Quest for Black: Qualifying for Amex Centurion

April Update

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:33:26 -0400

April has come and is quickly going. Here is an update on our progress:

* My last Amex Biz Plat bill was over 50K (yes, one statement). I’m progressing nicely!

* My plum card is averaging 5-10k per month.

* I’ve slowly moved expenses from my Chase CO card to my Amex. Its tough because for each 15k on my Chase card I get Elite Qualification Miles on CO (EQM’s). But if this all works out I can count on the Black Card giving me status anyway. Main expenses moved are travel, dining and other items that may indicate a lavish lifestyle! If I fail on my quest, I’ll move 100% of my spending to the CO card. That way I’ll get at least silver elite each year (even though silver is worthless) and tons of miles.

* Thanks to Amex’s bonus 5000 miles for spending more than 10k/mo on my biz plat card, Last month I gathered over 60,000 membership reward points. That can be a round trip upgrade to Asia on CO. Using a full fare BusinessFirst price factor thats a value of $.14 per mile. As opposed to cashing in on Amex where its $.01 per mile. Not bad!

* I used Amex Platinums Fine Hotel & Resorts program to book some great properties in Asia and for a trip to the West Coast soon. Great program and the hotel gives you a special welcome note when you arrive. Bravo!

My total spending since inception of this idea 3 months ago is over $95,000. Add in a payment to the IRS in a bit and we’ll be more than 1/2 way to the $300,000 goal. All before the end of April ;)

Talk to you all soon!

March Update

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:00:00 -0400

QFB feels we’re making progress towards the goal. We’ve convinced tons of vendors, suppliers and whatnot into taking American Express. Thus far, we’re amazed at how many have offered to take it and don’t care about the commission. Where this happens we are using our Platinum and at this point earning 25,000 MR points per month. Not a bad start!

And, for those who pass the cost to us, we accept up to 1.5% of it and charge on the Plum card. Then at least we break even.

Best of all, a new promotion until Feb 2011 has come out, where spending $10,000 on your business Platinum will net you another 5,000 points per month. So at this point you can really gather up the points which can be used for travel all over the place - you can transfer to tons of airlines or even buy tickets with points as a currency.

The promo is here and has no signup: https://www212.americanexpress.com/dsmlive/dsm/int/businessplatinum2010pilot.do?vgnextoid=1813451a0caf6210VgnVCM100000defaad94RCRD&om_rid=DSSL4z&om_mid=_BLjDHcB748hsSp&om_lid=axp9

If you’re charging $10,000 on a corp card consistently, you’ll earn at least 180,000 points over the next year. At this pace I’m looking at 300,000 points.

That isn’t even counting my taxes. They are going on my Amex too ;)

Till next time…..

QFB

Back from Sunny FL

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:05:44 -0500

QFB took a break from our home improvement duties for a quick trip to Sunny (not really) Florida. Of course, we took advantage of Amex every time we could… Our Platinum Card helped us receive star treatment at National Car Rental (even QFB couldn’t stomach what Hertz is charging these days), and of course skipping the CDW saved us a buck or two.

Taking advantage of the Airport Club was of course a nice touch, as always. The Platinum Card is really indispensable to any level of traveler. In one trip we saved almost 1/2 our membership fee… Not bad.

Now, its back to home improvement. More things to order, more charges. The quest continues!

Rewards Points: Check Offers Before Shopping!

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:36:20 -0500

Unexpectedly, we are moving from one unit in our building to another. We own the building, which definitely makes it easy. But with this comes a month of hell and tons of renovations. And what better a partner to have (other than Mrs. QFB) than my Amex Platinum? Already I’ve found tons of Amex partners to buy my wares from, with bonus rewards points in the area of 4X the original purchase cost. That’s what I call a deal. So when you are looking for contractors, suppliers or other tools of the trade, always check for their ability to accept the card. When all is said and done, we’ll have a free trip anywhere, or a good upgrade, all thanks to our MR Points.

Old Centurions For Sale on Ebay = Posers!

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:26:43 -0500

QFB gets Google alerts for the Black Card and today we received one linking to eBay….

http://cgi.ebay.com/AMERICAN-EXPRESS-BLACK-CENTURION-CARD-AMEX!!-RARE!!_W0QQitemZ280456274948QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100125?IMSfp=TL100125155009r32991

Now why would someone want to “collect” an old Black Card? And, why would someone who had one want to sell it? Frankly, its probably been reported lost or stolen. In which case someone needs to investigate.

The sickest thing is that its received 12 bids! From no price to $35.00. Crazy!

Finding Expenses

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:00:00 -0500

Since our quest began, expenses have found us. Today, we added a new vendor for 100K this year, and he’ll be getting paid via Amex. Gotta love it. January is almost over and we’ll be easily over 25K this month. At that rate we’ll hit 300. Though our goal is to go higher. Stay tuned for more updates, soon!

—QFB

Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0500

Another great Amex benefit: The Fine Hotels & Resorts program. American Express works with some of the best properties in the world to offer you better rates, benefits and more.

Take in part our experience. We are booking a trip to Las Vegas, and took advantage of the buy 2 nights, get one free at the Wynn/Encore. Now, with this program, not only did you get this discount, but you also get a free upgrade when available, free breakfast each day, 4pm checkout, and one free lunch (these benefits vary per property). It’s a no brainer! We booked the Encore Parlor Suite, receiving our free night, and are hoping for an upgrade to the biggest suite in the house. Either way, we’ll be happy.

