What’s the advantage of being a premier customer?
It's a bit like business class on an intercontinental flight — better than economy class, but not as good as first class.
Banks like to attract high-earning, high-spending customers. There's limited scope for doing this offering them higher deposit rates or lower borrowing rates than you offer to the proletarian masses, so a traditional way of doing this is by offering them a higher level of service.
For the really wealthy there's a service that is usually called "private banking" or "wealth management". This is provided either by a small but prestigious bank that does nothing else or by the private banking department of a bigger entity. You get all the usual stuff — current accounts, overdrafts, deposits, loans, mortgages, credit cards, debit cards, . Your cards will have high limits or none at all. You also get financial planning, investment advice, asset management, trustee services, insurance broking — the whole range of financial advisory and execution services. All this is co-ordinated for you by a banker who knows your first name, your partner's first name, your children's birthdays, and whether you'd be more interested in tickets to the opera or the soccer world cup, one or other of which he will occasionally send you. He can also connect you with investment opportunities that might interest you that are not publicly offered. If you have occasion to go to the branch it'll be in some discreetly elegant building in a quiet part of town. It won't look like a bank branch, or even an office. Expect good carpets and wood-panelled walls. You won't have to queue.
You're not a customer of private banking unless you have very high net worth, or very high income, or (probably) both. Private banks are fairly discreet about exactly how much you need to have to qualify as a customer. Being very well-connected to
other high net worth people probably helps.
That's the first class. The business class equivalent is services like Bank of Ireland Premier. This is for people who are quite well-got, but not wealthy enough or well-connected enough for private banking. You get a fancy credit card, and a few perks like airport lounge access (though apparently you don't actually get that, judging by this thread). You also get a "relationship manager", which means if you want to (say) arrange an overdraft or organise some foreign currency at short notice there's someone who you can ring who already knows all about you and your affairs, and the whole thing can be sorted quickly with a phone call. In fact, you'll never have to hear "Greensleeves" again, or listen to a robotic voice reciting a menu of options.