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

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• Neil says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:37

  Good to know..I always thought I had to use Platinum to get the full range of insurances so that’s what I’ve been doing to date. The Platinum card has now taken on even more ornamental value in my wallet.

• KBuffett says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:37

  OT – Does anyone have any good methods for getting the best prices for high end holidays?
  I know points etc is one way, but has anyone had success at price matching directly with hotels (eg I think Marriott & Hilton offer 25% extra off if price matched). Or travel agents to discount heavily on 5 start plus places, in particular Maldives, Seychelles etc.

  There may not be any secret loopholes, but I’m sure there are!

  • Rob says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:34

    Usually means booking a package holiday to really get a deal. Some travel agents eg Virgin Holidays will knowingly break the rules and sell you room-only at the low price they are only meant to charge as part of a package.

    However, strip out the value of the points and elite benefits and the gap closes a lot.

  • bsuije says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:49

    Had a terrible experience with price matching at Shangri-La. They wouldn’t tell you if they would price match until you actually book, and then they would try everything possible to not have to do the price match.

    Think I’ve also tried Hilton price match in the past, which must have gone a lot better or else it would have been seared onto my mind in the same way as Shangri-La…

  • Darren says:

    11 Apr11 April 09:16

    The benefits of Amex Platinum FHR can be worthwhile, or using a Virtuoso agent. Trivago is also your friend.
    Then there’s always contacting the hotel directly.

    The Maldives can be stratospherically expensive, points may work in this case.

    • Rob says:

      11 Apr11 April 09:21

      Maldives – just buy a pile of Hilton points and save 75% as explained yesterday …

      • KBuffett says:

        11 Apr11 April 11:20

        I’ll have to do the maths, but by the time you add the cost of breakfast and transfers it’s might not be much an attractive deal.

      • Crafty says:

        11 Apr11 April 11:52

        Breakfast is free if you’re Hilton Gold, which itself is almost free if you get a Platinum card then close it.

  • Bonglim says:

    11 Apr11 April 14:14

    I tried to price-match marriott once – they would have none of it.
    It was for Le Meridien Koh Samui. The top level room was 3.5k on their own website and just over 2k on a travel agent site. Apparently it didn’t qualify because you had to call the travel agent to finally book it (could not do it ALL online)

    Ended up just booking it through the travel agent.

    • KBuffett says:

      11 Apr11 April 17:14

      That’s the thing. Is it really worth paying an additional £1.5k even if you have status?!

• Chechire Pete says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:44

  You only needed to pay £1 on the platinum anyhow, so not sure what all the fuss was about!

  • fivebobbill says:

    11 Apr11 April 09:36

    To be covered by the insurance, is this true?? I can pay a token amount with the Plat then put the rest of my Flights, Cruise, Hotels etc on a different card?

    • fivebobbill says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:07

      Only asking above by the way as I’ve a holiday starting next week, which I put on my BAPP, but cancelled last month. I just assumed I’d still be covered because I still hold Amex Plat, have done for a few years, and wondering, if above was correct, and I booked my final night’s hotel on Plat would it cover my whole trip?
      Shot in the dark…

      • fivebobbill says:

        11 Apr11 April 10:08

        sorry, cancelled BAPP CARD last month, not the holiday

      • Rob says:

        11 Apr11 April 10:10

        I think it varies. Let’s say your flight is delayed and you are claiming on the delay cover. They would want your flight to have been paid on Amex but would they care about the hotel? Probably not. Similarly if something was stolen from your hotel, would they care how the flight was paid for?

        If you want to claim for a postponed trip, however, you would presumably need both aspects paid for on Amex. To be honest I have never studied this carefully as most of our flights are redemptions and most of our hotels are flexible rates, because the nature of my wife’s job means that we often need to chop and change.

      • the_real_a says:

        11 Apr11 April 17:21

        Rob – i can say that when i claimed travel inconvenience compensation (x3 over the years) there was no mention of hotel booking (as i would expect). I think we can safely say that its the “bit” that the section covers that is required to be paid for by AMEX.

        But dont expect call center staff to be knowledgeable about this. Ive been told a whole host of rubbish over the years by AMEX/AXA. Unless you are speaking to an actual underwriter take everything with a pinch of salt.

    • Rob says:

      11 Apr11 April 10:11

      Don’t be sure about that. This is, indeed, the rules for Section 75 cover if the hotel / airline goes bust. I very much doubt it is the same rule for the insurance.

      • Olly says:

        11 Apr11 April 13:06

        I’ve never had to claim either on my Amex Platinum or Section 75 on a credit card but always wondered if I needed to, which would be the more reliable to claim against.

