Back in early 2000s, the number of “platinum” credit cards had doubled in a short period, reaching 100 million total since the late 1990s according to the Nilson Report (www.nilsonreport.com). The end result for Platinum credit cards? They still exist but if you think about it, they have no real meaning anymore, at least not culturally. To make it now there are “titanium cards” that aren’t actually titanium, rather “titanium colored plastic.”
Brilliance in marketing maybe, but the same fate will likely come to fruition for the Black Cards that are out there today. The more that exists on what the card actually is, the more common consumers will confuse what a Black Card actually is, with meaningless black cards such as “secured black cards” that are far from elite, or even worse (black card kits), and eventually, it will all mean nothing, least so far as status is concerned.
Let’s face it, people want it; People have over the years gone to great lengths in attempt to try obtain the card and without success. Because the rules are pretty strict, spend the money (250k) and pay in 12 months ($20,833.33 a month), have good credit and you can get the card, otherwise? Denied.
There have been stories of people:
Complaining to the FDIC (One Investment Banker in CT)
Phone calls, letters, and pleas to American Express from Cardmembers that they promise they will “never use it”
Setup of a website to build support
Pooling family members and friends together in attempts to reach the spending requirements
There are some that will shrug it off and say $2500 a year, that’s crazy, the fees are too high, I’ll stick with Platinum. An AMEX spokesperson once said, “The card is absolutely not for everyone,” she added “It’s open to a select group for that reason. If you don’t find value in the benefits and services, then it’s probably not right for you.”
Draft recently released a song all about the Black Card. The song by Draft Ft F.R.E.A.K titled “Kiss My Black AMEX” is on F Records. F Records was created by Dean “F.R.E.A.K” Farmer, June 9, 2004.
Below is the music video for “Kiss My Black AMEX”, you can go here if you want to buy their Black AMEX T-shirts
The Lyrics for Draft’s “Kiss My Black AMEX.” are as follows:
Uh ... Draft ... Freak
[Chorus]
It ain't about this it ain't about that it's about a check
If you don't like then
Kiss my black Amex
It's time time to settle the debts people place your bets
If you don't like then
Kiss my black Amex
I got a buck pucker up and
Kiss my black Amex
Shawty knows what's up and
Kiss my black Amex
It's all about a dollar
Kiss my black Amex
So let me hear you holla
Kiss my black Amex
[Draft]
I got mad bucks I hit the stash up and spend that cash up
And use my new black Amex card for backup
Ain't no need to stack up I just hit Saks up
and treat it like a pool table and rack up
This is how it go: Put the merchandise on the counter
then slap the black card down like a domino
Just ask Ben and Big Mo
walking a day in my shoes is like slippin and fallin in a pot of gold
The money I make is just plain irate
if I don't rap no more from this dayforward I'm straight
I can get me a G5, a Land Rov, a Bentley
and that's just all off one day
Vintage '87 I hit the reverend charge
all my blessings and pay my way to heaven
A hundred million spent with nothing to show for it
I can run through money but I can never run out of it
[Chorus]
[Draft]
Check it out
C & P jeans fresh fetus tee custom sneaks I'm dressed to a T
White socks fitted F Record pendant Carnivo sippin Cuban cigar clippin
Crib in the Hamptons loft in the city '08 Iconic Claudio himself sent me
You should see how many women it gets me
somewhere between a whole lot and too many
With the black Amex I don't have a price range
I tried to buy the world but they didn't have enough change
At the United Center sittin next to dame
last time I did that they almost put me in the game
It's a shame cause my main chick can even get charged
but shawty it ain't nothin to buy me a new broad
So if you wanna act like a retard kiss my black Amex card
[Chorus]
[Draft]
It's Draft ... F Records baby ... Yeah ... Freaky crazy for this one
Courtney Love in a recent myspace blog post (I know, I am surprised she has a computer and can type) trashes Adam Horowitz’s girlfriend Kathleen Hanna by letting the cat out of the bag that she has a Black Card and a house in the Hamptons? She’s apparently trashing her glitzy lifestyle since being with Adam Horowitz.
ivehad my fair share of fights with artists, i mean Kathleen :Black Card” Horowitz OOPS did i tell a big secret? you mean ypou didmnt KNPW she had a HUGE bunch of property? a Centurion card and summers in the Hamptons? oops…well lets just pretend shes Julie ruin
Courtney and Kathleen’s feud started at Lollapalooza 1995 when Courtney attacked Kathleen (aka Julie Ruin) for being friends with bandmate Tobi Vail, who at one point had a relationship with Kurt Cobain?
American Express usually wants celebrities running around with their cards, but I wonder if this is a special case where AMEX denied Courtney a Black Card for being a Celebrity, I mean crazy. She seems a little salty about the card, doesn’t she?
