Question
NOTE: As of September 15, 2006, Citibank may no longer be offering
the Chairman card to new customers. Supposedly they will soon be
launching a replacement card. If you search through these boards, you
will find much speculation (fueled by comments from Chairman card
CSRs) that the new card may have a higher fee than the Chairman card
and improved benefits. However, for the moment no one posting here
knows anything definitive.
The Citibank Chairman card and American Express Platinum card both
cost approximately $300-400 per year and seem to be competing for the
same customers. Both cards offer some interesting benefits to justify
the price, but the details differ significantly between the two cards.
Worse yet, much of the "fine print" on the cards' benefits is only
available once you have already signed up for and received the card.
This thread is an attempt to do a factual comparison of the two cards'
benefits so as to help anyone deciding between the two cards or
thinking of switching from one to the other. For each benefit, I list
which card seems to have better terms.
I have carried the AMEX Platinum for over 5 years, and just recently
got a Chairman card. I've based the information here on my reading of
the two card agreements and on people's experiences with the cards.
If you have relevant experience or other information about the two
cards' benefits, please post to this thread. I regularly update this
message to reflect additions and feedback from others.
Another high-end Amex credit card is the Centurion, which costs $2,500
per year (unless you got it before a certain date), but whose benefits
should be strictly superior to the Platinum card. While this thread
is about the comparably priced Chairman and Platinum cards, if people
have experiences in which the Chairman card compares favorably to the
Centurion card, these, too, are relevant as they mean the Chairman
card benefit is likely better than the Platinum one. More information
about Platinum and Centurion card benefits is available here:
http://www.geocities.jp/ctwxg845/platvscent.html
Please double check your card agreement before relying on anything in
this post, as there may be errors or outdated information here.
* Cost
PLATINUM: The Platinum card costs $395/year. Extra cards are
$150/year. You can also get a business version of the Platinum card
for $300/year, which has almost the same benefits as the personal card
except for some shopping benefits and the ability to contact the
concierge on-line. Note, however, that business credit cards in
general offer less consumer protection. The following web site has a
discussion of this issue:
http://www.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?story=smallbizcards
CHAIRMAN: $400/year. Additional cards are free, but do not come with
additional PriorityPass cards (which you need to get airport lounge
access). Also, expenses from additional credit cards cannot be
separated out on the web site, as with Platinum.
* Warranty extension: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: If you buy something with a warranty of five years or less,
doubles the warranty up to one year. So a five year warranty becomes
a six year warranty.
CHAIRMAN: Doubles the warranty, but only if original warranty is less
than one year. So a one year warranty becomes two years, but an
18-month or 5-year warranty is not extended.
* Best value guarantee: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Called the "price protection program." If you buy
something and find a print ad with a cheaper price within 60 days, you
can get back up to $1,000.
PLATINUM: The program is limited to $250, and will soon be phased out
if it hasn't been already.
* Return protection: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: You can return anything you buy up to a $300 refund within
90 days of purchase, even if the store won't take it back.
CHAIRMAN: No equivalent benefit.
* Purchase protection plan: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Protects purchased items for 90 days against theft, damage,
or loss, for up to $10,000. Doesn't cover theft from unlocked or
unsecured vehicles, but appears to cover theft from a secured vehicle.
CHAIRMAN: Protects purchased items for 90 days up to $500 against
many types of theft and damage, not including theft from a vehicle
(locked or unlocked).
* Web site: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Allows you to see your statements and recent activity. You
can also download your full statement in PDF format, or print a
nice-looking summary of a custom subset of your transactions. Both of
these features are useful for getting reimbursed--for instance if you
want to print out business expenses but not personal activity, or if
two different organizations want a copy of your credit card statement
for reimbursing different expenses. However, there is often a lag of
a few days before transactions show up. Some people report
occasionally hitting little glitches on the web site.
Platinum also allows you to contact concierge on-line. I find this
convenient when traveling overseas when using a real telephone is a
pain. (Though these days Skype let's you call U.S. 800 numbers free
from your computer). You can also book travel on-line, but I find the
interface incredibly bad. Both concierge and on-line travel booking
require a separate username and password from your main login, which
is even more of a pain.
CHAIRMAN: Can get your statements or recent activity on-line, but
print-outs look less official (might need to go photocopy your real
statement), and no subset feature. No web pages describing the card's
benefits (other than the one PDF file here
http://www.smithbarney.com/pdf/chairmanbook.pdf, which is a
bit out of date at this point).
There is also a concierge service you can use on-line at
http://myconcierge.vipdesk.com/, which allows you to browse a database
of frequently asked questions about different destinations. The
on-line concierge service is the same as for many other Citibank
cards. It is separate from and inferior to the personal assistants
you get by calling the Chairman card number. Thus, while the database
may be useful, you should probably direct any non-trivial requests to
the personal assistants you get by phone. Also note that some of the
information in the database may be out of date--for example, under
"What is the most affordable airport ground transportation?" for SFO
they list Cal Train but not BART.
* Virtual credit card numbers: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Allows you to create virtual credit card numbers that can
be revoked. Never again forget about things like web site
subscriptions that "auto-renew", because you can limit a virtual
credit card number to one transaction, to a particular expiration
date, or even to a dollar amount. (Note: Citibank's virtual credit
card numbers provide the same functionality as MBNA's "ShopSafe"
service. However, Citibank's web interface is less convenient; each
time you access it you must type your password to sign in, then accept
a license agreement to launch a flash application, then re-type your
password when the flash application launches.)
PLATINUM: Had a similar but inferior service called
"privatepayments", which was canceled several years ago.
* Foreign transactions: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Adds 2% to the exchange rate.
CHAIRMAN: Adds a 3% fee, which shows up as a separate transaction on
your statement. (I think--haven't tried it, but they state 3% and
this is what other Citibank cards do.)
[But why pay any foreign transaction fee? I recommend also carrying a
free card with no foreign transaction fee. For example, the
CapitalOne No Hassle Rewards Visa, which gives 1% cash
back. (http://apply2.capitalone.com/9629/8/index.jsp)]
* Companion airline tickets: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Allows you to get a free domestic or international
companion ticket in either coach or first class. Works on the "big 5"
US carriers. For a domestic ticket, the cheapest ticket on the route
must be around $400, and you can find out immediately. Depending on
where you live, many people find the benefit never works for them.
Out of SFO, however, I've been offered a price for domestic tickets
25% cheaper than the best I could find on Orbitz.
For an international ticket, you must buy a full-price Y fare in coach
(and probably full-price in F, too). There is an "international desk"
that may need to research your tickets and get back to you, though
I've also been quoted an international fare directly.
PLATINUM: The benefit only works for international tickets in
business or first class, and only on foreign airlines. It also
appears the tickets have to be full-fare, which may be more than twice
as expensive as a discounted business-class ticket.
* Miles/Points: depends
CHAIRMAN: Runs their own frequent-flyer-like Thank You (TY) points
system. You get one point per dollar spent on most purchases, and
three points per dollar spent on gas, groceries, parking, and drugs.
Each of these so-called "purchase points" can be matched with a
"flight point", which you earn for any plane ticket bought with the
Chairman card, including tickets for other people.
If you earn more flight points than purchase points (easy to do if you
buy tickets for other people), flight points effectively halve the
cost of all awards, and you can earn rewards very quickly. For
instance, you can get a free coach-class domestic or Canada ticket
after spending only $12,500 (or even just $4,200 on triple-point
purchases). Moreover, you still get regular airline miles for all
flights you take--including award flights redeemed with TY points.
One drawback is that you cannot combine TY points with airline
frequent flier miles. Moreover, premium cabin C/F tickets are much
more expensive in TY points than in frequent flyer miles, and TY
points cannot be used to upgrade tickets. Another downside is that
the TY-point cost of trips is not precisely spelled out anywhere,
though some guidance is available here:
http://www.citibank.com/us/cards/cardserv/premierpass/travel-sample.htm
https://www.thankyounetwork.com/faq.jspx
The following thread is also a good resource:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=529921
It sounds like often award tickets are on AA, and sometimes on UA,
while you are less likely to get a free ticket on Skyteam airlines
such as Delta, Continental, and Northwest.
PLATINUM: You get one membership reward point for each dollar
charged. The card currently offers double points for everyday
purchases, but this feature will be phased out in October 2006.
Membership rewards can be converted to frequent flyer miles for the
following airlines: Airtran, ANA, AeroMexico, Air Canada,
Continental, Delta, El Al, Frontier, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue,
Mexicana, Southwest, and Virgin. For most airlines, membership
rewards convert to frequent flyer miles at a 1:1 ratio and there is a
fee of $0.40 per 1,000 points transfered (capped at $50 per
transaction). Periodically there are bonus offers when transferring
to frequent flier programs--for example, a 25% bonus when transfering
over 10,000 points to Delta frequent flyer miles. However, note that
the list of airlines does not include United or American airlines.
BOTTOM LINE: Platinum is best if you want to redeem points for
upgrade awards--as long as you can purchase tickets from one of the
supported airlines.
Chairman is best if you want free coach-class travel. Chairman may
also have a slight edge for premium travel when you factor in the
airline's frequent flyer miles--which you get even on free tickets.
For example, say you are an AA flyer. A business-class trip to Europe
costs 165,000 TY points, which you would have after flying 82,500
miles AND charging $82,500. After redeeming TY points, you still have
82,500 AAdvantage miles, plus mileage for your free trip, for a total
of around 90,000 AAdvantage miles--enough for another free Business
class trip to Europe. With Platinum, any combination of charging
$90,000 OR flying 90,000 miles gets you 90,000 miles on Delta,
Continental, Northwest, or any of the other partners (which do not
include UA or AA). So you could fly sooner with Platinum, but in the
long run will get fewer free trips.
Another factor to consider is your primary airline. If you primarily
fly American or United, the AMEX membership rewards will be less
useful to you. Conversely, TY award tickets, which are often on AA
(and sometimes UA), will not help you earn miles or status on Skyteam
airlines such as DL, CO, or NW.
* Lounge access: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Priority pass gets you and at least two guests into some
lounge in most airports for free, regardless of what airline you are
flying. However, the lounge may not be run by the airline you are
flying, so it won't help with irregular ops.
PLATINUM: You get lounge access with two guests when flying Delta,
Continental, or Northwest airlines, but you have to be flying the
airline that corresponds to the lounge. Many fewer international
lounges are available than with Chairman's priority pass. Platinum
also gives you Eurostar lounge access.
[As someone who predominantly flies United, I see this as a big
advantage for Chairman. However, if you fly one of the three Platinum
airlines, Platinum may be better. In particular, if you live in New
York, the Delta crown room in JFK Terminal 2 is a combined Crown
room/Business elite lounge providing a great light meal
service--fantastic benefit! This was particularly wonderful when
flying cheap domestic Song flights, which left from Detla's
international terminal. Don't know what domestic flights get you in
now.]
* Baggage Insurance: CHAIRMAN
PLATINUM: Adds $500 to base insurance of checked bags, and gives you
$1,250 of insurance for carry-on bags.
CHAIRMAN: Adds $3,000 of insurance per occurrence for lost/damaged
baggage.
* Trip insurance: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Get up to $1,500 if you miss a flight because of a medical
emergency or death in the family.
* Private jet rental: ?
No idea because I've never chartered a jet... I suspect only a small
fraction of cardholders do, and this benefit is mainly included to add
an aura of exclusive luxury to the cards.
* Car rental status: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: National emerald club (but you have to keep signing up every
year if you don't use it), Avis Preferred Select, and Hertz #1 Club
Gold with a complimentary one-class upgrade. More information is
available on this web page:
https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/carrentalpartner.jsp
CHAIRMAN: no equivalent
* Car rental insurance: depends
CHAIRMAN: Collision damage waiver (secondary to your own insurance),
up to $50,000. Applies world-wide, but excludes some cars, like
off-road vehicles.
