mapleg

Just made my first claim through Amex Aeroplat and this was for cancellation of trip (medical condition, what they define as "emergency".) Mrs Mapleg and I had an ACV booked, and cancelled it day of flight (about 6 hours prior to departure). ACV rebated all taxes within 2 business days to AMEX card. We then filed with AMEX's insurance carrier for the rest of the $$ under trip cancellation coverage and they paid the remainder by cheque. Received the cheque in less than 2 weeks from mailing in the claim forms. Pretty well a no fuss, no muss claim, and we all know how many of these trip cancellation 3rd party policies look hard for the "pre-existing condition" or similar type way to deny the claim.

simba8

I have to come back to this issue- since I brought up 12 months ago (little OT as it was not booked on ae points)
ticket was booked on td infinite $1000 (int.flight)
had an medical emergency the week before the flight.
td canceled the flight, and issued me chq for $250(a month later) for the change fee as I now had a credit with the airline which is good for one year from the time of the original booking (not happy about this but o.k better than nothing) .They did mention that if I did not use the credit with the airline they would pay out the difference between the cost of the flight, and the chq I received from the change fee to a max of $1000.
Almost all insurances have a 180 days for pre existing medical exclusion for their policies so traveling was obviously going to be limited for a time (even though I did find and end up buying another policy with a 90 day exclusion).
At the 1 year, + 1 day mark, I gave them a call and reminded them about my file, and informed them that I did not use my credit with the airline and would like to the chq for the difference I was now owed.
Took them another month to process , but they did issue my a chq.
My point: Although the insurance was there when I needed it, TD seems to take a heck of long time compared to amex/rbc/cibc.

As for AE
National Bank of Canada Platinum had coverage for flights that were partially payed via the credit card and points:
http://www.nbc.ca/bnc/files/bncpdf/e...ce_platine.pdf
Certificate is at the bottom of the page...

Ticket: "Means evidence of fare paid for travel on a common carrier, at least a
portion of the cost of which has been charged to the cardholder’s
account."

Im assuming that should be sufficient for flights booked with AE

mapleg

Most of the insurance coverage I have ever had (via credit cards) has been 90 days. 180 days is too much of a hassle to have to deal with should you actually need coverage—it gives them too many ways to deny you.

TD? I think it stands for Terrible Delay...I had to handle an estate with a number of financial institutions..TD was clearly the laggard of the group and consistently mixed up even the simplest of requests. I know someone who used to work there and his words were true--if you are not actually buying a product with them (such as mutual funds, invesments etc) then you are a bottom feeder and will be treated as such.

pokee

Problem is, Amex doesn't have (and doesn't provide) anything in writing that proves that insurance coverage will be provided for trips booked using Aeroplan points. CIBC's Aeroplan Infinite Visa documentation is very specific about being covered if taxes/fees are paid with the Visa. If you redeem several tickets per year like I do, that's totally worth the annual fee for this card just to pay taxes/fees on AE award tickets...

I am not sure where you got the $500 per incident...they cover $500 for hotel, $100 restaurant, and $100 entertainment for flights delayed more than 4 hours. Trip interrruption doesn't appear to have a limit documented. Baggage insurance is fairly limited, but you can claim with the airline first, and then claim with CIBC for another $500 if your claim with the airline exceeds what they will cover.

The only thing none of the cards seem to cover is re-depositing points within the 22 day period if there is a covered emergency that prevents travel.

I am cancelling mine soon in favor of using my Amex Gold, but my spouse still uses his, so we'll just book all AE flights using his card!

markandrew

Amex do explicitly cover AP bookings on their AP branded cards which jarusoba holds. I cannot comment on Centurion as a non-cardholder. I have however spoken to RBC (Amex's Underwriter for their travel policies) and they are very clear that on the Gold and Plat Amex cards, the full cost of the ticket must be paid by the card, not by any other mechanism - points, MCO etc.

