Many premium credit cards offer a concierge service, though it’s typically described in a pretty open-ended way. In some cases the service is tied to a specific card (like the Amex Platinum), while in other cases it’s tied to the tier of card with a payment processing network (a Visa Infinite, a World Elite Mastercard, etc.).
An OMAAT reader who recently picked up a premium card for the first time asked me about how useful this concierge service is, and I’m not sure I actually have a good answer. So I wanted to open this up to you guys…
In this post:
What can credit card concierge services help with?
When listing the concierge service benefit, credit card issuers tend to be pretty open-ended in terms of how they describe it, and what tasks concierges can help with. For example:
- The World Elite Mastercard Concierge is described as “a complimentary 24/7 concierge service that acts as a relentless personal assistant,” who can help you “reserve that perfect table, locate hard-to-find items and more”
- The Visa Infinite concierge is described as “a convenient and hassle-free way for you to get help with a wide range of travel, dining and entertainment tasks and activities”
- The American Express concierge is described as providing “expertise on what matters to you and can assist you with finding the best restaurants or buying tickets to upcoming events”
American Express goes into a bit more detail, and states the following:
“American Express Concierge may perform select services at your request and on your behalf that are limited to: (i) purchasing of available event tickets, (ii) making of available dining or other reservations (which may include, for example, spa or golf), (iii) general travel-related inquiries, and (iv) shopping requests (which may include, for example, sending of flowers or gifts); in each case, as deemed reasonable by American Express.”
Admittedly even that is vague — “other reservations,” “general travel-related inquiries,” and “shopping requests,” are all open to interpretation.
Am I wrong for not using these concierge services?
I’m curious if I’m in the minority with never even considering using credit card concierge services? In terms of how I value card benefits, the availability of a concierge doesn’t even make the list.
Let me be clear, I’m not trying to question the value of a good concierge. Quite to the contrary, a great concierge at a luxury hotel can work wonders, in terms of their knowledge and their ability to secure hard-to-get reservations, among other things. Many have been working in the same city for decades, and know everything and everyone.
However, I feel like credit card concierge services are very different — after all, you’ll be connected to the same concierge regardless of which request you make, and they can’t be experts on everything. The way I view it, these just aren’t as useful as they might have been in the past (and maybe I’m totally wrong — I’m sharing my perception, so please correct me):
- A concierge working for a credit card company will have limited knowledge about any particular topic and will likely have to do some research online; at that point I feel like I’m better off just searching by myself
- When it comes to restaurant reservations, I haven’t in the past found these concierge services to have much pull; in the meantime, some credit card issuers even have dining portals through which you can make reservations with more availability
- Perhaps in the past this might have been useful for hotel reservations, but nowadays most premium credit cards even have portals through which you can book luxury hotels (not that you necessarily should, but you can)
- Let’s face it, a lot of people have premium credit cards nowadays, so it’s not like you’re in some exclusive club by having one, and that also limits the pull that these kinds of services have; I mean, does a concierge have any power when they call up a restaurant with hard-to-get tables and say someone with an Amex Platinum really wants a reservation?
I’d love to be wrong, and maybe others are able to get a lot of value out of concierges? If so, I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to get a sense of what kind of value these services have been able to add.
Bottom line
Most premium credit cards market concierge service as one of the perks, though this seems to be a benefit that confuses a lot of people (including me). We all know what concierges are, but what can you really expect from a “global” concierge who you get access to just on account of having a credit card?
So I’m curious — what’s your impression of credit card concierge services? Do any OMAAT readers get value with this, and if so, how do you use it?
Recently, I was looking for a specific item while traveling. The item would have taken too long to ship (even from Amazon) so I needed to find it in a local store. I visited a couple and didn't see it. Instead of visiting or calling up many more, I asked the AmEx Plat concierge to do it for me. They called a few stores and learned from them that the item was too new and...
Recently, I was looking for a specific item while traveling. The item would have taken too long to ship (even from Amazon) so I needed to find it in a local store. I visited a couple and didn't see it. Instead of visiting or calling up many more, I asked the AmEx Plat concierge to do it for me. They called a few stores and learned from them that the item was too new and wasn't really available in stores yet. Could I have learned that myself by making those calls? Absolutely. But instead I made just one call then went and enjoyed my vacation time while the concierge did the leg work. While I didn't get the item I wanted, I got the answer I needed with a lot less work.