PLATINUM: Collision damage waiver (secondary to your own insurance).
Excludes cars rented in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica,
and New Zealand. Only valid for cars originally priced at most
$50,000. Other restrictions apply, similar to the Chairman card, such
as no antique or exotic cars. Platinum also gives you up to $5,000 of
medical insurance in case of accident for each person in the car, and
$200,000 of death/dismemberment insurance for the card holder and
$20,000 for each passenger. Total payout is limited to $300,000.
WARNING: There are reports on the AMEX board
(http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=580152) that
the American Express CDW does not apply if any coupons are used in
conjunction with the rental--for instance if you used a coupon to get
a discount or a free day. If you are paying anything other than the
full "rack" rate for your car, you should probably contact AMEX to
verify they will still cover you in the event that you select the CDW.
I contacted the Chairman insurance number, and it sounds like there is
a similar restriction with the Chairman card. The Citi insurance
person told me a percentage off discount would be okay, but anything
with a free day, or any kind of package deal (e.g., car rental
purchased with airline tickets) would not qualify for the Chairman
CDW program.
BOTTOM LINE: In some situations (such as Australia, etc.), renting
with Chairman gets you insurance while renting with Platinum does not.
However, when Platinum insurance is valid, you get medical and
death/dismemberment insurance not available from the Chairman card.
* Hotel chain benefits: tie
PLATINUM: Gives you Starwood preferred gold.
CHAIRMAN: Gives you Hilton gold.
[Which is better depends on which chain you like.]
* Fancy hotel benefits: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: At a bunch of designated "Fine Hotels and Resorts" (FHR)
properties (which you can search here:
http://www134.americanexpress.com/travelfhr/PlatCCSGServlet?request_type=pcfhrfinder),
you can get:
- A space available room upgrade
- Complimentary continental breakfast for 2
- Guaranteed late checkout (to 4 PM)
- One additional amenity depending on the property (usually things
like a spa credit, a free dinner for 2, welcome basket, etc.)
You have to book with Platinum Travel Services at the AMEX FHR
rate--sometimes not the cheapest, but very often worth it when
considering the benefits, like the upgrade and late checkout. This
benefit won't work if you are traveling for work and need to book
directly with the hotel to get a conference rate.
CHAIRMAN: Supposedly a 20% discount or something of equivalent value
at Leading Hotels of the World. See the following web page:
http://www.lhw.com/chairman
However, very little experience has been posted here about people
using the benefit. [Can anyone add anything?]
* International wireless phone rental: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Free international phone for up to a month from Planetphone.
Presumably you get reamed on the per-minute charges. Excludes non-GSM
countries Japan and South Korea.
PLATINUM: Rent a phone for $3/day and $2-$7 per minute, with $25 of
free air time if you rent for a week. Can also get a satellite phone
for $15/day.
[My recommendation: Just buy a SIM card for wherever you are
traveling to--this is discussed in the travel technology board. Both
these programs sound like rip-offs. But if you don't have a GSM phone
in the U.S., maybe you can get the Chairman loaner phone for free and
stick in your own SIM. I'd love to hear from someone whether these
phones are locked.]
* Cruise benefits: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: fti reports, "AmEx cruise benefit is nice... received two
category upgrade (i.e. from back or front of ship to midship, but
still inside to inside, balcony to balcony or minisuite to minisuite),
complimentary dinner at the specialty restaurant on board ($20/person
value), and a couple of other smaller things I don't remember. Can
book up to 3 cabins on the same cruise with these benefits."
* "Lifestyle benefits": PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Get special tickets to things.
[None of these events has ever even remotely interested me.]
* Emergency medical insurance: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Covers medical/evacuation costs when you are more than 100
miles from your house, so long as you let them make the arrangements.
No explicit maximum mentioned.
CHAIRMAN: Covers up to $50,000 in medical expenses when traveling
more than 50 miles from your house. But... you only get the benefit
if you booked your trip with the chairman card--which seems like a
serious drawback! E.g., if you buy a plane ticket to London with the
Chairman card, then use a free Eurostar "compensation" ticket (from a
previous delayed trip) to get to Paris, you may not be covered.
* Common carrier insurance: CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN: Insures you for $1,000,000 against loss of life (scaled down
for various injuries).
PLATINUM: Insures you for $500,000 against loss of life (scaled down
for various injuries).
* Road-side assistance: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: When driving more than 50 miles from your house, provides
free towing, but only to the nearest facility (as opposed to AAA,
which can tow to your preferred garage with only mileage limitations).
The 50 mile requirement may soon be eliminated, too.
CHAIRMAN: If you call 1-800-MC-ASSIST they will arrange to get you
unstuck, but you will have to pay for everything. There's still a
benefit because Citibank (or mastercard) claims to have negotiated a
favorable towing rate.
* Customer service: ?
Anecdotally, I've noticed more people happy with Chairman customer
service, but not sure how to compare objectively. Getting a human on
the phone requires fewer levels of menu navigation with the Chairman
card. After punching in your card number and social security number,
the first thing you are told is to press zero to talk to someone.
A significant limitation of the Chairman card is that it is difficult
to reach customer service with an international collect call. The
card has a number for collect calls on the back, but instead of
connecting to the same place as the 800 number, it goes to regular
Citicard customer support, so you have to hold for a human and then
ask to be transfered to a Chairman card CSR. If you are traveling
with a laptop and have Internet connectivity, you might try Skype
(http://www.skype.com/), which allows free calls to 800
numbers. But clearly Platinum concierge is easier to reach from other
countries.
One limitation of the Platinum card is that it is harder to arrange a
card replacement. A Platinum card replacement can take you over half
an hour on the phone, compared to under five minutes for the Chairman
card. Also, with the Chairman card, they will tell give you a
tracking number for your new card as soon as it is sent, whereas with
Platinum you must wait until the quoted delivery day.
* Concierge service: ?
Both cards offer a concierge or personal assistant service. Again,
the Chairman requires fewer levels of touch-tone menu navigation to
speak with a human being. Anecdotally I've seen more praise for
Chairman personal assistant, but also a few complaints. See for
instance this thread:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=564543
As with customer service, international collect calls to the personal
assistants are difficult and require first getting transfered to a
Chairman CSR, then to a personal assistant.
In one head-to-head comparison of the Amex Centurion concierge to the
Chairman card, asking about commercial real estate, the Chairman card
seems to have come out ahead. See the following posts:
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6276077&postcount=41
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6270833&postcount=20
* Restaurant reservations: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: Has reserved tables at a bunch of restaurants in New York,
LA, San Francisco, and Miami--so you may be able to get a table you
wouldn't have without the card. Lists these restaurants on-line.
CHAIRMAN: Claims to have some special deal with restaurants in New
York and LA, but not San Francisco or Miami. No details readily
available.
Answer
...good assessment. So good that I cannot add much :) However, I am not at a total loss:
1. You can contact Chairman Concierge at http://myconcierge.vipdesk.com.
2. The restaurant benefit in NYC was easily when I called Chairman Concierge. If you have a restaurant in mind give them a call. They also have a list. I was told that they have reserved seats available on a first come first serve basis. They have been able to accomodate my reservations.
3. The pdf posted on the Smith Barney site is out of date. (Last time that I checked it did not mention the two free Priority Pass guests per visit.)
4. Merrill Lynch Plus is a good no-foreign transaction fee card. The rewards program is a bit restrictive, but if you spend alot it is a great card. Spend $50k and it gives you the elusive free AA club membership. Spend $20k and get your airline status matched on AA.
Answer
I'm a former Amex Platinum cardholder and a current Citi Chairman cardholder (though I hold several other Amexes that I use for most of my spend.)
The Citibank Chairman card and American Express Platinum card both cost approximately $400 per year
The Small Business version of the Amex Platinum costs $300/yr, vs $395/yr for the personal version. The benefits are almost the same, but you do not get the everyday double points on the Small Business version (this can be fixed by, say, getting a personal Blue.) You also get some OPEN discounts with various merchants. One can apply for the Small Business version as a sole proprietor using his or her SSN in place of the EIN if desired.
* Best value guarantee
PLATINUM: I can't find a mention of this benefit on the web site anymore, so it may have been phased out.
According to posts in the American Express forum, this benefit is indeed officially being phased out, if it has not already been.
* Web site: PLATINUM
I have noted that the Amex website is often very slow and spits out errors more than it should. Additionally, the last several times I have tried to use the Membership Rewards website to redeem MR points, at the final stage the transaction (a transfer to Delta in each case) failed, forcing me to call to make the transfer. Nonetheless, I agree with your other points and that the website for the Platinum card is indeed superior (if slightly broken at times.)
Platinum also allows you to contact concierge on-line.
This is actually the ONE benefit that the Business Platinum seems to lack; you have to call them. However, one can contact the Chairman Concierge via email. I'll add more in the concierge section.
* Miles/Points: CHAIRMAN
I think this one depends more on personal travel preferences. As you mentioned, premium cabin tickets are quite expensive point-wise with the TY program as opposed to with airline FF programs, so for a traveler that generally likes to spend points on those, Amex wins in my opinion.
Also, the Chairman card currently appears to award TY flight points if you pay the taxes on an award ticket with the card. This is assumedly not intentional and not a proper benefit, so your mileage may vary (quite literally), and expect this to disappear sometime. There are also reports of TY flight points posting without enough regular TY points to match, but if this is still the case, I'm sure they're working on fixing it.
* Lounge access: CHAIRMAN
In the US, Priority Pass seems to mostly provide access to DL, CO, and/or NW lounges in most locations, some UA lounges, and various others to fill in the gaps. So if you are a DL/CO/NW/UA flyer, there is a higher chance your lounges may be covered by Priority Pass than with other airlines. Of course, international lounge access is far superior.
* Car rental insurance: ?
The Chairman Card also provides coverage in various countries (Ireland, Australia, others) that Amex excludes. Not sure of the specifics on what Amex's exclusions are.
* Hotel chain benefits: tie
Also note that one can get Preferred Plus status with Starwood (Gold minus the 50% point bonus) by having a Starwood Amex at $30/yr. Of course this has nothing to do with either card, but in my opinion makes HH Gold slightly more valuable. And there are of course other ways to get status at each... so I'd agree this really is a tie.
* Concierge service: ?
I have used both for similar tasks, but not for the same task. In almost every case, the Chairman Personal Assistants performed the task better and more quickly. They have also performed highly involved tasks (involving calling quite a few foreign numbers to research various things) that I do not believe the Amex Platinum concierge would do. In my personal experience I rate the Chairman Personal Assistant significantly better than the Amex Platinum Concierge.
As I noted above, the Chairman Concierge can be contacted via email. Responding to a prior email from them works well, as should sending an email from a registered address. Additionally, they've been quite happy to call me back at an foreign number on a couple of occasions after calling or emailing them and requesting that.
I agree that someone needs to assign several varied tasks to both concierge services simultaneously to come up with a clear winner in an objective fashion.
Actually, if anyone wants to try this out, I have a good test case. I just recently made perhaps the oddest concierge request I've ever done: I was having an argument with a friend about the potential miniscule calorie content of Listerine Pocket Pack breath strips since they're obviously stated as zero. I emailed the Chairman Personal Assistants from a Treo and asked them to kindly research the actual calorie content of this product. About half an hour later they responded after having contacted the manufacturer by phone with the information I requested, along with additional details on the general makeup of the product and a list of ingredients. Anyone want to pose this same question to the Amex Concierge and see how well they perform? :)
* Restaurant reservations: PLATINUM
Additionally, Amex seems to have the ability to occasionally find availability at restaurants that are otherwise fully booked, simply due to their brand name power with merchants.