Peter Robison wrote recently in a Bloomberg article details of how the falling out of Wall Street has resulted in deteriorated local business in New York City.
Buddha Bar, in New York’s Meatpacking district 20M in revenue in 2007, and now anticipates $12M. Rosa a waitress at Buddha Bar, details the spending decrease.
It wasn’t uncommon to see someone with a black American Express Co. card ringing up a $30,000 tab, said Tim Gaglio, who helped start the restaurant and bar in 2006.
The black “Centurion” card, billed as “the world’s rarest,” is available by invitation only, according to the company’s Web site.
At the peak, Rosa, 30, said she made $85,000 a year working three days a week.
“You wouldn’t see an empty chair here,” she said, surveying the half-filled lounge last week. As tips fell, Rosa stopped taking frequent trips to Miami, where she ate at the Prime 112 steakhouse on Ocean Drive, and to Puerto Rico, where she stayed at the Palmas del Mar resort.
Lloyd Banks on G-Unit’s Elephant in the Sand Mixtape references the Black Card.
[Verse 3: Lloyd Banks]
I’m comin out of South-side, you know I’m raw
Big ass check, they show our score
Put a dough out and roll out, the cream is off
Fo’-fo’ out, I know ’bout the Keizer war
I’m hot – five hunnid degress or more!
My door block an M16 or more
I’m in the store copin shit you ain’t seen before
Black card swipe, we galore
T*** Boi references the Black Card in “Paper Chasers.”
I’m tryna get clout, cash and a Black card.
So now even my pool got a backyard
Now it’s time to fast-forward, speed up the process
I’m so fresh, I could f**k her off my outfit
Ridin in the cockpit, ridin with the top back
Ridin on some butt-nicks, ridin they say, “What’s that?”
I’m Kan, the Louis Vuitton Don
Bought my mom a purse, now she Louis Vuitton Mom
I ain’t play the hand I was dealt, I changed my cards
I prayed to the skies and I changed my stars
I went to the malls and I balled too hard
‘Oh my god, is that a black card?’
I turned around and replied, why yes but I prefer the term
African American Express
Fat Joe references the Black Card in “I Won’t Tell.”
Grown man B.I.
Millionaire frames, Perrier rods
Every day a different chain n***a get ya gear up
Name another fat guy fly like me
and get you right, lay pipe all night like me
Call you Fruity Pebbles cause you got so many spa bags
Purple ones, yellow ones, sky blue, the wine bag
Hermes shiy wherever you lay your eyes at
Red card, black card, I could buy that
Louis Vuitton I’m truly the don
Christian, Lou’ Vuitton, the bluish charm
I’m a real n***a, real n***az do real things
And I can keep a secret is the song that I sing
Lil Wayne references the black card in Busta Rhymes – Don’t Touch Me (Throw Da Water On Em Remix) featuring Big Daddy Kane, Lil Wayne, Nas, Reek Da Villian, Spliff Star & The Game.
[Verse 5: Lil Wayne]
Chirp on the check like Michael Jeffrey
Even the referee said I need an ESPY, award just applaud I’m a boar with a broad
I go hard and my leather so soft and I cough
And the board of health say the boy need help
I am so hot the AM just melt
All aboard all aboard black card no fraud
I’m an extension cord I’m a lightning rod
I’m a lion roar I’m a dinosaur
I’m a sinus minus the nose I’m a cold
I’m raw than a temperature rose to five and, two o’s that’s 500 degrees for those who know
My fire’s higher than a liar, we don’t burn rubber, we burn tires
We riders we ciders, we live in The Carter
Wayne is a flame that could live in the water
Ok now let’s get it straight either you bait
Or the mate either eay you on my plate gettin ate
After grace, if you taste like base, snares and tenors be my dinner
I’m hotter in the winter, burn like sinner, turn like sinner
I swear I’ll put ya in the urn by your picture
Pa we ain’t playin Weezy baby be the man
Hotter than the Peter Pan till wet here I am
“Visa Black Card is focused on providing the highest level of service to each Cardmember. Marketed towards the top 1/3 of America, the Black Card member is one who demands only the best of what life has to offer.”
Two weeks ago Gawker reported on actress Salma Hayek’s hacked e-mail account, which revealed details on her personal life. Salma Hayek is currently married to born billionaire François-Henri Pinault. Details of the e-mail revealed included her American Express Gold CardReplacement. Gawker editors even note that it’s not the “Centurion Card.” Having a gold card, does not disqualify or mean that she does not have a Centurion Card, because American Express will let you have both if you want (in the US you will have to pay fees for both cards). Marketing research by American Express Departures Magazine has shown that the Rich & Famous seek out unique life experiences and value in their credit cards. But the real question is, if your Salma Hayek or Chuck Bass, do you really need a Credit Card? Seemingly yes, but any unique experience or value a credit card could offer, would certainly be easier to obtain via your own team of assistants. So although most Billionaires (all 792 of them) don’t fly commercial, but they still need credit time to time.
