With vaccinations accelerating and travel restrictions lifted, you might be feeling more confident about dusting off that credit card and leaving the house for restaurants, events, or travel. An often-overlooked—and suddenly relevant—credit card perk is the concierge service, which can help you plan a trip, do some shopping, or score hard-to-get event tickets.
How does the concierge service work?
If you’ve ever used a hotel concierge, this service is similar, although you might also think of them as a customer service line or a personal shopper, since they can help you find and pay for stuff. Concierge services are offered free to premium cardholders and typically available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Their service has limits, of course, as a concierge won’t do anything unethical, like sending work emails on your behalf, and the tasks have to be specific and something you’d be able to do yourself (for example, you can’t say “rent me a helicopter for $20" and expect it to happen). There are plenty of services that concierges will provide, though, including:
Reservations: credit card concierges can often pull some strings and find you a spot at places that are either fully booked or don’t normally take reservations. They’re also great at finding good restaurants or things to do near your hotel when traveling, especially if you don’t speak the local language.
Events: Even if a sporting event, concert, or theatre event is sold out, a concierge might be able to find you a ticket through a reliable reseller or through partnerships with a given venue.
Travel: A concierge can help you secure a hotel room or rebook a cancelled flight, which is incredibly convenient if you’re in the middle of a work day and don’t have much time to do it yourself. Concierges are also good at spotting discounted upgrades for travel bookings, if they’re available.
Personal assistance: You can ask a concierge to do your shopping for you, schedule appointments on your behalf, find lost luggage, or help out with basic research like, say, finding a nearby swimming pool when you’re traveling.
Which cards have concierge services?
Per Finder.com, there are five credit card concierge service programs, although credit card companies might issue lower-tiered cards without the concierge service if you don’t have a great credit score. The programs include:
World Mastercard and World Elite Mastercard
Luxury Card Travel
Visa Signature and Visa Infinite
American Express
Citi Concierge
Is the concierge service worth it?
The service isn’t exactly “free” per se, as cards with concierge services will cost you hundreds of dollars a year in annual fees. However, if you make a lot of purchases on your card, it can be a nice perk on top of the rewards you’ll be earning. Especially if you plan to travel.