Check out the new high octane Diners Club CARTE BLANCHE card. True competition for AMEX PLAT - still AMEX Platinum / Centurion set and exceed the standards. www.carteblanche.com CYA - Dog
That is one messed up site. HTML is all whacky, javascripts don't work properly, bogus pages creating unnecessary steps that visitors must click through... They're going to have to fix their site before I can even so much as look in their direction.
I use to be a regular Diners Club member and I was very pleased with my account. They rarely ever questioned any charges and I one time got my balance up to $47K after being a card member for one year. Once my credit is on track I wouldnt mind a Carte Blanche account. =)
Hey Dog- I got the "we love having you as a Diners Club memner so much, we've got something new for you..." letter last month. I went over it with a fine tooth comb to see exactly what $300/year gets me. The once-annual companion ticket is only valid on British Air and only on a full-boat coach ticket (or higher). Sorry- I get miles and upgrades on United or Continental, so no help for me there. Golf Club (free or reduced fee) entrance. Could be useful for when I visit customers... I'd have to look at the brochure. Not a big one for me, though. Slightly higher insurance coverages. All in all, no big deal to me. Pretty card, though, but the "regular" Diners already offers so much, there isn't much more they could add to it (primary insurance on rental cars, no limit, instant and exceptional customer service). I really think "regular" Diners it's a step above Amex Gold or Platinum for business travel ... but for "retail" needs, I love Amex purchase protection, best value, and wider acceptance. Quick story - another reason I love Diners Club - I was in Italy last month and needed some $$. Diners charges 4% at the ATM and that's it (no add-on fees like the $10 foreign ATM fee my bank nails me __ or any other interest- 4% up front and 2 billing cycles to pay it back in full). Anyway - there was some weird pan-European network problem affecting all Plus network transactions. I called them (collect of course) and as soon as the rep. got wind of my problem, she immediately transferred me to a supervisor who was handling this specific problem for traveling cardholders. I was offered a number of things - from a courier bringing cash to my hotel that evening (no extra $) to their reimbursing me for the additional exchange commission if I needed to use the airport exchange. THAT is how to exceed a customer's expectations and help remind a cardmember that $80 a year is VERY worth it.
