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@JDB Thank you very much for the kind words and the helpful advice, I really appreciate it. I’ll try to report back on my experience here once we get home.
no idea if this has been posted already in another thread
insurance T’s & C’s 2025
https://www.americanexpress.com/en-gb/insurance/termsandcondition/
@conspicuous-capybara – I’m sorry to hear of your predicament and having to worry about the insurance situation doesn’t help. The “reasonable, necessary” is designed to be flexible and to indemnify you for the realistic costs. It may be an idea to call the claims number to get an OK or some guidelines if you are concerned. I think a basic principle is to spend the insurer’s money as if it were your own – carefully. Your thoughts of not taking the micky and getting screenshots or other evidence that what you spent was reasonable are exactly right. There’s no reason why a direct flight back should be excluded.
To the extent that you will be claiming for any non refundable hotel nights or trips etc. you need to ask the provider for a refund first and use any refusal to claim from the insurer.
One thing to beware of is the “unforeseen illness” clause in respect of the timing of your trip – ie what was already known at the time of your trip, eg awaiting test results/diagnosis etc. which may require a helpful doctor’s letter.
Do the research as to costs, and ask in advance. As JDB said, if you act as if it were your own money with a budget for whatever class of service you used you will likely receive a better response. My experience in similar travel circumstances was that business class was reasonable, as I had originally traveled in business, but I was only covered to change the date of the original ticket and pay the fare differential. I did not ask to book a completely new last-minute ticket, but a change fee and increased fare necessitated by the covered event was considered reasonable. In the OP’s case, the base case would be to change / rebook the original return flights (and of course eliminate the stay in Oslo). IIRC, all Norse premium fares are changeable, for a fee.
Thank you for this very helpful thread. I recently made a claim so thought I’d report back so that it may help someone else in a similar predicament.
My partner and I booked a week long trip to Oman in October. We booked the flights 11 months ago at BA.com, to fly on QR in J/F using 180,000 Avios return for 2 people + taxes. This was paid on my BAPP (didn’t own plat then). Our trip was cut very short and we returned the day after we arrived as my husband’s father became critically unwell. I contacted BA from Oman to change the flight, however, there was no availability and was also advised I wouldn’t get a refund for the unused return segment. Decided to book new return flights, instead of booking J/F using cash (very risky) or flying back in economy, we took a gamble and booked J/F (same class as the original booking) on QR again but booked at Qatar airways this time for 180,000 avios plus taxes.
When we returned, I contacted BA a further 3 times to send me confirmation of the unused return flight and also sent emails, but their customer service has been non-existent. Submitted my claim to AXA for unused hotels, car hire and for 180,000 avios plus taxes. Received the great news this morning that they will be reimbursing all costs, including for the Avios, minus the £50 excess.
On a less positive note, my father in law sadly didn’t make it, he passed away following a short stay in hospital.
May he rest in peace !
Question on insurance.
Booked a reward flight on Avios using Amex Platinum.
What would happen if we need to postpone it by a week due to illness?
There are reward flights available, so how would this work with insurance? If it was a cash flight, then they would pay the difference to change it, but not sure how this would work with an award flight?Question on insurance.
Booked a reward flight on Avios using Amex Platinum.
What would happen if we need to postpone it by a week due to illness?
There are reward flights available, so how would this work with insurance? If it was a cash flight, then they would pay the difference to change it, but not sure how this would work with an award flight?Yes, in principle this should be covered; it’s probably the best element in this otherwise rather limited Plat policy. Obviously you will need a doctor’s certificate to say that you aren’t/won’t be fit to travel on the original dates but are cleared to travel on the new dates. Amex will need to be satisfied that the illness was not foreseeable/relating to any pre-existing condition. Amex will expect you to recover any costs you can on cancellation and should then cover the reasonable additional expenses of rebooking your trip on a comparable basis, even if that means cash flights to replace the Avios ones. You should of course clarify all this with Amex before incurring any expenses.
