In 2019, various high-end brands seem to be getting more and more difficult. For the standard Centurion Visa unlimited card between platinum and black gold, it is rumored that the minimum cost is 1,000 bricks, and ordinary people can basically rest; in the past, the white rights of the magic card AE have shrunk, but fewer and fewer people have successfully withdrawn from the card; so Centurion Card Is husband Shirogane actually close to the people?

But perhaps the rigid annual fee of 3,600 yuan is where many people hesitate. It has been 3 years since I applied for the card (I paid 3600 three times). Let me talk about this Centurion. Is it worth applying and what are its benefits? Is it worth the 3,600 yuan annual fee? (It’s not like going to Sunflower Financial Management to drink coffee and chat with the account manager girl), or how to make good use of this card to earn back the annual fee?

The awesome rights of Centurion Platinum

Travel privileges

1. Matches members of high-end hotel groups.

Highlights: Marriott Hilton Gold Book Shangri-La TLCTHC Plan

First of all, the simplest and most crude, the Centurion Platinum Card can be directly matched with Marriott Gold Card, Hilton Gold Card, and Radisson Hotel Gold Card .

Take Marriott as an example. Although the Wanda House Gold Card after the merger does not have any good benefits (just no perks!

), forget about Shuangchen and the executive lounge. . Room upgrades are subject to conditions, but cannot be upgraded. Generally speaking, it can only be upgraded by one level.

But you are standing on the shoulders of giants, aren't you? Ordinary members need to sleep at least 25 nights to upgrade to gold card, which is not easy for unusual travelers. And if you get a gold card, you at least have a chance to pick it up for free.

By the way, because of this, Fliggy launched the F3 member This threshold is lower than the threshold for downgrading a hotel. I wonder how Fliggy will play this year?

Let’s talk about the Hilton Gold Card first, which offers free breakfast for two nights, room upgrade if conditions permit, free accommodation on the fifth night (slightly useless), and 80% points bonus.

Although there is no Shangri-La, you can book TLC and Luxury Circle (the preferred partner program launched by Shangri-La Hotels Group) through American Express customer service. Not only SNP, you can also enjoy room promotions, meal vouchers and other benefits. You can also order THC (hotel collection), which is probably a slightly lower FHR plan and is much more considerate than FHR.

Centurion Zhang, the three major hotel groups are done! There is still some value in booking through various priority channels.

2. FHR hotel benefits (boutique hotels and resorts)

Recommendation reason: Enjoy preferential prices and book a hotel quota of US$100.

FHR is Centurion’s unique and most acclaimed luxury hotel program.

There are more than 900 selected hotels under nearly 50 brands including Peninsula, Four Seasons, Westin, Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Hyatt and Oman, all over the world.

Look at the hotel directory on the official website:

The benefits provided by American Express are also very good, mainly including:

No one else will tell you, 100 yuan in a hotel is a lot of money. Generous.

In addition, more than 80% of the hotels in the FHR program have this additional benefit. If you check in during non-popular times and enjoy the $100 treatment, the return rate is still very high.

Take the Luxury Collection Hotel No. 12 Hengshan Road as an example. The usual price is around 2k, and the reference price for booking through FHR is 1.6k USD for in-store consumption.

The Ritz-Carlton in Pudong, Shanghai, usually costs around 3k. The reference price for booking through FHR is 2.3k for 100 US dollars in food and beverage consumption; in addition, FHR also offers three-for-two, four-for-three, etc. Discounts, free shuttle service and more.

The most important thing is that through the Centurion Platinum Exclusive Customer Service Phone Booking, when there is insufficient room on weekends and holidays, you can also book rooms and restaurants and fully enjoy VIP-level treatment. From personal experience, I have been coveting the top 1 terrace in Shanghai for a long time. I once queued for 2 hours as a non-resident guest with no seat. Then I made a call to Centurion Express Concierge and booked it! Successfully captured the night view of Pujiang River!

3. Stay at VIP prices in 300 selected hotels of China Merchants Bank.

China Merchants Bank’s 300 selected hotels have always been talked about, and you can enjoy extra VIP rates for 4 domestic and overseas hotels and 2 overseas hotels every year. The main price discounts are relatively large. If you use it well, you can save a night's room fee in minutes.

