Diners Club Club Rewards - Excess baggage coverage on award flights?

I always charge my flights to my DC card to take advantage of the various insurance coverages provided. Over the course of the past couple of years, I've easily charged US$10,000+ in tickets on AA with my card.

So, the first time the airline's actually lost something of mine, it was on a mileage award. And it was an InFocus data projector, an expensive piece of electronic equipment excluded by AA's baggage liability. (I would normally have taken it as carry-on, but in this situation, I already had 3 laptops with me in my carry-on.)

So, I was curious if anyone has ever been successful in filing an excess baggage coverage claim with DC on an award flight. I planned to go ahead and file the claim, and include copies of several other expensive tickets purchased with my DC card in the months preceeding my award flight. I figure I've got nothing (else) to lose at this point and might as well try.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by blackfur:
I always charge my flights to my DC card to take advantage of the various insurance coverages provided. Over the course of the past couple of years, I've easily charged US$10,000+ in tickets on AA with my card.

So, the first time the airline's actually lost something of mine, it was on a mileage award. And it was an InFocus data projector, an expensive piece of electronic equipment excluded by AA's baggage liability. (I would normally have taken it as carry-on, but in this situation, I already had 3 laptops with me in my carry-on.)

So, I was curious if anyone has ever been successful in filing an excess baggage coverage claim with DC on an award flight. I planned to go ahead and file the claim, and include copies of several other expensive tickets purchased with my DC card in the months preceeding my award flight. I figure I've got nothing (else) to lose at this point and might as well try.</font>

I can't seem to find my copy of the Diners Club excess baggage policy. But, I did find the travel accident insurance policy. To paraphrase, it says that flights are covered if a) the entire cost of the ticket is charged to the card, or b) the ticket is a frequent-flyer or other non-revenue ticket used by the cardholder, spouse, or children. I can only assume that the baggage coverage plan has a similar clause, so I think you're okay here. In any case, enclosing copies of other tickets you may have purchased is irrelevant. If you are entitled to a benefit per the excess baggage insurance policy, it will be because of the terms of the policy, not because of someone making a judgement as to whether or not you're a "good customer." Remember, the travel accident and excess baggage coverages are true insurance policies (premiums paid by Diners Club), and not just regular benefits. So, Diners Club can't just interpret the terms willy-nilly.

My guess is that the problem may be that the excess baggage coverage serves to extend the coverage provided by the airline, and therefore would not apply to anything that wasn't covered in the first place by the airline, such as the electronic device you mentioned. As you know, such items should never be checked in as baggage. If you can't carry it on board, you should use the airline's cargo division, or a courier such as FedEx, either of which can provide damage/loss coverage for such items.

I think the thing to do is to get Diners Club to send you a copy of the excess baggage policy. Your situation is straightforward enough that a reading of the policy should make it clear as to whether you're entitled to a benefit.

you are usually covered for an award flight if you charge the taxes on the card.
This is also true for Amex cards.