Now, the biggest thing to remember is that for any trip, you need to book via American Express. QFB was at the Encore last month and tried to get the same benefits but they weren’t available - we booked via Encore directly. Same case last summer when we stayed at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem - no upgrade available because of how we had made the reservation. So, keep that in mind.

QFB is also going to China soon, and will try to use this benefit at some hotels in Shanghai and Beijing. We’ll let you know how that goes. Till next time, keep charging!

Little-Known Amex Benefit: Auto Purchasing Program

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:14:54 -0500

Most people who hold American Express Cards didn’t even know about this one. I didn’t! The American Express Auto Purchasing Program makes car buying a relatively hassle-free experience.

Last fall I was shopping around for an Audi A4. I had test driven at a local dealer but was astounded when we sat to talk about numbers. The dealer’s best price was $625 per month on a 36 month lease! That dog won’t hunt!

So I had temporarily given up on my Audi ambitions, there is no way that $625 is a good price for that car. Maybe for an A6 thats loaded, but not the A4 I wanted (Manual transmissions only come on the A4 and A3 now). But then, enter the Amex APP. I found this via some hidden link on the American express site and gave it a try.

Basically, you go step by step through the process, you price the car you want by choosing all of the features… Then the system pairs you up with a local dealer. The dealer called me within an hour, and without any haggling we had a purchase price well, well under invoice.

Within a week I was driving my new, manual transmission A4 (silver, exactly what I wanted), and the lease cost was only $500.00 per month. Savings over the term of the lease? $4500.00. Thanks Amex!

Try it yourself, here:

http://amexnetwork.zag.com/

My Amex family got together for lunch despite their missing Blue...

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 10:00:00 -0500

My Amex family got together for lunch despite their missing Blue card brother (Don’t know where I left him!)

Here is a really funny clip about the Amex Centurion. I thought...

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:00:00 -0500

Here is a really funny clip about the Amex Centurion. I thought it was pretty funny. But its definitely not just a card that’s black!

End of Week 1

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 19:00:00 -0500

At the end of week 1, here is where we stand….

Awesome charges: $8000 of vendor transactions, $750 for autobody work, $2000 for wife’s tuition, $500 for a group dinner (will I charge and take other people’s cash? Sure!) and a couple of trips to Dunkin. Not a bad start though, considering I have another $12,000 worth of invoices due to pay in the next week… Most charges via PLUM ;)

For those interested in Black Card resources, check out:

http://www.blackcardsource.com/

BTW, a couple of things for fellow Amex card holders…

* Always check out the Membership Rewards shopping partners before you make a purchase. Idiot me bought 2 iMacs worth over $4000 and a MacBook pro and didn’t do it online. Thats 23,500 reward points, or a free upgrade on my next coast to coast flight. Ouch!

* The Platinum card has an awesome promotion at the Mandarin Oriental and the Wynn/Encore in Las Vegas: a free night with one purchased. I’ll be using this for our next trip out to the desert in May.

* Make sure you review all the benefits of the cards you have. I spent more time in researching this quest and realized that there are some pretty damned good benefits I wasn’t taking advantage of. Don’t make the same mistakes I did!

Call to Amex

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0500

Today I called Amex and inquired about the Centurion. Explaining the issue and that I was hesitant to increase spending unsure if I’d qualify, the woman on the phone didn’t do anything to assist and didn’t have any details. I called the Platinum support line and the operator was very kind and friendly. She transferred me to Centurion, where I was told I had no invitation at this time. Not that I didn’t qualify, but that there was no invitation. She was mum on what the qualifications are and said that the system chooses invitees based on a variety of factors, none of which she knew.

So my assumption and goal is that it will take somewhere in the area of $300,000 worth of charges to qualify. My goal is to do that sometime before the end of 2010. To do so, I’ve already moved vendors over to Amex and plan on using it for most purchases. I’m assuming that just charging to the same vendor will not result in my qualification, so I will use the card for more travel expenses, restaurants, and anything that shows an over-abundance of living ;)

Stay tuned for more details on the quest…!

The Quest Begins!

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:47:00 -0500

Our quest for the legendary American Express Centurion card has begun!

A little about us. We have been Amex card members since 1996. Right now we have a Green, Business Gold, Business Platinum, normal Platinum, Blue and a Plum card.

In addition, we have a Presidential Plus Mastercard from Chase - where we do most of our spending. Now, the purpose of this mission is to try to get the Centuron Card (aka “The Black Card”) while not killing our spending on our Presidential Plus. Why? Because as Continental Elite Flyers, we get Flex Elite Miles on CO with each bucket of $15,000 spent.

So, since we can’t guarantee receiving the Black Card - especially with rumors of it going back to invite only… We are instead trying to move more expenses to our Amex cards that were previously handled via checks or other instruments, and keeping the benefits of our Chase card. Of course, if we got The Black Card, those elite miles really wouldn’t matter anymore, because The Black Card offers up elite status anyway.

Step one in our quest: Application for Plum.

The Plum card seems to be a great step for our business. We get flexibility in terms, if we need it. If we pay 10% of a balance, we can float the rest for 60 days. Not bad for a business owner. But even better, if you pay your bill within 10 days, you get 1.5% back. So the first thing we’ve done is acquired a Plum card. Then, we have alerted our vendors that payment must be electronic now and we are willing to pay up to 1.5% of the fee (for those who aren’t happy about this arrangement). What do we care - previously we’d pay by check anyway. At least we are saving postage!

So, follow us on Twitter or via this site and keep up with our quest. Comments always appreciated…!