ ife

By: ife

ife — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:54:27 +0000

i own a black card and i love it, wen i m buying my car, i dont have to worry about carrying cash wit me, it so easy to pay, i can buy a car of 1mill if i want it i dont have to think about the money is jst der to use .RK1

By: rachel

rachel — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:25:29 +0000

I have a black card and honestly love it. There is nothing like the sound “ting” on a counter when it is time to pay and a cashier, waitress etc has not provided great service.

re: travel privileges, you are gold with delta… which is great if you dont’ mind going through atlanta. Platinum with us air and gold with continental. If traveling alone on a high fare your chance of getting upgraded improves dramatically. I travel with my family so we have to book our seats in the first cabin if that is what we want. This usually comes with access to the lounges so the lounge access doesn’t really matter.Beyond that, my kids want to eat at the food court in the airport anyway. Companion fares are really a joke. Everytime I check, it is much less expensive to just book a low fare online.

Privileges at the fine resorts include 3rd night free occassionally and room upgrades with access to concierge level…. not big drinkers so we really again don’t gain much from this. Keep in mind, these tend to be expensive hotels so the 3rd night free is only a benefit if you were going to spend a lot on your room anyway.

We occasionally recieve $500 gift cards but they are always for stores in NY, CHI, SFO etc. that require in store purchases by the card holder. (no sending a friend or online purchases).

Other uses for the card… auto, my car wouldn’t start and they sent somebody to start it. Great for dining reservations, awesome gum scraper (if you have a gum chewer in your home you know what I mean).

My advice, get the card if you have the money and would get a thrill from the clank factor but remember that when people see it, they expect you to be eager to spend !

By: john

john — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:44:11 +0000

I have one and honestly I pay the $2500 because of the 3 day upgrade with Continental as I fly out of Newark NJ. I spend roughly $300,000 per month on business needs and the problem with other banks is that no one can give me that kind of limit without hounding me. I have been a member since 1997 when it was $1000 per year but out of 10 flights on Continental, I got upgraded 75% of the time so I really cannot complain. I do agree that if you do not travel often or need the credit line, $2500 is steep. I like the 30 days because I am double dipping. If I pay my vendors within 30 days, I usually get a 2-5% discount from them and also get 1 point for every dollar with Amex. If you play this game right, it can really work for you. I actually found the plum a better card because i get 2% back if I pay withing the 1st 10 days of the billing cycle. I will still give Amex Centurion $250k a year minimum so that i can get the upgrades and Hertz but I do agree that most people stereo type about this card as I once haggled about why a bag cost $100 and the looked at me and said (You have the back card and you are worried about $100). Just because I have the money does not mean I am going to throw it out easily. Just my 2cents

By: Airport photo: No Amex Black Cards accepted | Upgrade: Travel Better

Airport photo: No Amex Black Cards accepted | Upgrade: Travel Better — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:16:40 +0000

[...] – Is Visa’s new Black Card worthy of the hype? – How can I upgrade flights using American Express? – In defense of reward-earning credit cards Categorized in: airport parking, credit cards 4 [...]

By: chris

chris — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:44:18 +0000

I call BS on Daniel. How much does one get paid per defensive comment anyway? Are you a straight out sub-contracted employee or a free-lancer?

Looking at his comment they read like advertising copy, eg- “with the card”. Failing to use proper punctuation, such as failing to capitalize the first letter of the first word of each sentence is not heartfelt, its bot behavior, and I don’t mean the fly.

I was going to upgrade to platinum and then I just found out there are no upgrade perks with AmEx. The reason I switched from Visa/MC is bc I found their new FF policies beyond ludicrous! So the exchange is forgoing upgrades. The only way around it? Try to fly Virgin as much as possible. Don’t work for them, wish I did.

By: daniel

daniel — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:43:33 +0000

mark, above, who claims to have had a centurion card and never got upgrades is so wrong. with the card one becomes a gold on delta and a platinum on us air good for automatic upgrades flying on any ticket 72 hrs and 96 hours agead of the flight respectively – i use it and get upgraded literally 8 times a month. then you become a member of 4 airlines vip lounges for free – more than justifying the fee if you travel any. additionally one becomes a gold starwood member great for upgrades on rooms which i get all the time.

By: V.B.

V.B. — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:54:30 +0000

The Black Visa is not a Centurion. But it is special. Most people can’t have one. The conceige got us into a fully book resturant on a Saturday night with 1 hour notice. I feel like they earned their 495 fee right there. This was a business dinner and without getting in this place I would have been stressed out. The 1% back makes sure the card will pay for itself. In addiiton they extent generous credit and the card is some ways is better than the Centurion as everyone takes it.

By: Is Visa’s new Black Card worthy of the hype? | Upgrade: Travel Better

Is Visa’s new Black Card worthy of the hype? | Upgrade: Travel Better — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 11:15:26 +0000

[...] new Visa Black Card, which obviously hopes to emulate the aura of exclusivity and status that the black Amex Centurion Card has evoked for [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 04:10:15 +0000

I agree with Mark. I still have one of these cards and it is more of a conversation piece when you are out on the town. Dont get me wrong it worked great for bartenders and waitresses remembering you when you are out on the town. But now that i am no longer single it has just been a waste of money. Mark is also right about the upgrades and special treatment. It seemed like people were almost bitter that you had one so they were not eager to hand out free upgrades, etc. I have heard more than one person mumble about “why i am even asking for free s–t if I am rich enough to have a black card”. I am still on the fence if i will renew my card this year. Now that i am getting a little older i am realizing how stupid i must be to keep paying these fees. They really dont do much more for you then the platinum. There is a special phone number but you still have to sit on hold. They just remind you of how important you are while you are waiting by playing “rich people hold music” instead of the solicitation recordings that are on the normal recordings. I am realizing how much of an idiot i am for even having this card still as i write this post. Id save the money if anyone is thinking about getting one.