Amex Platinum Concierge service is a joke. Have tried it several times over several years for hotels, restaurants and concerts and they really don’t know anything useful. Completely uninformed people - probably working from their kitchen tables. About as knowledgeable as a psychic hotline
Truly very little value added. Have probably tried 10x in past & their results with restaurants are the exact same as VIP with Resy & Open Table. Time saved by doing myself. Tried for NYC show tickets but didn’t come thru. 100% agree that the way to go is using a hotel concierge, esp for the best local guides at a locale.
While in Athens Greece a number of years ago were unable to make our flight. Booked out for the next day, so far so good until we could not find a hotel anywhere. As we sat and thought about our next move, I remarked to my wife, don't we have concierge service with the AMX Platinum card? Needless to say we called and Amex saved the day by finding a room. I have not used them since but it's comforting knowing they are available when needed.
Data point: I have relied on Amex Plat concierge for three visits to Le Bernardin, Friday night, 8pm. For three very very special occasions. Over the course of the last 8 years or so. No way I’m getting that table any other way.
That's how I got a table there in 2018. I had mixed results with other places and wasn't sure what kind of success I'd had with Le Bernadin (a Th night, I think) but those are better data points.
In Oslo, I learned late that I'd left my car key in my rental in Alesünd but we were leaving early the next morning. The concierge worked hard for a few hours to get the...
That's how I got a table there in 2018. I had mixed results with other places and wasn't sure what kind of success I'd had with Le Bernadin (a Th night, I think) but those are better data points.
In Oslo, I learned late that I'd left my car key in my rental in Alesünd but we were leaving early the next morning. The concierge worked hard for a few hours to get the key to our hotel in DC, but they found no reasonable way to get it there and I punted. I can't say whether that was too tall an ask, but I didn't have any luck either when I got home (with Hertz unwilling to find a UPS/Fedex drop box). I will say they were much better than the dingbat catsitter we got through Rover for that trip.
Amex concierge
As a Centurion card holder, I find the concierge helpful (I have a dedicated rep). For regular FHR properties, I can make the res online but to get the benefits of the Centurion hotel collection, I have to go through AMEX. The restaurant services are useless. At hard-to-get reservations, I usually get the option of 5:30 or 9:30 (and I'm not 80 or 25 years old!) Although I agree that too many people have high-end...
As a Centurion card holder, I find the concierge helpful (I have a dedicated rep). For regular FHR properties, I can make the res online but to get the benefits of the Centurion hotel collection, I have to go through AMEX. The restaurant services are useless. At hard-to-get reservations, I usually get the option of 5:30 or 9:30 (and I'm not 80 or 25 years old!) Although I agree that too many people have high-end cards for any benefit to be truly worthwhile, I do wonder, who actually gets the prime reservation 30 days out? I have also discovered when using the international airline program (which is usually a 5-15% discount), the online portal doesn't return all the flights you may find on Delta's site for instance, but when I call my rep, she can get those flights with the discount too.
Just so you know, if you book a hotel via Amex and you have an accompanying Centurion Concierge tasking (restaurant, tickets, etc.), it is not uncommon for them to actually task the hotel concierge. We use the hotel concierge for international arrivals and not Amex. Amex "Invitation" events? Ha!!!
In general, these comments are awesome -- good examples of random things I might want to use them for.
The one time I tried using the Amex Plat concierge, I asked them if they could find me a reservation at a rooftop restaurant in Venice -- they did the legwork and came up with a couple options, neither of which looked all that appealing for reasons I don't recall, so I just said no thanks....
In general, these comments are awesome -- good examples of random things I might want to use them for.
The one time I tried using the Amex Plat concierge, I asked them if they could find me a reservation at a rooftop restaurant in Venice -- they did the legwork and came up with a couple options, neither of which looked all that appealing for reasons I don't recall, so I just said no thanks. But saved me probably an hour of googling and calling. Now, if I had been dying to definitely do a rooftop dinner, I would have trusted my ability to research it more myself and see if there are any real possibilities, but for just a throwaway idea, it was useful.
Use the hotel concierge. They are priceless.
I have recently used AMEX Platinum Concierge for restaurant reservations for large parties (larger than can be booked online) with mixed results. When the only way to book large parties is to call each individual restaurant and see if they have availability, it's much better to have someone else do that legwork so you can go about your day. Sometimes they have done this for me and found me a reservation. Other times they have...
I have recently used AMEX Platinum Concierge for restaurant reservations for large parties (larger than can be booked online) with mixed results. When the only way to book large parties is to call each individual restaurant and see if they have availability, it's much better to have someone else do that legwork so you can go about your day. Sometimes they have done this for me and found me a reservation. Other times they have not made this effort and only looked up what they had in their internal portal then told me they couldn't find anything without calling any restaurants.