* Customer service: CHAIRMAN
One button press after entering your card number and SSN with the Chairman Card. Amex's phone tree is a huge pain by comparison. Also, I have not once have had to hold for a customer service representative at Citi, whereas I have experienced long holds on occasion with Amex. The actual representatives seem to be more proactively helpful at Citi, as well as able to directly handle more tasks (e.g., card replacement, issues with other Citi cards, TY points, etc) than Amex, where you are often transferred with long hold times for things such as the above.
Answer
<<Business version of the Amex Platinum costs $300/yr, vs $395/yr for the personal version. The benefits are almost the same, but you do not get the everyday double points >>
This becomes irrelevant in October 2006 because American Express is eliminating double points for Everyday Spending on all cards. However, the personal Platinum card also provides some benefits for shopping at Neiman Marcus, Saks, etc that someone somewhere may find beneficial, and these are not included in the Business version.
dennis
Answer
I could not find the cost for additional cards on the Chairman site? Anyone have the number? Could sway my decision.
Answer
I could not find the cost for additional cards on the Chairman site? Anyone have the number? Could sway my decision.
Cost is zero but you don't get an additional PriorityPass card, of course.
I got an additional card for my wife a week after signing up. Rewards are almost as good as having her use a 5% cash back card for gas/groceries/pharmacy and Amex SPG for the rest. The whole thing is much simpler: "Here dear, use this for everything" (and every place will accept it too)
I totally agree about the Citi Chairman customer service: just plain awesome so far. They even offered to Fedex my wife her card (like they had done for my PriorityPass). I kindly refused the offer.
The one thing I'm bummed out about is the expenses from both cards aren't separated on the online statement, unlike Amex SPG.
Answer
Thanks for the feedback. I just edited the first post and tried to incorporate everyone's feedback. One thing I'm still unsure of is Miles/Points. It seems to me that even for premium travel Chairman is better, since you get the airline points, too. But I changed it to "depends" because I want to be as objective as possible.
Answer
This may have changed, but in the past the Avis Preferred status you receive for free through the AMEX Platinum card was actually their elite level Preferreded Select status. Also, if you signed up for Hertz through the AMEX Platinum invitation they hard code a "one car class upgrade" into your profile, but that too may have changed.
Answer
This may have changed, but in the past the Avis Preferred status you receive for free through the AMEX Platinum card was actually their elite level Preferreded Select status. Also, if you signed up for Hertz through the AMEX Platinum invitation they hard code a "one car class upgrade" into your profile, but that too may have changed.
When I log into Avis, it tells me "Membership Status: Preferred Member" (despite the fact that I haven't rented with them in years).
When I log into Hertz, it tells me I'm a "Hertz #1 club gold member".
I doubt I've benefited from either feature as I generally request small cars regardless of upgrades (particularly if I'm going anyplace where parking may be hard to find), so I'm probably not the best person to describe this feature. Do you want to suggest an alternative wording for the following point?
* Car rental status: PLATINUM
PLATINUM: National emerald club (but you have to keep signing up every
year if you don't use it), Avis preferred, and Hertz Gold.
CHAIRMAN: no equivalent
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One thing I'm still unsure of is Miles/Points. It seems to me that even for premium travel Chairman is better, since you get the airline points, too. But I changed it to "depends" because I want to be as objective as possible.
My big thing here is that you obviously can't combine TY points with existing airlines miles like you can with Amex MR points... So that makes MR (and SPG) even more valuable for premium travel for me. Also, I wouldn't count on continuing to get miles on award travel in the future (especially on a Citi-issued ticket where they can be certain it's award travel and not just a really cheap fare.) There have been rumors of some sort of airline transfer coming about in the Chairman Card thread in this forum. Since Citi DOES own Diners Club which offers this feature, it seems feasible. If they give me that ability, I'm guessing my Amexes will suddenly start seeing very, very little usage. :)
Also, the fact that you apparently are defaulted to flying on AA makes this less lucrative for me as I'm currently reasonably loyal to Delta and have most of my miles going that way... I also don't charge enough to get premium tickets with TY points from scratch reasonably soon, whereas I have enough scattered miles and MR/SPG points to make that more feasible. And mileage upgrades are important to me too.
But I do agree that for many people, the TY program travel benefits are definitely better.
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* Customer service: ?
Anecdotally, I've noticed more people happy with Chairman customer
service, but not sure how to compare objectively.
Personally I think you should award this to the Chairman Card. As I mentioned, it is much easier to get to a human (no phone tree), and the reps can definitely perform a wider range of tasks as I noted. On these two points alone I think the service wins (plus the less objective experiences of shorter hold times and friendliness.)
Actually, I'd award it just on the one simple fact that the Chairman reps can do a card replacement directly. Amex has to transfer you to card replacement, who you might have to wait on hold for, and then you get ANOTHER possible hold to get to card replacement special services if you need an international replacement. You CAN call card replacement directly or get to it through the menu, but there is no direct route to card replacement special services other than being transferred. (I asked both a regular CSR if they could send me directly there knowing card replacement would have to re-transfer me, as well as asking card replacement special services for a direct number, and was denied in both cases.) I have done approximately 5 international replacements with Amex and the total call times ranged from 10 to 40 minutes, averaging around 15 - 20. I have done only one international replacement on my Chairman Card but the total call time was about 3 minutes. They replaced both my Chairman Card and Priority Pass from that one call, so you do get both done at the same time.
Oh, and thank you very much for putting this all together. Forgot to mention that previously. :)
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Actually, I'd award it just on the one simple fact that the Chairman reps can do a card replacement directly...
I have done approximately 5 international replacements with Amex and the total call times ranged from 10 to 40 minutes, averaging around 15 - 20. I have done only one international replacement on my Chairman Card but the total call time was about 3 minutes.
Wow, that's a lot of card replacements! What happened?
Anyway, the point is that different people value different things. For example, I've never needed a card replacement, and hope I never do. On the off chance that I should lose the card, waiting 40 minutes would be annoying but not the end of the world.
On the other hand, I've found AMEX in general to be excellent with things like billing complaints, while Citibank leaves a lot to be desired. Granted I haven't had any problems with the Chairman card yet, but I notice that a lot of my Chairman correspondence is signed by the same "S. Larson" who wrote the form letters that originally drove me away from Citibank when they couldn't correct a $5 error after half a dozen letters.
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Wow, that's a lot of card replacements! What happened?
That would be me significantly shuffling around my Amex card "portfolio" (cancelled the Business Platinum, switched to a personal GRP and SkyMiles, new HH, etc) as well as applying for the Chairman Card while out of the country for several months. :)
So not really a card replacement, just me being unable to get the initial cards easily! (I did ask Amex if they could bundle multiple cards together to reduce the hassle on both ends, but they couldn't.)
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Excellent summary!
I've been considering a switch and this was good info to have.
I do want to clarify the Amex Plat Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) program however, because I do feel that it is one of the better benefits of the card, IF you use it. The FHR program basically gives you:
--A space available room upgrade
--Complimentary continental breakfast for 2
--Guaranteed late checkout (to 4 PM)
--One additional amenity depending on the property (usually things like a spa credit, a free dinner for 2, welcome basket, etc.)
You have to book with PTS at an FHR property at the FHR rate--sometimes not the cheapest, but very often worth it when considering the benefits, like the upgrade and late checkout.
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I do want to clarify the Amex Plat Fine Hotels and Resorts (FHR) program however, because I do feel that it is one of the better benefits of the card, IF you use it...
Thanks. I just updated to include your points.
Now I would love to hear from anyone who has used the Chairman card's "Leading Hotels of the World" benefit...
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When I log into Avis, it tells me "Membership Status: Preferred Member" (despite the fact that I haven't rented with them in years).
When I log into Hertz, it tells me I'm a "Hertz #1 club gold member".
I doubt I've benefited from either feature as I generally request small cars regardless of upgrades (particularly if I'm going anyplace where parking may be hard to find), so I'm probably not the best person to describe this feature. Do you want to suggest an alternative wording for the following point?Did you sign up for these programs with applications from AMEX Platinum though. When I signed up for these, 9 or so years ago now, AMEX Platinum sent me specific applications. I did not have a Hertz or National number already, so those were easy, in the case of Avis I already had an account with them, so I filled in my information and made sure to note my existing Wizard number and they added the Preferred Select benefit to my existing account and I've had it since (unlike my SPG Gold status which I have to call in periodically to have them renew).
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Did you sign up for these programs with applications from AMEX Platinum though.
Yes. I signed up with the links on this web page:
https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/carrentalpartner.jsp
The National emerald club seems to have expired (I've used it, but not for many years), but the other two are still valid.
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Thanks. I just updated to include your points.
Now I would love to hear from anyone who has used the Chairman card's "Leading Hotels of the World" benefit...
I have stayed at on the LHR's but did not book thru their website....so when I showed them the Chairman Card...nothing...
But if you do book thru the website, then I guess you are supposed to get upgraded...not done it yet though...
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4. Merrill Lynch Plus is a good no-foreign transaction fee card. The rewards program is a bit restrictive, but if you spend alot it is a great card. Spend $50k and it gives you the elusive free AA club membership. Spend $20k and get your airline status matched on AA.
I'd just like to add in- M+ reward points are transferrable to british airways executive club, which means they aren't as useless as capital one points. Regularly use this to upgrade to WT+ or from WT+ to CW.
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Okay, unfortunately I have some negatives on the Chairman Card customer service and concierge to add in the interest of objectivity:
Calling collect is a HUGE PAIN with this card. The collect number for both the Chairman Card and the Personal Assistant service is the same, and the number routes you to a regular Citi customer service rep rather than a Chairman Card CSR. So you have a higher chance of waiting on hold, and you have at least one transfer to get to the Personal Assistant or Chairman Card CSR.
I tried this three times over the past few days. Each time I specifically stated that I would like to talk to the Chairman Card Personal Assistants.
Attempt 1: Got a regular CSR after a short hold. Explained where I needed to be transferred, and after 2 - 3 minutes of research, I was silently transferred to the "MasterCard Assistance Center" (apparently just general MasterCard, not affiliated with Citi; the menu gave me odd options such as selecting if I was a merchant or a card processor.) Obviously not where I wanted to go, and no way to go back without a new call.
Attempt 2: Got a regular CSR fairly quickly. Explained my request again, and was told I was being transferred to the "Chairman Assistance Line" (or something confusing like that.) I got someone who I started explaining my concierge request to, and after both of us being confused, realized I was talking to a regular Chairman Card CSR. At this point she kindly transferred me to the Personal Assistants. Total time to get to a Personal Assistant: approximately 6 minutes (including time to make the collect call.)
Attempt 3: Got a regular CSR after a short hold. Same as attempt 2, except it was clearly stated that I was talking to a Chairman Card CSR and not a Personal Assistant. She transferred me to the Personal Assistants again. Total time to get there: approximately 7 minutes (caveat same as above.)
So apparently the regular CSRs need to be educated about what to do when a customer calls in and asks for a Personal Assistant since I shouldn't have to be transferred twice and deal with perhaps being transferred to the completely wrong place (I'll be in touch with Citi again to complain about this.) Additionally, they really ought to add a direct collect-callable number, at least for the Chairman Card CSR, and preferably for the Personal Assistants as well. (I've asked both and have been told the number on my card is the only number available.) American Express provides local and/or toll-free numbers in many countries which is a plus for them; currently I can't call anywhere outside of Europe with the SIM I have (other than using my US cell and racking up hideous roaming charges) so calling collect is the only decent option other than email/web... American Express has also (at least when I was in Australia) given me the number for their local concierge, who were much more helpful with Australia-related information than the general Amex concierge (and much easier to get to with my Australian cell at the time, of course.)
