American Express Membership Rewards - Another Plat card perk devaluation

Not that is is so great to start with but the International Airlines program does work well in certain situations. I just got my 2009 plat card guide and it appears that Continental, Delta and Emirates dropped out of the program.

Ooh, that's a rough loss if that's the case. CO was very useful to the Caribbean.

I suspect this was a "no cost to Amex" perk, so if the airline didn't want to do it, it would be gone. Might be a consequence of an airline doing a seating or routing upgrade. Did they add anyone?

Air Lingus is new.

It also says:

Preview of Features to debut in 2009

-new global destinations and non-stop service from more us gateways
-lower fares on many qualifying tickets
-New Airline partners

when does one normally get the 2009 guide? ive only had my card like 8 months, kinda lookin forward to seeing whats new1

I just got today. Call plat and request they send one to you if you dont receive soon.

I just got today. Call plat and request they send one to you if you dont receive soon.

sweet. if i dont get by weekend or so il give em a ring

I just got my 2009 plat card guide and it appears that Continental, Delta and Emirates dropped out of the program.

Not too suprised about Continental and Emirates but I am suprised by Delta considering they are closely tied to AMEX with their DL AMEX credit cards. Have only used the 2for1 on LH so as long as they stay in i'm okay. Wouldn't be caught on CO anyway due to their horrible NONEPASS program.

Thanks for the heads up. I have the feeling that it goes more and more downhill. I still have the Plat card because of the travel insurance but I am considering to cancel it by the end of the next membership period…

Thanks for the heads up. I have the feeling that it goes more and more downhill. I still have the Plat card because of the travel insurance but I am considering to cancel it by the end of the next membership period…


What does their travel insurance do for you? Ive never used it.

What does their travel insurance do for you? Ive never used it.

I'm sure precision80 will be able to explain the benefit to him/her of this. I personally have never used it. However there are definitely benefits which I did not consider important until I actually took advantage of them like the rental car insurance which saved me $686.75 from a bogus claim from Avis in Germany which claimed that I damaged a car during my rental which I know 100% I did not. Amex took care of the difference between the total amount that Avis charged me for a 1/4in. paint scratch and my deductible. IMHO any reduction in benefits is not good considering that they raised the price of the card a couple of years ago.

I'm sure precision80 will be able to explain the benefit to him/her of this. I personally have never used it. However there are definitely benefits which I did not consider important until I actually took advantage of them like the rental car insurance which saved me $686.75 from a bogus claim from Avis in Germany which claimed that I damaged a car during my rental which I know 100% I did not. Amex took care of the difference between the total amount that Avis charged me for a 1/4in. paint scratch and my deductible. IMHO any reduction in benefits is not good considering that they raised the price of the card a couple of years ago.

It's funny you should mention that, because the only time I've ever used the Amex Plat travel insurance was for a bogus claim by Hertz in Germany. Amex took care of it very professionally.

IAP was/is a benefit which only made sense in very specific occasions.
Usually discounted J/F fares are better deals, but sometimes there is the odd exception.

I have only used it one where I needed to purchase two FRA-HKG CX F fares. The IAP program saved me about € 1.500 versus two seperate tickets.

What does their travel insurance do for you? Ive never used it.

What it does for me? I just have it! It is good to know that I don't need to care about CDW when I rent a car which happens frequently. I don't need to worry about travel cancellation insurance because it comes with the card and I have it every time I book a flight or hotel.

In other words I use the insurance package almost every day even though I never needed it so far. Oh wait I actually made use of the missing baggage insurance once and it worked like a charm.

What it does for me? I just have it! It is good to know that I don't need to care about CDW when I rent a car which happens frequently. I don't need to worry about travel cancellation insurance because it comes with the card and I have it every time I book a flight or hotel.

In other words I use the insurance package almost every day even though I never needed it so far. Oh wait I actually made use of the missing baggage insurance once and it worked like a charm.

I may be wrong, but I thought most any major credit card also provided that same insurance coverage...most without an annual fee?

I may be wrong, but I thought most any major credit card also provided that same insurance coverage...most without an annual fee?
This holds true for the US and partly UK but not for Germany. Apart from Amex there only 2-3 other cards that cover CDW. And none of this cards comes even close to Amex. The only card that you can get for free with CDW is the LH M&M CC but only if you have status (SEN or above) otherwise you have to pay. So at least in Germany its not all that easy…