AmEx Concierge vs. Chase Concierge: Which is Better?
If you have a premium credit card and like to go to events or out to eat, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of credit card concierge.
The VISA Infinite concierge (such as with the Chase Sapphire Reserve) is one of the options for concierge services
For anyone who is unfamiliar, credit card concierge is a service offered by major banks that helps premium cardholders get event tickets, special travel deals, and other unique benefits. While the concierge can’t perform miracles, it can often get you access to events and deals that are normally hard to get (or even are sold out)!
Multiple different organizations offer impressive concierge services. If you have premium credit cards, such as the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the concierge comes built into the card.
However, it can therefore be tough to tell which credit card concierge service is better for you to contact. In this article, we will discuss both the pros and cons of our personal experience with both American Express and Chase concierge to help you determine which one is going to be more helpful for you.
However, before we can compare the American Express and Chase concierge services, we need to start with the basics:
What is credit card concierge and how can it help me?
As we mentioned previously, credit card concierge is a service offered by many credit card companies that enables cardholders to access personalized assistance around the clock. At its core, it’s designed to act as a dedicated personal assistant, providing a wide range of services to make life easier and more convenient. This can be anything from basic Googling help, to booking travel arrangements, securing event tickets, or even getting you into exclusive restaurants! Whether it's recommendations for the best restaurants in a foreign city, help with finding the perfect gift, or even arranging exclusive experiences, this service can be one of the most practical benefits that is offered by your credit card. Here’s an example of some of the tasks that you can call concierge to get help with:
Tickets to events (sports, music, etc.)
Restaurant reservations
Flower deliveries
Limo/car services
Scheduling massages
Hiring personal shoppers
As you can see credit card concierge services are an invaluable tool for cardholders seeking personalized assistance anytime, anywhere. However, most credit card holders (and even holders of the premium cards that offer the concierge services) aren’t even aware that these services even exist!
Generally, the usefulness of the concierge scales with how exclusive your credit card is: concierge with common cards the Chase Sapphire Preferred is very minimal, while concierge with unique cards like the American Express Centurion (one of the most exclusive credit cards on the market) offer services equal to essentially having your own a private assistant.
However, when you compare similarly exclusive credit cards, such as the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which concierge service comes out ahead?
Credit card concierge can help you book lavish vacations and stay at exclusive resorts!
Which Concierge is Better: AmEx Platinum or Chase Sapphire Reserve Through Visa Infinite
If you’re seeking great service and personalized assistance from your credit card concierge, it is essential to first evaluate which bank’s service best suits your needs. Two of the most well-known options for cards with good concierge currently on the market are the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite.
To address this, let's dive into the details to determine which one might be the better choice for you.
American Express Platinum Concierge
The American Express Platinum card
The American Express Platinum card provides its holders with access to what is generally the best concierge service you can use. The AmEx concierge boasts an extensive network of connections and resources, allowing them to secure coveted restaurant reservations, book theater tickets, arrange transportation, and even offer local insights on various destinations.
From just my personal experience, I have been able to use the concierge to get tickets to an Inter Miami MLS game that appeared to be completely sold out. Not only was the concierge able to find tickets for me, but they also offered to book them for me directly using my card! The simplicity and effectiveness of the American Express concierge were far better than I expected, and while I’ve used it for smaller things since then (such as getting recommendations and seats at restaurants), I still am impressed at how effective one call was.
We also know people with both the AmEx Platinum and the famous AmEx Centurion card who have told us about their experiences with the concierge. In one instance, someone called the concierge to try and get a video game console that had just been released as a birthday present for their nephew. Despite it being sold out almost everywhere across the country, the concierge took the task and called GameStops, Walmarts, and similar stores around the country until they could find one and then were able to get it shipped directly to the caller.
While the Platinum concierge is impressive, the Centurion concierge goes another level beyond that, allocating you your own direct representative to help with any inquiries. If you’re lucky enough to have the Centurion Black card, you can call the concierge for assistance with just about anything!
Granted, AmEx’s concierge might not always be able to help you—sometimes, what you’re asking for is just beyond what they are able to do. However, I have found from both my personal experience and reading about others’ experiences that AmEx is normally your best bet whenever you have a task that you’re not sure how to complete. As always, make sure to be kind to the concierge representative and remember that they want to help you just as much as you want their help!
An example list of items that AmEx concierge can help with, including arranging travel, sourcing tickets for concerts/movies/events, recommending restaurants, and even sending flowers!
Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite Concierge
The Chase Sapphire Reserve VISA Infinite
Chase Bank represents another option for concierge services through Visa Infinite. While not as widely known as the AmEx concierge, Chase’s concierge still has much to offer. Chase cardholders can rely on their classic concierge services for travel planning, event ticket purchases, hotel and restaurant reservations, and whole a lot more. While Chase has a lot of credit cards to offer, only the Sapphire line (and particularly the Sapphire Reserve) has concierge lines.
However, the general consensus online is that while the Visa Infinite concierge service used to be pretty impeccable, the quality has gone downhill in recent years. At this point, using the VISA Infinite concierge service is similar to talking to someone who is good at Googling—if you already have good online research skills, the concierge likely isn’t going to be able to do much more than you’re already doing. Chase also does not have an extreme luxury card like the AmEx Centurion Black card, which means there aren’t any upper tiers of support. That isn’t to say that Chase’s concierge service is useless, because it absolutely isn’t, especially if you have a busy schedule and want to be able to delegate tasks. Just don’t go expecting any miracles from the Chase concierge service.
The description of the VISA Infinite concierge service for the Chase Sapphire Reserve, which mentions helping with dinner reservations, Broadway tickets, or sports tickets
Which is better?
If you want to get a card for concierge service, or if you already have both cards and are deciding between calling one of the two, which concierge should you call?
For most situations, if you have both the American Express Platinum/Centurion Black card, as well as the Chase Sapphire Reserve, we would almost always recommend starting with AmEx’s concierge. While both services offer similar value propositions, our personal experience and the general consensus online lead to AmEx’s services being better across the board. With many specific examples of American Express concierge outperforming Chase’s concierge, it is smart to always start with AmEx for any concierge requests. However, if the AmEx concierge isn’t able to help you, it can’t hurt to try the Chase Visa Infinite concierge afterward!
Regardless of which service you prefer, the best set-up for concierge use is to have both banks’ services on offer. If you have both a Chase Sapphire and an AmEx card and want to combine your reward points, make sure to check out our tutorial on combining your points for trips!