Oh, and another problem... AT&T has the Citi collect number listed as blocked from collect calls! Pretty funny when the first thing you hear when you call it is "we accept collect calls." I had a very minor argument over this with an AT&T rep (I just wanted her to TRY the number and hear the message for herself) before giving up. I mentioned this to a regular Citi CSR (that I thought was a Chairman Card CSR at the time; I'll have to mention it to one of them next time I call.) Used an MCI WorldPhone toll-free access number in the UK instead with no problems.
So in summary, both Chairman Card customer service and the Personal Assistants are much more difficult to contact internationally, either via a collect call or a local number, than American Express is. (I forget if the Concierge has their own number. I think you still have to call the regular collect number for American Express and be transferred, but every time I've done that it's been quite straightforward as their CSRs all seem to know what the Concierge is. Someone correct me if I'm wrong there.)
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So in summary, both Chairman Card customer service and the Personal Assistants are much more difficult to contact internationally, either via a collect call or a local number, than American Express is.
Excellent point. I just updated to reflect this. I find it hard to believe they don't just have a regular phone number that goes to the same place as the 800 number, but that definitely appears to be the case. Or at least the system should recognize a Chairman card account number when you punch that in, then direct you appropriately.
When I'm overseas, I often have Internet connectivity and just use skype to call US 800 numbers (which is free), because that's easier than figuring out how to dial collect from overseas (which I'd probably search the web to figure out how to do anyway). But if you are planning to call personal assistants from a cell phone to get dinner reservations and such on the fly the way you do from the US, this is a significant limitation.
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Did you sign up for these programs with applications from AMEX Platinum though. When I signed up for these, 9 or so years ago now, AMEX Platinum sent me specific applications. I did not have a Hertz or National number already, so those were easy, in the case of Avis I already had an account with them, so I filled in my information and made sure to note my existing Wizard number and they added the Preferred Select benefit to my existing account and I've had it since (unlike my SPG Gold status which I have to call in periodically to have them renew).
With the SPG gold status do you call and actually get enrolled into the program or do you have to book through PTS to get the SPG gold benefits which would be almost the same as FHR benfits?
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When I'm overseas, I often have Internet connectivity and just use skype to call US 800 numbers (which is free), because that's easier than figuring out how to dial collect from overseas (which I'd probably search the web to figure out how to do anyway).
I do the same generally; $10 of SkypeOut credit has lasted me quite a few months to call non-800 US and non-US numbers as well. I had limited Internet access the past few days so after figuring out how to make a collect call from a UK cell I ran into these fun limitations...
With the SPG gold status do you call and actually get enrolled into the program or do you have to book through PTS to get the SPG gold benefits which would be almost the same as FHR benfits?
With both Amex Platinum's SPG Gold and Citi Chairman's HH Gold you get updated status in those programs at the appropriate level the same as if you'd just earned it. (You do start off with 0 stays/nights in both, or whatever you were at before, and not what Golds would be at, but that's certainly fair.)
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With the SPG gold status do you call and actually get enrolled into the program or do you have to book through PTS to get the SPG gold benefits which would be almost the same as FHR benfits?
No, as far as I know it is regular SPG gold. You just have to mention code "SN" when you sign up. See the following web page:
https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/starwoodguest.jsp
I actually signed up for both SPG Gold and Hilton Gold only a few weeks ago (reading flyertalk convinced me to start accumulating hotel points, too), and haven't received anything official like a membership card in the mail yet, so can't say for sure, but I don't think you have to book through AMEX travel or anything.
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Thanks for the excellent comparison. Just a few thoughts:
with AmEX Platinum, you can often wait for bonus offers to transfer your miles from MR to DL or CO. For example, right now DL is offering a 25% bonus for transferring over 10,000 points (targetted offer but others have tried). Last year I received 30% bonus. That greatly enhances the value of your MR points.
AmEx customer service in the past year has, in my opinion, gone markedly downhill. I have several examples but long wait times on hold, being told different answers to the same question but different cs reps, etc.
AmEx cruise benefit is nice. Booked with Princess earlier this year, received two category upgrade (i.e. from back or front of ship to midship, but still inside to inside, balcony to balcony or minisuite to minisuite), complimentary dinner at the specialty restaurant on board ($20/person value), and a couple of other smaller things I don't remember. Can book up to 3 cabins on the same cruise with these benefits.
Question - does the Chairman card allow 'no preset spending limit'? This is a huge benefit for me with AmEx since I charge a lot for my business.
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Question - does the Chairman card allow 'no preset spending limit'? This is a huge benefit for me with AmEx since I charge a lot for my business.
Well, your question brings up multiple issues... Your Amex does not have a "non-preset spending limit." There is a fixed number in there that regular CSRs do not have access to (but Account Services does) that is your credit limit. You could try to guess at it by having a CSR charge various amounts to the card.
I recently ran into this problem with a new personal Gold Rewards Plus. The hiddenly-preset spending limit is approximately 4% of my total credit line on credit card products with Amex (of which around 25% is in use due to having a large balance on a 1.9% lifetime APR.) The limit is also around 15% of what the hiddenly-preset limit was on my former Business Platinum that I cancelled. (And my business has very little credit history, so that's pretty much based on my personal credit.) If it was a credit card I could simply reallocate from other cards, online or over the phone. But since it's a charge card I'm stuck with an annoyingly low limit until it will supposedly increase after 6 months of spend/payment history on that specific card. I have good credit and a flawless payment history with Amex so this makes absolutely no sense to me at all, other than the fact that I've churned about half a dozen Amexes in the past two years for bonuses.
Citi does indeed offer a "no-preset spending limit." They do it in what appears to be a much more intelligent fashion: you have an actual revolving credit limit, as with a regular credit card, that you can move between the Chairman Card and other cards. If you hit that limit, purchases will be approved on hidden criteria as Amex does with their "no-preset" limit. (Though in my experience, as stated, there is a hard limit with Amex and they absolutely will not approve past that.) As I've never come close to the limit on my Chairman Card I couldn't tell you what happens if you do happen to reach that limit...
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Question - does the Chairman card allow 'no preset spending limit'? This is a huge benefit for me with AmEx since I charge a lot for my business.
This is how it works with CITI:
1) You get revolving credit limit which has a credit (for example 5000 USD)
2) You can use the credit line as you wish, but if you go over lets say by 500USD, then CITI will decide that amount based on factors such as payment history, overall balance and then they will either approve/disapprove the purchase..
there is a way to go about this...
1) Consolidate all your Citi cards to one card and they will let you put the credit limits together
2) I have started to churn AAdvantage cards (for the AA miles) and found that instead of closing the acct -- just call CHAIRMAN CSR and they will automatically consolidate your credit lines and cancel the card at the same time....
3) Now...here is the interesting part -- I now have a limit of 47000 USD on my chairman card...but since CITI does not report your limit to credit agencies, it does not hurt your "Available credit limit" that a lot of credit agencies and banks seem to use...
4) So, if you want to have a large credit limit without the worry of whether it will go thru or not....then go with CITI....I am shooting for a 100,000 limit...I should get it by the end of next year...thru the AAdvantage card...
Basically, I can now charge a car without having to worry about it going thru..,...
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Thanks for the excellent comparison. Just a few thoughts:
with AmEX Platinum, you can often wait for bonus offers to transfer your miles from MR to DL or CO...
AmEx cruise benefit is nice...
Good points, just incorporated.
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Chairman reps can do a card replacement directly.
Just thought I'd noted I tested international card replacements with both Amex and Citi AGAIN at around the same time (3AM BST/10PM EDT) as I needed my downgraded Amex Business Gold as well as a new Citi AAdvantage card that I got for some miles. (I'd be quite fine with them sending the cards via regular mail since I'll be in London for a while. But UPS and DHL it is...) Do I win an award for international card replacements? :)
Citi (800 # via Skype, no evil collect call this time): approximately 4 minutes. I think this was the first time I was ever on hold for a Chairman Card rep (for around 30 seconds.) After that it was just a matter of looking up the other card then providing and confirming my address here.
Amex: just over 35 minutes by my cellphone call log (bonus points again on Amex having a toll free UK number I can call from my UK cell.) Extremely long hold time for Card Replacement Special Services. I actually got the regular CSR to transfer me directly there this time rather than just to Card Replacement (which would've made it even longer if I had to hold for them before holding again for Special Services.) Amex also put me on hold for about 5 minutes to check transit time with DHL (I didn't have time to interrupt the rep and tell her it would probably be 2 days and it was okay not to check before being put on hold.) Citi knew the transit times already, at least for the UK and Australia. I did appreciate that this Amex rep reminded me that it might take longer than expected for the card to arrive due to the security situation and wished me a safe stay in the UK.
Also: Citi will provide the UPS/FedEx (UPS for credit cards, FedEx for a Priority Pass) tracking numbers as soon as the cards are shipped, plus they have the tracking numbers stored in their system so it's pretty painless to get them. Amex will not provide the DHL tracking number until the end of the quoted delivery day, AND they have to call DHL to get tracking numbers which takes some time as they only keep their internal reference number locally. (I like tracking my stuff in transit. Not as useful to track it once I already receive it!)
I did also note on an earlier call to the Chairman Card CSRs my troubles with contacting them and the Personal Assistants via a collect call. The rep told me he would make a report so this could be reviewed, though I certainly don't expect anything to come of it anytime soon. I suppose I should find a fax/mail contact for someone higher up to get this problem properly looked at. (Come on, at least identify me by my card number and route me to the right CSR! Argh.)
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Yes. I signed up with the links on this web page:
https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/carrentalpartner.jsp
The National emerald club seems to have expired (I've used it, but not for many years), but the other two are still valid.That page confirms what I said: 1) the Avis membership is Preferred Select status, their lowest elite status level (not just the non-elite Prferred status); and 2) Hertz provides a complimentary one car-class upgrade if you sign up through them, there's really no way to confirm this yourself, I only saw it once when a Hertz agent was futzing around with my reservation and I saw it in the comments section of my profile, not really sure how effective this is.
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Just thought I'd noted I tested international card replacements with both Amex and Citi AGAIN ...
Okay, while I'm surprised card replacement is such a big deal for anyone, I've just updated the customer service point to mention this. In fact, come to think of it Chairman was very proactive. I got the card a few days before going to Europe, and asked when I would receive the priority pass. They offered to FedEx a priority pass card to my work to make sure I got it in time. As it happens, I got the original card before leaving, but not the FedEx package--but the point is they seem to think nothing of sending out new cards if it can make your life easier.
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That page confirms what I said: 1) the Avis membership is Preferred Select status, their lowest elite status level (not just the non-elite Prferred status); and 2) Hertz provides a complimentary one car-class upgrade if you sign up through them, there's really no way to confirm this yourself, I only saw it once when a Hertz agent was futzing around with my reservation and I saw it in the comments section of my profile, not really sure how effective this is.
Okay, now I understand. The important word for avis was "select", not "prefered". I've just updated to say:
PLATINUM: National emerald club (but you have to keep signing up every
year if you don't use it), Avis Preferred Select, and Hertz #1 Club
Gold with a complimentary one-class upgrade. More information is
available on this web page:
https://www124.americanexpress.com/cards/platinum/carrentalpartner.jsp
Does that sound right?
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Okay, while I'm surprised card replacement is such a big deal for anyone, I've just updated the customer service point to mention this. In fact, come to think of it Chairman was very proactive. I got the card a few days before going to Europe, and asked when I would receive the priority pass. They offered to FedEx a priority pass card to my work to make sure I got it in time. As it happens, I got the original card before leaving, but not the FedEx package--but the point is they seem to think nothing of sending out new cards if it can make your life easier.
