Concierge services are one of the most intriguing perks offered among premium credit cards, performing sometimes mythical feats such as discounted Hamilton tickets and guest access to once-in-a-lifetime events such as the Olympics.
These concierge services are offered with most top-tier credit cards, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. These services are provided by third party companies and not by the issuers themselves, so the responsiveness and quality of the results can vary, but nevertheless it can be a very useful service.
So, we asked the TPG Lounge what were some of the craziest tasks the card concierges had been able to pull off for them.
Help with restaurant reservations
“I needed to book the French Laundry restaurant in Napa, CA area for my boss. Not a crazy request, but very difficult restaurant to book. Reservation line opens 2 months from the desired date at 10:30 a.m. Right on the dot, I called their reservation and had busy tone all morning. When I finally got thru hours later, they’re booked up! I emailed the visa signature concierge (thru CSR) and the world elite MC concierge (thru my Citi AAdvantage), didn’t have the Amex Plat then, told them what I needed. I wanted to see which one of them can pull it off. Visa signature concierge came thru!!! Boss was happy, wondered how I managed to book a table. Didn’t tell him my secret.” — K. Bana-ay
“Walked into a highly suggested restaurant in Sonoma California without a reservation, was told a 3 hour wait for a table of 8. Called the Amex PLT concierge from outside and we were seated 10 minutes after the call.” — J. Solsol Jr.
“My mom went on a girls trip. They had dinner reservations at a restaurant … I had Amex set it up so they were met at the door with drinks, the dinner was put on my card and they never knew till the end.” — S. Santos
Over-the-top vacation requests
“My wife and I wanted to take a tour to the DMZ at the border between South Korea and North Korea that included a stop at the Joint Security Area. All of the tours that I found on the day that we’d be in Seoul were fully booked, but the Amex Concierge found us one and booked it for us. I’m not even sure what value to put on the Amex Concierge Team helping us experience something that we otherwise wouldn’t have experienced!” — J. Brist
“I was trying to plan my buddy’s bachelor party, so I gave the Amex Plat concierge an idea of the kind of place we wanted to stay, my desire to have a butler and chef, a shopping list for food/drinks from Costco, the need for, uh, entertainment, an outing, etc. They sourced everything, wrote a report with prices, and helped me figure out the budget. Very helpful to say the least.” — J. Zisner
Personal shopping
“I once asked Amex Plat concierge to send flowers to 8 of my girlfriends in 4 different states, plus Canada and Israel. Gave them a price range and they took care of the rest, all delivered w/in a few days of each other.” — Lisa Gootee
“Amex Plat Concierge got me Orchestra tickets to Hamilton at Face Value (2 years ago) on my birthday. Funny thing, when it came to Boston last fall I won the Hamilton ticket lottery and got 2 orchestra tickets for $10./each ????. Just Hamilton lucky I guess!” — M. O’Sullivan
“I used to have Amex plat concierge price shop things for me. Everything from gifts to massages and facials.” — M. Bell
Concierge services might not be something you think about when it comes to your card benefits. However, as the lounge members have proved they can be very helpful in getting some hard-to-get reservations, or simply helping you with the logistics of things you want to do on your next trip.
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