According to a Forbes report in March, the list of billionaires, e.g. those with net worth >= $1 billion, is down to 793 people (that’s 30% less than last year).
The Visa Black Card team has a new TV Ad campaign that’s very similar to the American Express Campaign run a few years ago called “My Life, My Card;” The Visa TV Ad spot seeks to identify the various demographics of individuals the card applies to as well as the benefits for those individuals. The difference is, as far as the true Black Card aka Centurion Card is concerned, it’s not advertised American Express (they don’t need to).
The captions of Visas Commercial are:
Bryan Iguchi – Pro Snowboarder
“No blackouts, no restrictions, the rewards program, takes more places”
Joy Lewis – Physician
“Limited membership, means a higher level of service”
Bob Schuster – Attorney
“My Concierge gets me into the best spots”
Kim Whitman – Executive Producer
“I like the look and feel of carbon, it’s unique”
To Apply for your Visa Black Card Now, visit Blackcard.com or call 866-BLACK CARD
Black Card, The World Awaits
Watch out Brittany, Lindsay and Paris, Shilpa Shetty, Indian model turned Bollywood actress (Famous from Celebrity Big Brother, Britain) loves to shoe shop with her Centurion Card. In a recent interview with timesonline.co.uk touts that “I love my American Express Centurion Black. It’s useful because I don’t think it has a limit on the amount you can spend on it. You have to pay something like $2,500 (£1,700) a year, though. I’m so bad with these things. I think they offer some great services like automatic flight upgrades and a hotel booking service. I’ve got a Mastercard from Citibank which I use when I can’t use the Centurion.”
TimesOnline UK reports on a batch of American Express cards including Centurion (Black Card), as well as Platinum cards that had batch of faulty cards produced in February in the UK (The Centurion Card in the UK runs a £1,800, maybe this will someday become a bargain if the pound continues to decline against the dollar (now 1.4 = 1)). TimesOnline UK reports come from at least one Centurion member Olver Watson:
Who confesses to being “rather excited” when his card arrived in a small velvet pouch wrapped in several layers of black packaging, says: “I immediately set out to do what most credit card users do: I changed my PIN to a combination that I could remember. Or at least I tried to. I found that not only did the titanium card refuse to allow me to do so, but I could no longer use the card.”
Although, this must be specific in the UK, I can’t remember many times that I’ve ever used a credit card to get cash, at least, unless in Las Vegas. One nice perk of the Centurion is that they sign you up to withdraw cash direct from your bank account via ATM, bypassing those ever so limiting daily limits many banks place on ATM withdrawls. We’ve also heard of users nervous to put their cards in the old-style ATM machines that suck in the card, and heard in some cases of credit card readers of this type getting jammed by the Black Card. Titanium isn’t perfect, at least not in the world designed for plastic.
1. Takes personal service to new heights, strives to provide you with access like you’ve never experienced before and unparalleled privileges in abundance.
2. As a Centurion member, you’ll find that just one phone calll will summon the connections and expertise of service professionals, Seek, and Centurion Service will do their utmost to find.
3. Centurion Concierge can help source and secure whatever it is you seek.
4. As a Centurion member you have access to professional assistance every minute of the day, every day of the year. Our team of consultants are available to assist you with any request.
5. Centurion travel from Amex Canada Inc.
6. Centurion website: Visit the exclusive Centurion Website to stay up to date. It gives you access to the very latest Centurion privileges, service and unique offers, whenever you need them.
7. Centurion Travel can exert its influence on your behalf – securing your arrangements whenever possible even when a property is otherwise fully booked.
8 Complimentary access to airport lounges around the world, including complimentary Air Canada Maple Leaf Club Worldwide, which opens the doors to more than 235 lounges around the world including all Star Alliance member airline business lounges. Centurion membership also entitles you to access American Airlines Admirals Clubs, Continental Airlines Presidents Club, Delta Crown Room Club, Northwest Airlines, Servisair Executive, Plaza Premium, and also give you complimentary access to Priority Pass Lounges opening doors to over 450 airport lounges worldwide.
9. Hotel Privileges, complimentary room upgrade at check-in, complimentary continental breakfast and additioanl special amenities at over 600 of the worlds most glorious properties in exquisite locations. Including Raffles Hotels and Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Mandarin Oriental to name just a few. Also gives room upgrade at reservation to more than 440 boutique hotels around the world.
Centurion members receive complimentary Elite Statu memberships such as Fairmont Presidents Club Platinum , Starwood Preferred Gold, Hilton HHonours, Relais and Chateaux and Club 5C, and InterContintal Hotels Group.
