Premier/Black Credit Cards

I've been trying to compile a list of all the Premier/Black level credit cards available in the UK, with the aim to see which offers the best set of perks.

Obviously, so far Amex Centurion is pretty much unequaled at the top.

Here are the three that I know of:

Amex Centurion:
http://home3.americanexpress.com/uk/Personal/Cards/benefits/PC_Ben_AmCenturionInfo.asp

Lloyds TSB Premier:
http://www.premiercreditcard.co.uk/

Natwest Black:
http://www.natwestblack.com

I think Barclays do a Black card, but I'm not sure of the website for that one.

Any ideas? Anyone had experience with any of these cards? (I know there'll be a lot of Centurion members out there! )

Hey TJ

Here's one you should add to your list:

http://www.quintessentially.com/home.ph ... =35&id=912

The literature, I've received as a member, defines it as 'Beyond Black'!

Cheers

Buffers

[RichardMannion]

Pix knows a thing or two about Centurion.....

What would you like to know - I could spend hours on this....


I heard that Barclaycard had a Black offering too, but absolutely no interest. The day I have a BarclayCard in my house, is the day I fly EasyJet.....

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks Buffers, the Quintessentially site is quite interesting.

Richard, I agree, I wouldn't touch Barclaycard with a barge-pole, but I'd be curious to see what they're offering in comparison to the other cards.

I also think that Morgan Stanley offer a Black card, but can only find information on their Gold and Plat cards on their website...

[8D]

I've just been looking at the Lloyds TSB Premier card site in more detail and it turns out that all the 'perks' it apparently offers are actually only available for additional fees, charged per service!!..... Though I suppose that's fair as the basic card can be set-up to have no annual fee. I suppose it gives you more flexibility [8D]

I did some more research on the Quintessentially card, and apparently I qualify autmomatically as a member. I'll let you know what the perks are once it comes through, but suspect it may be the usual membership benefits plus a credit card.

Cheers

[Decker]

quote:Originally posted by Buffers
I did some more research on the Quintessentially card, and apparently I qualify autmomatically as a member. I'll let you know what the perks are once it comes through, but suspect it may be the usual membership benefits plus a credit card.

Cheers

Looks fascinating. I could only find reference to the fee in the T&C which is also strange. Looking forward to hearing more!

quote: also think that Morgan Stanley offer a Black card, but can only find information on their Gold and Plat cards on their website...

The Morgan Stanley black card(looks good) is just a bog standard credit card. I have just destroyed my late Father's and he definatley did not pay to have this plastic as he applied for it as a replacement for a natwest charge card(fee payable).I remember The first month he used it he maxed out the credit limit in about 2 days without knowing and then had a fit at safeways when they wouldnt take it.

I still haven't managed to track the black Barclaycard down on the Net. Perhaps they decided not to launch one in the end... [?]

HSBC has a 'Premier' level card, but I wouldn't say it was in quite the same league as some other offerings:

http://www.hbeu1.hsbc.com/ukpersonal/premier/credit.htm

Just to be a pedant, Centurion is a charge card not a credit card.

I do know a little bit about Quintessentially and I personally would steer clear. An opinion only, of course, but a PM will elicit further details. Suffice to say that in my view their concierge service is far more about snobbery than real service.

BC

Thanks BC.

Perhaps I should have named the thread 'Premier/Black Credit/Charge Cards'

You know what they say, BC, a little information is a dangerous thing...

I've been a Q member for a couple of years and can categorically say the service is far superior to anything I experienced on Amex Plat. In fact the reason I joined in the first place was out of total frustration with Amex. I looked for an alternative and found two: Virgin Mastercard (double miles!) and Quintessentially for £650.

To be frank, the key selling point for me with Q was access to private members clubs in all of the cities I visit for work. Something I don't recall as a perk from Amex, but I stand to be corrected...

I'd be happy to share more Q info with anyone if they want to PM me.

Cheers

Buffers

PS -- Yes, I am a snob. Oh, and I love sitting in the pointy bit!

Me and my friends were discussing this whole issue at the weekend and one of my friends took his mother's Centurion card for a bit of a spending spree a few months back.

(His mother has the same first initial as him and the card didn't have a 'Mrs' prefix on it)

Apperently he got into several very exclusive clubs in London just by showing the card, so perhaps Amex do have agrements with some members-only clubs?

Though perhaps it's only with Centurion and not Plat

Buffers, I'm not sure that I'd compare Q to Amex Plat. I think the comparison between Q and Centurion is probably more fitting and appropriate

Fair comment, TJ.

Remind me, what's the annual fee for Amex Centurion?

[Decker]

Think the fee is £650... and they do have "deals" with various private member clubs to allow access - concierge service has details - along with other occasional fun offerings, including recently half price Champneys access which seemed popular.

So we can actually draw an almost direct comparison between Centurion and Q, as they both cost around the same as well as being at a comparable level of 'status'.

Despite Q having entry requirements etc, you can still apply for membership, whilst Centurion is by invitation only. I think that gives Centurion the air of a much higher level of exclusivity (in my opinion, at least).

