Value of Platinum’s travel insurance for foreign transactions

[Maples]

One of the reasons why I got the Platinum card was for travel insurance. This requires me to book with the card or another Amex in my name to be able to get the full travel insurance, especially to protect against cancelations. This also means I’ll have to pay the 3% foreign transaction fee in order to get the full insurance, which as the years go by, I don’t think makes much sense. Car rentals is fine with any card but Avis took GBP, so I booked with the Platinum card last month.

Is my understanding correct with having to use Amex? Do you guys take the 3% hit and book with Amex cards? Anything better in terms of alternatives or better approach for this?

For me, I spend 3-4 weeks abroad a year, so hotels are being booked without Amex, as well as some plane tickets in foreign currencies. I’ve been using a non-Amex 0% FTF CC so far, which should be meaning that I’m not getting the full travel insurance. It’s honestly looking like I’ll be cancelling my Platinum after this year’s travel.

[Maples]

in terms of maths, I spend about £4-5K a year for hotels and flights in another currency. This year, it’s looking to be £10K.

[John]

Basically you are paying 3% of 10k = £300 + £650 = £950

Subtract your valuation of the other Plat benefits. Can you buy a different insurance for the remainder?

[Maples]

Just dug up an old transaction. I spent €153 back in October 2024, and I paid £132.84 with Amex for the dining credit. Backtracking with Mastercard’s currency converter for the same date, it’s coming to £128.69 with 0% fee or £132.55 with a 3% fee. Not a big difference, so I guess it’s somewhat in-line with each other.

In terms of worth it, it’s looking to be a no in terms of value. I’ve not checked fully, but for a 2-3 week stay in Japan, I saw some quote of £100 a couple of months ago, so the Platinum’s likely just saving me £130-150 for the trips that I do. Essentially, for me, it’s looking like the travel insurance won’t be free since the 3% FTF is essentially whatever I’d have paid for from another travel insurance provider.

I see that the Lloyds World Elite card is 0% fees abroad for 60 months for £180 a year. That’ll sort me out for lounges, and the dining credit offering in Europe being poor (in terms of countries available) makes me dislike it with how it’s done. I’ll just tally up this year’s savings with the benefit and see. The retention offer might be the deciding factor, in the end.