Clever idea (kind of crazy what we used to do before Open Table and Resy, having to call around to restaurants!).
Last summer the Amex Platinum Concierge was a complete lifesaver for a trip I didn't even book through Amex. I used my United points to book a round trip flight from EWR to Iceland and paid for a cabin to stay there direct from the location's website. Unfortunately we had extremely strong storms (and even tornadoes which never happen in New Jersey) so virtually all flights were delayed/canceled, including mine. However there was absolutely no...
Last summer the Amex Platinum Concierge was a complete lifesaver for a trip I didn't even book through Amex. I used my United points to book a round trip flight from EWR to Iceland and paid for a cabin to stay there direct from the location's website. Unfortunately we had extremely strong storms (and even tornadoes which never happen in New Jersey) so virtually all flights were delayed/canceled, including mine. However there was absolutely no way to get in touch with united either in person at the gate (because crew had timed out and there was no crew), with customer service on the airport (there were literally people sleeping in tents waiting in line), or when calling/messaging united with my priority contact. I also couldn't find any flights out of any airports within 300 miles.
I called my platinum concierge to ask if they could help. They got my wife and I on a round trip flight the next day out it Baltimore which I was unable to see myself if booking without them. They also let the place we were staying know we were going to arrive late, booked me a great hotel for the extra days we ended up staying on the backend to make up for the delayed start, took care of changing the rental car days/times, and even followed up with me after to make sure everything went off without a hitch. I will never get rid of my Amex Platinum for this lifesaver alone. That was worth so much more than the $695 fee.
Yeah, my vote is in the "useless" column. When I tried using them shortly after getting my amex platinum (since cancelled. RIP Entertainment Book), I realized that by the time I verified all personal details, the spelling of names, etc., possible dates, preferences, it would have been far, far easier for me to just go online and search myself. Unlike a premium hotel concierge, there is no magical "pull" to get into sold-out venues, nor...
Yeah, my vote is in the "useless" column. When I tried using them shortly after getting my amex platinum (since cancelled. RIP Entertainment Book), I realized that by the time I verified all personal details, the spelling of names, etc., possible dates, preferences, it would have been far, far easier for me to just go online and search myself. Unlike a premium hotel concierge, there is no magical "pull" to get into sold-out venues, nor helpful advice on which tours would be fun vs. waste of money. Unlike a personal assistant, they do not know your preferences. I imagine the best use is for situations where you have no preference (e.g., "desperately need transportation from X to Y, get me anything that moves.").
The Amex Plat concierge used to be much more useful when you could email them with requests.
It was easy to jot off a note to them asking to make a reservations at a list of places or to research restaurants/event ticket availability. Now it doesn't make sense for me to call the plat concierge to request that they call a restaurant to make a booking when I can just call myself.
In my personal experience, it's much better to use specialized companies, e.g. TheConcierge (based in Europe) for sold-out tickets or travel arrangements.
Amex Plat used to be quite good for high-demand restaurants. As recently as 2020 they were able to get me a hard to secure Osteria Francescana (#1 in the world for a few years) reservation, which the pandemic subsequently ruined.
Now I find them useless for those specific situations - and a number of times they have essentially asked to used my Resy account to make the booking.... like - if that's what you're...
Amex Plat used to be quite good for high-demand restaurants. As recently as 2020 they were able to get me a hard to secure Osteria Francescana (#1 in the world for a few years) reservation, which the pandemic subsequently ruined.
Now I find them useless for those specific situations - and a number of times they have essentially asked to used my Resy account to make the booking.... like - if that's what you're going to do I can do it myself without changing my password to "Lastname-BirthMonthBirthYear" which is also an incredibly unsafe approach to digital account access. And multiple agents have done this so it wasn't an uninformed agent or someone trying to use my account.
On an international trip recently I used them twice: one Visa Infinite and another Amex. Neither helped. The Visa Infinite attempt was labyrinthine (trying to book NY day reservations, anywhere, in Nagano) and they ultimately gave us a list of four places, one of which didn't open that day. Amex said they'd get back to us and did, days after the date we needed.
Frustrating, anxiety provoking, and a massive waste of time in both cases.
It’s New Year bro. Everything is closed or booked already. If your brother ran a restaurant they couldn’t get you a table. Quit blaming your credit card company because you are disorganised or thick.
