I got a pre-approval for this card too (my credit is ok - I have high utilization), and was creeped out by the AF. Could you even get your $495 worth? I do like the "design your own card" feature of CapitalOne / Discover. I mean for $495 a year, my card better be made of solid gold!
Starting Score: 557 (2005)
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:$495 for a card which could easily have only a $500 CL? No, thank you.
Then again, there have been those who were approved for AMEX Platinum and had initial limits of ~$1000.
I think the whole issue is, that these cards are only of real value to those who meet the true demographic they are well suited: 1) Financially established; 2) Excellent credit; 3) Has other prime high limit cards 4) has a well established credit history.
Getting a Black Card before you are really financially and credit worthy is pretty hollow. You can't get huge CL's strictly from a high AF. If the shoe doesn't fit, pretending it does will not alter the facts.
Get one of these cards when they can actually mean something.
NOTE: If you want a really cool card, then go with CapOne that lets you DESIGN and upload your own card. Then get with someone who is Photoshop god and design the ultimate Black or Platinum cool design and then you can say you have a Black Card....LOL
txjohn
I believe u havent tried it yet. Crapital one didnt let me design my black card. They said i was risking copyright infringement. i tried all kinds of fonts (not the ones with stylish presentation) and not to mention all kinds of text: Black, The black, Blackie, The card, Black kard, The black kard etc...
I've been trying this trick for a while, but to no luck :-(
@ngerasimatos wrote:Does anyone have one of these, or know anyone who has gotten one? Seems to be issued through Barclay.
"The Black Card is made with carbon, creating a more
unique card, guaranteed to get you noticed." (I bolded it)
That's directly from their website. I had a chuckle at how they basically admitted it's an "appearance thing". At least others don't blatantly say it.
I think those that are at the level of having a Centurion card are also at the point where they don't care what credit card they have.
Now I've not reached that level,a nd in my rebuilding credit phase, the "type" of credit card I can handle is a good marker of how stable/normal I'm becoming in term of creditworthiness 
$495 fee and 500 CL! Now that is a nice joke! Yeah, I agree with others here - get a platinum card from Amex. I prefer this as I use my Business Platinum card for almost everything - good thing about this card is that you really can't get in trouble with it - well, figuratively speaking per say.... It's all about how you manage your expenses at the end of the day...
It's all about how you manage your expenses at the end of the day...