Super High End Credit Cards – Should I take One?
If you have reached the lofty air of super high income combined with flawless credit, you may get a very special call from your credit card company. Almost every bank that issues credit cards has a hierarchy. It starts with sub-prime cards with low credit limits and sky high interest. They follow that up with a “regular” card with a $5-10,000 limit and decent rates. The next step up in a gold card. They usually feature limits as high as $50,000. The final stop for most people is a platinum card that features rates in the single digits and limits as high as $100,000. But what if that just isn’t enough for you? What if you need a card with more rewards, more credit and perks beyond your wildest dreams? Welcome to the world of the super-high end credit card.
While there are super high end cards from most banks, the three that are the most well known are from American Express, Visa and MasterCard. How do you get your hands on one of these cards? Be prepared to have flawless credit and spend at least $250,000 per year on your credit card, and that is just to be considered. So, you get one of these phone calls offering you a high end card. What do you get and how much will it cost?
The most attractive feature of these super cards is the 24 hour a day concierge service that they provide. Maybe the most famous version of this service is done by American Express with their legendary Black card. Go ahead and try to find information on the Black card online. You won’t be able to. Not only does American Express not have a word about this exclusive card on their own website, they will barely even admit details about it, other than the fact that it does exist. Rumors abound about the concierge service provided with the Black card, but you can bet that if you need last second tickets to a sold out concert or a flight to Zimbabwe at 4am, they are the people to call. But service like this isn’t free.
Every one of the major high end cards charges a different annual fee. The lowest is done by MasterCard and Visa, with a reasonable $85 a year, but there are strings attached. To get, and to keep, one of these cards you are expected to meet some pretty high spending limits. If you aren’t going to use these cards to spend at least $3,000 a month, you probably won’t be a client of theirs for long. With the legendary American Express Black card, the annual fee is an astonishing $2,500 a year and you are expected to use it for at least $5-6,000 per month in transactions. It is safe to say that you either have to be a high roller or a major business owner to run up those kinds of bills every month.
So, the question is: is it worth it? To have a card like the upscale Visa or MasterCard or the absurdly upscale MasterCard Black, it is all about status symbols. If you need a card with no credit limit and annual fees that high, you aren’t worried about paying your bill every month. It is all about being seen with these amazing cards. But if you don’t think you want to deal with annual fees and minimum usage expectations, stick to the regular cards.