Now that the decision has been made, let's do it.

It's the stupidest thing to contact the airline directly, not that it's bad, but to contact directly, whether it's in the name of an individual or a company, you have to start from the beginning. The larger the airline, generally speaking, the more orders, the behemoth of the aircraft, its own production time is very exaggerated, private jets also have to take into account the interior of the problem, from the beginning of the queue, every two or three years, three or four years, do not want to see the shadow of the aircraft.

So when he decided to buy a plane, Zhou Fangyuan made a phone call to his personal assistant in Amex.

That's right, it's that Centurion Black Gold Card.

At this stage in 05-06, not many Chinese people know about it, but in another ten years, basically ten people will know the so-called centurion card.

People say that it is not easy to get a Centurion Black Gold Card, and even if you get the card, it is not easy for you to improve your level within Amex, only when the level is raised, the service will get better and better, etc...... In fact, to put it bluntly, it is money, as long as you have money, Amex will serve you. The richer you are, the better the service, and of course, the higher the price of the service. For example, Zhou Fangyuan's industry in the United States, if you estimate it casually, it is more than 10 billion yuan. Unless it is stupid, Yuntong will turn away such a rich man.

As for Yuntong, this one is really, too famous. Zhou Fangyuan had heard too much news about this company in his previous life, so in this life, when he accidentally found out that he had been invited by Yuntong, he didn't think much about it and joined in. Anyway, Amex can provide a lot of services that you need, and that service fee is obviously nothing compared to the time saved.

Amex itself is indeed quite powerful, it is the world's largest travel services and comprehensive finance, financial investment and information processing global company. It is a leader in credit cards, traveler's checks, travel, financial planning and international banking, and is the only service company among the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Index, which reflects the U.S. economy.

More than 100 years before entering the payment card industry, Amex was originally formed by the merger of three courier mail companies. Its mail and cargo courier services have gained a reputation for being fast and reliable. Especially during the Mi-Mi Civil War, Amex was known for its reliable and convenient delivery of parcels and letters. After the American Civil War, the development of the railroad system led to the nationalization of regional markets, and the national movement of money across regions became even more important. However, cash can be easily stolen. In the absence of a national bank in the United States, the transmission of funds can only rely on the mailing system.

The post office in the United States invented a simple check, the money order, in response to demand. Money orders by mail quickly became a popular method of money transfer. Amex also immediately introduced a competitive money order product. However, it is clear that bills of exchange lack the flexibility of cash and are also at risk of theft and counterfeiting. To solve this problem, in 1891 an employee of American Express invented the traveler's check, a double-signature testimonial, to reduce the loss caused by theft. Traveler's checks soon became one of the company's important products. Amex has gone to great lengths to convince domestic and European banks and merchants to accept its cheques, guaranteeing that they will not charge any fees from the merchants, and guaranteeing the merchants to prevent counterfeiting.

After the end of the Civil War, as the number of people traveling abroad increased day by day, Amex's network in Europe developed very rapidly. In 1955, Amex provided customers with approximately $12.5 billion in traveler's checks, accounting for 75% of the worldwide traveler's checks industry. By 1977, Amex was issuing 50 percent of all traveler's checks worldwide. To this day, American Express traveller's cheques can be written in any amount in lieu of cash and are used in many parts of the world.

In 1950, as the 100th anniversary of Amex was celebrated, the Diners Club, better known as the Diners Club, was founded. Initially, Diners Club introduced Diners Club's bill cards for restaurant customers. Charge cards do not offer revolving credit and cardholders must repay the full amount owed each month, and there is no pre-set fixed credit limit.

Even so, Diners Club soon expanded its charge card business to other aspects of tourism and entertainment, such as hotels, restaurants and flowers. Around 1960, the number of cardholders had reached 1.25 million. Amex has considered acquiring Diners Club several times, but has given up for various reasons. Amex also considered building its own card from scratch, but hesitated for several years for fear that traveller's cheques, the main source of income at the time, would be affected. It wasn't until October 1958 that Yuntong heard that Diners Club was planning to develop traveler's checks, so he finally couldn't sit still and decided to enter the charge card industry on his own.

