Among all the bank cards that exist, one of them has unimaginable advantages.
It’s a small plastic rectangle that has become indispensable. The bank card fills millions of wallets in France: 77 million to be exact. In other words, a large part of the population has not one but two cards. For the vast majority of holders of this payment method, it is only used to pay for purchases. No more no less. However, the bank card can be full of other useful goods, some of which are unsuspected.
Although it is known that at Visa or Mastercard, the differences between the cards are based on payment and withdrawal limits, travel guarantees (compensation, loss of baggage, etc.) or even on reductions at partner merchants, others go much further and offer services that some could not have imagined.
One morning, when you get up, you want to eat in a Michelin-starred restaurant but you haven’t made a reservation? No problem, you will easily find a table with this card. Are you a PSG fan and want to go see a match at the Parc des Princes without having to buy a ticket online like everyone else? No problem, your bank card will open the stadium doors for you. You don’t want to miss the concert of the year in Bercy and you couldn’t get tickets? No problem, you can also go to the show using your bank card.
If this seems hardly believable, it is nevertheless a reality, made possible by American Express. The payment method company offers many privileges to some of its customers: those holding the Centurion card. It is quite simply the most expensive card in the world. According to the latest price list published, you have to pay 4,000 euros per year to be able to have it in your pocket. But don’t think that a simple email to your banking advisor will be enough.
“The card is obtained only by invitation,” explained Caroline Gaye, general manager of France at American Express to Forbes. But when can you be invited to hold this card? Mystery. “You have to earn at least 65,000 euros per year to hold the Platinum card, from the range just below. We can simply say that the income required for the Centurion is higher,” the company responded to Le Parisien ago several years. For its part, Selectra says that you have to spend 20,000 euros per month, at least!
By spending so much money, you will be entitled to a metal card with excessive advantages. “Centurion Members have a guaranteed table in the 100 most popular restaurants in France, for the same evening; they benefit from a personalized welcome at Paris Airports, Fast Track and free and unlimited access to the most prestigious lounges airports around the world; they can attend exclusive cultural performances”, listed Caroline Gaye.
And that’s not all: thanks to this card, you can access a VIP box at the Accor Hotel Arena (formerly Bercy), the Parc des Princes or even Wimbledon. And even visit the Ritz and meet PSG players. In short, “more than a card, a lifestyle”, as American Express boasts, offered only to a privileged handful, the number of which remains secret.