Quite Possibly The Most Elite Travel Credit Card One Can Have: What On Earth Is The Amex Centurion?

Summary The American Express Centurion Card is an elite status symbol with unmatched rewards.
The card is invitation-only and requires a high yearly spending threshold.
Cardholders enjoy unique travel perks, including exclusive lounge access and luxury benefits.
The avid and savvy traveler attempts to optimize the benefits of airline and credit card rewards programs to get the best value for their points or miles. Converting one’s essential expenses into airline rewards can help one rapidly move up in a carrier’s status system and may convince consumers to invest in more expensive credit cards.
One credit card stands out as unquestionably the most elite you might ever find in someone’s wallet. Brought by American Express, which is best known for its Platinum and Gold travel cards, it has a unique credit card offering that you likely have never and will never see.
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A card only available to the ultra-wealthy with annual fees that extend into the thousands of dollars, the Centurion Card from American Express becomes more of a complete status symbol than an airline credit card. On its own, this card will likely cost you the same as leasing a low-end luxury car with its annual fees.
But despite its high annual fees, a few distinct facts make the American Express Centurion card far more rewarding than any other on the market today. In this world we will look deeper at the history and offerings of American Express’s, and possibly the world’s, most elite travel credit card.
Origins and history
The American Express Centurion Card, colloquially as the Black Card, is a unique product reserved for those with extensive net worth and credit quality. The card is defined by its unique combination of anodized titanium accented by stainless steel with laser engravings. With no pre-set credit limits, Black Cards are a unique symbol of wealth that American Express created in the late 1980s.
Related American Express To Open Centurion Lounge At Newark Airport In 2026 After years of waiting and speculation, American Express will expand its coveted lounges to all three major New York airports.
In the last three years of the 1980s, American Express experimented with an ultra-exclusive credit card that was not advertised and had become known as the Black Card. Reports claimed this secretive card had been issued to less than 1,000 American Express clients who maintained long-standing relationships with the company.
The company confirmed the card’s existence in 1987, indicating that its rewards included private limousine transfers, helicopters, luxury vacations, and other services. The card was later discontinued in favor of the newly introduced Platinum Card, which offered most of its services.
By the late 1990s, however, the company had again identified a new way to profit by introducing a new ultra-exclusive card. In 1999, the Centurion Card was launched, with Jerry Seinfeld supposedly among the first few recipients, according to reports from CNBC.
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Since then, the company has continued to expand the American Express Centurion Card offerings, making it even more of a status symbol synonymous with limousines and private jets. The card has been used for some notable high-profile purchases, with the largest being the purchase of an Italian painting by Chinese magnate Liu Yiqian. In 2015, he purchased Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché from Christie’s at auction for over $170 million.
Qualification and selection process
As one would expect, the exclusive nature of the American Express Centurion Card means that the company must maintain a complex selection process. For starters, customers are not able to apply for the card, and those who do eventually receive the card can only do so by invitation only.
However, Forbes notes that those interested in the card are able to request consideration, something which stands in sharp contrast to other ultra-exclusive rewards products. Inviation-only airline status products like American’s ConciergeKey and United’s Global Services do not offer members the opportunity to request consideration.
Photo: American Express
American Express is extremely careful to keep the selection criteria secret, but there is no doubt that unless you are a big-time spender, you will not be considered for the Centurion Card any time soon. The gateway card for the Centurion is the American Express platinum card, through which customers often develop long-term relationships with American Express.
As many different analysts have indicated, those who are eventually considered for the Centurion Card spend somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000 per year on average. If one is lucky enough to actually get approved for the card, they will be required to pay the following:
$10,000 one-time initiation fee.
$5,000 recurrent annual fee.
Rewards and benefits
The rewards offered by the Centurion Card are somewhat unbelievable, including immediate elite status with a number of loyalty programs. According to Fortune, these include:
Diamond Medallion status with Delta Air Lines.
Marriott Bonvoy Gold status.
Hertz President’s Circle status.
Equinox all-access membership.
With these benefits alone, Centurion Card members can enjoy relaxing travel experiences and the best premium benefits all these organizations have to offer. Card members will also be able to access all of the lounges within American Express’ extensive network, as well as dozens of other inflight benefits.
Some of the most exclusive include access to private cruises and hefty discounts on private jet bookings. ​​​​​​​
Related Which Lounges Does The American Express Platinum Card Get You Into From Centurion Lounges to Delta Sky Club to Lufthansa Lounges, the Platinum Card has you covered.
Have you ever seen an American Express Centurion Card? Share your thoughts on the ultra-exclusive travel card in the comments section.