Well it's not really a big deal, but I think it makes a good comparison point here since it's one of the few nearly-identical tasks I've done between both cards multiple times. So it's a good general indicator of customer service.
Another customer service-related task I've done between both cards is reallocating lines of credit. Amex lets you do it online quite easily, WHEN that particular tool works (~10% of the time for me.) Front-line CSRs can do it in both cases, but my one experience with Amex involved a significant research-hold and then being told it'd take 7 - 10 business days, after which the CSR went and did it and said it'd actually gone through immediately, as it should since that's how it works online. Citi did it much more easily the one time I did it with them, though they don't provide an online method like Amex (kind of irrelevant when that never works of course.)
From this and other cases, it does seem to me that the Chairman CSRs are significantly better trained at handling a wider range of requests, whereas Amex Platinum CSRs (who seem to be the same people as regular Amex CSRs; I always call the OPEN small business folks with any card problems since they have been more helpful in the past) often have to put you on hold to look things up or consult other people. And as noted before, Citi CSRs can do quite a few things that Amex has to send you elsewhere for.
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From this and other cases, it does seem to me that the Chairman CSRs are significantly better trained at handling a wider range of requests, whereas Amex Platinum CSRs (who seem to be the same people as regular Amex CSRs; I always call the OPEN small business folks with any card problems since they have been more helpful in the past) often have to put you on hold to look things up or consult other people...
Hmm... The feeling I get is actually that Chairman card people are less well trained for a bunch of things, but they are always extremely apologetic and polite and do their best to remain helpful under the circumstances. Some examples:
- I asked to have my work address added as an alternate shipping address to my card. CSR took my work address and said I could ship packages there for 6 months. I asked if they could just make the change permanent, and he said no. I don't recall any such problem with Amex. I'm surprised chairman couldn't at least offer to contact me again in six months to re-activate my work address. (Of course, I stopped shopping on-line with Amex when they ended their private payments program and before that always had a doorman so shipped home. So maybe Amex has a 6-month l]imit they didn't tell me about.)
- I asked which of my priority pass cards I should keep, and they said they would have to call me back. They actually called me back twice, once to ask for the numbers on the cards, then a day later to tell me which card to keep.
- I asked if the international companion ticket program was only for Y fares, or if it allowed cheaper coach fares. They said they'd have to call me back.
- I had some issue when trying to sign up for Hilton gold, where they got confused about the benefits and told me I wouldn't get it immediately.
I'm not really complaining about these things, because I find the CSR's helpful and polite (almost too polite). It seems like the number one thing they've been told in training is don't waste the customer's time, which I really appreciate. So for example they will never just put you on hold, they will ask, "Is it okay if I put you on hold for reason X?" And if there's something that they don't know, they just offer to call you back later so you don't have to wait around while they figure it out.
So I'd have to say Chairman feels like a much less well-oiled machine to me, in that you are much more likely to hit a situation the person hasn't dealt with yet. But the CSRs are genuinely helpful and won't waste your time or worse yet just make stuff up to get you off the phone (which I hate, but which happens with a lot of companies, including other Citibank cards).
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- I asked to have my work address added as an alternate shipping address to my card. CSR took my work address and said I could ship packages there for 6 months. I asked if they could just make the change permanent, and he said no. I don't recall any such problem with Amex. I'm surprised chairman couldn't at least offer to contact me again in six months to re-activate my work address. (Of course, I stopped shopping on-line with Amex when they ended their private payments program and before that always had a doorman so shipped home. So maybe Amex has a 6-month l]imit they didn't tell me about.)
Since we're trying to do objective comparisons here (and I'm bored at the moment) I figured I'd call and try the same thing with hopefully a different Chairman CSR. :)
Added an alternate with no problems. I wasn't told about any time limitations, so I asked at the end of the call. The CSR told me that it went into the notes on my account but could possibly scroll out after 6+ months if there were many notes, so to call back if I had any problems. This doesn't seem like the best system of keeping alternates... Amex has told me in the past that they will indeed keep an address on file indefinitely if I'd like, or that they can set a time limit. So Amex wins out on this one (assuming they don't have a hidden limitation like this that I was never told about.)
- I had some issue when trying to sign up for Hilton gold, where they got confused about the benefits and told me I wouldn't get it immediately.
Hmm, I had no problems with this one. I called Hilton directly, they put me on a short hold to verify things, and I was Gold.
I'm not really complaining about these things, because I find the CSR's helpful and polite (almost too polite). It seems like the number one thing they've been told in training is don't waste the customer's time, which I really appreciate. So for example they will never just put you on hold, they will ask, "Is it okay if I put you on hold for reason X?" And if there's something that they don't know, they just offer to call you back later so you don't have to wait around while they figure it out.
I'd agree with this. There are many times with Amex when I have been on the phone for an hour and I'd gladly have them call me back later (even if it's a good bit later; if it was important I'd keep them on the phone) than be transferred and re-transferred and spend eternities on hold.
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In the following thread
http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=580152
it appears that some people have not been getting the American Express CDW on rental cars because of free day or even discount coupons. This is disturbing--particularly for those without primary insurance--because it may lead people to decline CDW and be entirely unprotected.
I'm wondering whether this problem is specific to AMEX, or if it applies to all credit cards, including the Chairman card. If anyone has more information on this, or any experience with the Chairman card CDW, please post here.
Thanks.
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1. You can contact Chairman Concierge at http://myconcierge.vipdesk.com.
You can use the concierge service on-line at http://myconcierge.vipdesk.com/, which also allows you to browse a database of frequently asked questions about different destinations.
Some of the information looks out of date--for example, under "What is
the most affordable airport ground transportation?" for SFO they list
Cal Train but not BART.
Warning: This is NOT the same concierge as the Chairman Personal Assistants. It is far inferior. I tried out the My Concierge service online for the first time a week ago (Aug 14.) I am looking for the recently-released Samsung X820 phone in stock somewhere in London so that I can see it myself before deciding whether or not to get one. I received an auto-reply saying I'd get an answer in 6 hours. Just under 6 hours later I got a reply from a human saying that they were still researching my request and apologizing for the delay. (The initial email also said that if the request required extensive research it might take up to 24 hours.)
3 days later (Aug 17) I hadn't received a reply, so I replied myself. I got a reply back saying they were still trying to track down the phone (but no apology for the delay or lack of reply) and had contacted Samsung, but that Samsung didn't have a list of dealers. They said that Samsung suggested the Carphone Warehouse might have it, and were trying to contact them.
I just called the Personal Assistants today (Aug 21), one week after the initial request. They told me the My Concierge folks were completely separate from them, so I called My Concierge instead. The concierge I talked to (after putting me on hold for 5 minutes) said that the initial person working on my request had not been able to reach the Carphone Warehouse yet and was still working on the request. I find this kind of odd as I happened to walk into a Carphone Warehouse myself today and they didn't have the X820 yet, and they certainly had a phone and were taking calls. The Carphone Warehouse is a large chain with tons of stores, a web site where you can order all of their products, and central contact numbers/email contacts given on the site. So it really shouldn't be too hard to contact them... (I also found the phone on the carphonewarehouse.com site myself in about 30 seconds just now. So calling them should yield some stores with it in stock.)
More importantly, I also got the My Concierge person I just talked to to confirm that they handle various Citi cards, not just the Chairman Card. So this is really just a general service for any Citi card that comes with concierge service; I'm guessing that regular phone support for non-Chairman cards are also sent to My Concierge.
Anyways, I'd recommend updating the info to note that one should not use the My Concierge website for anything other than looking at their general online information.
I closed out my case with My Concierge and am about to call back the Personal Assistants since I'm sure they'll have a proper answer far sooner... :)
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Warning: This is NOT the same concierge as the Chairman Personal Assistants. It is far inferior.
Excellent point. I just updated to reflect this, thank you.
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This doesn't quite count as a plus (yet!), but it's an improvement.
Called the Chairman CSRs yesterday to get a UPS tracking number. Told them about the problems getting connected to them dialing the non-800 number (I'm using a UK SIM now which is 5p/min for regular US numbers vs 6.7p/min to 800 numbers so I'd rather dial the non-800 number if it's going to be a lengthy call.)
Called them back again today for two issues (activating a new card and disputing a charge.) The regular CSR I got told me to please hold while she transferred me to a specialist (a Chairman CSR.) After about 1.5 minutes on hold, I had a Chairman CSR. I decided to just activate the other card and call back for my dispute to see if this was a one-time occurance or not... The person I got on my second call did NOT automatically transfer me to a Chairman CSR, but of course did so after I requested. She actually transferred me to the Chairman Card phone tree which was fine (other than the annoyance of entering my card number and SSN yet again), but as you'll see below there is quite a bit of inconsistency in where you get sent at the moment.
I ended up calling back again because I accidentally hung up while putting them on hold as I had to get out of a cab and have my luggage unloaded. The third regular CSR again told me I was to be transferred to a specialist and after a similar ~2 minute hold, I found myself connected to the Personal Assistants. Not where I wanted to be to dispute a charge, though the fact that they seem to have the Personal Assistant number could bode well (I'll report back after trying to get a Personal Assistant via these folks—theoretically they should ASK if I want a CSR or a Personal Assistant one might think.) Hung up and called back and I was again told I was being transferred to a specialist, and after a moderate hold as before I had a Chairman CSR.
I actually got the first bad Chairman CSR I've had on this call, but this was just because she had a stutter and a lisp so she was speaking very slowly. Of course she was super-friendly and polite as all Chairman CSRs seem to be, but probably not the best person to be handling customer service for the Chairman Card. She ended up transferring me back to the CSR who I'd just spoken to about the dispute, anyways. After finishing up with that, I informed the CSR of my previous notation about how hard it was to contact the Chairman Card folks via the non-800 number as well as the issues I had getting connected today, and she said she would put through a message to the appropriate people again.
Anyways, they seem to have made something of an improvement here—I assume from my experience that a memo went out to regular CSRs (impressive for a large company to do that in just one day!) But having to wait on hold for 1.5 - 2 minutes to be transferred is a bit long considering that the one time I have EVER been on hold for a Chairman CSR was less than 30 seoconds, and obviously they have problems transferring one to the right place. (And some of them don't do so at all without requesting it as I noted, but 3 out of 4 apparently read the memo.) I told the CSR I talked to today again that it would be nice if the system simply recognized a Chairman Card account and transferred it automatically to them.
The apparent improvement in manual handling is a nice gesture for now, but hopefully they'll figure things out and get it done properly sometime.
Edit: Also called the Personal Assistants last night to help me locate somewhere to go diving in the UK. Went through the non-800 number. The Chairman CSR who transferred me (after first being transferred by another CSR) asked if I'd like him to stay on the line during the call in case I needed any other assistance with my Chairman Card afterwards! I didn't, but I was impressed by the offer.
Anyways, I guess I'll be calling the 800 number for now since it's cheaper even at the higher rates I'm being charged unless the call exceeds approximately 10 minutes, due to the 3 minute or so time it takes to get to a CSR or Personal Assistant. (The reason I don't mind the 2 - 3 minute wait calling the regular number is simply matter of principle—even at the cheap rates I'm getting it should not cost more to call a toll-free number than it does to call a regular number in the US, so I'd rather not give the cell provider the slight extra revenue they're obviously getting. It's been a few years since I've worked in the telco field at a CLEC, but at that time getting someone to terminate your calls to an 800 number cost the same or less as it did to a regular number.)
