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

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• S says:

  11 Apr11 April 05:35

  Nice one.

  • MDA says:

    11 Apr11 April 06:14

    Power to the people!

• Billy says:

  11 Apr11 April 06:14

  There was also a huge outcry by HfP readers about the new 2 year rule for Amex sign up bonuses….but that doesn’t seem to have made an impact

  • Julian says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:24

    The reason Amex has not responded to that outcry (about not letting Card Tarts earn a bonus on another personal card if they reapply to Amex within two years of cancelling one) is simple.

    New card signup bonuses are not there so that HfP Card Tarts (note that I have never churned any credit card including Amex) can continue to constantly apply for and then close new credit cards a few months later just to earn the large initial signup bonus. Signup bonuses are there to bring in new Amex customers for the long term who want to make continued use of their cards.
    But that being so Amex needs to up the Membership Rewards earning level on its own premium cards (and especially Platinum or possibly Platinum should pay even more points per pound spent) to 1.5 membership points per pound spent to match BA while clamping down on Card Tarts as hard as it possibly can.

    Personally I don’t particularly support this change because as usual and as with things like the Network Rail card it means families get the same product for far less than single people. Logically it would be much fairer in business terms to charge extra for each person covered by the annual card policy.

    But that is why for me the Lloyds Rewards Amex card was a brilliant Amex card and it makes no sense at all that Amex has not yet developed a replacement card product of its own aimed at single people who usually travel on their own.

    • EwanG says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:08

      “..Personally I don’t particularly support this change because as usual and as with things like the Network Rail card it means families get the same product for far less than single people.”
      @Julian – unsure why you consider this change (reversion of travel insurance T&Cs) to discriminate against single people. I would expect demand for this card (and others) to be significantly impacted if it was just to cover cardholder(s) (whether main or supplementary), rather than offer family insurance.
      If you feel you are not getting full value out of your Platinum card, if you don’t already have a supplementary card you could give one at no further fee to a relative / friend etc which would give them cover (subject to T&Cs / eligibility criteria outlined in the article).

      As someone who is older than 30 but younger than 60, life is too short for me to get annoyed at people in those age groups who can get a railcard for sole travellers to get a discount…..

      • Lady London says:

        11 Apr11 April 23:58

        I think it was worth it for Julian to point this out.

        I also travel alone mostly and get really fed up with how much a hotel room costs me especially when without status I would also get the one beside the lift or over the air conditioning etc… It’s a fact that single people get discriminated against for many types of cost. Some fair enough and not worth moaning about, but the combined weight of them means couples can normally live much cheaper.

        Tips on here have fortunately helped me ensure the room quality I am given is fair for what I am paying so the quality issues are gone for me from hotels even if the cost still rankles when I am not consuming a second breakfast that is included in the price of the room etc..

        Getting back to the main topic though, I suspect demographically larger numbers of Amex’s ideal customers are far more likely to have families or at least not travel alone..

  • LB says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:47

    Don’t poke the sleeping bear…too late!

    • ankomonkey says:

      11 Apr11 April 09:24

      LOL

  • Ali says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:53

    also true,lol

• Graeme says:

  11 Apr11 April 06:22

  Great news. Thanks Rob.

  Would this include cancelled cards? OH paid for flights with her plat, referred me then cancelled. I will have plat during the holiday. Are we covered? Thanks.

  • Rob says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:38

    No. Wording is quite clear it must be a card on your account.

    • Liz says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:12

      I didn’t realise this either. If holiday is paid for on my hubby’s Amex Cards last year and they are now cancelled but at the time of travel I have the platinum card then you are saying we are not covered by the insurance even as supps on each other’s cards?

      • Curious says:

        11 Apr11 April 10:20

        Indeed this scenario never gets clarified.

        Or if the holiday is already paid for BEFORE new Platinum Card is obtained?

        • Rob says:

          11 Apr11 April 10:31

          It’s not in the rules, but if you paid on a credit card you no longer have at the time of the claim AND it wasn’t in your name, you might struggle. Of course, if you are NOW a supp on your husbands Plat then you are covered now, so it is a different question – are you covered if you paid with a personal Plat which is now cancelled? In this instance, I’d be more confident you’re OK.

      • Liz says:

        11 Apr11 April 11:43

        We have probably been travelling the past few years without adequate cover. We have decided to apply for a Barclays current account and take out their travel pack to give us cover the year round as we are beginning to book some escorted tour trips so need the cover year round rather than just our USA redemption trips. The Platinum fee till works out too expensive for us to keep long term.

      • Liz says:

        11 Apr11 April 12:03

        I always thought the supplementary cardholders were covered in their own right for all the insurance therefore it shouldn’t matter who was the main cardholder at the time of booking. If my hubby is the main cardholder I still book and pay for all the trips using my supp card – usually with the BAPP then one of us normally has the Plat card with the other being a supp at the time of travel.