I tried them out for the first time to organize activities at a well known tourist destination a couple of months ago and both the CSR concierge and Amex Platinum concierge were horrible. They didn't have anything at all. Actually the CSR concierge sent me a brochure with no relevant information. And the Amex concierge simply said that he couldn't help.
ChatGPT 4.0 was much more helpful.
Amex Plat has shined a few times (most memorably, after I tried calling many times to a restaurant where I had left a bag behind, they got through in less than five minutes and arranged a return) to average (eg not having the pull with restaurants they used to). I think it's a combination of the Internet age making these things more widely available and the Plat card being less exclusive. Meanwhile, everything I hear...
Amex Plat has shined a few times (most memorably, after I tried calling many times to a restaurant where I had left a bag behind, they got through in less than five minutes and arranged a return) to average (eg not having the pull with restaurants they used to). I think it's a combination of the Internet age making these things more widely available and the Plat card being less exclusive. Meanwhile, everything I hear about the Centurion concierge is almost beyond belief.
Most useful for unplanned emergencies. Visa infinite concierge was able to get a van for 6 people in Key West the day before a hurricane that shut down the airport. All the car rental agencies said they were out of cars. Concierge said she'd need some time but called us back within 45 minutes with the confirmed reservation. When we showed up at the rental counter there was a line of very angry people all...
Most useful for unplanned emergencies. Visa infinite concierge was able to get a van for 6 people in Key West the day before a hurricane that shut down the airport. All the car rental agencies said they were out of cars. Concierge said she'd need some time but called us back within 45 minutes with the confirmed reservation. When we showed up at the rental counter there was a line of very angry people all trying to get a car but we were the only ones with a valid confirmation. Nearly caused a riot when the agent handed me the keys but we all got to Miami safely.
I'll share a story about Chase Sapphire Reserve concierge service:
Flew British to Rome. The BA organization had a difficult time getting out of the rabbit warren of Heathrow and subsequently we arrived in Fiumicino half an hour after the last train to Rome.
We had booked through Citi Prestige and Citi's people were unable to "do anything for us, but they were very sorry".
Called Chase - told them exactly what had...
I'll share a story about Chase Sapphire Reserve concierge service:
Flew British to Rome. The BA organization had a difficult time getting out of the rabbit warren of Heathrow and subsequently we arrived in Fiumicino half an hour after the last train to Rome.
We had booked through Citi Prestige and Citi's people were unable to "do anything for us, but they were very sorry".
Called Chase - told them exactly what had happened to us, and that we hadn't used their card, but needed help. In 10 minutes Chase had a car to take us to the hotel there (I think it was a Hilton) and provided a room. That's not all; they also booked a taxi for the train ride in the morning to take us to the station AND booked tickets for us for the ride to Florence.
After that two things became true, I got a refund on the hotel and the train tickets through Citi and their travel insurance, and threw my Citi card in the trash.
I'm not going to say that is a repeatable event, but that Reserve concierge saved our vacation and my blood pressure.
I tried the German Amex Platinum concierge for some occasions which no expectations.
1. Concert tickets for a sold out concert in Munich
They only had availability by a contractor for one less desired date…
2. My phone broke in Asia in mid-October and I wanted to upgrade to an iPhone 15 Pro which had delivery times of 3 weeks.
They were useless as they did not have an agreement for priority delivery with Apple.
I find them extremely helpful to get specific reservations in countries where you don't speak the language. The Chase Reserve service was able to get reservations for us in Japan where it can be complicated to get reservations in advance for specific restaurants (nothing available online let alone in english). They did make us sign a disclaimer stating that the reservations were not to be missed and that we must be on time which was...
I find them extremely helpful to get specific reservations in countries where you don't speak the language. The Chase Reserve service was able to get reservations for us in Japan where it can be complicated to get reservations in advance for specific restaurants (nothing available online let alone in english). They did make us sign a disclaimer stating that the reservations were not to be missed and that we must be on time which was interesting but we would have had no clue how to navigate this as non Japanese speakers.
This is exactly the situation I used the CSR concierge for. They have a specialized "Japan desk" of people who call restaurants/events in Japan for cardholders. Got my friend and I into a great small sushi place in Tokyo that we otherwise wouldn't have been able to go to.
I find that the Centurion concierge does have some pull when it comes to restaurant reservations. Platinum less so.
I had two good experiences within the last year with Amex Plat concierge. One is that I was able to get a table on relatively short notice at Core by Clare Smyth in London, even though no tables showed online. Second is they found a local vendor for me to buy a specific gift for a friend’s international wedding. In theory, for the second one, I could have done it myself had I spent the time. But the beauty was that I didn’t have to.
