Once upon a time, rich people hired more servants to make life easier. Now they get better credit cards, too.
Backstage passes to a Rolling Stones concert, invitation-only private shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, personal assistants and concierge services are some of the perks you can get with prestige credit cards such as the American Express Centurion, Visa Signature and World MasterCard cards.
"We really do our best to offer the best that money can buy," says Monica Beaupre, spokeswoman for American Express.
Of course, you pay for this sort of hand-holding service.
The Centurion card by American Express is so exclusive that you won't even find details of it on the American Express Web site. It's available "by invitation only" and reputedly requires an annual fee of $2,500 and card spending of $5,000 per month . We say reputedly because American Express releases few details on the cards, which are available to only a tiny percentage of American Express's clients.
MasterCard and Visa offer their own versions of these chi-chi cards. The annual fees aren't too frightening, $85 or less in most cases, but you have to earn at least $125,000 a year and spend at least $2,000 a month with your card.
Rumors circulate about who holds these most prestigious credit cards. Among the rumored recipients are Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson and Sean (P. Diddy) Combs, who have all been spotted with their Centurion cards in hand.
There are only an estimated 10,000 Centurion cards issued worldwide -- or at least that's the rumor. American Express representatives declined to verify the rumors circulating about the Centurion card and those who carry it.
"Because the card is so exclusive, we don't get into too much detail about the card or those who have it," says Beaupre.
The Centurion card , also known as the Black card, was introduced in 1999 and targeted at the very best customers. In fact, you must spend around $250,000 annually on another American Express card to be considered .
According to American Express, the card offers a variety of privileges, such as complimentary companion airline tickets on trans-Atlantic flights, personal shoppers at retailers such as Escada and Saks Fifth Avenue, access to airport clubs, membership in the Sony Cierge personal shopping program and dozens of other elite club memberships. The card comes with access to a personal concierge and travel agent. The program offers many hotel benefits, including a free one-night stay in the Mandarin Oriental hotels once a year.
Centurion clientele pay for special service -- and get it.
According to Snopes.com, a Web site that examines the truth of urban legends, one Centurion cardholder wanted to locate and purchase the horse ridden by Kevin Costner in the movie, "Dances with Wolves." The horse was located on a stud ranch in Mexico, purchased and delivered to Europe.
Another request, according to Snopes, came from a cardholder who aspired to be an actress and wanted to be part of the cast of a weekly soap opera on TV. American Express contacted the director and arranged for an audition.
Attempts to verify these tales were refused because, as Beaupre puts it, "Our customers want to remain private and we want to maintain that this card is exclusive."
Other prestige cards, like the World MasterCard and the Visa Signature card can get you into the Super Bowl, set you up with private golf lessons with Jim Flick or reserve tickets to the hottest Broadway show for you.
You can apply for both the Signature and World cards, rather than wait for an invitation, but you must earn at least $125,000 annually.
Ava Kelly, group product director for Visa, says the Signature card is in a class by itself. "It gives clients a whole range of reward programs customized by the consumer."
Kelly says that some of their newest access programs for cardholders have been tickets to the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl.
"We recently partnered with Broadway in order to secure tickets for our Signature holders who want front-row tickets to hot shows."
With all of these cards there is a high emphasis on rewards programs and points.
For instance, MasterCard will customize a card to fit what their client identifies as his or her most important interests. Cardholders can choose to customize their card within four categories: family, personal, financial and community. Cardholders earn a minimum of one point toward the reward of their choice for every dollar spent.
Prestige cards have no pre-set spending limit, and most require a spending minimum of $5,000 per month.
One of the most popular perks offered by Visa and the other cards is the benefit of knowing that a restaurant will have a table on hold for exclusive clients.
Kelly says the Visa Signature dining program is among the most requested perks by clients. "We have an agreement with several top restaurants that will hold tables for our clientele. It's standard service for our Signature card holders."
According to the Zagat restaurant survey, getting a reservation at a French-New American restaurant in New York City called Per Se requires "divine intervention." However, if you hold a prestige card, getting 8 o'clock reservations takes a simple phone call to the concierge service.
What's Happening Now in MoneyAccording to the 2004 World Wealth Report, one in every 125 Americans is a millionaire. Information from Capital Development Services states that by 2013, the number of millionaires will triple due to inheritances.
As affluence grows, so will the need for credit cards that give the biggest earners and spenders the comforts and perks they demand.
Kelly says that Signature cardholders represent only 3 percent of the total Visa customer base, but 20 percent of Visa's volume.
Both Kelly, of Visa Signature, and Beaupre, of American Express, claim their customers need all-inclusive services because they are busy people with little time on their hands to think about the little extras.
Those busy people can be guaranteed a first-class ticket on both domestic and international flights. At no extra cost, these cards provide global assistance, travel accident insurance, baggage insurance, medical coverage and emergency medical evacuation.
Over the years, almost all creditors and banks have stepped up their credit card offers by targeting specific groups, usually those who make a certain income, with offers for platinum airline miles, gasoline cards and cash-back bonuses.
Qualification for most of these cards is based on income, spending power, credit score and credit history.
You have to be a proven good credit risk who can afford to live the lifestyle of the upper-class. According to Kelly, "Most cardholders are transactors who pay off their card every month and don't carry a balance."
source:AOL money & finance
Heavy-Metal Angel
Τελικά υπάρχει, ή πολύ πλούτος ή πολύ φτώχια...
--------------------
ΦΛΟΓΑ
|
Previous
Index
Next
Flat
A credit card you'll never get!!!
Edit
Reply
Quote
