The Rich Get Different Perks Than You and I

It’s amazing what sticks in the human mind. Last week, in the riveting Sacramento drama starring Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, his chief deputy testified that he didn’t recall much about what transpired during a lunch meeting with a political consultant, but he definitely remembered that the consultant had paid for lunch with “a black American Express card.”

Say what?

Turns out the black, or Centurion, card is the grand pooh-bah of American Express cards, offered for the first time last fall--by invitation only--to a select few Platinum cardholders.

American Express spokeswoman Judy Tenzer would not reveal the spending history required to earn the invitation or how many Centurion cards have been issued.

“That’s not something we disclose,” she said.

The annual fee is a steep $1,000, but the benefits are dreamy: free upgrades to the Concorde, access to airport clubs and automatic enrollment in frequent-flier rewards programs, late checkout and room upgrades at several hotel chains.

But wait . . . there’s more: complimentary international cell phones (you pay for the calls) and privileges at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, including free restyling of precious jewelry. (As in, voila!, the diamond from that first marriage is now a lovely pendant.)

Why is it that the richest people are treated to freebies and discounted services? It’s the same in Hollywood, where celebs are offered free clothes, jewelry and gifts ad nauseum, and the rest of us are left to ogle and aspire.

Of all people, the rich should pay full price, because they can afford to! Credit card companies should offer their best rewards to interest-paying-machines like me, who have large balances that aren’t going to get paid off any time in the near future. We’re the ones they’re making money off of. We should be the valued customers.

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Speaking of credit cards . . . MasterCard and Visa are up next on the monopoly chopping block. But which other monster-sized entities should be divided?

Wireless Flash/EPoll.com’s weekly survey, at https://www.epoll.com, is asking people to choose between the two Ms in M&Ms;, the Olsen Twins, Puff Daddy and his ego, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Hey, I know! How about Chuck Quackenbush and the California Department of Insurance?

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Only a few of the 107 rooms at the Grafton, Sunset Boulevard’s newest boutique hotel, were finished when I stopped by the other day for a peek. On the site of the former Park Sunset, the Grafton is slated to open July 1, with a restaurant by Rande Gerber and a bar by his brother, Scott Gerber, to follow in September.

Interior designer Toni Peck gave me a preview of what to expect in the 1950s-themed suites: The “Jayne” (inspired by Jayne Mansfield’s pink palace) will offer black satin sheets and feather-trimmed pillows; the “Rat Pack” will have an oversized wet bar with photos of Frank, Dino, Sammy and Peter, and the “Hollywood Babylon” will have a round bed with leopard-print coverlet.

On Sunday nights, the hotel will offer “Swim Cinema,” showings of old movies on a large screen by the swimming pool.

“People can lounge in inner tubes in the water and watch,” Peck said.

Rooms will start at $230, suites at $325. Unless, of course, you’re a Centurion cardholder, in which case an upgrade to a suite is probably free.

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In an item about gender balance in Hollywood on Tuesday, I misidentified the affiliation of Martha Lauzen. She is a professor at San Diego State.

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E-mail Booth Moore at booth.moore@latimes.com.