American Express Membership Rewards - Advice on supplementary cardholders

I've recently become a UK AmEx Platinum cardmember and I'm in the process of filling in the forms I received in my welcome pack.

I'm getting a supplementary Platinum card for my Fiancee as she always travels with me and would benefit from the insurance, refund, points, lounge access etc... in the same way I would. I'm also considering adding my parents as supplementary Gold members. The only thing is, it's unlikely they'd spend on the card so they wouldn't benefit from the purchase protection and I wouldn't gain any membership points. Also, my Mum has health problems which mean she wouldn't be covered by the travel insurance.

On the flipside however, my Dad and my Sister would get travel insurance cover, they'd get hire car discounts and insurance and here in the UK I can add 5 supplementary cardholders for free.

Should I bother including them or not? They could benefit in a small way, and it wouldn't actualy cost me anything at all. I just feel I should use this service to the full advantage since I'm paying £300 a year for it.

What do you think?

...Mum has health problems which mean she wouldn't be covered by the travel insurance.

In my understanding she could not claim if the loss were related to her pre-existing condition, but I do not think this would otherwise disqualify her from coverage.

In my understanding she could not claim if the loss were related to her pre-existing condition, but I do not think this would otherwise disqualify her from coverage.


Ah.....I've never thought of it like that. The only problem is, that if she were to need medical treatment abroad, the chances are it would be to do with her pre-existing illnesses. Though you never know when you may trip and break your wrist or something similar, in which case it wouldn't matter.

The problem is though that when my Mother does go abroad she (obviously) arranges her own insurance which covers her pre-existing illnesses. That insurance would then cover anything else that would happen (say, a broken wrist), making the AmEx cover useless to her. I guess she may still benefit from baggage loss cover, travel inconvenience etc though.