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Attempts to verify these tales were refused because,
as Beaupre puts it, "Our customers want to remain private and
we want to maintain that this card is exclusive."
Other prestige cards, like the World
MasterCard and the Visa
Signature card can get you into the Super Bowl, set you up with
private golf lessons with Jim Flick or reserve tickets to the hottest
Broadway show for you.
You can apply for both the Signature and World cards,
rather than wait for an invitation, but in most cases they are looking
for customers who earn at least $125,000 annually.
Ava Kelly, group product director for Visa, says the Signature
card is in a class by itself. "It gives clients a whole range
of reward programs customized by the consumer."
Kelly says that some of their newest access programs for cardholders
have been tickets to the Kentucky Derby and the Super Bowl.
"We recently partnered with Broadway in order to secure tickets
for our Signature holders who want front-row tickets to hot shows."
With all of these cards there is a high emphasis on rewards programs
and points.
For instance, MasterCard will customize a card to fit what their
client identifies as his or her most important interests. Cardholders
can choose to customize their card within four categories: family,
personal, financial and community. Cardholders earn a minimum of
one point toward the reward of their choice for every dollar spent.
Prestige cards have no pre-set spending limit, and most require
a spending minimum of $5,000 per month.
One of the most popular perks offered by Visa and the other cards
is the benefit of knowing that a restaurant will have a table on
hold for exclusive clients.
Kelly says the Visa Signature dining program is among the most
requested perks by clients. "We have an agreement with several
top restaurants that will hold tables for our clientele. It's standard
service for our Signature cardholders."
According to the Zagat restaurant survey, getting a reservation
at a French-New American restaurant in New York City called Per
Se requires "divine intervention." However, if you hold
a prestige card, getting 8 o'clock reservations takes a simple phone
call to the concierge service.
According to the 2004 World Wealth Report, one in every 125 Americans
is a millionaire. Information from Capital Development Services
states that by 2013, the number of millionaires will triple due
to inheritances.
As affluence grows, so will the need for credit cards that give
the biggest earners and spenders the comforts and perks they demand.
Kelly says that Signature cardholders represent only 3 percent
of the total Visa customer base, but 20 percent of Visa's volume.
Both Kelly, of Visa Signature, and Beaupre, of American Express,
claim their customers need all-inclusive services because they are
busy people with little time on their hands to think about the little
extras.
Those busy people can be guaranteed a first-class ticket on both
domestic and international flights. At no extra cost, these cards
provide global assistance, travel accident insurance, baggage insurance,
medical coverage and emergency medical evacuation.
Over the years, almost all creditors and banks have stepped up their
credit card offers by targeting specific groups, usually those who
make a certain income, with offers for platinum airline miles, gasoline
cards and cash-back bonuses.
Qualification for most of these cards is based on income, spending
power, credit score and credit history.
You have to be a proven good credit risk who can afford to live
the lifestyle of the upper-class. According to Kelly, "Most
cardholders are transactors who pay off their card every month and
don't carry a balance."
Check out Bankrate's quick-reference chart on prestige
credit cards.
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