What can credit card concierge services do for you?

It’s a cardholder’s dream: a credit card with a magical touch that opens doors that are closed to everyone else.

But, depending on your card, “concierge service” can mean something very different. With some maps, the service can be an application with exclusive offers that you navigate yourself. In other cases, it may be a concierge hotline with staff who can provide some assistance when you have a special request or problem.

“Typically, I think one of the most common uses is travel support,” says John Cabell, director of banking and payments analytics at JD Power, which conducts ongoing research on consumer satisfaction with credit cards. “It can be helpful to have an ally if you are in a difficult situation or in an unfamiliar place.”

Cardholders also use them for personal purchases or dinner reservations, he adds. “But in general, travel services are the most common.”

What do concierge services do?

Like everything else, concierge services are only as good as they can be for you. “Not all concierge services are the same,” says Peter Greenberg, travel editor for CBS News.

Many focus on giving you access to things you might not be able to get on your own: tickets to sold-out shows, hotel rooms that are fully booked, or last-minute restaurant tables in a place where the waiting list is measured in months. . or years.

And that’s how most cardholders use them, says Chris Dong, credit card reporter for The Points Guy.

Cardholders typically use the services to make restaurant reservations on the fly, go the extra mile with special occasion events, or find a lost item left at a hotel, he adds.

But the most valuable commodity when it comes to a concierge is the real person on the other end of the line,” says Greenberg, who has used a concierge in the past to book flights out of war zones at the last minute. “If you can’t talk to a person, what’s the point of calling it a concierge service?”

While card concierge quality ratings are certainly subjective, “we can look at which concierge services are most commonly used by cardholders,” says Cabell. “And American Express seems to be engaging more with their cardholders on this service. It’s hard to tell if it’s because it’s a better service or if they have more products that offer this service.”

Plus, “they hire their own agents,” Cabell adds. “Many [card concierge programs] outsourced, and this probably also affects the level of service.

“The biggest problem with card concierge services is that you don’t know how effective they are until you use them,” Dong says. “There is no way to check with the concierge to make sure it’s a good option for you if you don’t have a card.”

How much does the concierge service cost?

Most cards “offer a standard level of service for all users, regardless of monthly expenses,” says Cabell. So even if you are on a tight budget, you will be treated the same as the big players. Though if you’re a big spender, you might be encouraged (or invited) to apply for more exclusive cards like American Express’s Centurion, which have a reputation for customer service.

Another advantage of concierge services is that they are free. You pay for what they buy for you, but it doesn’t cost you anything to use the service itself, Dong says.

In general, if you have a Visa card labeled Infinite or one of the Mastercard World Elite cards, you have concierge service, he says.

Some American Express cards, such as the Platinum Card® from American Express and Centurion, also have concierge programs.

The amount you pay for a card with a concierge program varies. Some cards with concierge services, such as the Amex Platinum Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve Card, and Capital One Venture X Credit Card, have higher annual fees, Dong said. ($695 for Platinum, $550 for Sapphire, and $395 for Venture X.) But others, like the Citi® Double Cash Card, have no annual fees, he adds.

Sometimes a good concierge service can save you a dollar. “If your favorite band is coming to town and the only available tickets make the event unavailable, contact the concierge service,” says Greenberg. They may have tickets set aside for their customers at a more reasonable price.

However, in travel, it is more often about access than purchase prices. “There is no guarantee that someone who booked a ticket for you will get the lowest fare,” says Greenberg. “But if you’re in a war zone and there’s only one flight out of there, you call concierge.”

Face it, most people buy credit cards for APR, fees, points or rewards, not for concierge services. According to a recent review of JD Power Credit Cards, most cardholders who actually have these services don’t use them.

So how do you know what you’re getting before you get a card?

The truth is, it’s not easy. “There’s not a lot of information out there,” Dong says. In addition, card offerings and programs can change quickly, he adds.

Greenberg agrees. Credit card companies “do not advertise concierge services so you know who has them,” he adds.

But there are a few things you can do. When you buy a card, look to see if the card website mentions a concierge service. If so, please review the concierge section in the terms and conditions section. Does this refer to “live” or “telephone”? Or do you see terms like “electronic”, “application” or “automated”? If it’s the latter, card concierge could be more of a DIY proposition, Cabell says.

As for concierge programs and card services in general, “one of the problems is that issuers are pushing consumers towards these self-service options,” he says. “In some cases, you don’t understand if you are chatting online with a real person or with a robot.”

But the best way to find out exactly what type of concierge service a card provides is to call the card issuer, says Greenberg. “In this country, we have become a system where people don’t talk. Call and say, “Please walk me through this.”

Some points to be covered:

• The service is available 24/7? If you are on the other side of the world and need help, you don’t have to wait for an office to open.
• People work in the service or you will deal with applications and bots? If you have a complex problem, you need someone who understands and helps, says Cabell. “Usually when you need a service like this, it’s not an easy question, and it’s not on the FAQ list.”
• Is the concierge service operated by the card issuer or a third party?? “If you’re offering concierge services and subcontracting to a third party in the process, that’s a problem,” says Greenberg.
• Experienced professionals work in the service? You may not use concierge services often, but when you do, you need a knowledgeable person on the other end of the line. If you need a fast ticket home, you need someone who can do it.

bottom line

“Do your research, dig around, and see what you can find when buying concierge programs,” Dong says. And while you can’t choose a concierge-only card, he adds, “it’s definitely an added benefit.”