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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?
The various sections listed under ‘Eligibility’ are conditional on use of the card, so it’s not sufficient to pay for one element to be covered on all of them. If you are considering giving up another policy and then relying exclusively on Amex Plat, it’s worth looking at the differences between the policy before finalising that decision.
I’m a bit concerned about the wording on the europ “Sports and Winter Sports Activities” policy:
“This policy covers You when You are engaging in the following sports and activities on a non-competitive and non-professional basis provided Your participation is not the sole or main reason for Your Trip.”Does this mean a ski trip is no longer covered?
It doesn’t mention the “main reason” bit under the “Winter Sports Activities” heading though, so does it only apply to the non winter sports?
Hopefully a quick question here to validate my reading of the Platinum Insurance Ts & Cs.
Am I right in thinking that the medical and personal liability cover for winter sports will apply to me and my family, regardless of whether I’ve paid for the trip with my Amex?
I would appreciate is someone could confirm this. I have a platinum card, but in Spain is very difficult to pay things with AMEX.
I would also like to ask, if you have an accident while doing normal skying. Is the platinum insurance paying for the “rescue” from the sky resort? How?
I would also like to ask, if you have an accident while doing normal skying. Is the platinum insurance paying for the “rescue” from the sky resort? How?
If you have an accident, you or someone on your behalf needs to call Europ Assistance (and it’s a good idea for anyone to register with them now to speed up any claim). They will then tell you how to proceed and what they will cover in light of the specific circumstances of the incident.
I know it’s purely academic at this point since Amex switched insurance providers, but I just thought I’d report back from my experience with a complex claim quoted at the end of the post (10 week trip aborted about halfway through, claimed for 5 abandoned flights and one curtailment flight), but thought it might be helpful for comparison with the new travel insurer if anyone faces similar circumstances.
Long story short, had to cut a trip with my girlfriend short because her mother had developed terminal cancer. We were originally going to fly home from Bangkok to Oslo in Norse Premium, then spend a few days with my family in Norway, before going home to the UK. I asked here if booking a homeward journey in PE would be considered reasonable, and I was told it’d be best to check with the insurer first (which is reasonable!). However, I didn’t have the wherewithal at the time with the time difference and calamity in my girlfriend’s family, so decided to play it safe and book economy with QR (and with my OWS status giving me the PE seats from HKG-DOH and the upstairs seats in the A380 on DOH-LHR, it wasn’t bad at all). It wasn’t the cheapest of the economy flights available but it was still pretty reasonable for how short of a notice it was booked on.
I claimed once we were back in the UK. Uploading all the required documents (and explaining the two-month itinerary from China->Japan->Taiwan->Hong Kong->Cambodia->Thailand with a limited character count…) was a pain in the rear, and they were quite slow in getting back to me after the initial step and after every update where they asked me for additional documentation.
One snag I didn’t quite realise could be a problem was that several of my internal SEA flights were completely non-refundable, and so I didn’t think much of trying to cancel them or bother with Air Asia’s famous customer support, but I was asked by Axa to provide proof that I had cancelled these flights. I explained my predicament to them via email and highlighted the complete non-refundability of these tickets in the booking confirmations I had originally sent them as documentation, and I didn’t hear anything back from them until I got my complete claim approval today. As soon as they had all the documentation required, they approved the entire claim without any quibbles or queries.
But some advice if you find yourself in a similar scenario: just cancel everything if you know for sure you won’t be making use of the service you booked. (I found out later I could have retroactively apply for something called a “no show travel certificate” from the airlines, but I’m glad I never had to try to speak to a real human at Air Asia about it…).
Hi everyone,
[snip]
What’s considered “reasonable and necessary” travel costs in this case?
[snip]
Additionally, what sort of documentation, if any, do we have to collect to show that we’ve chosen a reasonable and necessary journey? Screenshots of flight comparison sites for the relevant dates?I recently purchased tickets to an overseas sporting event and then booked flights… since then the event provider has cancelled my tickets, with no reasoning and I haven’t been able to get in touch with them yet.
Any idea if I could claim back the cost of the flights on the platinum insurance? Going to the event was the sole purpose of the trip and unless I can get my event tickets reinstated I likely won’t be going.
Can anyone help with this question.
