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I Feel Special…I Got a Black Card Invitation
By JLP | May 18, 2009
In today’s mail came a Visa Black Card invitation. I feel so special! (Please note the sarcasm in that statement.)
Here is what the letter said:
Dear Mr. JLP,
It is my pleasure to invite you to apply for the exclusive Black Card. Limited to only 1% of the U.S. residents, Black Card members are ensured the highest caliber of personal service. Cardmembers enjoy a 24-hour Concierge Assistant, Exclusive Rewards program, and Luxury Gifts from some fo the worlds’s top brands. Made with carbon, the Visa Black Card is guaranteed to get you noticed.
Apply now by filling out and mailing the enclosed postage-paid application. You may also apply online at blackcard.com, or by calling (866) BLACK CARD.
Best regards,
Laura Shaw
Director, Customer Experience
This card has a $495 annual fee! Yes, there are supposed benefits but are they worth $500 per year? That’s a lot of money in order “to get noticed!”
I think I’m going to decline this one. I don’t need a card made of partly made of carbon.
Topics: Credit Cards | 15 Comments »
May 18th, 2009 at 8:26 pm
Hurray, I'm partly made of carbon as well! I didn't know that was special…
May 18th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
As a chemist, "Made with carbon" just makes me giggle. Being a credit card, it's almost certainly made of some plastic, and, well, they've all got carbon. There are few things around us that don't have carbon in them.
With that, though, if you have any credit card, it is the case that you *already* have a card partly made of carbon.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Erm, aren't most credit cards made of (mostly) carbon?
May 18th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
$495 sounds more like what would be charged for being "serviced" (v.) rather than the service (n.) they promise. I can't imagine what they could do that would be worth that money.
May 19th, 2009 at 4:28 am
For an entrepreneur w/ no assistant, this might make sense, given all the work the concierge could do (look at the list of services/arrangements.) That's cheap labor at $495/year.
Plus if you read the fine print on the balance transfer at 0% for 6 months, the maximum fee to be charged is $50. That could get someone over a liquidity hump with only $50 out of pocket. (Please read the fine print yourself, readers, so I don't errantly mislead anyone…)
Finally, if one is a city dweller w/no auto/auto insurance, the auto rental collision damage waiver is a nice perk, altho' I know other cards offer it. The $1,500 trip interruption insurance is a nice benefit, too.
After applying the (self-employed) person's incremental tax rate, the $495 fee might effectively be around $356.40. Could well be worth the money for someone….
Personally, I don't pay to carry my plastic–they pay ME!
May 19th, 2009 at 5:19 am
Way to go bro, your head is firmly on your shoulders rather than being up in the clouds.
$500 to get noticed?? Visa must be nuts!
May 19th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Unless the "carbon" used to make the card comes in the form of solid diamond, I'd pass too…
May 19th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
"getting noticed" is sooo 2007…
May 19th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
And 1% of US residents? Being one of 3,06 million "cardmembers" sounds like something really special …
May 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
if you travel alot for work this card can make sense. You get a lot of perks at hotels, airport lounge memberships, rental car agencies, concierge service, and other benefits that make it easier for a person to travel. I had a colleague who had one and he used it all the time. If I was travelling extensively again, I would consider getting it myself.
May 19th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Is it like the Inanimate Carbon Rod from the Simpsons? Home in Space, what a classic episode
May 21st, 2009 at 1:17 am
I just got my Black Card invite in the mail today. Nice completely black envelope. I showed my wife the $495 annual fee…. and we didn't even bother to read the fine print.
May 25th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
It certainly has value to certain demographics. If you are a frequent traveler, the PriorityPass membership they give you (costs $500 annually) alone is worth the annual fee.
June 7th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Isn't this very similar to Amex Platinum? Carbon – lol
September 30th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
If $495 seems like a lot of money, the Black Card is not for you.