LarkSFO

PGA terms explicitly state that 'Decisions made by the PGA-designated physician... are medical decisions based on medical factors, and as such, are beyond the control of the PGA Program and shall be conclusive in determining the need for such services.'

I read this to mean that PGA will support / cover what the doctor's say is medically necessary. And one would have to hope that the doctors would be focused exclusively on the health and well being of the patient, and not on what this is going to cost PGA / AMEX...

LarkSFO

'The emergency services herein described are provided to all United States American Express Platinum Card and Centurion Card members, including their Additional Cardmembers, with a Card on an Account that has not been suspended or canceled, who are traveling on a trip of 90 days or less, and 100 miles or more from the Cardmember's American Express U.S. Billing address. Additionally, coverage is extended to each of the following members of the Cardmember's family who are traveling with the Cardmember: the Cardmember's spouse, dependent children under the age of 23, and children under the age of 26 who are enrolled in school on a full time basis.'

There is no mention anywhere that the trip had to have been paid for using your AMEX.

LarkSFO

I don't think this warrants an entire new thread, but there are some small additional features of PGA that could be useful.

'Local addresses and local telephone numbers of the nearest... attorneys; or other providers of emergency services such as U.S. consulates or embassies, or American Express Travel Service Locations as appropriate and as dictated by the resources available in each country or location.'

'No guarantee is made as to the quality of the emergency service provided, and the final selection of the provider, and any risk, shall be the sole responsibility of the Cardmember.'

'If necessary, the PGA Program will endeavor to secure and properly post bail bonds, where available, the bonding cost to be born by the Cardmember.'

'Help in coordinating the replacement of identification information and other documentation, such as passports and visas, will be provided through the best efforts of the PGA Program, if these documents have been lost or stolen.'

And, in the absolute worst case scenario:

'In case of death of a covered Cardmember or family member while traveling, the PGA program will provide the necessary administrative services to effect the transportation of the mortal remains of the covered individual back to the Cardmember's principal place of residence or place of burial, whichever is closer, and will pay all administrative and transportation expenses, and, subject to PGA's approval, the cost of a coffin or other encasesment of the remains suitable for travel.'

LarkSFO

I thought I would post this seperately as it is important enough that I don't want to bury it in another post...

'Eligibility for medical transport is contingent upon the covered Cardmember or family member not 1) traveling against physician's advice or 2) traveling with a pre-existing sickness, illness, or injury**, or 3) traveling to seek medical treatment.'

'** A pre-existing sickness, illness, or injury is any medical condition that has manifested itself, become acute, or was being treated in the 60-day period immediately prior to the start of a trip.'

airfly56

Sorry a little off topic, but I think the Penfed Travel Amex has the medical evacuation, paid for by them when you book your ticket with the card. There is no online info and not even anything that comes with the card, i had to ask them to send me the benefit guide (which the rep said she had to manually print out and mail). Anyone else can confirm?

fatnoah

About a year and a half ago, my barber (who is from Crete originally) was travelling on his semi-annual trip to Greece when his wife became very ill. Total cost to get her home was $85,000.

Having a) someone to quickly handle the arrangements and b) cover the cost would have been very helpful for him. Assuming the benefit can actually be used, it could be very valuable.


http://www.wickedlocal.com/arlington...p-says-goodbye

xsailor

OK I GOT TO THE BOTTOM OF IT!!

I have a Delta Reserve, so I called AMEX, Global Assist line. First of all, IT WAS EXTREMELY HARD TO GET ANY INFORMATION FROM THEM!! Annoying. They had me give my credit card number to disclose in depth information.

However I finally go it. Here it goes:

They only "PAY" for the medical evacuation and transport to either (Preferably) Home Country (USA) or another country or location close by that is deemed acceptable by the doctor that American Express Global Assist contacts. Charges in the hospital, doctor, medications are covered by your pocket.

Upon contacting them, they will get a hold of an accredited doctor, send patient's information and ask doctor if the patient can travel back to United States for better care (where your own insurance will kick in). If the answer is yes, they will transport you to the nearest airport and put you on the first plane back home paying for the entire trip to airport and plane ticket.

