If you’re not a credit card aficionado, the word “concierge” likely conjures the image of an opulent five-star hotel with a smartly dressed waitstaff that’s primed to accommodate your every desire.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, that’s not exactly how credit card concierge services work. But honestly? It’s not all that far off.
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What Is Credit Card Concierge Service?
Credit card concierge service is a card benefit that’s designed to help cardholders get the products, services, and information they need in a timely and convenient manner. It’s included with a variety of credit cards, which seems to include all of those issued at the World Mastercard, World Elite Mastercard, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite tiers.
Need reservations at a restaurant that serves a good steak? Contact your concierge. Struggling to book a last-minute holiday hotel stay? Give your concierge a call, and they can likely find you a room. It’s a bit like having your own personal assistant.
There are limitations, of course. Your credit card concierge can’t typically do anything you can’t do yourself (though certain providers may have partnerships that provide access to unique cardholder deals). It can, however, make it a lot easier to find or accomplish things that you’re struggling to do — or that you simply don’t want to do — on your own.
Aside from what you’re paying for the card itself (if anything), credit card concierge service is totally free. You still have to pay for any products or services you acquire through concierge service, but concierge assistance itself costs nothing.
What Are the Best Credit Cards With Concierge Service?
We’ll talk about how concierge service works in a second, but before that, we’ll list a few of our favorite credit cards that provide the perk.
There are plenty of great picks, from simple rewards cards to premium cards with luxe travel benefits. The following cards all include concierge benefits, and each is a great credit card offer all around:
- For premium travel rewards: The Platinum Card® from American Express
- For travel, low annual fee: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- For general rewards: Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- For dining: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- For retail: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
How Do Credit Card Concierge Services Work?
You’ll generally have to contact your credit card concierge service by phone. You should be able to find the phone number in your card’s Guide to Benefits, though you may be able to reach your concierge by calling the number on the back of your card or simply searching for the number on the web. Credit card concierge services can usually be accessed 24/7.
Insider tip
Not all concierge services require you to call. Luxury Card, for example, lets you contact concierge reps by email, or via live chat through the issuer’s mobile app. It’s rare now, but it’s not unlikely that you’ll see this functionality spread to other issuers in the future.
Once you’re on the line with a concierge representative, you may have to provide some information about your card account to confirm that you’re actually the cardholder in question (learn more about the anatomy of a credit card if you’re not sure where to find the numbers you’re asked for). Then, you can make your request.
Be as specific as possible if you’re set on getting the results you’d like. Bear in mind that the concierge can’t usually do anything you can’t do (like make dining reservations at a restaurant when it’s fully booked), but it should be able to help you with certain tasks you might find difficult, like finding a holiday gift that’s out of stock at local stores.
Provided your request can be accommodated, you’ll be given a rough timeline of how long it’ll take. It’s rarely immediate — you’ll probably have to wait a day or two, sometimes more.
Once the concierge has completed your request to the best of its ability, a rep will call you or send you an email with the results, and will help guide you through any further steps you may be able to take.
What Can a Credit Card Concierge Service Do for You?
Credit card concierge services are convenient, but they’re not magic. They can’t usually do anything that you couldn’t do yourself if you tried hard enough. They can make lots of things easier, though. Here’s an idea of what your concierge can (probably) do:
- Book travel: Comparing the price of travel (airfare, bus tickets, hotel rooms, etc.) can be surprisingly time-consuming. Why not ask your concierge to set up your trip for you? Your concierge can help with the rest of your travel planning, too — finding attractions, identifying restaurants that suit your dietary needs, reserving a rental car (make sure to use a card with rental coverage if you’re taking that route), and that kind of thing.
- Make dinner reservations: Need restaurant reservations for an upcoming family outing or business meeting? Your concierge can’t get you in if it’s fully booked, but it should be able to help you arrange a reservation for the most convenient opening available.
- Purchase tickets: Concierge services are great for securing tickets to sporting events, concerts, and other high-demand happenings. Even if the event is sold out, the concierge may be able to find you a ticket through a reliable reseller.
- Locate hard-to-find items: Whether you’re after a toy that’s in high demand or a certain grocery item that’s out of stock at all of your local big box retailers, your concierge can likely help get what you need.
- Recover lost/forgotten items: If you’ve left something behind (at a hotel room, for example), your concierge may be able to arrange someone to collect and return it before it’s lost to the ether.
- Conduct research: Provided it’s not classified knowledge, your concierge should be able to look into pretty much anything, information-wise, even if that means reaching out to a brand or another party with questions.
When it comes down to it, a lot of what a concierge service can do for you depends on how much you’re willing to spend. Some of the more out-of-the-box concierge anecdotes involve wealthy cardholders using concierge services to secure absurd collectors’ items, like concept cars and paintings worth millions.
Even in those cases, though, the cardholders could theoretically have contacted the appropriate parties themselves. But who knows if they’d have gotten a response, and why spend the time if someone else is getting paid to do it for you?
Credit Card Concierge in Practice: Real-World Examples
Though the above list offers a good idea of what credit card concierge services can do for the everyday cardholder, it’s hard to illustrate just how useful your concierge can be without diving into real-world anecdotes of how the perk has been used in the past. Some of these can’t be verified, but they seem realistic enough in the grand scheme of things.
Insider tip
Australian credit cards are quite a bit different from American cards, but based on our research, there’s no reason a U.S.-based concierge shouldn’t be able to put in the level of effort exhibited here.
What Can’t a Credit Card Concierge Service Do for You?