Very few positive things I would ever say about CIBC, but I would use the card over my Amex Gold or Plat on a redemption if I had no other coverage.

pokee

That's good to know that the AE branded Amex card's cover AE bookings. I was going to attempt to churn one of those cards next, so that will provide another good insurance option for me for next years bookings! Thanks!

beep88

When Jarusoba talks about 500 limit, he's usually talking about baggage delay insurance.

https://www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/visa/fli...lay-ins-en.pdf

PART 1 – FLIGHT DELAY, TRANSPORTATION EXPENSE
& ENTERTAINMENT EXPENSES

FLIGHT DELAY/missed connection
The Company will reimburse the cardholder for reasonable living expenses
incurred during the period of flight delay/missed connection subject to an
aggregate limit of $500

PART 2 – DELAY OF CHECKED BAGGAGE
The Company will reimburse the cardholder for the cost incurred to meet
the emergency needs of an insured made during baggage delay period, but
within four (4) days of the occurrence, subject to an aggregate limit of $1,000
(maximum $500 per insured person),

https://www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/visa/tri...ruption-en.pdf

What does the plan pay?

The maximum payable for each interrupted, discontinued or extended trip is $2,000.00 for each covered person.

jarusoba

Thank you. The chance of me using baggage delay/baggage loss/trip delay insurance is a lot higher. So $500 limit is a bit too low (although $1000 is too low as well but this is the best any credit card insurance would offer).

Trip cancellation insurance is another thing. I usually don't book anything non-refundable. So this is not my concern whether it is included or not.

ac/elite

[QUOTE=markandrew;19788508]Amex do explicitly cover AP bookings on their AP branded cards which jarusoba holds. QUOTE]

I don't see that in the certificates of insurance that I received with the Amex Aeroplan Plat card taht I have. In fact, it seems to say the opposite. My card is over a year old. Are there new certificates of insurance that indicate that Aeroplan bookings are covered as long as taxes and fees are paid with the card? As mentioned by others, the CIBC Infinite Aerogold, which I also have, does explicitly state this.

SKYEG

Quick question,

I put the charges on the Gold Amex(not the AE card but Membership Rewards), for a mini RTW.

Should I see if they will refund me and charge me on my Aerogold Infinite instead? Will AE even do that for me?

Don't want to risk not being covered, especially the 15 day medical travel benefit and baggage insurance

Braindrain

Right, same experience here. When I asked Amex and the underwriter to point out this clause in the certificates of insurance, they couldn't. At the end of the day if there's a dispute, it's those certificates that are the legal wording.

beep88

Can't really see that happening. Re-issue? Pay change fee? Lose reward seats? I thought about doing it with my mini RTW but didn't really want to spend time on hold to find out.

15 day out-of-province medical coverage is valid regardless of how you paid for your trip. You are covered all the time, say you drive across the border in your own car. Please refer to policy document.

pokee

Exactly. I only rely on what I can prove in writing...

Reid

Question: Does the Amex Platinum cover a hotel room during a VDB situation. Was reading the policy and the requirements were:

Coverage B - Delayed Flight Departure or Denied Boarding
If the insured person’s confirmed scheduled departure fromany airport is delayed for four (4) hours ormore, or the insured person is denied boarding of the aircraft due to overbooking and no alternative transportation is made available to the
insured person within four (4) hours of the scheduled departure time of the
original flight, we will pay the insured person’s necessary and reasonable living
expenses incurred within forty-eight (48) hours of the delay or denied boarding and other sundry items.

For Coverages A & B:
• Itemized original receipts for actual expenses incurred.
• A copy of the travel agent’s invoice/itinerary, and a copy of the account
statement in which the full fare expense appears, showing the card as the
method of payment or showing it as a free ticket obtained through the
redemption of points from the card reward program.
• Alternate boarding pass or flight delay report from airline.

FlyerGoldII

I just called the RBC insurance company associated with AMEX travel health insurance.

I was asking about coverage if the flights are booked through Aeroplan miles (points).

The agent told me that the only way a rewards ticket would be covered if one uses one's own AMEX membership rewards points to book the ticket; not by transferring these points to Aeroplan and then booking with the Aeroplan miles/points.

I wonder if one can tell me if anyone has had submitted a claim through an AMEX travel health insurance policy, when booking an Aeroplan reward ticket - and whether the travel insurance covered you, or not?