@JDB – Thank you for the info.
Amex have changed providers to Europe Assistance as at 1 January 2025.
I called them as am going on a cruise this Sunday and wanted to ensure it was covered. The agent told me that it wasn’t covered as any covered trip needed to “include a flight”. So anyone going on a cruise or just taking a ferry to the continent would not be covered.
When I suggested this did not make sense, she said the policy was the policy and she would not put me through to someone else or even ask for further clarification. So I asked her to email me the new policy document. This is what it actually says, although she only quoted the flight bit:
“- “Trip” means a journey outside Your Country of Residence which must commence and end in Your Country of Residence, or a journey within Your Country of Residence which must include a flight, or at least one night of pre-booked accommodation away from home.”
So whilst there is nothing specific on cruises in the policy, the first part “a journey outside Your Country of Residence which must commence and end in Your Country of Residence” would suggest it is included.
Would be helpful if they would actually mention cruises as most policies do. Wondering if I need to take one out just in case.
Hello,
I am in a bit of an urgent pickle, and would appreciate some help from you fine folks 🙂 Thank you in advance…
I am currently in America on holiday with my family of 4. My baby son has fallen ill, and a doctor here has provided a medical report saying that he should not fly home with us this weekend as planned.
We are planning for my wife and son to remain in America for an additional week while he recovers. I will return home with my other child this weekend as planned.
I have phoned Amex’s travel insurance (now Europ Assistance – AXA ceased on 31/12/24). They have been very helpful, and have confirmed that the medical fees we have incurred are covered, as are the costs we incur to change travel for my wife and baby.
So far, all is clear!
I have two questions:
1. My reading of Amex’s policy is that I should rebook my wife and baby in economy (even though we were due to travel in premium econ). See the specific clause below – I assume my wife is a “companion” and the baby is the main “client” here! I just wanted to check if this is correct*
3) Your travel home after treatment: We will arrange and pay for necessary costs to repatriate You to Your
Country of Residence when recommended by Our Senior Medical Officer, including the cost of a
medical escort if necessary.
4) Return home of Your travelling companions: The cost of an economy flight or standard rail ticket if their
original means of transportation home cannot be used.* You may be wondering why I am not asking the insurance provider this… the reason is that the department that can answer this is now closed for the weekend… and we are meant to be traveling on Sunday. PLUS there is a snowstorm expected here, which is putting a lot of pressure on flights…
Of course, getting them home safely is what matters, and economy would be fine. But if I’m able to send wife and baby in a little more comfort then it would be a shame to miss out.
2. We booked these flights on Virgin using miles and a 2for1 credit card voucher. Any suggestion on how the insurer will decide how much to repay us. Logically, I would assume…
– We will cancel the flights for my wife and son. We will get the miles and £££ ‘tax’ back
– We will need to book a new cash flight (points flights are available… should we do that instead?)
– Insurance will pay back the cash cost of the flights less the cash received from the refund?
– Will the insurance apply any value to the points refunded?
– I have no idea what happens to the 2for1 voucher(?!)**With the snow storm coming in, waiting times for Virgin’s call centre are excessive at the moment! I will find out more when I get through and post back.
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. As I mentioned, the important thing is getting the family home, which I know I can do by rebooking economy for wife and child. I just want to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
Thanks!
Amex have changed providers to Europe Assistance as at 1 January 2025.
I called them as am going on a cruise this Sunday and wanted to ensure it was covered. The agent told me that it wasn’t covered as any covered trip needed to “include a flight”. So anyone going on a cruise or just taking a ferry to the continent would not be covered.
When I suggested this did not make sense, she said the policy was the policy and she would not put me through to someone else or even ask for further clarification. So I asked her to email me the new policy document. This is what it actually says, although she only quoted the flight bit:
“- “Trip” means a journey outside Your Country of Residence which must commence and end in Your Country of Residence, or a journey within Your Country of Residence which must include a flight, or at least one night of pre-booked accommodation away from home.”