Concierge service naturally has limits. Limitations may vary by issuer or network, but you can generally assume all major concierge providers are governed by strict policies concerning what they can and can’t do. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are some examples of what your concierge probably won’t be able to help with:
- Break the law: Don’t turn to your concierge for help planning your next robbery.
- Sell things for you: Your concierge isn’t a sales rep. Instead, request a list of places you might be able to sell whatever it is you’re trying to sell.
- Do your homework: Though a concierge can research things like the cost of a kitchen renovation project, your concierge service will not complete homework for you. It might be able to help you find information that’s useful for your work, though.
- Provide medical advice or assistance: Concierge services can’t provide direct medical help, but you can ask for a list of practices that offer a certain medical service you’re looking for.
- Provide private or classified information: And no, you can’t ask what kinds of requests other cardholders have made.
- Run errands for you: Your concierge won’t deliver your groceries, but it can help you arrange a delivery with a grocery service that operates in your area.
How Do You Get A Credit Card Concierge?
To get a credit card with concierge service, you have to apply for one that provides it. Quite a few cards come with concierge benefits, so you shouldn’t have much trouble finding something that matches up with your spending habits.
Just take note that concierge perks will sometimes only come at certain card tiers.
For example, some Visa cards can be issued at either the Visa Platinum or Visa Signature level. But in most of these cases, only Visa Signature cards come with a concierge. The base credit limit for Visa Signature is usually $5,000, so you’ll probably need better credit scores and a higher income to qualify compared to cards at the Visa Platinum tier.
Credit Card Concierge Providers
Credit card concierge service is generally provided through the card’s network — Visa or Mastercard, for example — though certain credit card issuers market their concierge services under their own names (like Citi). The main concierge providers are:
- Visa: Visa cards offer concierge services starting at the Visa Signature tier, which means it should be available with Visa Signature and Visa Infinite cards.
- Mastercard: Like Visa, Mastercard offers concierge services at two benefit tiers: World and World Elite.
- American Express: Amex includes concierge with a particularly exclusive selection of cards: The Platinum Card® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card® from American Express , and the Centurion® Card from American Express (terms apply). These are the issuer’s three most premium cards, so it’s no surprise that many of the internet’s most outlandish concierge anecdotes involve American Express.
- Citi: Citi boasts its own concierge service, and it’s available with several of the issuer’s cards — a much less exclusive selection than that of American Express.
- Luxury Card: Known for its Mastercard-branded metal credit cards, Luxury Card Concierge is available 24/7 to all Luxury Card cardholders. Luxury Card’s concierge is accessible by phone, email, and live chat in Luxury Card’s mobile app.
Insider tip
Starting at the World Mastercard tier, Mastercard credit cards also provide Mastercard Airport Concierge, which is a bit different than traditional credit card concierge services. This perk provides access to (and discounts on) a variety of airport services, from chauffeured rides to personal airport escorts, at more than 700 airports worldwide.
What’s the Best Credit Card Concierge Service?
Concierge service is concierge service, for the most part. What your concierge can do for you basically depends on how creative you get with your requests and how much money you have to spend. However sparkly the marketing, a premium card’s concierge service probably can’t do too much more than, say, Visa Signature concierge.
With that said, certain credit cards come with additional benefits that work in conjunction with concierge service to deliver a more luxurious experience. For example, the concierge service may have a special relationship with a network of restaurants or merchants that can grant you access to certain perks others may not have.
American Express is one such case. Its premium cards include the Global Dining Collection, which offers access to a selection of exclusive restaurant reservations and personalized culinary experiences. The collection pairs impeccably with Amex concierge, which can help cardholders arrange these experiences. (Cardholders of the Centurion® Card from American Express are also reputed to have access to a better-than-average concierge.)
Luxury Card’s concierge is somewhat unique, too. It’s accessible through live chat in the issuer’s mobile app and via email (whereas most are only accessible by phone), adding a touch of convenience that may appeal to those who’d rather not have to commit to a voice conversation to request assistance.
Our Top Picks: Credit Cards With Concierge Service
Concierge service is concierge service. From one card to the next, the differences shouldn’t be too stark. So, for our favorite concierge cards, we’ve simply picked some of our favorite cards that just happen to include concierge perks.
- Premium Travel Rewards: The Platinum Card® from American Express
- Travel, Low Annual Fee: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- Chase Freedom Unlimited®
- Dining: Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Retail: Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
- Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card
Other Credit Cards With Concierge Service
There are lots of credit cards that may provide concierge service. The below list doesn’t include all of your options, but it does cover most big-name picks.
Keep in mind, at the time of publication, it appears that all credit cards issued at World Mastercard, World Elite Mastercard, Visa Signature, and Visa Infinite tiers include concierge benefits. If your card is issued at a lower tier, it’s unlikely to provide a concierge benefit.
American Express
- The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- Centurion® Card from American Express
Bank of America
- Bank of America® Customized Cash Rewards Card
- Bank of America® Travel Rewards Credit Card
- Bank of America® Premium Rewards® Credit Card
Capital One
- Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card
- Walmart Rewards Mastercard
Chase
- Chase Freedom Flex℠
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Premier Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards® Priority Credit Card
- United℠ Explorer Card
- United Club℠ Infinite Card
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Luxury Card
- Mastercard® Titanium Card™
- Mastercard® Black Card™
- Mastercard® Gold Card™
U.S. Bank
- U.S. Bank Cash+™ Visa Signature® Card
- U.S. Bank Altitude® Go Visa Signature® Card
- U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite® Card
Wells Fargo
- Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card
- Wells Fargo Active Cash℠ Card