I’ve booked flights on mums gold Amex.
We’re probably not going to renew the card before she flies, but Im a platinum card holder (mainly for the points and insurance and she’s a supplementary card holder). I’ll also be taking out a business platinum card as she’ll be turning 71 before the flights.Amex customer have said that she won’t be covered unless the all the trip is booked on the business platinum card.
I read previously as long as the person travelling is a card member its fine.
I also asked if a portion of the trip (transfers) is made using the business platinum would she get cover and they said no.Is this a new change? I thought that the trips are all covered as long as the personal travelling is a card holder?
@sunny110 – the policy hasn’t changed. With anything relating to insurance, thinking “I read previously” or taking the word of another poster is no substitute for reading the policy. If you are the cardholder, the cover extends to your spouse and younger children but not parents. For your over 70 mother to be covered, she needs to be a cardholder or supplementary cardholder on the Business Platinum but there is going to be a question of timing if you haven’t applied for that card.
I’ll give them a call tomorrow.
But would if I take out the business platinum well before they fly and she books part of the journey (transfers) with the platinum as a supplemental holder, would she still at least get some coverage with medical assistance or cover part of the holiday.
She’s already paid for the flights on her gold card, but can do the rest by plat? I tried called them to ask, but they seem to be closed now so will try tomorrow.After 19yrs holding the Platinum Card I finally had to use the Car Hire Excess cover and it was super easy to do!
I had rented a pick up truck from Hertz but via a third party booking agent for a tour of southern Namibia. I paid by visa but used the Platinum card for the deposit though I doubt the insurance company even checked how I had paid the deposit and they didn’t ask how I paid for the booking initially. I returned the vehicle with some damage to the side runner due to driving through a flooded section of road and bottoming out the vehicle. I had £350 deducted from the deposit as I had declined all cover.
I submitted the claim on the insurance portal and uploaded a copy of the rental document issued to me when I picked up the car, the return document that comes by email and also an invoice sent for the damages. I also uploaded the damage report though it was blank and just had my signature as I didn’t really know how or when the damage occurred so the agent said to just sign the form. I was also concerned the insuranc emight deem the vehicle a commercial vehicle and not pay out.
I submitted the claim and 1 day later I got a message that it was approved and to now add my BIC/IBAN details to the claim. 2 days later it paid out and then arrived in my account a few days after that. The payout was £341 so maybe affected by some currency fluctuations.
Super easy process and very happy with how hassle free it was.
Just had a positive experience with Europ Assistance so thought I’d feedback. Due to flooded roads we were stuck on the Bruce Highway in Queensland in late March unable to reach our destination. As a result we had to return to Cairns late in the day, when it became apparent the road wouldn’t re-open for at least 24 hours, & amend our plans. Trailfinders, at our request, booked us on a flight to Brisbane for the next day, (which I paid for on my Amex Platinum) where we spent an unplanned extra 2 nights & cancelled what we had originally booked including a flight to Brisbane from Hamilton Island which Qantas couldn’t/wouldn’t refund. Trailfinders through their own insurance repaid the cost of the hotel we had booked via them & couldn’t reach but it didn’t cover the flight. On our return I put in a claim for the cost of the new flight, £460, with supporting evidence. At the beginning I did have a bit of difficulty with the claim options – you are given a list of reasons, none of which seemed to really fit & they don’t offer an option of ‘other’ either. However once I eventually got through to speak to someone they were helpful and travel delay was the option decided on. They did come back for proof I’d paid with my Amex Platinum so I scanned in a statement copy. It’s taken about 2 weeks & today they have confirmed the claim has been accepted & there is a payment of £600 on its way, which is the maximum under the travel delay section. So the extra flight cost has been covered plus an element for food etc whilst delayed. Happy with that & all in all it was relatively easy to claim online.
How long has it been taking for people to receive confirmation of their claim pay outs with Europ Assist please? I submitted a claim on 4th April for a cancelled trip, was requested to send further documentation on 15th April which I did but still waiting to hear if my claim has been either fully or partially approved for pay out.
How long has it been taking for people to receive confirmation of their claim pay outs with Europ Assist please? I submitted a claim on 4th April for a cancelled trip, was requested to send further documentation on 15th April which I did but still waiting to hear if my claim has been either fully or partially approved for pay out.
