Happy

We dont have much need for Chase UR related services other than one messy lodging booking on the UR site last year when the owner of the property ignored my repeated emails to confirm the booking and the condition of cancellation quietly changed online - the one was sorted by Connexions, the travel agency Chase (as well as Citi) used for travel booking using UR (and TYP in Citi's case) all to a satisfactory outcome as expected. Did take a few phone calls due to the travel bookings are handled by 3rd party company.

We also have an excellent experience on a very recent rental car CDW coverage under CSR benefits (CSP has the same benefits except a lower cap on the reimbursement). From filing the claim to receiving money in the bank via ACH it tool only 8 calendar days. All done online. It paid the full repair cost estimate quoted by Budget in Catania, Italy, in Italian no less. Though Budget RA at Rental End has full English translation with Damage Details and the related charges. The airport surcharge is not a covered item so Card Benefits did not pay but due to the VAT calculation was very screwy, we actually got paid a little bit of such. Surcharge was 170 euro before 22% VAT. The reimbursement was only short of 150 euro from the total amount related to the damage (1427 euro). I have posted a detailed sequence of events in the Chase forum under the CDW coverage, hopefully would help others who need to go thru the process as there are very little detailed info found online.
The process is just as quick as with AMEX, which we also filed CDW before albeit only at 110 euro.

We did have a long drawn out DCC claim with Chase that probably due to my own stupidity to take the vehement advice from the DCC thread folks to insist on a rebill from the merchant, instead of just call in to ask credit on the over charge from being DCCed. The rebilling was refused by the merchant who did agree to refund the DCC difference (only $3, that is why I said I was stupid to do a rebilling request on "principle"), but Chase somehow could not handle it when the claim was for rebilling. At the end Chase credited me $40 for the trouble which was indeed a lot of trouble due to the CSR handling this dropped the ball to make sure the credit was posted, and the time had lapsed in such a way that Chase automatic system reinstated the original charge because I had not sent in the contest paper work because the CSR told me no need to! That experience irks me but on the other hand, a mere 5 min phone call at the beginning would have taken care of the overcharge right on the phone without any more action needed. Those folks frequently posted on the DCC thread are NUTs when it comes to DCC claims. Though I also read about in one case on a lengthy hotel stay in China, the merchant never contested the claim and the customer got the whole bill of over $1K changed to permanent credit. So I guess the morale is, if the overcharge is in a meaningful amount, go ahead to dispute under Visa Code 76 and insist on rebilling. Otherwise, just call to get the overcharge credited back (must point out it is Chase who eats the cost and the merchant gets away with it.)

So far, the "more important" customer service needs we have had, Chase has right at par as with AMEX, and in the CDW claim process, surpassed AMEX because of its efficiency - all done online, no human interaction. we dont even know the adjuster/examiner's name due to the only 2 emails we received - First one was Approval of Claim, giving instruction on how to choose a payment method (we chose direct deposit), the 2nd one and the final one was Notice of Final settlement without any more liability with the payment sent to our bank account received less than 12 hours after we submitted our payment method option online. With AMEX claim we had several email exchanges with an assigned adjuster and it took 10 days to settle on an amount of only 110 euro.

Now we are waiting a Travel Cancellation claim filed last Thursday on a forfeited B&B booking due to Ryanair canceled out flight CTA-MXP, that was due to Italian air controller strikes on May 8th. It is a qualified claim because strike induced carrier cancellation is a covered event, and prepaid / noncancellable travel expenses are reimbursed. Again claim is filed online with supported docs (much more involved than CDW - itinerary, cancellation, reason of cancellation, refusal on reimbursement from travel providers involved, card statements on which the charges were billed and any refunds posted, etc). We dont have direct proof of the Italian air controller strikes other than news we found much later, including all 3 US legacy airlines announced Travel Waiver due to the strike on May 8th, as well as Ryanair refusal to reimburse prepaid travel expenses due to the cancellation is out of its control and not subj to EU261 compensation other than refund the ticket purchase which it did.

Will see how this <$80 claim goes now the long weekend has passed and everyone back to work.

OTOH I dont know the area of extended warranty, purchase protection, etc claims which bank would be better. General consensus is AMEX is much better. So put your big ticket item purchases or items you think extended warranty might be needed such as a cell phone., a MacAir. stuff like that nature on your AMEX card. Surely you would have other AMEX no fee card than the SPG to take care of it. No reason to keep SPG card for this purpose.