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is it possible to just call the card company collect? :D
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ftweb/karthik,
if you remember my posts last week about getting a rental space for a new business, I got the reply.. here it is:
Thank you for your email today. We have contacted the following commercial real estate agents and I am pleased to provide you with the following information that they provided us. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Commercial Real Estate Agents in El Paso, TX:
Option #1
Best Real Estate Incorporated
300 E Main Drive, Ste. 1208
El Paso, TX 79901
915-533-4901
www.bestrealestate.com
The following is an available property that they are currently offering:
6000 Welch
El Paso, TX 79905
County: El Paso
The property offers on-site management, a gated facility with maintenance, taxes and insurance and the price is approximately $1.49 per square foot. It is located south of I-10 in central El Paso. Not much landscaping is needed and for the common area landscaping is included. If you take the property "as is", it could be a one year contract; if any improvements are required, then it would be a 3-5 year contract. For more information, please contact Marivel Hafemeister at 915-533-4901.
All flexible space:
Suite 24 937sft $6.00/sft/year
Suite 18 2,731sft $6.00/sft/year
Suite 29 1,400sft $6.00/sft/year
Option #2
Brown, Irving J - Sonny Brown Association
200 Bartlett Drive, Ste. 105
El Paso, TX 79912
915-584-5511
www.sonnybrown.com
Sun Belt Business Park II
1520 & 1530 Goodyear
El Paso, TX 79936
County: El Paso
This property is located just blocks from Lee Trevino and Interstate 10 in the heart of East El Paso. There is an office space in each unit, a dock and ramp combination, it requires one month rent as a security deposit, and it has a 3-5 year lease and terms can be open. Prices exclude cost of utilities and janitorial maintenance. Taxes and insurance are paid for by the landlord and there is a common area that is landscaped. For more information, you may contact Will Brown, at 915-584-5511.
All flexible space:
Suite 1520-B 1,800sft $5.60/sft/year
Suite 1530-A1 3,210sft $5.40/sft/year
Suite 1528-A 3,000sft $5.40/sft/year
Suite 1520-G 3,600sft $5.40/sft/year
Suite 1530-K 4,500sft $5.40/sft/year
Option #3
Towe, Rose - Francis Properties
414 Executive Center Blvd
El Paso, TX 79902
915-351-8000
www.francisproperties.com
Eastside Business Center
11450 James Watt
El Paso, TX 79936
This Office/Warehouse facility is located one block from Lee Trevino and two blocks from Interstate-10. Each space contains a 12X18 office/reception area, restroom and approximately 975 square feet of grade level warehouse space with a 10X10, 10X12, or 12X12 roll up door available. A common dock is available to all tenants for unloading tractor-trailers. The lease contract length was not available.
Space available:
Suite A2 1250sft $800/month
Suite B2 1250sft $800/month
Suite B4 1250sft $800/month
Suite D2 1250sft $800/month
Airport Industrial Business Center
6400 Airport Road
El Paso, TX 79925
This second office/warehouse option is a complex located on the corner of Airport Road and Boeing. The spaces range from 1,500 square feet to 5,500 square feet, and is a centrally located area that is close to the El Paso International Airport. Most spaces consist of one to two offices, restrooms and grade level warehouse space. The lease contract length was not available.
Space available:
BldgA Suite A&B 3,000sft $1,740/month
BldgA Suite C 1,500sft $900/month
BldgD Suite FF 1,500sft $870/month
Shell Business Center
3733 Shell
El Paso, TX 79925
This Office/Warehouse facility is located on a cul-de-sac on 3733 and 3736 Shell Street that runs perpendicular to Montana Street. The spaces range from 3,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet, nearby to the El Paso International Airport. Most spaces consist of small offices, restrooms and grade level warehouse space. There are four units with well docks. All units have street level overhead doors in the front and back. The lease contract length was not available.
Space available:
Bldg3733 Suite C 3,000sft $1,737/month
Bldg3736 Suite A 3,000sft $1,737/month
Bldg3736 Suite D 3,000sft $1,737/month
I hope this information has been helpful. Please keep in mind that prices and availability are subject to change. It has been my pleasure assisting you today.
Sincerely at your service,
Thank you for using the Citigroup Chairman Personal Assistants. It's been a pleasure to serve you! If you need more information or assistance with this request, please feel free to reply directly to this email or call us at 800-967-7900 (within the U.S and Canada) or 605-335-2222 (collect from all other locations).
Now I had posted this same challenge to a centurion member who did accept it and gave me their reply...it is on the "What the heck is up with Centurion Service?" (sorry do not know how to attach threads)...they just gavce the phone numbers of real estate agents which means I have to call them...legwork I have to do..
With the above reply, I do not have to do anty legwork at all other than just pick the best option and see the property and g forward...
CHAIRMAN WINS THIS HANDS DOWN !!!!!!!
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is it possible to just call the card company collect? :D
Yes, it is. This is a major problem which you'll see if you read the top post and some of the replies because when you do call collect (or if you call the non-800 number, which is the collect number of course) you currently get sent to a regular CSR, not a Chairman CSR. As I just noted earlier today, they seem to be working to fix that.
Personally, at the moment the UK SIM I have is 5p/min for calls to regular US numbers and 6.7p/min for calls to US 800 numbers. Calling a "freephone" (800) number in the UK to place a collect call would cost me 25p flat-rate, so combined with the hassle of actually making a collect call it'd be silly not to just call them directly.
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Okay, I've seen a lot of posts of people happy with the Platinum card FHR program, and have yet to hear of anyone who has even used the Chairman card LHW program, so at least for now I'm awarding the "Fancy-hotel benefits" category to the Platinum card.
I've also updated the concierge section to include links to the Centurion and Chairman responses to anaggie's request. I think that if Chairman is better than Centurion, it's also likely to be better than Platinum.
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Got a call this afternoon from my Smith Barney FA. He knew I was interested in the Chairman card (but he didn't know I got one a month ago..I like it alot btw) and so he wanted me to know there were some changes being made and as of Sept 15 (i think date is right?) applications will no longer be accepted.
A new card which will be the product of a joint venture between Citi, SB, and Amex, should be available early next year was what he had been told. He didn't have a lot of detail (annual fee, what logo - i.e. M/C or Amex??)...but said some of the improvements were to include expanded lounge access (huh? above the Priority Pass? i find that hard to believe, but okay), and some extra travel benefits. Wish I had more detail to give all of you.
One last thing: current Chairman cardholders will be allowed to grandfather in to the new card at reduced rate. i'm guessing that means for the first year only. i hope they don't plan to jack it higher than the $400/year now.. or i'm not sure its worth it. we'll see.
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some of the improvements were to include expanded lounge access
Well, if it involves AMEX, maybe they will add Eurostar lounge access and access to the Centurion lounges in various Mexican airports. Or maybe the improvement is that the credit card itself gets you into the lounge, rather than a separate prioritypass card.
Hmm... Now I'm wondering if I should still try to rack up the ThankYou points, or if the card will switch over to something else. I wouldn't be that surprised if the ThankYou program goes, since it doesn't really seem to be marketed to the same target audience as the Chairman card, but given all the great deals people seemed to be getting on travel, I was hoping to cash in, too. (Unfortunately I booked most of my summer travel before getting my Chairman card, so won't be able to double my purchase points for a few months at least.)
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Well, if it involves AMEX, maybe they will add Eurostar lounge access and access to the Centurion lounges in various Mexican airports. Or maybe the improvement is that the credit card itself gets you into the lounge, rather than a separate prioritypass card.
Hmm... Now I'm wondering if I should still try to rack up the ThankYou points, or if the card will switch over to something else. I wouldn't be that surprised if the ThankYou program goes, since it doesn't really seem to be marketed to the same target audience as the Chairman card, but given all the great deals people seemed to be getting on travel, I was hoping to cash in, too. (Unfortunately I booked most of my summer travel before getting my Chairman card, so won't be able to double my purchase points for a few months at least.)
Just talked to chairman CSR and THEY ARE NOT going to phase out the Chairman card...this might be a new card for SB clients only...
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I just made two calls to Chairman CS and each rep knew nothing about this. Take this for what it's worth. As a word of advice to anaggie NEVER EVER take a CSR's answer a sure thing.
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Well, if it involves AMEX, maybe they will add Eurostar lounge access and access to the Centurion lounges in various Mexican airports. Or maybe the improvement is that the credit card itself gets you into the lounge, rather than a separate prioritypass card.
I would love if the card itself got me into lounges; it's a pain having a separate Priority Pass. Shouldn't be too hard to print a Priority Pass logo on the back along with the account #, and some fine print. (Well, unless they try to do it in their signature stealth black-on-black style. :)) I guess the downside would be having to tell the lounge attendants that it is indeed a Priority Pass since they'd probably try to just charge you for the visit instead. So I suppose this makes it less likely... Other than that, I can't think of much past what you said to improve lounge access. They could do something Amex Plat-like with DL/CO/NW but the vast majority of those locations are already covered by the Priority Pass. Since, as we know, the card is already just $1/year more than the regular Priority Pass AND includes 2 free guests, one wonders how much they're willing to spend on the improved lounge access.
One last thing: current Chairman cardholders will be allowed to grandfather in to the new card at reduced rate. i'm guessing that means for the first year only. i hope they don't plan to jack it higher than the $400/year now.. or i'm not sure its worth it. we'll see.
Well, that's good. Hopefully it's for more than a year. As it is, I could see myself paying up to around $600/yr for the card in its current form. If the rewards program were significantly enhanced (e.g., airline transfers, though I wouldn't expect flight point matching for that) I might be willing to pay more than that.
I'm going to email Smith-Barney myself and see what my broker has to say about the possibility of a new/changed card...
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Just talked to chairman CSR and THEY ARE NOT going to phase out the Chairman card...this might be a new card for SB clients only...
for what its worth, in my other thread (you'll see the link if you go back out under "other credit card programs") someone else called CSR and it was confirmed that they would be phasing out the card. no other info available though.
like i said earlier - it was an internal memo my SB guy was reading from, so i felt pretty confident posting this.
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talked to another CSR today and they said that there is going to be a NEW Chairman card with enhanced benefits and we have the option of converting to that one or keeping the current one till it expires...
they will not let us know the new benefits or costs yet...let us see what happens...
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but i just got the Chairman Card :mad: Hope they dont mess with it too much :rolleyes:
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This is pure speculation, but maybe it will be like the platinum and Centurion split. Do recall that those first Centurion users were grandfathered at that rate which continues today. Just speculation... :confused:
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This is pure speculation, but maybe it will be like the platinum and Centurion split. Do recall that those first Centurion users were grandfathered at that rate which continues today. Just speculation... :confused:
Yes, but the "grandfathered" Centurion rate is still $1,000 per year, which is about the limit I can justify spending on all my credit cards combined. If the Chairman card rate goes up, I'll probably only keep it if I get rid of my AMEX Platinum card. However, right now there are two reasons I'd be reluctant to do that:
First, the emergency medical assistance when traveling. I hope I never need this, but if I do, I don't want to worry about whether my trip counts as booked with the Chairman card. While I buy plane tickets with the Chairman card, when traveling I often pay cash for train tickets, or use a card with no transaction fee. Or in Europe I might drive somewhere in a friend's car. I think a large part of the justification of paying $400 for the platinum card is the insurance "just in case," even if you don't ever use the benefits.
Second, sometimes I get the feeling they haven't really worked all the kinks out of the Chairman card system (e.g., with foreign phone calls). That combined with my past bad experience with Citibank lessens my confidence in my ability to get help from the Chairman card people if I get stuck in some bad situation. (Though obviously there are reports that card replacement works really well.)
I'm curious for other people who have both cards, why do you keep the Platinum, and what would Chairman have to offer for you to give up your AMEX?
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I'm curious for other people who have both cards, why do you keep the Platinum, and what would Chairman have to offer for you to give up your AMEX?
