navatwal

Hi there,

I am an Amex Plat Charge Credit card holder. This comes with a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

To cut a long story short, my wife (supplementary card holder) and I were travelling from BHX - Dubai via Amsterdam with KLM.

My wife was sick on the initial flight to Amsterdam and was sick throughout the 2 hour wait at Schiphol airport and we saw a doctor at the airport who advised not to travel the same day.

We have since had to spend hours haggling with one rather rude team leader of KLM services at the aiprot who has advised as our itcket is a discounted rate ticket booked through Expedia and as we have missed our connection we will have to purchase a new ticket.

We have had to purchase a new one way ticket each due to this to cover the gap in our intinerary and also stop over in a hotel in Amsterdam overnight. This has almost 4 times as much than the oriignal flights.

I havent made a claim on my travel insurance so need advice, but basically what will Amex Plat Charge Insurance cover? For example medical fees are minimal, but as doctor advised rest we have had to pay for a new flight each, as well as hotel accomodation, meals, phones calls etc.

On top of that our baggage has been sent through to Dubai so we have no clothes until we get there.

I was advised that this was a very good travel insurance policy, will they cover all the costs and what exactly can I claim.

I have medical evidence that advises my wife not to make the connection but to rest overnight and to take the next flight out.

All help will be greatly appreciated.

zaf

I don't know how it works really, but as far as I think you should have called AMEX immediately and told them your situation so they could credit your card with the needed budget.

navatwal

I called during the time i needed advice but only the emergency medical services were open.

a case has been logged and I will sort this out on my return as most of the out of poclet expenses have now occurred.

The guy I spoke with on the phone the next day actually scared me a little as he said i will only get the 150 per person for the travel inconvenience and thats it, even though it cost me 700 euros each to purchase a new one way ticket, i would think that is a very big mistake which often travel insurers customer service give you incorrect advice.

Even the cheapest insurance policies would refund this and other out of pocket expenses due to illness

I will sort once I get back but I wasnt too happy with KLM for cancelling all my remaining flight sectors and making me panic and buy a new flight totally even though my wife was ill.

SouthOxon

That makes no sense. It can be a Platinum charge card or a Platinum credit card but not both. They are very different animals.

The OP does not state where the Amex card he holds was issued. He states that the flight originated in BHX which is in the UK but that is quite a different matter to where the card is issued; I have a flight next week from Vancouver (CXH not YVR) that is insured against a UK-issued Centurion card; nothing to do with Amex in Canada.

Each country's (or sometimes region's) Amex operation has its own insurance coverage issued by insurers in that country or region. Without knowing where the OP's card was issued it is impossible to answer the question in any meaningful way.

The unfortunate events described should be covered in full by the insurance that comes with a UK-domiciled Platinum charge card and the details of the insurance policy are available on the Amex web site at https://www.iplatinum.americanexpres...ryBenefits.pdf.

As to the appalling KLM customer service; well, that does not surprise me one bit.

sbm12

Based on the BHX origination and the fact that included travel insurance is mentioned I'm assuming that it is a UK-domiciled card.

navatwal

It is a UK based Plat Charge Card.

Somewhere in the t and c 's i read that expenses have to be pre authorised but this was not possible s there was nobody available at Amex when I called them.

So I had to incur the additional expenses for new tickets and accomodation without approval, in any case this would have had to be done with or without pre authorisation as it was neccessary as I was stuck in Amsterdam!

zaf

Please keep us updated with your case as I am sure it is important to all of us to see how well Amex insurance works.

divemistressofthedark

Do realize you have to have purchased the airline ticket with your PLAT to invoke the insurance...I realize this is of no help now, just sayin' for future reference.

I'm not sure you get help with having to replace airline tickets. It's more for covering your hotel should you become stranded in the airport - in the U.S. you get $250 to cover your hotel bill if you can't get out by 9 PM.

Also, U.S. based protection means you WILL get $500 to replace your personal items if your bags are more than 3 hours late and up to $2K if they're gone for good.

I've used this program a few times with zero hassle whatsoever, but I do also ordinarily buy a Travelguard policy to cover airline "gotchas," particularly on the legacies. Of course, the picture may be totally different for the non-U.S.-based protection.

Good luck, sincerely.

SouthOxon

It is. For UK-denominated cards the only element of the insurance that requires the purchase to be charged to Amex is the 'Purchase Protection' element. No such restriction applies to the travel insurance components.

The actual eligibility criteria are for UK-denominated Platinum charge cards are;
No mention at all about the need to have paid with an Amex card, except specifically for 'Purchase Protection' claims

zaf

I am not sure about any other Platinum Cards, but IDC Platinum Card serviced in UK does not require purchasing the ticket with the card to be covered.

I think only car rental insurance requires the rental to be charged to the card.

navatwal

Well im back in the UK after my holiday, the claim forms were waiting for me at home.

I have filled them all out today and sent them off with all the receipts, I will keep you posted with the results and the time it takes to get any feedback.

I was under the impression that this was an excellent travel insurance policy, lets hope it proves to be!

Private Pyle

Did it prove to be?

tinkybelle

I have a friend who has the $900 Australian amex plat charge card

she called and they said she was covered for insurance even if she does not use the amex card to purchase the air ticket( she is also not using for any other prepaid hotels etc)

i told her she is wrong- she is not covered for any insurance on the amex card if she does not purchase on the amex card
she wanted to purchase on her brothers centurion/ she is not a supplaimentry card holder

she called them they said she was covered

i called them they said she was covered
so i challenged them and said i thought she was not

he checked and said she was not
any proven opinions here??
i would like to know for future reference
seems even amex doesnt know their own policies.

IAN-UK

The UK call-centre is closed, and I've been poring over my terms and conditions document to see if I need to have bought my travel via my UK-based Platinum charge-card to be able to claim flight-related benefits, and benefits in general.

The only insurance-related mention I can see which specifically requires card use is for purchase protection. So it looks as though I've got a perfectly straightforward travel policy requiring only that I maintain an active Platinum charge card account.

So far, so good: this chimes with SouthOxon's interpretation.

However, a more recent, online, version of the T&C has card purchase as an eligibility requirement for flight-related benefits AND for belongings and cash. https://secure.cmax.americanexpress....0UK%20Plat.pdf

Rather begs the question of how much, which parts, of the trip needs to funded by use of the card.

mia

Please see this more recent thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...uary-25th.html