Amex designed its charge card with a characteristic color tone. Due to the merchant network and customer base of the traveler's check business, the Amex card has 17,500 merchants and 250,000 cardholders as soon as it is put into operation, which is the original origin of the Amex card. The market target for American Express cards is the higher income segment, especially business people or other people who travel frequently. However, Amex's merchant discount charges are slightly lower than those of Diners Club. To differentiate itself from Diners Club and show that Amex is a more "sleek and premium" card, Amex deliberately set the tone for the card from the start to target high-end customers — with an annual fee of $6, 20% higher than Diners Club's $5.

The Amex card was also made from cardboard cards in the beginning. The following year, Amex launched its first card made of plastic. The main information on the plastic card, such as the card number and the name of the cardholder, is made into embossed lines, and these information can be printed on the card receipt through copy paper on the credit card machine. This innovation not only significantly reduces the risk of counterfeiting, but also eliminates the need for cashiers to copy credit card information by hand, greatly simplifying the card swiping process.

Initially, due to the lack of experience in card issuance and operation, some customers did not pay when due, and Amex did not make a profit. By 1961, Amex almost wanted to sell the Amex business to the Diners Club or merge with it, but it was halted on the grounds that it might not pass the Justice Department's inspection. At this critical juncture, Amex hired George Watt, who later became known as the "Father of Payment Cards", to manage the operation of the Amex card. Watt increased the annual fee to $10 and put pressure on customers who did not pay on time, strictly managed. The situation soon turned for the better.

By the end of 1962, the number of merchants receiving American Express cards had increased to 82,000, and the number of cardholders had nearly quadrupled to 900,000. Amex's charge card is profitable for the first time. By 1969, the number of Amex cardholders had grown to 3 million, and the transaction volume of nearly $7 billion had made Amex's charge card business a profit of $50 million. The Amex Card adopted a new design in this year, changing the main tone of the card to a green color like the US dollar, and since then, it has also been called a green card.

The green card business is one of the most eye-catching single products of Amex.

By 1977, Amex had reached a certain size — 6.3 million cardholders and $20 billion in transactions in the United States. Green card holders are more than five times that of Diners Club, and most of them are economic elites. Nearly 50% of U.S. households with an annual income of $55,000 or more hold a green card from Amex. The green card is widely accepted by businesses related to the tourism industry, such as high-end restaurants and high-end shops, and it has become the dominant and superior payment card for travel and entertainment spending.

Interestingly, Amex's "You can't go out without it" and "Do you know me?" The classic TV ad emphasized the popularity of green cards around the world and the superiority of green card holders, who are always known in one way or another. Holding a green card from Amex has almost become a symbol of superior status. In the late 70s to early 80s of the 20th century, it can be called the golden age of green cards. In the early 1980s, Amex offered merchant discounts that were almost 50% higher than those of Visa and MasterCard. The annual fee for cardholders has also risen to the level of $60 for standard green cards and $85 for gold cards.

In the mid-1980s, Amex launched an advertisement "Amex Members Advantageous" to highlight the superior nature of the Amex Card because it believed that consumers and merchants would continue to be willing to pay extra for "Premium" American Express cards. However, in the era when the concept of "value" was introduced to consumers, when the card began to introduce the cash rebate reward method for the percentage of spending, the advertising of Amex brought more confusion to customers.

As a result, by the end of the 1980s, the situation had changed and the strategy that had been effective for 30 years gradually failed.

First of all, 90% of Amex cardholders also hold a universal credit card issued by a bank, Visa or MasterCard. Gradually, more merchants are accepting credit cards than Amex charge cards, because Amex cardholders can do without charge cards, and credit cards seem to be better used. In addition, instant credit and revolving credit for credit cards are also not available on charge cards. In addition, the two major associations of universal bank cards have been more widely accepted by merchants because they want to urge banks to issue more of their cards, giving banks more benefits. As a result, Amex faces stiff competition with Visa or MasterCard in two price areas – the cardholder's annual fee and the merchant discount. Of course, at the same time, Amex's charge card also has some advantages: such as flexible cardholder spending limits, and thanks to Amex's closed-loop trading center system, it can have a lot of data and develop more corporate cards.

In 1993, Harvey Korabe became the new CEO of Amex, and as soon as he took office, he undertook several major changes in the way the business was done.

