I've been a member for about 5 months now. Despite my initial skepticism, I paid the $395 and signed up for a year. Here's my thoughts: Benefits I've used: - Bang & Olufsen - Bought the H8 and the A9, I ended up saving about $450 with the Founders Card discount, but these results aren't typical unless you're planning on buying some of the more pricier items. - Cosmopolitan Hotel - Booked 3 Terrace Suites, ended up saving 20% (around $600) but some rooms were not available with the Founders Card discount. Also, I got VIP check-in and out which I used to fill 4 coffee cups up with mimosas. - ATT Discount - Saves 15%, I save about $25 bucks a month. - UPS Discount - 30% discount on shipping services (you can get this discount at other places). - Moo.com - 20% discount, very high quality business cards but their price tag is high, this discount helps bring it back to industry norm. I easily made my annual fee back. The best thing you can do is explore the site and look at the benefits. A lot of benefits are cool to have but as you would imagine, simply justify something you weren't going to purchase in the first place. Hotel benefits are good, but you're much better off getting an American Express Platinum Card and using Fine Hotels & Resorts for hotel benefits. I've never been to any meet-ups, but I'm hoping to here fairly soon.