Amex Plat insurance – paid for flight on Mastercard by mistake

[AnotherUser]

I’m paying for most of a 50 day trip to Europe on amex, but stupidly paid for my Ryanair flights home on a MasterCard. Does this mean I’m not covered on my (personal) amex plat insurance for cancellations, baggage loss etc on these flights? And is there any way round this?

Not the end of the world if I’m not covered – I know I can claim off Ryanair for many problems, and I’ll not be taking any hugely expensive luggage. If there is a way to get my amex plat insurance to cover my flights home it’d be nice, though!

[Andrew J]

Correct, you won’t be covered.

[Rob]

Check the insurance document. Some claims require you to have paid on the card, some don’t. It’s not as simple as saying ‘not covered’.

You may well also have similar cover via another Amex card or your current account.

[AnotherUser]

Thanks for the replies. I’ll check the terms of cover and look at current account options

At least I’ll be covered for medical expenses etc. Bags and cancellations I can spring for myself if needbe!

[Carlos]

Rob Burgess wrote:

Check the insurance document. Some claims require you to have paid on the card, some don’t. It’s not as simple as saying ‘not covered’.

You may well also have similar cover via another Amex card or your current account.

Can you not purchase ‘seats’ on the plane with your amex platinum and therefore be covered for whole insurance policy as opposed to some elements?

[points_worrier]

AnotherUser wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I’ll check the terms of cover and look at current account options

At least I’ll be covered for medical expenses etc. Bags and cancellations I can spring for myself if needbe!

The biggie is medical expenses, as this can be £hundreds of thousands if you are really unlucky. You are covered for this.
But, re cancellation: An aggressive reading of the T&Cs could leave you not covered for cancellaiton of any part of the holiday because part of it has been paid on a mastercard. I hope I am wrong: does anyone have any experiences of this? But ‘£7,500 for costs to return home (and to resume original trip) and unused travel and accommodation costs where a trip has been purchased on the Card account’ seems to imply the *whole* trip must be charged to the card.

[Carlos]

points_worrier wrote:

AnotherUser wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I’ll check the terms of cover and look at current account options

At least I’ll be covered for medical expenses etc. Bags and cancellations I can spring for myself if needbe!

The biggie is medical expenses, as this can be £hundreds of thousands if you are really unlucky. You are covered for this.
But, re cancellation: An aggressive reading of the T&Cs could leave you not covered for cancellaiton of any part of the holiday because part of it has been paid on a mastercard. I hope I am wrong: does anyone have any experiences of this? But ‘£7,500 for costs to return home (and to resume original trip) and unused travel and accommodation costs where a trip has been purchased on the Card account’ seems to imply the *whole* trip must be charged to the card.

Is it not better to pay with a credit card anyway due to section 75 protection?
OP didnt say what mastercard they used either? does that card have its own travel insurance?

[ryaneberry]

One option, which I’ve checked with a CS agent, is to get a SumUp reader and charge your Amex for the travel. Confirmed no rules against charging after the event

[Carlos]

ryaneberry wrote:

One option, which I’ve checked with a CS agent, is to get a SumUp reader and charge your Amex for the travel. Confirmed no rules against charging after the event

Do you self invoice yourself travelling to travel so it becomes part of your journey?

[ryaneberry]

You can list any detail on the transaction and send a PDF to a number or email – comes out with all the info that you need

[Carlos]

ryaneberry wrote:

You can list any detail on the transaction and send a PDF to a number or email – comes out with all the info that you need

sorry you have lost me, if you use a sumup reader you most likely will charge yourself
if you recommend the OP track their transactions, isnt that something the mastercard provider can help with?

[JenT]

I had a hefty claim with Amex Platinum a few years ago when I had to return to the UK from Australia at very short notice due to a dying relative. We booked our original flights with Qatar using a special Mastercard rate, which obviously required paying by Mastercard. This took some time to sort out with Amex as originally they were not willing to cover it, stating that Qatar accepted Amex and we did not use it, so were not covered. We had to provide a fair amount of evidence to prove that the fare was only available with Mastercard payments, and then the claim was approved.

