Originally Posted by ajnaro

Since it seems that nobody else has tried, I decided to call the number myself and try again. I was again connected to a specialist in the AMEX insurance department, as occurred on the last two attempts. I again posed the same question: in case the car rental company requires purchase of cdw, or other insurance, as a condition of renting the car, or if cdw or other insurance is included in the applicable car rental rate, or if there is a law that requires purchase of cdw or other insurance, but there is still a deductible or excess, will that deductible or excess be covered by the AMEX Platinum card insurance? This time the answer I got was a firm ‘yes’ and furthermore all the other AMEX insurance not covered by the mandatory purchased insurance would also be valid. So it’s anyone’s guess as to what the AMEX coverage really is.

On a completely separate front, I also asked if there would be a conversion fee for non-dollar charges and the answer was ‘yes, it is 2.99%’. That for me is enough to rule out the card, without even thinking about the insurance confusion, since virtually all of my use of the card would be for non-dollar denominated charges. The representative also told me that the US dollar card would come with Priority Pass because all AMEX Platinum cards, no matter where they are issued, have that benefit. I know this isn’t true because the Brazilian issued AMEX Platinum does not have it, although the card itself is accepted by American Airlines, and perhaps others airlines, for lounge access.