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How do Amex Black Card members make?
You have to admit it…when you see one you have the thought. What kind of money are you pulling in? Well…we have an answer.
Centurion is the magazine sent to Amex Centurion cardholders, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe both it and Departures are digital now. They ended their publishing agreement with Meredith in 2021 and pivoted to a digital first distribution strategy. They still have a media kit and with so much lore around how much spend is required to get a Black Card ( estimates of $250k to $500k in a year on an Amex card ). You can actually request one now…it used to be invitation only. I thought it was very interesting to see what the average reader of Centurion magazine looks like to marketers.
Presumably, since this magazine is only sent to Amex Centurion cardholders, its what a look at what the average Centurion cardholder looks like as well. The income was about where I thought it would be, but I thought the net worth would have been higher. Don’t forget this card requires an initiation fee of $10k and $5k a year in annual fee. Media Kit Link
- Amex Centurion average household income
- $1.8m
- Amex Centurion average household networth
- $11.4 million
- Amex Centurion average age
- 57
- Amex Centurion average properties owned
- 6.0
A few things to know about Black Cards – American Express Centurion Cards
-
Personal Centurion: 20% points back when used for premium flights or selected airline
- 1.25c per point
-
Business Centurion: 50% points back premium flights or selected airline
- 2c per point
-
IHG Platinum Elite
-
Hilton Honors Diamond
-
Marriott Bonvoy Gold
- Earn 1.5X Membership Rewards points per dollar on purchases over $5,000
- (Up to 1 million additional points per calendar year)
- Delta SkyMiles Platinum Medallion status,
- Hertz Platinum
- Avis President’s Club
Why a Black Card could actually make financial sense to you…
You’d need to be able to out-redeem the Amex Business Platinum + your initiation and annual fee, which is $15000 less the business platinum which is $695 next year. Let’s use $695…so you’d need $14305 in added value. In the first year that would be roughly 3.2 Million in spend at 1x. After that it would be significantly less – roughly 957k. Those would be breakeven and the residual bennies from Hilton Diamond, Delta Plat, etc would outweigh the fees. That really isn’t that much for business spend…
- 3.2 Million Amex points
- $64k in value with Biz Black
- $49,600 with Biz Plat
- 957k Amex Points
- $19,140
- $14,835
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
$300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- $300 Chase Travel℠ Credit + Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel℠. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel℠ purchases within your first year
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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