10. As a centurion member you can take advantage of the International Airline Program, that offers you complimentary companion tickets, complimentary upgrades, special class fares, or discounted fares on some of the worlds finest airlines to destinations around the world. Airlines include Air Canada, Air France, and Continental to name a few. Private Jet Services can be arranged.
11. Cruise Privileges, Access premium benefits such as onboard privileges and shipboard credits on some of the worlds best cruise liners such as Silversea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and more.
12. Complimentary Avis President Club and Hertz #1 Club Gold Membership, and Elite Rent a Car benfefits.
13. Centurion Concierge can help secure tickets to shows you want, the Centurion network has been known to help create once in a lifetime opportunities for some of the worlds biggest fans to actually meet some of the worlds biggest bands.
13. Centurion Dining, There tables reserved every day for Cardmembers for many of the finest restaurants across the country.
14. Shop VIP, your enjoy special shopping privileges at some of the finest retails spots around the world and right here in Canada. These benefits may include personal shopping services, extended shopping hours, complimentary alterations, gift wrapping, and much more, partners include Harry Rosen, Saks Fifth Avenue and many more.
15. As a Centurion member you’ll be invited to our most exclusive events, from evenings with celebrated figures, luxury retails, or sporting events.
16. A special rewards offering, for redeeming your points from the most lavish to the most everyday rewards. Redeem your points for an exceptional selection of travel and lifestyle rewards.
17. You earn 1.25 membership points for every dollar you charge to your Card. Your automatically enrolled in this top Tier of the membership rewards program, gives you access to our entire catalogue of rewards including an array of prmium brands and experiences.
18. Travel Insurance Benefits.
19. Retail Protection, that extended warranties, and coverage for damaged and stolen purchases.
20. Emergency Assistance, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.
Relais & Châteaux was established in France in 1954 with a goal to spread it’s unique “art de vivre” by including only outstanding properties with unique character. Currently 475 properties are members of Relais & Châteaux, which is considered a family of hoteliers, and chefs from around the world who share a “passion for personal commitment” and “ensuring their guests are privy to moments of exceptional harmony.” Relais & Châteaux considers a selection of their properties a choice to “experience an unforgettable celebration of the senses.” Their properties range from vineyards in Napa valley to the beaches in Bali, from the olive trees in Provence to the lodges in South Africa.
A recent Travelodge report from 2008 have suggested that UK Hotel Guests has been leaving behind some, strange but luxurious items: A horse, a Diamond Rolex watch, a set of World War II medals, a Wedding Dress, and an AMEX Black Card.
Topping the UK wide Travelodge list was a Centurion Card, also known as the American Express Black Card, which is the most exclusive credit card in the world with an annual fee of £1,800. The rich owner of the card stayed in the Heathrow Central Travelodge and jetted off without it.
And it wasn’t the only symbol of wealth that was misplaced in the budget chain, the well off also left behind keys to a Porche 911, a set of Maruman golf clubs and a diamond Rolex watch.
Artist Adam McEwen recently created two sculptures for his exhibit “Switch and Bait” in New York, both sculptures were made from “machined graphite.” Graphite, like its allotrope diamond, is a form of carbon. One of his two exhibits is an American Express Platinum Card created from Graphite. Art is in the eye of the beholder, but to us it seems that he is implying that the Visa Black Card is pulling a “Switch and Bait” and ripping off American Express Platinum Card (which the Visa Black Card more accurately compares to).
If you’re in NY, exhibit is held @
Switch and Bait
Through 18 April 2009 Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery
520 West 20th Street
Chelsea, New York City map
tel. +1 212 243 3335
Abercrombie & Kent is a luxury travel company that has some unique destinations and experiences that are coined “& moments”. Examples Abercrombie and Kent cite, include activities such as participating in a food-offering ceremony with Buddhist monks in Bangkok, explore the citadel of Machu Picchu in the company of it’s resident archaeologist, or end a perfect day on a safari with a five-course banquet under the stars.
Two weeks ago 
Relais & Châteaux was established in France in 1954 with a goal to spread it’s unique “art de vivre” by including only outstanding properties with unique character. Currently 475 properties are members of Relais & Châteaux, which is considered a family of hoteliers, and chefs from around the world who share a “passion for personal commitment” and “ensuring their guests are privy to moments of exceptional harmony.” Relais & Châteaux considers a selection of their properties a choice to “experience an unforgettable celebration of the senses.” Their properties range from vineyards in Napa valley to the beaches in Bali, from the olive trees in Provence to the lodges in South Africa.
A recent Travelodge report from 2008 have suggested that UK Hotel Guests has been leaving behind some, strange but luxurious items: A horse, a Diamond Rolex watch, a set of World War II medals, a Wedding Dress, and an AMEX Black Card.
If you’re in NY, exhibit is held @
