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What’s the average income and net worth of Amex Centurion Cardholders ( Amex Black Card )

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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

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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.

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The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

8 Comments

  • […] Departures is the magazine sent to Amex Platinum cardholders, someone correct me if I’m wrong, is only sent in digital format for the time being. Departures ended its publishing agreement with Meredith in 2021 and pivoted to a digital first distribution strategy. They still have a media kit and I thought it was very interesting to see what the average reader of Departures magazine looks like to marketers. Presumably, since this magazine is only sent to Platinum cardholders, its what a look at what the average Platinum cardholder looks like as well. Honestly, I was shocked at how high the number are, and would love to know the median ( I’d have guessed around $120-150k ). You can read about the black card here. […]

  • Tony March 6, 2022

    I’m a centurion card holder and definitely far from the 1.8M/yr and only own 5 properties, sorry for weighing down the average -_-|||

  • Peter March 6, 2022

    The magazine is still printed, at least in the UK.

    It normally just sits on a coffee table unread apart from a cursory look when it arrives!

  • Greg March 5, 2022

    The Plat card stats show the Cent household profile isn’t 10x Plat like the annual fee.

    3.6 avg properties owned for Plat card members seems inflated unless there’s some deep penetration at the very high end that’s typically the Cent target which skews the avg vs a median. Or in other words most who fit the Cent profile don’t think the added fee is worth it

  • M. Casey March 5, 2022

    I find it amazing how Bonvoy is just so tight at giving away their higher statuses.

  • Dom March 5, 2022

    Looks like your wording is off – you seem to be using “Amex Platinum” in the bullet points where you’re meant to be using “Centurion”. Either that or Platinum and Centurion card holders have exactly the same profile as indicated by the graphic.

    • Miles March 5, 2022

      ahhhh good catch! brain freeze on my end – updated with Centurion.

  • DEE March 5, 2022

    WOW interesting to know.

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