Hit or miss in my experience. Have used Amex twice the first was to find a coat I saw on a tv show that I loved and couldn't find myself and after a few days they were able to locate and source one to be made.
Second use was more of a disappointment on a last minute trip to Paris asked them to get a reservation for a hard to get restaurant and they...
Hit or miss in my experience. Have used Amex twice the first was to find a coat I saw on a tv show that I loved and couldn't find myself and after a few days they were able to locate and source one to be made.
Second use was more of a disappointment on a last minute trip to Paris asked them to get a reservation for a hard to get restaurant and they couldn't get a table across 4 different days. I dont blame them or anything but feel like this is where they would have shined as it's a major city and Jules Verne to me is a restaurant they should have connections with.
I have used the AMEX Platinum Concierge service for making dinner reservations. In some cases, when a restaurant was booked, they were able to get us on a waiting list, and they would follow-up as the date got closer. In other cases, they made recommendations for appropriate alternatives. In other cases when the book had not opened yet, they would follow-up on the day reservations opened, and secured the reservation.
They're not miracle workers, but we have had some very good experiences with American Express, including dinner reservations at one of the best restaurants in the world. Amex has relationships with some world class restaurants and can get things done we couldn't.
Now, if you call at 5 pm and want dinner reservations at 7 pm, you're probably going to be out of luck.
Amex concierge got me 4 lower level Olivia Rodrigo tickets, that they had reserved exclusively for AMEX concierge. The tickets are selling for 2-3x what face value was… they can be very useful for hard to get event tickets!
Same experience here. The one time I used them was when I was in Vegas unexpectedly for one night (diverted flight). I looked up concerts happening that evening, but I couldn't get tickets via Ticketmaster for the one I wanted. Tried the hotel concierge and they were way too busy. I called the Amex Plat desk and they got me a ticket (less than anything I saw on Ticketmaster) very quickly. I think for things...
Same experience here. The one time I used them was when I was in Vegas unexpectedly for one night (diverted flight). I looked up concerts happening that evening, but I couldn't get tickets via Ticketmaster for the one I wanted. Tried the hotel concierge and they were way too busy. I called the Amex Plat desk and they got me a ticket (less than anything I saw on Ticketmaster) very quickly. I think for things like that they can be useful, but I agree with other comments that the hotel concierge is generally much better and has direct relationships.
Over the years, family, friends, and I have tried using the various CC concierge services, and they've never been able to help. Restaurant reservations, alcohol tastings, cooking classes, activity tickets (nothing special - local stuff), etc.
The amount of time we collectively spent on the phone, on hold, or writing emails was ridiculous. For non-US activities, they sometimes had to coordinate with a translator, adding even more time. In the end, the availability was...
Over the years, family, friends, and I have tried using the various CC concierge services, and they've never been able to help. Restaurant reservations, alcohol tastings, cooking classes, activity tickets (nothing special - local stuff), etc.
The amount of time we collectively spent on the phone, on hold, or writing emails was ridiculous. For non-US activities, they sometimes had to coordinate with a translator, adding even more time. In the end, the availability was often the same as what was available directly, so their "pull" was nonexistent.
I'll admit that they were definitely more competent than your average call center rep (knowing exactly what questions to ask and understanding the nuances of our requests), but they were useless.
I used Amex’s service a number of years back. We were in the Keys and absolutely hated it (except for a couple of restaurants). The entire family wanted to get out of there. Called Amex, explained the issue, and within the hour had a new reservation in Boca Raton and release from the hotel we were in less 1 night penalty (into a 10 night stay). I was happy w that and the service provided...
I used Amex’s service a number of years back. We were in the Keys and absolutely hated it (except for a couple of restaurants). The entire family wanted to get out of there. Called Amex, explained the issue, and within the hour had a new reservation in Boca Raton and release from the hotel we were in less 1 night penalty (into a 10 night stay). I was happy w that and the service provided was excellent.
Have used their service for hard to get dinner rezzies a few times w mixed results.
Your first bullet is all that matters, I trust my ability to research much more than someone who is likely hasn’t experienced things firsthand. A hotel concierge at a high-end hotel is much more likely to have eaten at the restaurant they are recommending than someone in an AmEx call center.
More so to your point, the concierge at the high-end hotel has the personal contacts to get you into the otherwise unbookable restaurant in town. Or, to change an existing reservation due to an emergent issue. Or, to facilitate behind-the-scenes access to some local venue or event. Or, knows *the* local guide. Or, knows *the* local garment repair shop. Or, urgent medical care.