The Black Card | Centurion Card | Visa Black Card | Luxury Credit Cards

Coutts & Co (bank to the queen, and part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group) offers a credit card to it’s private clients that itself is rarer than the black card. There are only about 100 people in the world that have been invited, including Queen Elizabeth II. The World Card is only offered to Coutts clients, and it’s members prospective clients have millions in assets.

The bank to the queen, now a part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, has arguably the most prestigious card of all. World Card is offered only to Coutts clients, and you have to have millions to qualify for that status to begin with. Aside from all the typical travel upgrades and luxury services, the card comes in handy when you need to go shopping at your favorite department store in the middle of the night. A quick call to a World Card service representative will arrange a private after-hours shopping session anywhere your little heart desires.

The Dallas-based luxury retailer famous for its Christmas catalog sold its credit cards division to HSBC last year, but it still offers a rewards program to loyal cardholders who spend lots of money in its stores (or those of its sister, Bergdorf Goodman). In-Circle’s entry point is 5,000 points (meaning you’ve spent $5,000 on your card in the last year), but perks balloon as you go up the food chain. This year, 50,000 points gets you a Sony Vaio FS series notebook; 300,000 earns you a trip to Italy with a custom gentleman’s shoe fitting by Ferragamo or a trip to New York for Fashion Week. Two million points puts you behind the scenes on the set of daytime TV drama The Young and the Restless.

This is part of the “Total Merrill” program the brokerage has debuted in an effort to capture a larger share of your spending and investing money. The card offers a credit line up to $250,000 and a variety of airline and hotel upgrades and packages, membership in a wine club and personal shopping services for the harried executive.

This is for private clients of Citi’s brokerage network who have at least $1 million at the firm, but $5 million will get you more perks. The Chairman’s card gives points for purchases and tosses in free companion tickets for travelers who buy full-fare airline tickets. If you pay for a private jet with your card, you get a three-night stay (up to a $900 value) at a partner hotel.

This card is offered in Germany, Russia, Asia and parts of the Middle East and promises perks like travel in a private Gulfstream jet or a chauffeured Bentley, and the chance to rent a Ferretti 80-foot yacht with crew and pilot for a day at sea, or a Maserati Spyder for a 48-hour joyride. You can even book a private island with it. A similar card, the Diners Club Elite card, also issued by Citi, offers residents of the United Arab Emirates such perks as a one-on-one session with chef Harald Wohlfahrt, hard-to-get tickets to football games (that’s soccer in the U.S.) and the ability to lease a private jet with ten hours’ notice.

I know, how could we even feature this here, but for completeness. You have to spend at least $250,000 a year to even qualify for this card, but getting one puts you up there with celebrities and fellow rich folks. You get access to private jets or upgrades on regular airlines, hotel upgrades, a personal travel counselor, and all sorts of freebies and loyalty programs that are also available to AmEx’s lowly Platinum cardholders. See the full list in our Benefits section. Here’s a picture of the UK Centurion Card.

The “white card” is for people who aren’t impressed by special airport traveler lounges and upgrades to first class on—gasp—commercial airlines, people who will only go by private jet. Lucky, then, that Stratus (a division of Los Angeles-based Pro Sports & Entertainment) is a partner with Marquis Jet. US Bancorp in Minneapolis issues the card, which offers all sorts of other perks, such as personal shoppers, Abercrombie & Kent safaris and gift bags that rival those given out at the Oscars.