I don't see any reason in keeping the Platinum myself; other than some medical benefits it doesn't give me anything useful past the Chairman Card. (And is never eligible for promos.) The medical coverage could be useful, but if I do travel somewhere very remote I'd simply purchase travel insurance just in case. My regular health insurance will cover proper care in 95+% of the places I've been lately, just not transport. I have a Gold Rewards Plus now, but with the dearth of double points promos at the moment it may go away. Other than that, my primary Amex cards are my Delta SkyMiles and Starwood. But no double on the Delta SkyMiles at the moment, so I've been spending between Starwood and the Chairman Card.
If no more double bonuses pop up for the GRP or Delta in the next few months I will most likely cancel both as soon as my first-year free GRP runs out next summer. There is the FHR program, but I haven't found it useful for my personal travel patterns. (My current startup is currently a company of one, so I'm traveling on my own dime. So I need to cut hotel costs when I travel until things get going.)
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Yes, but the "grandfathered" Centurion rate is still $1,000 per year, which is about the limit I can justify spending on all my credit cards combined. If the Chairman card rate goes up, I'll probably only keep it if I get rid of my AMEX Platinum card. However, right now there are two reasons I'd be reluctant to do that:
First, the emergency medical assistance when traveling. I hope I never need this, but if I do, I don't want to worry about whether my trip counts as booked with the Chairman card. While I buy plane tickets with the Chairman card, when traveling I often pay cash for train tickets, or use a card with no transaction fee. Or in Europe I might drive somewhere in a friend's car. I think a large part of the justification of paying $400 for the platinum card is the insurance "just in case," even if you don't ever use the benefits.
Second, sometimes I get the feeling they haven't really worked all the kinks out of the Chairman card system (e.g., with foreign phone calls). That combined with my past bad experience with Citibank lessens my confidence in my ability to get help from the Chairman card people if I get stuck in some bad situation. (Though obviously there are reports that card replacement works really well.)
I'm curious for other people who have both cards, why do you keep the Platinum, and what would Chairman have to offer for you to give up your AMEX?
FYI...Before I had a Chairman Card, I lost my wallet in San Jose. Citibank sent my new credit cardsvia FedEx the next day to my hotel.
Also, I went directly to a bank branch. They let me take out 800 cash without identification. Overall a good experience with Card replacement, etc.
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FYI...Before I had a Chairman Card, I lost my wallet in San Jose. Citibank sent my new credit cardsvia FedEx the next day to my hotel.
Also, I went directly to a bank branch. They let me take out 800 cash without identification. Overall a good experience with Card replacement, etc.
Citi is very good with replacements, at least with the Chairman Card. Though this could be generally applicable, as I had a different card replaced via the Chairman CSRs with minimal trouble.
My best experience was calling around 8AM Sydney time, which would be around 6PM ET. They managed to send the card out the same day. I had it 48 hours later!
I am impressed that they did manage to set it up that you could withdraw emergency cash without ID (of course I assume they IDed you over the phone and such, but still.) Not sure that'd be possible with an Amex. They want ID even when I want to do a "fee-free" (still at the stupidly high rates vs proper mid-market rates) currency exchange.
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talked to another CSR today and they said that there is going to be a NEW Chairman card with enhanced benefits and we have the option of converting to that one or keeping the current one till it expires...
they will not let us know the new benefits or costs yet...let us see what happens...
so if i read this correctly after the current year is up, the conversion is MANDATORY?
It will no longer be available as is?
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so if i read this correctly after the current year is up, the conversion is MANDATORY?
It will no longer be available as is?
Nobody knows yet. Different CSRs give different answers, so everything at the moment is speculation. I'm still waiting for an answer from Smith-Barney myself as to what they might know. I suspect I will get a similar answer to what tmorrow24 was told by them.
The last CSR I talked to said that she was aware that some changes were being made, but had no information on what sort of changes.
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I'm curious for other people who have both cards, why do you keep the Platinum, and what would Chairman have to offer for you to give up your AMEX?
I keep the Platinum for a few reasons:
1) My wife is an additional cardholder on both my Amex, and my Chairman, but with the Platinum she gets all the same benefits that I do, e.g. lounge access.
2) I have 1M+ points on my Amex, and I use them for things like upgrades, hotel, etc. If I kill my Amex, then I have to use all my points within a set timeline, which I’d rather not do.
3) I rather like the FHR, Gold Events, etc. I use them all the time. I just went to the US Open Men’s (Semis), Women’s (Finals). Last weekend I was in San Francisco and used the FHR program and was upgraded to the best room in the hotel that I was staying at which ended up being half a floor.
4) I use the Amex travel services. Whenever my flights get screwed up, I just call Amex and they take care of it. They plot an alternate route for me, get me tickets. I have to do is tell the airline to follow Amex’s lead.
When the Chairman card is capable of the above, then I’ll probably get rid of my Amex – or at least drop it down to a gold.
- SR
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Check out the thread "World Elite Mastercard" -- very similar to the Centurion benefits...
This is what the NEW CHAIRMAN CARD will be like ...ME thinks....
no confirmation from the CSR yet...
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so if i read this correctly after the current year is up, the conversion is MANDATORY?
It will no longer be available as is?
but you get grandfathered in at the old rate of $400..so better benefits for the same price...what is the big deal?
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2) I have 1M+ points on my Amex, and I use them for things like upgrades, hotel, etc. If I kill my Amex, then I have to use all my points within a set timeline, which I’d rather not do.
Your other reasons are qutie valid, but I thought I'd point out that you could just get an Amex Blue or one of the fee-free MR Options products to keep your MR account active. (I think even though the points were earned as regular MR the redemption turns to MR Options levels then, though; I believe you'd need to get a regular MR charge card again to fix that. But again, you can bank the points for free that way.)
but you get grandfathered in at the old rate of $400..so better benefits for the same price...what is the big deal?
We don't know this yet for sure, or that if we are grandfathered whether it'd last for more than a year. Or whether we'd just get to keep the Chairman Card until it expires. I think it is pointless to keep speculating at this point or making any assumptions. I'm sure we'll get some hard facts soon enough.
Still waiting to hear back from Smith Barney myself—my broker's assistant emailed me back on Friday to say that she was looking into it for me, but I haven't heard anything more yet.
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Check out the thread "World Elite Mastercard" -- very similar to the Centurion benefits...
This is what the NEW CHAIRMAN CARD will be like ...ME thinks....
no confirmation from the CSR yet...
But from my reading of the thread, the World Elite mastercard will be inferior to the Chairman card, though it has the advantage of no annual fee.
I suppose it has some Platinum-like "lifestyle" benefits that Chairman doesn't have, but it sounds like the PriorityPass benefit is worse (requires a "nominal" fee per visit), and for no annual fee I'd expect other benefits like concierge to be worse.
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But from my reading of the thread, the World Elite mastercard will be inferior to the Chairman card, though it has the advantage of no annual fee.
I suppose it has some Platinum-like "lifestyle" benefits that Chairman doesn't have, but it sounds like the PriorityPass benefit is worse (requires a "nominal" fee per visit), and for no annual fee I'd expect other benefits like concierge to be worse.
I don't think so...I think it will be cobranded and of course they are going to charge a fee...We will have the same benefits as Chairman and the addtl benefits for the world elite....
look at how many Chairman Card holders are out there paying the fee....and BTW the Chairman people read this forum so they know we are willing to pay a higher price...
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Your other reasons are quite valid, but I thought I'd point out that you could just get an Amex Blue or one of the fee-free MR Options products to keep your MR account active. (I think even though the points were earned as regular MR the redemption turns to MR Options levels then, though; I believe you'd need to get a regular MR charge card again to fix that. But again, you can bank the points for free that way.)
Hello karthik,
You have an excellent point here. I will look into the Amex Blue or one of the other MR fee-free cards that Amex offers.
In the event that Chairman addresses the other issues, I'll jump ship completely from Amex.
The other things that Amex does well in my opinion are:
a) Additional cards get a different card number, with separate billing, website access, etc.
b) The Amex website is far better and easier to use than the Chairman site. It also provides a lot more information. Granted, the Amex Plat site is very buggy, but at least it has the basic functionality in place.
c) When my wife calls Amex in order to make her own arrangements, she doesn't need to know anything about my account with them. For example, Chairman makes her tell them my SSN, and my account password, whereas Amex has basically setup a different account within the same relationship for her and so is much easier to deal with.
I wouldn't mind paying extra for an additional Chairman card (since I do it for my wife's Plat) if it came with the same benefits etc.
- SR
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so if i read this correctly after the current year is up, the conversion is MANDATORY?
It will no longer be available as is?
Talked to another CSR today and they said the conversion is not mandatory....they are still going to have the Chairman card, but new apps wil be stopped Sept 15th and then resumed after this new product comes out...don't know why...
Then he went on to say that all existing card members will be given a choice of either staying with the current card or going to the new one...
he did say that the lounge program will be enhanced and the travel benefits will also be enhanced...
Looking forward to this new product... don't mind paying more for this especially if the travel/hotel lounge benefits are enhanced..
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he did say that the lounge program will be enhanced and the travel benefits will also be enhanced...
Looking forward to this new product... don't mind paying more for this especially if the travel/hotel lounge benefits are enhanced..
So does "travel benefits" mean things like the AMEX FHR program? Or more like they provide a travel agency service? Or some airline benefits? Maybe there will be some AA benefits, which won't be that useful to me since I usually fly UA. (On the other hand, I have UA status, so AA would at least give me a choice.)
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<<does "travel benefits" mean things like the AMEX FHR program?>>
I think it safe to predict that these will be the Virtuoso features associated with the new Mastercard "World Elite" platform discussed in another thread. Not sure how lounge access could be improved unless they were to supplement the Priority Pass membership with, say, an Admirals Club membership.
Separately, I predict the Chariman card rewards program will be revised to reduce or eliminate the Select Spend bonus points on supermarkets, pharmacy, gasoline, etc.
dennis
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I am interested in getting a Chairman card but am wondering if I should apply today or wait until the program changes go into effect. I do not want to carry both this card and my amex platinum card, so I would probably cancel the plat card if I got this one.
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I am interested in getting a Chairman card but am wondering if I should apply today or wait until the program changes go into effect. I do not want to carry both this card and my amex platinum card, so I would probably cancel the plat card if I got this one.
It may make sense for you to apply sooner rather than later since it seems that the changes are designed to make the card move upmarket. Usually when something is sent upmarket, it is more expensive, harder to get, etc. If you have the current card then you may get grandfathered in at the current pricing or whatever Citi has in store for current cardholders.
Just my .02.
- SR
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agree with the above post...do it before SEPT 15...
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agree with the above post...do it before SEPT 15...
If one does apply, basically either today or tomorrow - what is the cancellation policy? Do you get a pro-rated amount back from Citi?
Cheers,
Stinky
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If one does apply, basically either today or tomorrow - what is the cancellation policy? Do you get a pro-rated amount back from Citi?
Cheers,
Stinky
why would you want to cancel? Trust me, you won't cancel after you recieve the card and get used to the personal assistants and the CSR's....
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why would you want to cancel? Trust me, you won't cancel after you recieve the card and get used to the personal assistants and the CSR's....
Your probably right if the service I got to upgrade my AA card to the Chairman card was anything to go about. The whole process was seamless and, even with a brief debate whether to upgrade my PPE or AA, took under 10mins and the CSR was extremely professional and knowledgeable (even better than most of my Citigold reps...)
Here's looking forward to enjoying some of the services - out of interest what can I ask the Personal Assistants to do? The CSR told me pretty much anything within legal boundaries.........
Oh, and now that I've signed up, I hope they don't phase it out and come back with reduced benefits whereby making it worse...hence my initial question about the card cancelling.
Cheers,
Stinky
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If one does apply, basically either today or tomorrow - what is the cancellation policy? Do you get a pro-rated amount back from Citi
I am almost certain that Citi will refund you a prorated amount of the annual fee, but I would of course strongly advise that you call and ask them beforehand.
