"American Express, a company dogged for years by a rumor that it handed out black AmEx cards entitling holders to purchase anything up to jet fighters and beyond. While people insist a few of those fabled cards were provided to the ultra-privileged (those who had millions of dollars in American Express bank accounts; Imelda Marcos and the like) from 1984 to 1987, and a 1988 Wall Street Journal article appears to support that claim, whatever the truth about those chargeplates of lore, in 1999 the corporation finally bowed to the belief and began openly offering a real card at least somewhat in line with the rumor.

In 1999 American Express announced the introduction of its Centurion™ card. Available only by invitation to selected Platinum card members, this black credit card promises to simplify the lives of the harried rich. In exchange for its hefty annual fee (initially $1,000 US, but now $2,500), cardholders receive automatic upgrades on fifteen of the world's leading airlines. They also receive assistance in securing hard-to-come-by tickets for popular events, reservations at trendy restaurants, and shopping for Christmas gifts. Someone from the service will even call to remind cardholders of upcoming anniversaries. It is akin to having a personal concierge always on call.

"There had been rumors going around that we had this ultra-exclusive black card for elite customers," says Doug Smith, director of American Express Europe. "It wasn't true, but we decided to capitalize on the idea anyway. So far we've had a customer buy a Bentley and another charter a jet."

Other card member tales:
One cardholder wanted to locate and purchase the horse ridden by Kevin Costner in Dances with Wolves. The horse was located in a stud ranch in Mexico, purchased and delivered to Europe.

Another cardholder wanted a handful of sand from the Dead Sea for a child's school project on the Holy Land. Someone was dispatched by motorcycle to the shores of the Dead Sea to obtain the sand, which was couriered back to London.

Yet another cardholder required American Express to organize a wedding, including designing the wedding card, drawing maps to direct guests to the banquet, renting tuxedos and shoes for guests, and preparing the hotel room with a jacuzzi for the wedding night.

And for another cardholder who aspired to be an actress and wanted to be part of the crew of a weekly soap opera on TV, American Express contacted the director and arranged for an audition.

According to cardholder and record producer Nellee Hooper, the Centurion "arrives at your house with a security guard. You get this big, black, velvet-lined box, with a special mini-computer and two black cards in it, one for business, one for pleasure." If you put your card in the mini-computer, it tells you how much you've spent.

Yet for all of its snob appeal, the Centurion is still a thing of mystery. Though we located numerous references to it on the American Express web site, nothing we came across explicitly outlined its eligibility requirements or benefits. The card cannot be applied for; it is either proffered by AmEx or it is not. As to how the company decides whom it should offer the preferred plastic to, according to American Express their applications for Centurion cards are generally provided to customers who annually charge $150,000 or more to other AmEx cards. Centurion cards are not offered to anyone who has been a cardholder for less than a year.

Black charge cards have progressed from the realm of urban lore into reality.

Given the annual fees attaching to such premium cards and in light of the interest rates they carry, we're quite content with our less dusky plastic." [Via Snopes.com]

The Pimpwiz.com Spin: The Centurion, guys want to have it and women want to be with it;-) The ultimate in "F U money".