      • the_real_a says:

        11 Apr11 April 17:26

        Are we sure AMEX charge cards are applicable for S75? I always thought AMEX offered the equivalent protection in its T&C`s to remain competitive but this would be a contract law claim rather than S75.

      • Shoestring says:

        11 Apr11 April 17:34

        that would be Amex charge cards, which offer a chargeback scheme and don’t come under S75

        Amex credit cards come under S75

  • Alan says:

    11 Apr11 April 20:39

    Do you have any supporting documentation for that? It’s not how their T&Cs read. Different for S75 for Amex credit cards, but that’s a different issue.

    • Olly says:

      12 Apr12 April 11:23

      And that is my point Alan, because it’s a charge card and doesn’t have S75 behind it how does Anzac item cover compare in the event of a claim?

• Nick_C says:

  11 Apr11 April 07:45

  The £2M limit remains on the low side. It meets FO recommendations, but most policies offer £5M for North America. It wouldn’t give me total piece of mind TBH.

  And if £2M is sufficient, then it wouldn’t cost them anything to cover up to £5M!

  • Ben says:

    11 Apr11 April 08:09

    That’s what I was thinking when I read the policy. Since my free HSBC Premier policy covers around 10m-15m. I was wondering if it was because the Plat policy allows you to have up to five supplementary cards ..

  • Lady London says:

    12 Apr12 April 00:19

    I would say £10m is more recommended these days for North America medical. I wouldn’t travel with less, and I eliminate from consideration any policy that doesn’t cover at least that much. I’ve even seen £20m on a policy recently.

    The one thing I’ll never take is unlimited cover, which is occasionally offered, as I gather in that case you may actually receive less and be treated worse as the insurer will be desperate to limit their losses if there is no limit actually on the policy. Readers here who are in the insurance / reinsurance business will know more than me and be able to say if that’s just an urban myth !

    • Rob says:

      12 Apr12 April 00:40

      Money Advice Service says £2m is enough. I did see a newspaper article on this last year – can’t find it now – which said that insurers artificially inflate this number to look impressive, but that there has NEVER been a claim against a UK insurer above £x. Problem is that I can’t remember what £x was 🙂

• ohkus says:

  11 Apr11 April 08:09

  I currently have an open medical emergency with Amex Platinum. Son fell ill in Bangkok, family originally flew out in business class with BA. Son is fit to fly now thankfully, but yesterday had 2 conflicting messages from AXA; one lady confirmed we would be booked on business back (as per the lost ticket), but another lady overrode that by stating that only economy seats are applicable. I asked her for the exact wording in the T&Cs which states the economy seat requirement. She hasn’t been able to provide anything back. Any ideas on what is correct here?

  • ohkus says:

    11 Apr11 April 09:08

    Yes, this was the page I was on too, and asked the 2nd lady to point which clause applies to our specific case. In my mind, 3) deals with the repatriation of my son, and it is reasonable to assume he returns in the same class of travel (as there is no explicit mention of a requirement to be in economy)
    4) is for travel companions, which does clearly state they fly economy, so this I’m fine with.

    The issue for us is that my son is 2 years old. I don’t consider myself a “travel companion” for my son. In any case, the 2nd lady tried to claim that everyone needs to fly in Economy. I fail to see this in the wording. Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of cover if you aren’t protected for the full amount of your outlay?

  • The_real_a says:

    11 Apr11 April 10:15

    I had noted this before. It specifically calls out economy flight. Section 1.1 covers this. I do think this is unfair considering its a platinum policy aimed at premium travellers.

    • ohkus says:

      11 Apr11 April 12:24

      Thanks to reading comments in the earlier HFP article, I realised that I have travel insurance with my HSBC premier account as well. Called them up, they had no issues flying us back in business. They’ll share costs with AXA now. I still think AXA is incorrect in their interpretation of the wording in 1.1. I’ve lodged a formal complaint with them now on this part.

      • Jonathan says:

        11 Apr11 April 13:08

        I’ve used HSBC insurance in this scenario and had a One Way flight home in F booked by them (5k!) so was very impressed. In general i think their insurance is far better than Platinum & always go to them first. The problem now is that Axa may refuse to pay their share of J flights as doesn’t meet their terms. I’d check this ASAP or you might find you owe someone for 50% of 4 J flights!

        Always good to know which insurer best for each scenario & only deal with them. Admitting multiple policies opens a can of worms.