I first submitted my claim on 9 April, on 17 April I submitted more information that they had requested and on Friday 25 April (after I asked for an update) I was told it had been approved and they asked me to re-confirm bank details for payment. Yesterday I was told payment had been made & could take up to 5 working days to go into my account. I’m not sure if asking for an update prompted them to finalise or if that was just a coincidence.
@Ruralite thanks for this, did you contact them by sending a message in the claims portal or using a specific email address please? I might give them a prod.
@Ruralite thanks for this, did you contact them by sending a message in the claims portal or using a specific email address please? I might give them a prod.
Message via the claims portal – just a polite ‘can you please give me an update’.
@Ruralite thanks for confirming, I’ll message and see what they come back with
Following my message to Europ Assistance last night, they’ve just called to clarify a final point and advised that they are sending my claim for approval from their medical team and all being well it will be approved for payment today with payment to arrive first half of next week. Definitely good advice to chase them up via message – thanks @Ruralite
That’s good news. I have no complaints with them, anything extra they asked me for was relevant and they have not quibbled about anything. My one previous experience with a travel insurance claim (with a different insurer & not Amex) was really straightforward as it was early return due to the sudden and unexpected death of my father but it took over 6 weeks to be approved despite everything needed being submitted at the onset.
This is a warning to others who might believe that you don’t need any alternative travel insurance if you have Amex Platinum Chargecard cover.
I have just had a claim denied under section “1.4 Personal Belongings, Money and Travel”.
Although I used an Amex to guarantee the hotel stay, because the stay was booked using IHG points and there were no “taxes and/or surcharges” billed to my Amex card as there were none, cover is not provided.
So, effectively, Amex Platinum holders have no cover for hotel award stays. I had not realised that. I thought you only had to use an Amex if paying, not that you had to be paying. I thought the wording meant travel reward programmes were included, but it’s only if you part-pay. It’s a significant devaluation of the cover from what I thought was offered.
@MKB – it’s very helpful to highlight yet another shortcoming of the Platinum policy. It’s quite easy for someone (and perhaps even more so a supplementary holder) either inadvertently or deliberately (to avoid FX fees and poor MR earning) use the wrong card and to have such a minor error invalidate a potential claim is outrageous. Other tied policies have no such restriction.
The Plat policy is certainly not one I would wish to rely upon for my family. It’s full of holes.
The policy wording here is:
For the benefits under this section to apply transport and/or accommodation must have been Purchased in full using:
I. the Card;
II. American Express Membership Rewards® points;
III. or Any travel rewards programmes provided the taxes and/or surcharges have been Purchased using the Card.The issue is that it says “the taxes … “, not “any taxes …”. Where there are no taxes or surcharges to pay, which means many hotel award stays, it’s not actually possible to purchase the taxes and surcharges with the card.
I think it’s quite unusual for travel insurance to refund lost points/miles, have you found a policy that does explicity cover this?
I think it’s quite unusual for travel insurance to refund lost points/miles, have you found a policy that does explicity cover this?
It’s a remarkably complex area! Amex Plat will refund lost points but before they will, you need to have met the terms of the policy, in this particular case, even a small cash element would have engaged a claim.
Other policies purport not to cover lost reward points and Aviva (now behind Nationwide FlexPlus and HSBC Premier) have introduced rather hawkish wording but having had fairly extensive contact with the Board of Nationwide when they moved to Aviva, the policy doesn’t mean quite what it says. I know that’s not very helpful but I’m pretty relaxed about it following my discussions. For example, if say you needed to cut short a trip with the flights paid on Avios, my understanding (but please don’t make any decisions based on this!) is that they will still pay to get you home.
If you miss a hotel night because a flight was delayed or cancelled, few policies cover even a lost cash booking so that doesn’t matter. If you have to cancel or postpone a trip, it’s more complicated but many points bookings are more refundable than some cash ones.
I haven’t looked at the Virgin policies but I’m told they cover points (and looks like one of the best products around), although given that VM is now part of Nationwide that might all change.
It does seem like Amex arenoffering something that most don’t in that case, albeit probably useless for points hotel bookings most of the time. They were also happy to pay out for a non refundable hotel I couldnt use when a flight to Norway was cancelled, although the provider has changed since then.
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