The disadvantage of CMB 300 Hotel is the tight supply of rooms. After all, it's not a fit for a centurion. For example, China Merchants Bank Classic White can also enjoy this right, so rooms on popular dates are basically out of stock.

The hotel list will be slightly adjusted every year. This year I chose Fayun Anzhen in Hangzhou, the daily price is around 4k. Book through 300 selected hotels of China Merchants Bank and get 100 points for only 2,900 yuan.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Paris, OTA quotations are around 7.5k, China Merchants Bank 300 Select 4k can directly win 100 points.

Lijiang Dayan Amman Suite, 2,800 yuan 100 points.

4. Airport VIP treatment

Highlights: Except for a few "lobbies" of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong, it basically beats the VIP lounges of all domestic airports.

It’s time to release the American Express VIP Lounge, which I took when I went to Hong Kong last time. This is the first Centurion Lounge set up by American Express in Asia:

In addition to rich dishes, desserts, and drinks for three meals a day, the bar also provides a variety of specialty cocktails, all free of charge!

There are also private phone rooms and conference rooms; spare parts are L'Occitane, which provides private bathrooms (there are too many transit passengers! From time to time, merchants cooperate with American Express to give gifts. For example, last time I opened a new hotel from Madai I got a set of small gifts from the hotel, including eye mask and hand cream.

5. Insurance

There is also a necessary insurance for travel (but considering people like me. You will get gastroenteritis in Japan and acute appendicitis in Hong Kong. This is really important.

This benefit provides aviation accident insurance of up to 15 million yuan and travel inconvenience insurance of up to 4,000 yuan (flight). Delay of more than 3 hours; lost luggage, lost documents, etc.), overseas travel and medical assistance up to US$1 million (emergency medical evacuation to China!

)

Travel, Centurion can also enjoy a 15% discount on car rentals from Avis and Hertz, but they are a bit useless and the discounts are average, so I won’t go into details.

The points are better than nothing. Privileges

Highlights: Redeem miles for Marriott gift packages

The easiest opportunity for Centurion to earn points is 10 times the points on your birthday. The event caps out at 10,000 bonus points, available for both primary and secondary cards. An opportunity.

However, China Merchants Bank has a pitfall. The reward points are "10 times the points". On the basis of the normal consumption points (1 times), an additional 9 times the reward points are given. In other words, To get 10,000 points, you need to spend 22,240 yuan, that is, you will get 11,112 points, of which 10,000 points are awarded for 9 times the activity, and 1,112 points are points for normal consumption (the math scumbag will cry)

One hundred. There are two methods of redeeming the points of the husband with the highest value:

Because the centurion cannot be redeemed for Yawan, and it is wasteful to redeem Yawan for short distances; if you use the ten times birthday points rationally, it will be more cost-effective. By spending 10,000 points on your birthday, you can exchange for about 1.30,000 British Airways miles, worth about 1,300 yuan, which is already worth one-third of the annual fee. The ratio of other redeemable airlines is as follows:

1. Two for one buffet

The hotel list includes buffets at 80 well-known five-star hotels in about 30 cities across the country, including Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La, There are many hotel options such as Hilton, Marriott, Westin, and Intercontinental. However, you need to grab this benefit. Generally, you have to book at least a week in advance.

Continue to show off. Last year, you can get two for just over 400. For the private buffet dinner, it was the Jing’an Shangri-La in Shanghai that received rave reviews. I was very satisfied with this meal:

2. 30% off on exclusive dining options

In addition to hotel dining, Centurion also offers They offer 30% off services at some specialty restaurants, and most of them come with complimentary wine. The list of restaurants in this section is also very rich, including some Michelin-starred restaurants, and of course the prices are relatively high. You can’t book a seat at Michelin-starred restaurants. , American Express concierge can get it all with just one call

Lifestyle benefits

1. Fitness sports

Currently, the only free sports available are golf, which has a relatively high threshold! , 12 free practice sessions throughout the year, several hours of practice time at a time, all equipment included, enough for novices to show off.