      • Shoestring says:

        11 Apr11 April 13:33

        That’s not going to be the case – HSBC insurance didn’t organise the £5K J flights back on the understanding that Axa would be liable for 50%, and that if Axa refused then the claimant has to pay 50%. Either Axa insurance also covers this insurance scenario – hence 50% each – or it doesn’t in which case it’s HSBC 100%.

      • Scallder says:

        11 Apr11 April 14:02

        Very glad to hear you got it sorted ohkus and very much hope your son is now a lot better.

      • Bonglim says:

        11 Apr11 April 14:18

        Well done for resolving this.

        And, it has to be said…
        WELL DONE HSBC.

        I have that travel insurance (never had to use it) but they were fine with including a moderate pre-existing condition without argument (or fee).

      • Alan says:

        11 Apr11 April 20:42

        Excellent, glad you got sorted & that your son is now fit to fly home 🙂 Well done HSBC – Amex clearly becoming less and less competitive here…

      • Lady London says:

        12 Apr12 April 00:27

        This is the kind of anecdote that has led me to look at who is the underwriter and, if it can be discerned, claims handler for any travel insurance policy I consider. For many years now if it’s Axa I try to find another one as this kind of anecdote does seem to come up quite often in connection with them. Also a couple of times when the underwriting of a branded policy has shifted to Axa, terms have become notably worse. So they aren’t my favourite.

        Many branded travel insurance policies in the market to consumers seem to be basically just a skin over the same policy which is sold and re-sold under different brands. The clue seems to be the underwriter. Sometimes prices are the same across brands, sometimes up to 30% different for what appears to be the same policy and underwriter just with a different brand name. It’s the underwriter that determines if your claim gets paid out.

    • ohkus says:

      11 Apr11 April 13:12

      Thanks for the advice, will look into this

  • Lady London says:

    12 Apr12 April 00:22

    Correct answer is get the doctor to specify travel back in First is requried due to the medical condition 🙂

• Carol Douglas says:

  11 Apr11 April 08:30

  It’d be great if they accepted any pre-existing conditions. I’d be very wary of relying on this cover if you’ve got high blood pressure, cholesterol, take statins….. etc, etc.

• JL says:

  11 Apr11 April 08:45

  How does it work if you pay partially for a trip with Amex? Let’s assume you paid the airfare on Amex, but the hotel with the IHG card?

  • The_real_a says:

    11 Apr11 April 10:19

    You are covered for the extra insurance on the flight bit only. I do this all the time and have successfully claimed on the extra insurance… Especially travel inconvenience benefit. Alternatively just lodge your amex at reception on checkin and then change it to ihg at checkout. Should you have your luggage stolen in the hotel room then pay on the amex.

    • Query says:

      11 Apr11 April 13:08

      What if two one-way flights, Amex only used on outbound?

      Or, what if flights/accommodation etc all paid using VISA, then you apply for Amex Plat two weeks before holiday begins. Are these cardmembers penalised with no cover (on the aspects that supposedly – retrospectively – should have been purchased on Amex)?

      If so, there’s lots of people not (fully) insured out there.

      • the_real_a says:

        11 Apr11 April 17:12

        I dont believe its blanket refusal – insofar as all insurance will be void, just the parts of the trip not booked on AMEX will not get the “special” bits of insurance. As Rob says the major stuff such as medical is covered regardless of payment card. But as you point out some people may be surprised to learn they are not covered by the “top up” insurance offered by Plat.

        I often head out on a one way ticket with no return portion booked, and have various breaks in accommodation as i stay with friends and family and have had 4 claims paid without any issue.

• AndyK says:

  11 Apr11 April 08:53

  Just to confirm. It is not enough to have a supplementary Platinum card to be covered by car hire insurance. The main card holder needs to be on the contract as an additional driver say

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    11 Apr11 April 09:06

    No, not correct, the definition is “an insured person” a supplementary card holder qualifies

    • guesswho2000 says:

      11 Apr11 April 11:47

      Correct (Yorkieflyer, that is), supplementaries are covered. Insured just needs to be names on the agreement (so a supplementary driving a car hired in someone else’s name, without them being on the agreement, wouldn’t be covered, for example, at least that’s my understanding).

      “You/your” means the insured;

      “Insured” means (i) Cardmembers and their Families, (ii)
      Supplementary Cardmembers and their Families and (iii)
      grandchildren of the Cardmember or a Supplementary
      Cardmember who are under the age of 25 and travelling with
      anyone insured under the Card Account.

  • Alan says:

    11 Apr11 April 20:44

    No, whoever has qualifying Plat cover (and this clearly includes the supp cardholder) is eligible, but they need to be named on the car rental contract. The main cardholder only needs to be named if they’re going to be driving the car too!

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