OT, but let me be a dissenting voice on the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel insurance. Their customer service is abysmal and they try every means they can to avoid paying claims. I have a simple non-refundable BA flight that I have been arguing with them about for months; they insist that BA provide a statement that there were no usable credits from the cancellation and BA of course refuses to provide anything.

If you need travel insurance I would suggest buying it instead of relying on a credit card.

Not what I sought, but did receive a voucher, yes. Talking on the phone with the agent, and frankly not taking 'no' for an answer, definitely made the difference.

I don't know the details enough to know if this was appropriate or not (i.e. if they should have stepped up to the plate). Your option at this point is to escalate, and let AA management know they are impacting a customer relation. Address to use next is:

Helen Smithson

Customer Service Manager
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
[email protected]



Sean Bentel
Vice President -- Customer and Relations
4333 Amon Carter Blvd
Fort Worth, TX 76155
[email protected]

(or at least were recently). If that does not work, then write Isom, and if that does not work, the most worthless of them all, Parker...

I have no current 411 on AAL, but in the past (and with UAL) escalation on actual serious - AND NOT MERELY TRIVIAL - CS failures, escalation to the Executive team has worked wonders. That said, if you are quibbling over $50 or $100, or its not a clear cut case where AA was at fault you will likely not get anywhere with this type of escalation. E.g. if the issue arose from weather, forgetabout it. If its a clear MX, or crew issue, you may get somewhere.

Travel insurance is a horrible, horrible, horrible deal. You can pay $20-30+/ticket, and by the time you have a chance to use it you have spent more on travel insurance than what you end up spending out of pocket. And then you have to take the trouble of having them rebate you.

The ONLY time that travel insurance makes any sense, is on a very high cost trip where there is a lot of complexity, and the rate is cheap. You can pick up a lot of hotel rooms and meals in airports with the $$$$ you save by not spending $20-30 bucks on every airline ticket you buy...

I am referring to travel insurance that comes with credit cards such as Amex Plat and Chase Sapphire Reserve. I pay nothing, and they've covered my trip delay costs 4 times so far.

Obviously, YMMV, but I have had good experiences.

I am sure it as merely trivial. 99.9999999999999999999% of customer service crap is trivial in the big picture.

It may not provide insurance in yout region, but there are regions where it provides a very comprehensive coverage for travel insurance - see https://www.americanexpress.com/cont...17July2018.pdf for example

I'm not sure how relevant this is, but about 5-6 days ago I sent an Email to AA Customer Relations (via "Contact Me" on the website) and they did call me this morning.

Of course, the email had emphasized that I needed a prompt reply and I had already taken the trip I was asking about. And, I'm not sure if was good or bad that the rep's first words were "I apologize for calling you early on a Sunday morning" and they called at 8AM and I had only gone to bed at 5:30AM (I go to bed late anyway and had taken a west-to-east flight the previous day so was jet lagged).

im in the US. looks like you pulled up an australian one, mate

you made a blanket statement that American Express platinum card does not provide travel insurance - in some regions , it does

I submitted a query via the customer relations link on aa.com. I got an automated reply acknowledging my query. Then waited a week without any response. It does get frustrating for those who (expect) a courtesy follow up from a human rather than a computer. A follow up email to a senior vice president of customer relations (Google it) may have helped me get a response because shortly after I got one phone call from customer relations yesterday and another today. My query (ec261) was answered to my satisfaction on the second phone call.

If I understand, your trip in question occurred between writing in and hearing back. I think calling Reservations (rather than writing to Customer Relations) is recommended for any issues with *upcoming* travel.

Well, then what we have here is some good advice: charge travel to cards that provide delay and/or cancellation insurance and not to cards that don't.

Let's face it...very few large companies provide excellent customer service these days (particularly in the commodity industries). If we want clear and consistent compensation for delays/cancellations/etc., then the US are going to have to do the same as the EU and have clear laws which regulate such. Of course, the likelihood of having basic consumer protections in the current political climate in the US is virtually nil.