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New to platinum having just taken the card out in the last few weeks. I already have the BAPP but with quite a few trips coming up over the next year, I could make Platinum work, particularly the travel and car hire insurance. Received an email today reminding me of the benefits and have just realised that the travel insurance only applies to trips booked on the card.
Clearly I didn’t read this small print, but this is a massive issue for me and one that I feel should be highlighted more.
All my upcoming trips were purchased before taking out the Platinum card and I’ve cancelled my current account linked travel insurance to benefit from Platinum. This means I’m now completely uncovered.
Long term I see more issues with this. I want to pay for my BA flights using my BAPP to benefit from the higher avios rate. Or in some rarer cases need to book travel with a provider that does not accept Amex. It would appear then in these scenarios I’m not covered either.
Pretty poor for a card with a premium fee! Surely you’re insured by paying for the service like all other travel insurance policies!Anyway, rant over.
Check the insurance docs carefully. Some benefits don’t require you to use the card. Many only require you to use an Amex card in your name
I think (but for something this important worth reading the T+Cs properly) that you are covered for trips booked on another Amex card in your name. You are also covered if you have been unable to pay with Amex for something because the merchant doesn’t accept it.
A lot of the coverage is also in place irrespective of how you paid, but not all of it – again, you would need to check carefully.
I don’t know how much of a trip needs to be paid with Amex for it to count as trip booked with Amex. I suspect flights plus accommodation would do, but again best to check the T+C
From the T&Cs:
The following benefits are dependent on use of the Card…
Now we need to know what a Card is:
“Card” means any Card or other Account access device issued to a Cardmember (or a Supplementary Cardmember) for the purpose of accessing the Account.
And an Account:
“Account” or “Card Account” means Your consumer and small business cards issued by American Express in the UK, excluding corporate cards and any American Express cards issued by bank partners.
The definition of Account includes all your cards, and the definition of Card allows you to use any card that accesses that Account. I imagine that a supplementary card on someone else’s account wouldn’t be read as one of your cards, though.
IANAL, but I read these T&Cs as meaning your Platinum insurance covers the full range of benefits if you purchase the trip using another Amex card such as the BAPP. What’s much less clear is what happens if you split the cost of the trip between Amex – hotels not on Amex but flight on Amex, for example.
“Clearly I didn’t read this small print” – correct, because if you did you’d realise that what you’ve posted is completely wrong 🙂
Read the definition of ‘Card’.
I rang the Platinum number at the end of 2022 and was told that I’d be covered if I used any Amex card to pay for either flights or accommodation. I had booked flights with a gold card before upgrading to platinum and was told that was fine. Whether it has to be all flights or all accommodation booked I’m not sure. I feel Amex could be much more explicit about all this.
On the Platinum insurance master thread on here, the strong concesus is that you’re covered for medical regardless of the card used. I was told in the same phone call that you don’t have to book your car hire with Amex for it to be covered. I claimed on that last year and they requested my flight confirmation email presumably as proof of payment via Amex and it was resolved smoothly.I had this exact live chat with Amex on Saturday and took a screenshot of what they sent me (can’t figure out how to attach an image so have copied below):
“The following benefits are not dependent on the use of the Card for the trip:
-Medical Assistance and Expenses (under the age of 70)
-Personal Accident while on a trip
-Legal assistance and compensation
-Car rental benefits – Theft Damage and LiabilityThe following benefits are dependent on use of the Platinum card for the trip:
-Cutting short your trip
-Travel Inconvenience
-Personal Belongings, Money and Travel Documents”Here is another permutation:
I currently have the Platinum Card, which covers wife (supp) and children.
When the children are no longer eligible for insurance coverage (due to >25y, no longer financially dependent, or married), would the strategy work of me taking out an additional fee-free Amex card such as BA or ARCC and get free supplementary cards for the kids? It goes into the same Amex Account (mine), which still has my Platinum card in it, and hence my kids would be Cardholders, even though not Platinum supps but non-Platinum supps.
Would they still be covered by the Platinum Insurance in this scenario?Here is another permutation:
I currently have the Platinum Card, which covers wife (supp) and children.
When the children are no longer eligible for insurance coverage (due to >25y, no longer financially dependent, or married), would the strategy work of me taking out an additional fee-free Amex card such as BA or ARCC and get free supplementary cards for the kids? It goes into the same Amex Account (mine), which still has my Platinum card in it, and hence my kids would be Cardholders, even though not Platinum supps but non-Platinum supps.
Would they still be covered by the Platinum Insurance in this scenario?No, once your children no longer qualify as family for insurance purposes they need a Plat supplementary or their own card to be covered. They can use the other cards to pay for aspects of the insurance that allow this but having those cards doesn’t give insurance cover.
Here is another permutation:
I currently have the Platinum Card, which covers wife (supp) and children.
When the children are no longer eligible for insurance coverage (due to >25y, no longer financially dependent, or married), would the strategy work of me taking out an additional fee-free Amex card such as BA or ARCC and get free supplementary cards for the kids? It goes into the same Amex Account (mine), which still has my Platinum card in it, and hence my kids would be Cardholders, even though not Platinum supps but non-Platinum supps.
Would they still be covered by the Platinum Insurance in this scenario?The wording is not clear at all:
“Card” means any Card or other Account access device issued to a Cardmember (or a Supplementary
Cardmember) for the purpose of accessing the Account.
-> “any Card” would mean an ARCC supp card would be in scope“Insured” means (i) Cardmembers and their Families, (ii) Supplementary Cardmembers and their Families
and (iii) …”
-> Supplemental Cardmembers are insured“Supplementary Cardmember” means a person who has been nominated by the Cardmember to be issued
with an additional Card on the Account and is also covered by the insurance benefits included with the Card.
-> “also covered by the insurance benefits included with the card” can be read as only referring to the specific supplementary card, in this case ARCC – not the desired outcome.Any views?
Here is another permutation:
I currently have the Platinum Card, which covers wife (supp) and children.
When the children are no longer eligible for insurance coverage (due to >25y, no longer financially dependent, or married), would the strategy work of me taking out an additional fee-free Amex card such as BA or ARCC and get free supplementary cards for the kids? It goes into the same Amex Account (mine), which still has my Platinum card in it, and hence my kids would be Cardholders, even though not Platinum supps but non-Platinum supps.
Would they still be covered by the Platinum Insurance in this scenario?No, once your children no longer qualify as family for insurance purposes they need a Plat supplementary or their own card to be covered. They can use the other cards to pay for aspects of the insurance that allow this but having those cards doesn’t give insurance cover.
thanks – that’s how I’m reading it now, too – thank you for confirming.
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