      • Alan says:

        11 Apr11 April 20:34

        Indeed it’s an interesting question – in the case of normal annual multi-trip you’re covered from the point of taking out the insurance, I’ve never been quite clear how Amex deal with it in this situation but wonder how the FOS would view it if they denied cover for a trip paid for prior to having the Amex Plat, but then only having a claim after the card was taken out…

    • Genghis says:

      11 Apr11 April 13:24

      And that is why I could never rely on Amex Plat insurance…

    • Graeme says:

      11 Apr11 April 16:48

      Ok, we did have supp cards on the account (and same login) so should be okay. Thanks

• Dawn says:

  11 Apr11 April 06:36

  I’ve closed one AMEX and am closing the other one on your advice and when I rang AMEX they asked me the reason for cancelling so I told them. Maybe if a lot of people do this they will realise and change this rule too.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    11 Apr11 April 07:32

    I really doubt they would as they are actively trying to stop churning of cards.

• Neil says:

  11 Apr11 April 06:37

  OT – seems you’re no longer able to register Amazon Shop with Points / Amex MR – been trying to do it last few days but Amazon site says currently unavailable.

  • David says:

    11 Apr11 April 16:32

    I wonder if it is linked to Amazon rolling out the functionality to more merchants, and doing it now at the 3D secure stage (Safekey) – so the merchant would not even know if you are doing it.

• Mike says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:11

  Now how about getting them to reinstate the old rules for churning…..

  • Julian says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:27

    How about that they block all card churning but pay the same level of Membership Rewards per pound spent as the BAPP card.

    Offering a worse deal to loyal existing Amex customers rather than hard bitten ruthless churners makes no more business sense than the energy or car insurance companies offering worse terms to customers who remain loyal to them over many years.

    • Charlieface says:

      11 Apr11 April 08:52

      …which means in the UK it’s very good business sense, actually, because of horrific customer apathy to jumping ship to another provider or re-signing up to the same deal again. This is seen in almost every market and businesses make huge profits because of it. People shouldn’t call out businesses for following the market, they should ditch and switch, and when enough people do that the market will follow that as well, as Amex has done.

    • Doug M says:

      11 Apr11 April 09:55

      The Platinum card makes no sense as a card to use. It has value for the package as a whole, and for referrals. Only spend that goes on it now is what’s needed for offers. So right now mine probably has 3 Wheely charges and nothing else. Spend on SPG.

    • Optimus Prime says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:15

      Add to that free foreign spending and more partners such as Alaska Airlines and I’ll think about it…

    • Lady London says:

      12 Apr12 April 00:05

      Quite a number of providers seem to be waking up to this mistake though and stating openly they will treat existing customers better in future. For hte last 3 years or so my insurance companies have generally done pretty reasonable renewals when I checked in the market. This was definitely not the case for myself or my partner before – we always had to shop around on any renewal becasue insurers were taking the p(((.

• Kevin says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:21

  Good news indeed.

  For some reason my Platinum and BA accounts are separate in that I gave different log ins for each. Do I need to combine these into one account to be protected?

  • Peter 64K says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:05

    No.

  • Rob says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:35

    No, but you’ll have an easier life! Just remove it from online servicing and then re-add.

    • Doug M says:

      11 Apr11 April 09:57

      Yes. I’ve found sometimes you can’t add the card. I add it to a second account I have, wait a week or so, then remove and it adds fine to the original account.

    • john says:

      11 Apr11 April 09:58

      Note, I think the name on the accounts need to match. My wife had to setup a new account when changing her surname.

• Dwadda says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:30

  Hmm, does this mean that I could have used my BA amex for car hires and still receive the excess cover that the Platinum card provides? I’ve been using the Platinum card for car hire specifically because I thought it was necessary to receive this benefit. Have I been doing this unnecessarily?

  • Idrive says:

    11 Apr11 April 07:43

    Yes you would be covered anyway as long as your name is on the contract, event not as lead driver

  • Rob says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:35

    Yes

  • SimonW says:

    11 Apr11 April 09:59

    Thought when i book via Hertz i think it says i need to use my plat card to get the gold benefits and reduced rate using the CDP code….

    • Rob says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:10

      Don’t prepay. Rarely much in the way of a price difference.

      • SimonW says:

        11 Apr11 April 10:19

        True, but I didnt want to have to put on an Australian accent when I picked up the car!

      • Lady London says:

        12 Apr12 April 00:10

        I would endorse that, having realised that relatively recently myself. However take note read the small print – prepays now have different cancellation conditions than previously – some better some worse. At least as far as Hertz is concerned. Not sure when they changed but within the past year. Previous conditions were longstanding over many years pretty much unchanged and new ones introduce more ways they can keep more of your money.

    • Charlieface says:

      11 Apr11 April 13:23

      No need to use the Plat and no need to have Aus residency to use com.au

  • Alan says:

    11 Apr11 April 20:36

    Yep – see T&Cs for the insurance, you’ve never had to the pay on the card for hire car cover.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.