American Express Membership Rewards - Amex Plat Travel insurance

I currently have annual cover with Columbus Direct, and the t&C always seem fine, but I now have my plat card when this policy runs out I'm thinking of saving the cash and using the Amex insurance instead.

What do people think of the policy, is it enough cover for travel? - I'm rubbish with insurance. I know its better than their gold insurance which really is just a token gesture but is its level of cover worth not paying for one?

Dean

It's OK, last time I looked at it there were limitations to the length of the trip (I was going for more than 30 days) and it also ruled out certain "dangerous" activities (I ride a motorbike and this was excluded). I see that they have changed it now and they include many activities that were excluded. The price is reasonable, but it's a rapidly changing market so it pays to shop around.

Don't worry yourself too much about the coverages they offer. The main things you need are medical (including repatriation via air ambulance if necessary) and cancellation as many flights are non-refundable. All the rest is pretty much window dressing.

Things like lost luggage are covered by your home insurance and the travel insurance refuse to pay out for it. Travel delay costs often have to be charged to your Amex card which isn't always possible. As for the coverage for "Necessary psychotherapy" after a hijacking... :rolleyes:

The bottom line is that you will probably have to read the policy and see if it suits your holiday/business travel needs. :eek:

The other side of any Travel Insurance is what the customer service is like - I've used the Plat cover twice, once for a lost bag which didn't show up until well after we got home. As Ex Amex Card says you have to charge claims to your Amex card which wasn't a great problem in Porto but could be an issue if you were in a country where Amex acceptance is low. Having said that they did reimburse everything except the few toiletries we'd had to pay cash for, but they did pay for a decent bag to get our stuff home (i.e. a €200 replacement not just a "get stuff home" bag) and the reimbursement to my Amex account was very prompt.

I also had need to claim for an emergency medical incident last week and so far Axa, their support people, seem helpful and reassuring but I guess the claim will take some time to process so we will see how that claim runs.

Note that on both of these I benefited from the "increased" cover - there are two levels, a basic level, and an increased level if you book your flights on any Amex card. I was eligible for the increased level even though the flights were booked on BA Amex rather than the Plat itself.