GOOD NEWS: American Express reinstates the old rules for Platinum travel insurance

Good news.

American Express has reinstated the old Terms & Conditions for the travel insurance benefit that comes with The Platinum Card.

There was a huge outcry from Head for Points readers when we highlighted the original change last week.  To put it into perspective, the original article was read over 25,000 times on the site – this was DOUBLE the 2nd most read article last week.  It was also read by our 13,000 email subscribers.

What is the rule now?

Here is a link to the travel insurance Terms & Conditions on The Platinum Card website.

Last week, American Express changed the wording (under the definition of ‘Account’) to say that you must pay on The Platinum Card to be fully covered by the insurance.

This was bad news, because many HfP readers preferred to pay with a different American Express card.  After all:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus offers double points on BA flight bookings at ba.com, earns 1.5 Avios per £1 on all other spend and spend counts towards your 2-4-1 Avios voucher (£10,000 spend required)

Preferred Rewards Gold offers double points for airline spend and double points abroad, and earns you 10,000 bonus Membership Rewards points when you spend £15,000 per card year

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express offers double points at Marriott hotels

All of these cards are a better choice than paying with The Platinum Card which only offers 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent.

The old wording has now returned.

Look at the document now and it says that you can pay with (under the definition of ‘Account’):

“your consumer and small business cards issued by American Express in the UK, excluding corporate cards and any American Express cards issued by bank partners”

…. and still be covered.  American Express has confirmed to me that the old wording is back permanently.

How does the Amex Platinum insurance work?

As a quick reminder, for medical and other ‘big stuff’, you are covered irrespective of how you paid for your trip.

However, for claims under the categories below, you needed to have paid with a qualifying American Express card – which last week changed to just The Platinum Card:

• Cancelling, Postponing and Abandoning your Trip
• Cutting Short your Trip
• Travel Inconvenience
• Personal Belongings, Money and Travel Documents
• Purchase Protection
• Refund Protection

Thanks to everyone who complained to American Express, either directly or via social media, following our article last weekend.

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Want to earn more points from credit cards? – October 2024 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current sign-up bonuses.

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month.