American Express says its travel insurance will cover Platinum cardholders for coronavirus

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• The Original Nick says:

  30 Jan30 January 20:01

  Can anyone tell me if flying IB long haul do they have on board wifi installed? Flying MAD-HAV in 2 weeks.

  • marcw says:

    30 Jan30 January 20:59

    It depends on the plane.

  • Chef says:

    30 Jan30 January 21:41

    Yeah internet installed and a free 30 minutes per passenger if in business. Don’t turn up to the lounge hungry on the way back.

    • The Original Nick says:

      31 Jan31 January 06:53

      Thanks.

• The Original Nick says:

  30 Jan30 January 20:23

  Found it on IB site.

• PaulC says:

  30 Jan30 January 21:22

  Can anyone please remind me the best number to call to make an Avios booking using my Lloyds upgrade voucher?

  • fivebobbill says:

    30 Jan30 January 22:35

    03444933349

• CraigyC says:

  31 Jan31 January 08:46

  I wasn’t very impressed with Amex platinum insurance last year, my flight to Verona was cancelled for the Tuesday morning with no other choice but to travel on the Monday night (we were booked in to the hotel at Gatwick). As we were already in the airport (hotel bar) we checked out and took the flight, booking a hotel for Verona while sat in the lounge.
  Assuming this would be covered I submitted a claim when I got home. I received a phone call where they started with “s we just want to check some details of the claim” where they went through the claim then bombarded me with clauses from the the policy as to why they wouldn’t pay. I arguedabout the spirit of the policy with the advertising slogan of “We’ve got your back” which they (Axa) of course couldn’t care less about.
  Angered I went through the policy to find clauses to help my cause, the cancellation policy clearly states that they will pay if the replacement flight is not within a certain time of the original, but does not say if this is before or afterwards. It also states that you must have been obliged to pay for any accommodation before getting on the replacement flight.
  As I’d payed for the hotel before getting on the flight and could prove this (the hotel booking I’d chosen meant I was obliged to pay upfront), I argued that this clause stands. The Axa representative still tried to argue this down with a supervisor who tried to claim “that’s not what we meant when that clause was written”, to which I pointed out it doesn’t matter what they meant, it’s what is actually written that counts. They reluctantly paid.
  However as I’d asked for the case to be reviewed prior to this conversation I received a letter a month later saying they’d reviewed it and they wouldn’t pay, which I simply ignored.
  I’m not overly impressed with Axa however, the way they dealt with this claim was poor with the initial “trap” phone call being handled very poorly. Normal insurance company simply looking for any way it doesn’t have to pay even when it’s clear that they should. I’d had to pay for an extra hotel room for the same night, due to a flight being cancelled.
  I wouldn’t rely on them to be any better with a large claim.

  • Lady London says:

    31 Jan31 January 08:52

    This is why it was such a deterioration when Amex switched its Platinum coverage from another underwriter to Axa a few years back. This type of customer service kept happening (it’s Axa – I think their agents go to the same school as the Accor customer service agents). Also more weasel words and inadequate coverage words are now in the policy since Axa.

    I would have just referred it to the Ombudsman or Money Claim Online. I have more faith in money claim if eligible, as Ombudsman decision can sometimes be perverse and appear to support the relevant industry rather than the consumer they are supposed to be there to get fair treatment for. I would try not to let it rest – even though I know part of the non-paying entity’s tactics are to wear you down so you get too exhausted to take the claim as far as it should go – because the more they get away with it, the more insurance companies and airlines will try to wear down the customer and get their claim to go away by that, as a deliberate tactic.

    I know it’s hard though.

  • SimonW says:

    31 Jan31 January 09:07

    I think every insurance company has loads of horror stories. It’s the nature of the beast. Take premiums and try not to pay out. Any firm that was too generous in payout % would soon get eaten up by competition and market forces….. With that in mind I’ve given up with using brokers and High End insurance companies for car and home insurance. As long as it is a decent well known brand, and the policy coverage seems reasonable, just got to hope that if i have to claim, I will be treated fairly.

    • Lady London says:

      31 Jan31 January 13:47

      forums are invaluable for feedback on insurers and whether they pay out when they should. Always worth a search. You may come across a treasure trove of positive or negative feedback. If I have a notable experience either way I am likely to post it if I see an opportunity – to pay back to what I benefit from.

      Wonder when Amazon will get into insurance?

• Alex Sm says:

  31 Jan31 January 10:51

  OT: but on China and virus

  ‪It’s interesting that US and Canadian airlines only reduced the number of flights to China, not completely stopped flying there. Does anyone know why?‬

  • Algor says:

    31 Jan31 January 14:48

    common sense?

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