Anyone Have a Black/Carbon Card?

[sketchers356]

Doesnt everyone now know that Gold is better than Platinum? (with the recent flip in market values)

[Rick Lee]

I want the tritium card so I can find it in the dark. And I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member. And I'm canceling my Amex Gold next month before the annual fee kicks in. I have an Amex Blue with no annual fee. I can't figure out what benefit the annual fee will get me. Besides, the kinds of restaurants I eat at usually don't take Amex anyway.

[EdT82SC]

I checked with my wife, who has a much better memory than I, and it was a $5000 annual fee, and this was definitely an amex black. I guess they lost me by the time I got to the second zero. I didn't see anything about minimum charges per year, but that was probably in fine print I didn't read. Since our total charging is under $50K per year on all our cards combined I don' t think we make the cut. I think they just made a mistake.

If you want to hear about really bad mistakes, our dog gets junk mail. I don't know how she got on a mailing list, but somehow she did. One time we got a credit card solicitation for her from a bank I never heard of. I was half tempted to send it in.

Originally Posted by MRM

That offer sounds more like the AMEX Reserve Rewards card. It's a high-end card but not exclusive like the ones the OP was asking about.

Yahoo's front page had this article on exclusive credit cards today. It's superficial but a little interesting.

invitation-only-credit-cards: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

I think you have to be both truly rich and into the flash of appearing very rich in order for the secret exclusive cards to make any sense. It's pretty common knowledge that many of the invitation-only cards require $250,000 in charging per year. The Black card will get you into secret sales and travel stuff, but you'd have to be into the whole superficial scene for it to mean anything to you. You can get the same concierge service any number of places. If you're spending $250,000 a year on clothes and travel, someone would be willing to offer you that service for free.

[VINMAN]

I have a balsa card.....

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by EdT82SC

If you want to hear about really bad mistakes, our dog gets junk mail. I don't know how she got on a mailing list, but somehow she did. One time we got a credit card solicitation for her from a bank I never heard of. I was half tempted to send it in.

OK, that's pretty funny. I'll see if I can get my kids' stuffed animals on some mailing lists.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Stupid waste of money. Unless it comes with escort service BJs on demand...

Funny, that's the first thing my wife remarked when I opened up the envelope last night.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Embraer

whenever she'd buy a plane ticket through the amex concierge service, they'd automatically make it 1st class.

OK, so out of curiosity, what does the airline charge you for the ticket? The regular coach class full fare? Or first class fare?

[ErVikingo]

No but have you seen their ad?

[Noah930]

Yes. Love the Barcelona Pavilion chair and Monster.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

Actually, a microchip implanted under the skin on your forehead or hand would work just as well.

I think the world is coming to that. I'm not sure whether it is a good thing or not. Good topic for discussion...

[porsche4life]

In the research I was doing, some of the companies are offering a "white" card that is supposedly better than a black card. I find this humorous because my visa, that Apple uses to do financing on laptops is a pure white pearl color....

So I hope the white card thing takes off. I've got one already for free.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I think the world is coming to that. I'm not sure whether it is a good thing or not. Good topic for discussion...

Big Brother is watching.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

In the research I was doing, some of the companies are offering a "white" card that is supposedly better than a black card. I find this humorous because my visa, that Apple uses to do financing on laptops is a pure white pearl color....

So I hope the white card thing takes off. I've got one already for free.

hmmm... you know I have a can of Wurth Stain Black that is just sittin' there, lonely in the garage...

[Reg]

my new Amex card is transparent kinda nifty looking at that.

[Embraer]

Originally Posted by Noah930

OK, so out of curiosity, what does the airline charge you for the ticket? The regular coach class full fare? Or first class fare?

This is kind of a lengthy explanation, but....


The "regular" full coach class fare is usually a much higher price than what it would cost to get a 1st class seat on expedia, etc. (For example....a full coach ticket from Indianapolis to Sarasota might be $2900. Yes, $2900. The airlines and expedia obviously sell it much cheaper than that.....maybe $290. You could get a first class ticket for, say, $900 on that same flight.

For example...back when I was working at the airline, I bought a buddy pass for my friend to go from Indy-Sarasota. (You know, the proverbial "free flights" if you work for an airline.) The way the buddy pass works, is that I paid 10% of the "full price economy fare." The airline "absorbs" the remainding 90%. These are called ID90 fares. Well, I had $290 taken out of my paycheck for his flight. I called US Airways to figure out what was going on, and they assured me that I was charged 10% of the full price fare. The full price of that trip, could be, at their discretion $2900. I was charged the $290. Pretty crappy.

Anyway, to answer your question....She'd buy a ticket to Paris, and would be charged the same price that the average person would pay for an economy seat...but Amex would arrange the free upgrade to 1st class. It was a neat benefit, but not worth the 250K annual minimum spending on the card.

To the earlier poster who mentioned getting an offer in the mail, with a $500 annual fee....these aren't quite the same cards we're talking about here. Her annual fee was $5K.

[Noah930]

Thanks for the explanation. The "free" upgrade is nice. Paying 1st class fare for a 1st class seat--not so special.

Am Ex is the $5K annual fee card. Visa is the $500 annual fee card.

[Zeke]

Please tell me why anyone would pay 5K a year for a credit card. I have always heard that people with a ton of money know how to use it better than most.

And if they ever would get a BJ, no one would ever know. Now that's a privilege that the Charlie Sheens of the world can't access.

[mattdavis11]

They were counting on me for the interest!! I was prey, so they thought. I'll let them make some (Visa,M/C) on interest, but it's not much. Every so often there's a small carryover balance. No yearly fees, and limits that exceed transactions that I do in cash. I don't need their help, but insurance premiums are tied to credit ratings. I think it's bull****.

I'd ditch them altogether if not for that.


edit: no "special" credit card here, it's borderline extortion, IMHO.

[azasadny]

I want the depleted uranium card...

[campbellcj]

Originally Posted by milt

Please tell me why anyone would pay 5K a year for a credit card. I have always heard that people with a ton of money know how to use it better than most.

It's about the same IMO as paying hundreds a month to belong to a private beach club or yacht club - largely a feeling of exclusivity and self-importance, more than a real tangible benefit.