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I am almost certain that Citi will refund you a prorated amount of the annual fee, but I would of course strongly advise that you call and ask them beforehand.
My experience is that they will give a prorate if you cancel within 90 days. However, verify it with Citi.
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Here's looking forward to enjoying some of the services - out of interest what can I ask the Personal Assistants to do? The CSR told me pretty much anything within legal boundaries.........
Oh, and now that I've signed up, I hope they don't phase it out and come back with reduced benefits whereby making it worse...hence my initial question about the card cancelling.
Whoops, read this message after replying to your first. Did you get a definitive answer as to whether they'll prorate the fee?
Take a look at the Chairman Card Concierge (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=564543) thread for some info on experiences with the Personal Assistants. They will indeed pretty much do anything legal that they can do with a computer and telephone, and they are always very pleasant and usually quite efficient.
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Whoops, read this message after replying to your first. Did you get a definitive answer as to whether they'll prorate the fee?
Take a look at the Chairman Card Concierge (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=564543) thread for some info on experiences with the Personal Assistants. They will indeed pretty much do anything legal that they can do with a computer and telephone, and they are always very pleasant and usually quite efficient.
Cheers Karthik,
Regarding the prorated fees, according to the CSR, if you cancel within the forst 90 days, they will prorate the fees, otherwise it'll be a sunk cost after 3months.
Regards,
Stinky
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Hello,
I guess applications for the Chairman Card are no longer being taken. I had recommended the card to a former employee and they just emailed me saying that there is no longer any mention of the Chairman Card on the Citi site. I just did a quick check, and indeed the CC has been removed from the list of cards.
Any word on the new one?
- SR
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The Chairman Card is still mentioned on the Smith Barney and Thank You Network websites...
http://www.smithbarney.com/products_services/credit_cards/chairman.html?1
https://www.thankyounetwork.com/pointsWithCitigrpChair.jspx
...but the online application links are broken. I would suggest that your associate call the number from the back of the card to try to apply. If the refreshed card is more attractive it should be straightforward to change later.
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The Chairman Card is still mentioned on the Smith Barney and Thank You Network websites...
http://www.smithbarney.com/products_services/credit_cards/chairman.html?1
https://www.thankyounetwork.com/pointsWithCitigrpChair.jspx
...but the online application links are broken. I would suggest that your associate call the number from the back of the card to try to apply. If the refreshed card is more attractive it should be straightforward to change later.
The last day for applications was September 15. Supposedly card holders will receive information on the new card in a few weeks.
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Chairman Card Personal Assistants will do anything that you do not feel like doing...For Example:
I am looking for 2 biz class seats on CX or JL using AA miles. I have the outbound date from the USA...but the date on the inbound is not right...so the Personal Assistants are calling AA everyday to check status.
So, if you are busy or just don't want to do it, then call them...give them a try and let us know what you think.
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I applied on the 15, got my accpetance today via email. My acceptance letter said welcome to chairman3. whats chairman3? Is that the new card , or is chariman3 another name for the old card? I sure hope thay dont send me some inferior card.
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I applied on the 15, got my accpetance today via email. My acceptance letter said welcome to chairman3. whats chairman3? Is that the new card , or is chariman3 another name for the old card? I sure hope thay dont send me some inferior card.
Can you scan the acceptance letter and post it?
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Can you scan the acceptance letter and post it?
ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-2255
Dear XXXXXXX:
Welcome to Citigroup Chairman3 cardmembership! You should
receive your new card and Card Agreement within a week.
If your card does not arrive within 10 days from
the date of this letter, please call us immediately at
1-800-967-7900.
Information about your Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and
any eligible promotional rate will be displayed on the
folder containing your card. Some details of your
Card Agreement may be different from the terms that were
disclosed on your application. Please be sure to review
your Card Agreement for any changes.
We look forward to serving you for years to come.
Sincerely,
K. Aberson
Mgr., Consumer Credit Services
FEDERAL REGULATIONS REQUIRE THE STATEMENT PRINTED BELOW
P.S. You can protect your account when you experience
unforeseen situations such as short-term disability, job
loss, and more. Call 1-877-243-7842 today for information
and ask how you can get a $20 rebate coupon good for
retail purchases when you sign up for this optional account
protection.
Your credit card is issued by Citibank(South Dakota), N.A.,
701 E. 60th N., Sioux Falls, SD 57104.
NOTICE: The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits
creditors from discriminating against credit applicants
on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,
sex, marital status, age (provided the applicant has the
capacity to enter into a binding contract); because all
or part of the applicant's income derives from any public
assistance program; or because the applicant has in
good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit
Protection Act. The federal agency that administers
compliance with this law concerning Citibank (South Dakota),
N.A. is the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
Customer Assistance Group, 1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450,
Houston, Texas 77010-9050.
0/L0/AF3501/001/ZZ/SY/ZP/8000/SYSTEMB /I2006091700007017/1148
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I believe this is a mismatch between the ascii character set used to compose the letter and the character set used to display the email on your pc. I believe Citibank intends to display the "sm" (salesmark) character there.
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I just updated the comparison message to reflect the fact that Chairman probably isn't available to new customers. Also deleted the link to the MERRIL+ credit card, since they are about to start charging a foreign transaction fee.
Of course, if you have AMEX, you could always ask the AMEX concierge to find out if there is any way of still getting a Chairman card...
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Called citi and spoke to a manager. I wanted to make sure that they were going to be sending me the same card I apllied for. The citi manager assured me that the chairman is not being discontinued or downgraded. "There will be a new card with upgraded benefits." She also told me that they stopped taking apps because the requirments for new card are going to changed in the upward direction. It is possible that the new card will be by invitation only. I smell a centurion level card level card coming from Citi.
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well crap. if they add FFP transfers and allow immediate use of flight points, im going to want one :D
will be interesting to see what they do..
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there will be a "Chairman Card" available in the same form with the same benefits in early Jan 2007....
there will also be a new and upgarde Chairman card deisgned to compete with Centurion also availabe in early 2007 -- I can't wait for this one...let us not overhype it so we do not get disappointed later...
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there will be a "Chairman Card" available in the same form with the same benefits in early Jan 2007....
there will also be a new and upgarde Chairman card deisgned to compete with Centurion also availabe in early 2007 -- I can't wait for this one...let us not overhype it so we do not get disappointed later...
why would they stop taking aps if they were going to keep the current card as is?
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why would they stop taking aps if they were going to keep the current card as is?
Agreed - My guess is that they will offer a Citi World Elite Mastercard at a fee of around $200-$300 a year to compete with Amex Platinum and will then offer an upgraded 'invitation only' Chairman card to compete with Centurion at somewhere near the $1k mark p.a..
I think their 'me too strategy' will work if they offer annual fees lower than Amex but basically providing the same level of service. Amex Plat members will probably get both cards (World Elite MC & Plat) and Citi will will attract High Net Worth Smith Barney / Citibank Private Banking Clients with the new 'exclusivity' in addition to attracting Amex Centurion members switching due to decreased service levels and the high $2.5k price tag.
My hopes is that they will really adopt a 'me too strategy' - i.e. grandfather the current Chairman Card holders at the $400 rate and follow the same route as Amex. :D
Anyway, just a thought - no more speculation from me..... ;)
Cheers,
stinky
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I just came upon this thread and read it very quickly so please excuse me if you have already discussed the following issue.
I have a Citi Platinum AAdvantage Mastercard which has so far gotten me more than 300,000 miles on American Airlines. Unfortunately, the customer service on this card is dreadful and does not nearly compare to what I get from my American Express Platinum Card.
I have no doubt that given my credit and spending I could get the Chairman Card. If I do that, however, would I lose the 1 AAdvantage mile for $1 I now get with Citi?
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I just came upon this thread and read it very quickly so please excuse me if you have already discussed the following issue.
I have a Citi Platinum AAdvantage Mastercard which has so far gotten me more than 300,000 miles on American Airlines. Unfortunately, the customer service on this card is dreadful and does not nearly compare to what I get from my American Express Platinum Card.
I have no doubt that given my credit and spending I could get the Chairman Card. If I do that, however, would I lose the 1 AAdvantage mile for $1 I now get with Citi?
Currently Citibank is not accepting new Chairman Card applications (effective 09-15 or 16). It did not offer an AAdvantage miles option. You may consider one of the following cards: Citibank Diners Club and AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).
Both offer conversion options to AAdvantage. SPG offers a better conversion rate, i.e. 20,000 SPG points for 25,000 AA miles. Diners Club is 1 for 1, but you have to pay a conversion fee per 1,000 points transferred. (I think the fee is approx $0.90 or $0.95.)
I personally think that Diners Club has better customer service and benefits than AMEX SPG. It is also free with a CitiGold account. However, AMEX SPG is superior for earning AA miles. You may consider both.
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Currently Citibank is not accepting new Chairman Card applications (effective 09-15 or 16). It did not offer an AAdvantage miles option. You may consider one of the following cards: Citibank Diners Club and AMEX Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG).
Both offer conversion options to AAdvantage. SPG offers a better conversion rate, i.e. 20,000 SPG points for 25,000 AA miles. Diners Club is 1 for 1, but you have to pay a conversion fee per 1,000 points transferred. (I think the fee is approx $0.90 or $0.95.)
I personally think that Diners Club has better customer service and benefits than AMEX SPG. It is also free with a CitiGold account. However, AMEX SPG is superior for earning AA miles. You may consider both.
I suspect given what I charged last year at Citi, I could get someone in their president's office to get me the card--if only it offered AAdvantage miles.
Looks like there is no card that gives both deluxe service and AAdvantage miles. Sad.
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Looks like there is no card that gives both deluxe service and AAdvantage miles. Sad.
But then why not just have two cards? For example, I place a large portion of my charges on my AMEX Costco TrueEarnings card to get 2% and 3% cash back on travel and restaurants. (After all, given the cash, I could always just pay myself with another credit card at a cost of $.02 per dollar using Google checkout.) The one time that I've needed it, customer service was great for that card.
On the other hand, when I'm out and need a restaurant recommendation, or have some other obscure task, I call the Chairman card concierge. When I'm in an airport I access lounges with the PriorityPass card that comes with Chairman. When I stay at the Hilton next month I'll enjoy Gold VIP because of the Chairman. I also buy all plane tickets with the Chairman card because of the superior baggage insurance, and the fact that the "flight points" double my "purchase points" and therefore make Chairman the best card for purchases that would otherwise only net 1% cash back.
When I'm traveling abroad, I use my 1% cash back MBNA card that still (for me) has no foreign transaction fee.
While it would be nice to carry a single charge card that optimally meets all your needs, there unfortunately is no such card. So the way I look at it, you should separately consider a card's benefits and rewards.
If a card's benefits are worth the annual fee, you should carry the card even if you don't charge anything to it. (I haven't charged a penny on my AMEX Platinum this year, but keep it for the emergency medical and now roadside assistance benefits, as well as Eurostar lounge access.) I think Chairman's benefits are well worth the annual fee even if you don't charge anything with the card.
For any given purchase, you should charge it to whatever card will give you the highest reward. For me, that depends on the category of purchase and whether it's a US or foreign transaction. While I haven't redeemed TY points yet, from what I've read, the points are worth more than $.01 each, and since I get 2-6 points per dollar with the Chairman card, I use the Chairman card anywhere I could only get an effective 1% cash back.
Another reason to use a card is if it gives you increased convenience. I subscribe to several investment newsletters that "auto-renew", but if I don't like them, I don't want to have to remember to cancel a year later. So I use a one-time credit card number which is available with the Chairman (or MBNA) card, but not AMEX.
Also, depending on your needs, 2 TY points per dollar may be better than 1 A