First of all, it launched a variety of products based on the best mark of Yuntong to compete with the increasingly popular identity card of bank cards. For example, they introduced a reward method: when a cardholder joins the loyalty program, every dollar paid with an Amex card earns one bonus point, which can be exchanged for frequent flyer miles from airlines that have contracts with Amex, frequent flyer programs at hotels, car rental deals or shopping rebates, and so on. Secondly, the advertising of Amex has also shifted from emphasizing the elitist nature of the card to the aspect of the relative superiority of the Amex system over other systems. Third, reduce merchant discounts and increase investment to expand merchants' card receiving points. Fourth, efforts should be made to establish alliances with banks that belong to the Bank Card Association in order to increase the issuance of cards.

In the mid-1990s, as a joint strategy, Amex prepared to develop its charge cards and other cards through member banks that were part of Visa or MasterCard. However, in the second half of 1998, the Visa and MasterCard associations adopted in the United States a ban on other "destined to compete systems" such as American Express and Discover cards, which were adopted by the Visa and MasterCard associations in the United States. The Visa and MasterCard associations did not adopt this law in Europe because they were taboo against the EU's antitrust practices.

As a result, more than 40 banks in more than 30 countries outside the United States formed an alliance to issue American Express cards.

This is the black and gold (highest) version of the "Centurion Series Charge Card" launched in the United Kingdom in 1999, and is also known as the "black card" because of the black color of the main body of the card.

The Centurion Black Gold Card is recognized as the "King of Cards" in the world, the card is positioned in the top group, there is no upper limit, and the cardholders are mostly dignitaries, billionaires and celebrities from various countries and invited by American Express, and do not accept card applications. Cardholders can enjoy the world's best member-only benefits, benefits and services. Of course, the actual threshold for this requirement for a master's degree is gradually decreasing. For example, Zhou Fangyuan, as early as when he first entered the United States, he had already received an invitation from Yuntong. At that time, he was still making movies with Cameron, and in the United States, he only had a branch like Blizzard at that time.

It's just because of some interviews at that time that Zhou Fangyuan has some fame in the United States.

But not many people follow him.

However, there is a more interesting situation here, that is, while ordinary people do not pay enough attention to him, some special industries pay special attention to him.

For example, in the field of investment, several major investors have begun to focus on him and the Yuanfang Group, and Forbes has also begun to quietly investigate the total assets of the Yuanfang Group and the total personal assets of Zhou Fangyuan.

However, these two are basically still in the observation stage, and only Yuntong is the fastest. Not long after the report ended, it was like he sent an invitation. Zhou Fangyuan doesn't care about this, he doesn't care about the "unlimited quota", and in his daily life, there doesn't seem to be a service that needs the help of Yuntong. But after all, it's a Centurion black gold card, and it's good to keep one for such a famous card.

So he kept one, and for such a long time, he didn't think much about it, until he was about to buy a plane this time, and suddenly it sounded.

Thinking of Yuntong, it is also because of a book I read in my previous life, the protagonist got the scientific and technological heritage of advanced civilization, and then went to the United States to develop, and finally not only married the daughter of a British nobleman, but even established a country in the end. Of course, none of this is important, but the important thing is that the protagonist in this film often uses the services of Yuntong to help him buy all kinds of things that are not easy to buy. For example, airplanes, such as limited edition cars, especially the latter, the former is good to say, the average person is at most a queue, Yuntong can help, not to cut the queue, but to find the aircraft on the way to the buyer for various reasons, no one to accept the situation, it is another kind of queue.

It's great to buy a car, some limited edition cars with relatively high value, you don't even know who bought them. But Yuntong has too many connections, and all kinds of things can be investigated, which is indeed a lot more convenient.

Thinking of this, he contacted Yuntong to help and see if he could take over a semi-finished product.

Not to mention, there really is, the most advanced aircraft in the hands of Airbus has been manufactured, just waiting for the interior decoration. As a result, the original buyer had no choice but to abandon the soon-to-be-completed aircraft due to business problems and insufficient follow-up funds. So this plane is cheaper than Zhou Fangyuan, with a total price of 80 million, a completely private customized interior, and it can fly to China in three months at most from the time the order is placed. If you count the time, it's probably in these days.

The reason why he came to the capital so soon before the Spring Festival was actually the main purpose of receiving the plane.