2. Teeth cleaning and physical examination services

Each household has one free physical examination and one oral care service every year. The main physical examination institutions are Aikang Guobin, Ruici, and Ciming. There are quite a few stores.

All-round secretarial service

The official description is this:

This VIP service is more interesting. Simply understood, it is a butler-style service, online 24 hours a day. Attentive service.

For example, want to eat at a Michelin restaurant but can’t get a reservation? Contact American Express customer service!

The hotel has no rooms during popular times? Contact American Express customer service!

I don’t know how to prepare for a visa, so contact American Express customer service!

Even if you don’t understand the language in a foreign country, you can always ask American Express customer service to help you connect with your hotel, pick you up from the airport, or provide you with X services.

Finally, after reading this, if you want to apply for the card, remember to do it before April~

Starting from April this year, the newly applied Centurion Platinum Card comes with The card will also start charging! Each household can apply for 2 supplementary cards, so a set of three cards will cost 7,200 yuan! Related Q&A: What is the annual fee for the CMB Golden Sunflower Card? The CMB Golden Sunflower Card has no annual fee, but there is a management fee. The first three months are free, and starting from the fourth month it is 150 yuan/month/card. However, there are ways to reduce or reduce the management fee: 1. It is free for customers who receive salary agency services. It will be free for 6 months after the agency service is stopped. It will be charged starting from the 7th month. 2. If the monthly average daily assets are ≥500,000, the fee will be waived for that month; 3. 3 consecutive months. There is 1 month in the month where the daily average assets are ≥ 500,000; 4. There is 1 month in 3 consecutive months where the daily average assets + loan balance are ≥ 1 million. Golden Sunflower Card is a platinum-level debit card launched by China Merchants Bank.

The Golden Sunflower Card has many special functions. It is the first financial platinum card in the Asia-Pacific region. It has premium service platinum quality, enjoys VIP boarding at airports nationwide, free 800 hotline service, global cash withdrawal, overseas emergency rescue services, and independent selection of personalized card numbers. , one-to-one financial advisory and other services. If the applicant has assets in all personal accounts at the same branch of China Merchants Bank (referring to domestic and foreign currency fixed-term, current and "Bank-Securities Connect", "Bank-Bank Connect", agency insurance, personal The total market value of gold and certificated treasury bond accounts), equivalent to a total amount of RMB 500,000, can apply for the "Golden Sunflower Card". Special features (1) The first financial management platinum card in the Asia-Pacific region (2) Premium service platinum quality (3). VIP boarding at airports across the country (4) Free 800 hotline service (5) Global consumer cash withdrawal (6) Overseas emergency rescue service (7) Independent selection of personalized card numbers (8) One-on-one financial advisors One-on-one, professional and unique Personalized financial management design and services can help you answer your investment questions, help you plan your life, maximize the value of your life, and help you have a happier life. (9) Superior and Exclusive Financial Management Space China Merchants Bank has 67 "Golden Sunflower" financial management centers, 228 "Golden Sunflower" VIP rooms, and 250 "Golden Sunflower" VIP windows across the country, which will give you priority to handle business. From now on, card owners don’t have to queue or wait, and can enjoy superior and exclusive financial management space. (10) Rich and timely financial information According to the card owner’s customized requirements, we provide card owners with rich and timely investment information to help you seize every investment value-added opportunity. In addition, in order to allow you to fully understand the income and expenditure of your account, China Merchants Bank will mail you a "Golden Sunflower Card" statement every month. All transaction records in the account are clearly listed and clear at a glance (customers who applied after September 2011 will not be provided with a statement. For quality statements, customers who have previously handled paper statement services will continue to do so). (11) Special value-for-money discounts As a "Golden Sunflower" customer of China Merchants Bank, you can enjoy various value-for-money benefits provided by China Merchants Bank and international organizations: various transaction fee exemptions and special merchant discounts. (12) National roaming that accompanies you all the way. No matter where you go, card owners can enjoy the highest level of national roaming services: "Golden Sunflower" VIP boarding service, star hotel reservation and VIP service, telemedicine emergency rescue service, and ticket booking , weather and traffic consultation services, free temporary safe deposit box services, emergency withdrawals, emergency loss reports, free mobile phone text messages or E-mail financial secretary notification services, etc.