So whilst there is nothing specific on cruises in the policy, the first part “a journey outside Your Country of Residence which must commence and end in Your Country of Residence” would suggest it is included.
Would be helpful if they would actually mention cruises as most policies do. Wondering if I need to take one out just in case.
Sounds like the same sort of nonsense Axa used to come out with.
I’d certainly interpret the ‘trip’ definition as not needing a flight, the “, or” clearly defines three separate trip types that are covered.
Complain direct to Amex customer services about EA’s response and ask Amex to formally assert you are covered – you are paying Amex for insurance, not EA, it’s Amex’s job to resolve.
Do not use the insurance complaint link/email, unless something has changed it will simply forward to EA, Amex will not act on it.
Hi
I have the platinum card and my partner suffers from anxiety which she occasionally takes medication for (it isn’t debilitating) and I suffer from Tourette’s. Is this covered under the travel insurance policy?
Hi
I have the platinum card and my partner suffers from anxiety which she occasionally takes medication for (it isn’t debilitating) and I suffer from Tourette’s. Is this covered under the travel insurance policy?
The Amex Plat policy works off a list (which you should have) of pre-existing conditions that are allowed and everything else is excluded from cover. It’s also really important to read the definition of pre-existing conditions in the policy document. The complication for you and your partner is whether your respective conditions would potentially compromise any claim and/or if any essentially unrelated incident could be attributed to the condition or medication.
“Pre-existing Medical Condition(s)” means any past or current Medical Condition (other than those on the Accepted Conditions list which is available by visiting americanexpress.com/uk/insuranceportal) which, during the 2 years prior to You booking a Trip, has given rise to symptoms or for which any form of treatment or prescribed medication, medical consultation, investigation or follow-up/check-up has been required or received; and any cardiovascular or circulatory condition (e.g. heart condition, hypertension, blood clots, raised
cholesterol, stroke, aneurysm) that has occurred at any time prior to You booking a Trip.Does anyone know how the policy treats if someone else brought your flight which you reimburse them? The scenario is this, my mum has a plat card, I was travelling with my parents but dad too unwell to fly. So we did not go. I brought all three flights together (why would I buy separately??)? my claim has been rejected cause for once I did not use my amex to buy the flight. Can amex realistically expect the three of us to buy our own flight separately to benefit from the insurance, we would not want our flights to not be linked.
Does anyone know how the policy treats if someone else brought your flight which you reimburse them? The scenario is this, my mum has a plat card, I was travelling with my parents but dad too unwell to fly. So we did not go. I brought all three flights together (why would I buy separately??)? my claim has been rejected cause for once I did not use my amex to buy the flight. Can amex realistically expect the three of us to buy our own flight separately to benefit from the insurance, we would not want our flights to not be linked.
You asked this question in the comments to yesterday’s article and I wrote a fairly lengthy reply.
Unfortunately the cancellation/postponement section does require the Plat policyholder to use an Amex card something which (per yesterday’s question) you might struggle to complain is an unreasonable term as this is a packaged insurance policy that comes exclusively with the card. I don’t understand why you suggest Amex was expecting you to buy the tickets separately.
Hi @JDB, I have read and appreciated your response. The reason I posted again was because I felt your answer was very helpful re me not paying with my Amex because it costs more due to FX charge.
However, I didn’t feel your question quite answered my other point. Perhaps I will try to be clearer again. Or maybe your point applies and going forward I need separate bookings.
In short my question is what if the policy holder did not make the payment and someone else makes it. fuller explanation below.
My mum has an amex plat, I have an amex plat. My dad has separate policy. My dad was ill so we all could not fly. I raised a claim on my amex plat and was rejected because I did not buy the flights with my card. I have yet to raise a claim on my mum’s insurance, would they reject her because she also did not buy the flights with her card. We were travelling together, would amex realistically expect I brought my own flight on my card, my mum buys her own flight with her card. I did one transaction with BA for all three flight as one booking. I have never heard of people making separate bookings for sake of Amex insurance but to be fair many are couples which amex covers but my mum is not my dependant.
