jayeff

I guess it must have slipped your mind that Centurion cards are issued by invitation only, so he would be wasting his time applying for one... and the annual charge is ridiculous unless you can really milk the "perks": many of which are routinely and freely available direct from airlines, hotels, stores, etc under their own loyalty programs.

Still, Amex must be doing something right: just today they announced a 17% increase in their third-quarter profits to around $1 billion, easily outpacing the rest of their industry. They also added close to 6 million new card holders last year.

Amex big strength is certainly marketing. Apart from the status, which is now illusory but still lingers from the days when they were more choosy about their customers, the no-limit claim seems to work for them (although personally I would rather know my limit than have the niggling concern that I might discover it one day by having a transaction rejected). Amex caught me years ago by sending me what looked like a gold card that was already approved and ready to activate, instead of the usual card company junk mail that amounts to nothing more than an application form. I guess in my mid-twenties I was more easily flattered, so curious too, I called and sure enough, the card was activated as soon as I confirmed my name and address. That was an effective approach and I doubt I would have bothered with their card otherwise.