If the doctors tells them the patient cannot be flown but sent to a nearby hospital they will arrange the ambulance and transport the patient, free of charge again.

Once you're in the hospital or in the presence of the physician, you are on your own.

Although they don't pay for the full insurance, it's a nice thing for them to arrange the doctor, hospital and evacuation and put you in good hands.

So you kinda get 2 benefits:

Medical arrangements
Any evacuation and transportation cost


This is only for Amex Platinum members. Probably, centurion too.

Doc Savage

Divers Alert Network has a pretty good evacuation plan that is included with their annual membership fee, which has been $39 for quite a while, though I didn't find the price there today. Reputedly super service, and a great price.

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/me...avelassist.asp

nanirina

Not sure if anyone has experiencein this field:
Let's say I have a UK platinum card but I have since moved to HK and Hk is now my country of residence. When they determine the length of your trip, or whether it's OK to transport you back to your country of residence, do they automaticaly assume it's UK (as it's a UK platinum card) or the correspondence address on your platinum card? Thanks for any help!

benolaa

This is not a transport service for home they will only transfer you to the nearest medical facility to accommodate your needs. I have a service www.globalrescue.com which transports you home. Although I am a member I have never needed the service (was close once and they were great) and I hope I never use it.

EDIflyer

So am I right in thinking the UK Amex Plat offers better benefits in this regard?

https://www.iplatinum.americanexpres...alConsultation

We seem to be covered for the full medical expenses as well as the transport/evacuation?

johndoe123

Can anyone provide more interpretation on pre-existing conditions? How does this apply to what would be a life long medical condition (disease) in a young male which is actively managed by doctor visits and medical treatments on a regular basis (monthly)? The doctor says travel is ok.

I'm guessing it would be excluded, but they did seem to offer "become acute" in the definition which would seem to offer some reprieve. However, it might not pass the being treated qualifier, depending on how that's interpreted.

weave

I'm totally confused now. The complete benefits link at http://amex.tgclientservices.com/doc...obalAssist.pdf says that they will arrange emergency evacuation transportation but it also says "(You’re responsible for all costs associated with any transport.)" However, it says on page 6 for Premium global assist, it does pay, but doesn't list a limit. I don't see anywhere where it says Platinum card members get Premium. True?

However, I found from Googling...

http://www.americanexpress.com/lacid...cetravel.shtml

Based on the style of that page, I assume it's out of date. But it says they cover up to $100,000 for emergency evacuation.

So bottom line, is or is not the emergency evac benefit still applicable for Platinum cardmembers or have they taken it away at some point? I also can't find anything about whether you have to charge the trip to the card (my work pays for some of my trips). (I also sent customer service a "secure message" asking same)

SansSerif

Hey guys, I actually had a lot of questions about this benefit recently, and I discovered that it is still very much in effect. You can read more on pages 4, 7, and 8 in most recent T&C's.

One important change is that American Express will no longer reimburse you for transportation. Instead, you must coordinate with Premium Global Assist and work with their contractors. The up-side of this is that there is presumably no maximum coverage limit.

As always, American Express will not cover any expenses for care and treatment (outside prior-authorized transportation).

The AMEX rep I spoke with over the phone told me that I didn't need to charge airfare or anything like that to my platinum card to be covered. I can't find this specifically enumerated in the T&Cs, so it might be worth calling them up and confirming.

I feel like I'm plugging my new blog a lot recently, but I just wrote up a post explaining how this coverage works for people who aren't already familiar with it. You can access it via the link here, and mia please let me know if I need to scale back the shameless self-promotion.

USCTrojan83

I've never had to deal with a medical emergency, but I've had a few situations where Global Assist has come into play, such as a lost wallet and a lost Driver's License in a situation where I needed to rent a car. In both cases, they were incredibly helpful and very intelligent. It is the opposite experience of using their concierge service, which is often incredibly frustrating.