I (perhaps wrongly) assume that most people who travel as a group would buy their flights as one booking. We often warn people if they are a family to avoid doing separate booking. Similarly if I was sharing hotel room, if advanced booking one person pays. How does Amex deal with that?
@Reney – yes, I fear that any claim made by your Mum would also be rejected as you didn’t pay with an Amex and the cancellation/postponement cover specifically requires this. There wasn’t any need to book separately – you or your mother could have paid on one of your Amex cards and each of you covered subject to your father’s illness not being known about/pre-existing.
Medical cover and car hire excess are I think the biggest elements of the policy that don’t require use of the card.
@JDB, thanks that is clear. I had interpreted it as only cover if paid on your own card account.
I was interested to see how the performance of Europ Assistance would stack up to AXA. So far I’m far from impressed.
I had a baggage delay event occur over the Christmas period, but my (partial) compensation from the airline was only settled this year, so I’ve taken it forward with Europ Assistance for the balance.
After submitting a claim on Jan 8th I didn’t recieve a confirmation email. The “Track my claim” button in the insurance portal is also greyed out and is non functional.
I recieved a text message Jan 9th saying they’d requested information to substantiate the claim, and to check my emails for updates. I read this as they’d requested info from the airline, and not myself. Needless to say there was no email.I left it for 2 weeks and initiated a chat yesterday, which is only available 8am-4pm UK time. Slightly annoying, but nevertheless. The first agent immediately had a system issue and directed me to call the number on the back of my card to speak to an agent. I did so, only to go through an automated process and have them send me a text message directing me to their website. Back I went, and got through to an agent. They couldn’t tell me why I hadn’t been receiving emails, or why or when the “track my claim” functionality would return. It transpired the information I’d provided wasn’t sufficient, so the case had been on hold since Jan 9th.
I was provided an email to send the documents to, and have duly done so. Again, no email to confirm receipt.
Whilst my lack of action is clearly partly to blame, their systems aren’t in any way as slick as AXA, and you should manage expectations in your dealings.
I shall report back once the claim is settled, but in this first round of interactions I’m far from impressed.
Hello, just want to check if anyone else is having issues with Europ Assistance and claims?
I currently have 2 claims going through since the 3rd of January and literally had 1 response from them in this time?
I actually have a positive story. I submitted a claim the other day for cancellation of a holiday due to illness. I didn’t have a medical form because it wasn’t so bad I needed a doctor, I was just temporarily too ill to travel. I expected them to reject it, but they approved within two days. It was only a smallish claim, so perhaps they have a threshold below which things are more automatically assessed/approved.
Apologies for what seems like a simple question – I stupidly didn’t get a roaming package and ended up with a £30 bill when calling Europ Assistance from abroad. How is everyone calling the number with minimal charges? Thinking of getting some Skype Credits for international calling next time.
Hi all,
Girlfriend booked a trip for my birthday, paid with her own card.
Outbound flight got pushed 24 hours due to weather conditions.
I have the Platinum but I see from the policy that to make an inconvenience claim I would have had to book the flights on my card account.
Anyone had any luck claiming in such circumstances? I don’t buy travel insurance given the coverage via my platinum, but clearly should pay more attention to the policy wording!
Many thanks in advance.
Apologies for what seems like a simple question – I stupidly didn’t get a roaming package and ended up with a £30 bill when calling Europ Assistance from abroad. How is everyone calling the number with minimal charges? Thinking of getting some Skype Credits for international calling next time.
Skype credit is not a thing anymore, only subscriptions.
My OH is anxious about not renewing our insurance policy as we now have the platinum card. Am I correct in stating that so long as 1 element of the holiday is paid for with Amex then we are covered. I.e our outbound flight is paid with Amex but the inbound isn’t?
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