Accept your mistake, buy a single trip policy to cover the trip and don’t make the mistake next time. The insurance company Amex use are thorough in my experience.

[ryaneberry]

Carlos wrote:

ryaneberry wrote:

You can list any detail on the transaction and send a PDF to a number or email – comes out with all the info that you need

sorry you have lost me, if you use a sumup reader you most likely will charge yourself
if you recommend the OP track their transactions, isnt that something the mastercard provider can help with?

All I’m saying is that you can charge your Amex yourself and that would (based on insurance agent conversations) be sufficient

[Carlos]

ryaneberry wrote:

Carlos wrote:

ryaneberry wrote:

You can list any detail on the transaction and send a PDF to a number or email – comes out with all the info that you need

sorry you have lost me, if you use a sumup reader you most likely will charge yourself
if you recommend the OP track their transactions, isnt that something the mastercard provider can help with?

All I’m saying is that you can charge your Amex yourself and that would (based on insurance agent conversations) be sufficient

it sounds risky to charge yourself (no audit trail of actual goods or services being transferred over the transaction) and it would be a double transaction if you made the mistake the OP did which is buying via a mastercard instead of the platinum amex (let alone any other amex)

[ryaneberry]

You are doing a double transaction but you’re getting the money yourself…

I think you’re overthinking it, Amex just require proof of purchase which a statement transaction & invoice is more than sufficient

I’m not saying it’s the easiest or most sensible way, but it is a way – if the OP’s talking A LOT of money, it could be worth spending £50

Carlos wrote:

ryaneberry wrote:

Carlos wrote:

ryaneberry wrote:

You can list any detail on the transaction and send a PDF to a number or email – comes out with all the info that you need

sorry you have lost me, if you use a sumup reader you most likely will charge yourself
if you recommend the OP track their transactions, isnt that something the mastercard provider can help with?

All I’m saying is that you can charge your Amex yourself and that would (based on insurance agent conversations) be sufficient

it sounds risky to charge yourself (no audit trail of actual goods or services being transferred over the transaction) and it would be a double transaction if you made the mistake the OP did which is buying via a mastercard instead of the platinum amex (let alone any other amex)

[JDB]

Creating a fake transaction or series of transactions with a view potentially to make an insurance claim (that could then also be voided) is not smart and could have all sorts of serious consequences. Nobody should even consider it.

Also, while Amex seems very flexible/lax on many things, they take a very dim view of personal card transactions being run through a connected Amex merchant account.

[ryaneberry]

Completely agree

All I’m saying is that it WOULD work if needed but it’s not without dangers.

It is an option if you paid for travel on a non Amex, it also doesn’t have to be in your name…

JDB wrote:

Creating a fake transaction or series of transactions with a view potentially to make an insurance claim (that could then also be voided) is not smart and could have all sorts of serious consequences. Nobody should even consider it.

Also, while Amex seems very flexible/lax on many things, they take a very dim view of personal card transactions being run through a connected Amex merchant account.

[AnotherUser]

points_worrier wrote:

AnotherUser wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I’ll check the terms of cover and look at current account options

At least I’ll be covered for medical expenses etc. Bags and cancellations I can spring for myself if needbe!

The biggie is medical expenses, as this can be £hundreds of thousands if you are really unlucky. You are covered for this.
But, re cancellation: An aggressive reading of the T&Cs could leave you not covered for cancellaiton of any part of the holiday because part of it has been paid on a mastercard. I hope I am wrong: does anyone have any experiences of this? But ‘£7,500 for costs to return home (and to resume original trip) and unused travel and accommodation costs where a trip has been purchased on the Card account’ seems to imply the *whole* trip must be charged to the card.

Thanks. I checked with Amex CS and was left with the impression that this wouldn’t invalidate all cancellation cover, but I’ll get something in writing from the live chat.

I know people (me included!) will often give amex card details to secure a hotel stay and then pay with a few free card at the end of an uneventful stay – which hopefully wouldn’t invalidate cancellion insurance for a while trip