I don't even know what a top of the line credit is or looks like.
The metallic cards I think are ones that get noticed the most. That's usually the case when I hand my Chase card to someone.
American Express Centurion, JP Morgan reserve card, etc.If those level, yes. Ive only ever seen two people carry Centurion cards, and I was impressed. One of them also has the American Airlines Concierge Key loyalty status, which I am also impressed with.
No, and I have bougie cards. They aren't hard to obtain, I'm more impressed when someone has restraint and smart purchasing with them. And utilize them properlyNo, you do not. As the OP mentioned, hes talking about invite-only cards where you need to be spending millions a month on, and not the ones anyone can get that you just pay for (like AMEX Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Capital One Venture X, etc).
I can't say for the ultra premium invite only rich person cards, but any decent card with a fee has ways to easily make more cash back than the annual fee. Chase Sapphire Reserve has an annual $50 hotel credit, so if you use that you only need to make back $45 in rewards(annual fee is $95), which isn't terribly difficult with normal spending with the rewards they give back.That's the Sapphire Preferred, the Reserve has a $550 annual fee, but also a bunch more benefits.
It's always a balance between the fee vs you actually making back more in rewards. If you don't feel you can, it would be idiotic to get a card with an annual fee. If you can get more back because the rewards categories are something that interest you, you'd be letting free money walk.
look at that idiot paying annual fees