I know which one I'd prefer. The Centurion card is so damn cool! [8D]

[Decker]

I think there's a branding issue at stake here. Even if you don't know what a Centurion is you can guess from the logo. The Q card does seem to have more clubs than Centurion but with a list that for Centurion includes Attica, Cafe de Paris, Capital Club, Embassy Club, Home House, Light Bar, No. 5 Cavendish Sq etc etc it's difficult to see that as a great advantage.

The pricing being identical to Centurion is interesting and suggests that Q is marketing to a specific subset of the Centurion target market, perhaps, given the respective market penetration, a less mobile type who'd prefer the emphasis on social in London.

Naturally I know not whereof I speak on this matter and would willingly defer to those with more direct experience - in fact expect a PM Buffers

[RichardMannion]

Okay you got me started....

Centurion is the way forward. The club list for Centurion is long, its not really published as such as the club people didn't really want it advertised as such - just call AmEx if you have a Centurion Card and they will assist.

Both £650, but Centurion does an awful lot more:

- 2 Priority Passes
- Comprehensive Travel Insurance for main cardholder and their partner and kids under 21 in Full Time Education, and then also for any of the 5 supplementary card holders including North America Car Hire insurance
- Starwood Platinum Status
- Hilton HHonors Gold status
- Access to the VS Clubhouses , Eurostar, British Midland, Continental, Northwest lounges
- Its a charge card, so you can use it pay for things and you get cover on your purchases
- Memebership reward points which can be used for a variety of purposes, includign transfer to Virgin Flying Club.

There's more too, but as an overview - Qu is a conciergef acility, TENuk (http://www.tenuk.com) offer a similar service. Thing to bear in mind is that they may be able to do as they say but at what cost - tickets for a sold out event but at what cost?

Centurion has an awesome lifestyle department that get allocation for top events up front. And yes sometimes there is a little mark-up but then I know I'm getting top seats. Row 5 at Beyonce for £10/ticket markup. There is then the regular magazines too, always look nice on my coffee table and there are some truly amazing events - some are expensive but unique, others are quite reasonably priced. To give you some examples, this quarters event magazine has a day out to visit the Bentley Factory, Lunch and then a test drive in the new GT - cost 5,000 MR points which is absolutely nothing, at the other end of the scale, there is a full weekend visit to the Emmy's in LA, with dinner at a celebs house and aftershow party tickets. Finally, in the recent Centurion magazine there was an offer to test drive the new A8, I have a £65k Audi A8 being delivered on Monday for a weeks test drive - cost to me? Nothing.

I've had Centurion for nearly 3 years now, its £650 yes, which is over £50/month but then its worth every penny several times over. With my healthy spend, I also get at least one Upper Class flight a year out of it in points alone. And as for scoring serious brownie points with the girls in the office!

If you want further clarification, please let me know or take a look on FlyerTalk in the AmEx forum - I have hundreds of posts about Centurion there.

Thanks,
Richard

Richard, is the Centurion travel insurance the same as the Amex Premium annual policy? Specifically, does it include the coverage for car hire in the US that the Premium policy includes?

Regards

Rob

[RichardMannion]

Its a variant of the top-end policy that AmEx sell online.

In regards to NA Car Rental:

Upto $50k LDW
Up to $1m Top up liability
Up to $2m Personal liability

The insurance is a good policy in my opinion, especially when you see how much they cahrge for that top-end policy per adult!

Thanks,
Richard

Thanks for the info Richard. I've used Amex's Premium travel policy for several years and the coverage is excellent. As the Centurion card has similar levels of cover I think this would make it easy for me to justify the annual charge for this card. Sadly, I'm unlikely to ever to get an invite! Doubt my £15K-18K spend on my BA-Amex card puts me in the right bracket to come to Amex's attention.

Regards

Rob

Rob, I wouldn't be too sure about that. My then-husband took out an Amex Gold Card for the flying club miles, was invited to get a Platinum card about a year later (which he declined), was invited again a year later (accepted), and then offered a Centurion card roughly a year after that. I don't think our spend was more than £15-£18k a year.

Maybe there's hope for me yet!

Regards

Rob

Rob, it's just occured to me that if the BA-Amex cards are credit cards, they might not trigger 'invitations to upgrade' in the same way as with charge cards. If the benefit of Premium insurance is particularly attractive, the Platinum charge card includes this for the main cardholder and up to five (I think) supplementary holders. You can now apply for a Platinum card directly and it only costs £275 (somewhat cheaper than Centurion, although not as swanky and without the clubhouse access).

Helen

I have the AMEX gold credit card and they are always
inviting me to take up the platinum charge card, either in the post
or every time I log on.

I dont want it......

[Decker]

When I was Plat I paid extra for Centurion Insurance because the Plat insurance didn't cover all of the bases with car hire insurance in the US. One of my pet beefs actually - in the US Au Amex gets you car hire insurance (or used to) and people who LIVE there could use it every week whereas even with Plat you weren't fully covered if you were UK based.