UK: Hugely detrimental changes to Platinum travel insurance from January 25, 2012
 

Apologies if somebody else has started a thread about this already - I did have a look but couldn't see one. I received a letter this morning detailing changes to the travel insurance included with the Platinum card. They're massively devaluing the benefit - to get cover for certain events you must have paid using either your Platinum card or another card issued by American Express directly - very irritating if you have a no-forex fee card and book flights/hotels in a foreign currency for example. The maximum trip length has been cut to 90 days and the maximum age for medical cover is now 70. They have also introduced a £50 excess.

It also means that giving members of your family cards to give them travel insurance will be a nightmare as they will have to buy the travel on the card to be covered and then reimburse you - a real pain.

For people who haven't received the letter yet I have quickly scanned mine so you can see the changes for yourself:

http://www.3.je/amexplat/amex-letter-1.jpg

http://www.3.je/amexplat/amex-letter-2.jpg

http://www.3.je/amexplat/amex-letter-3.jpg

http://www.3.je/amexplat/amex-letter-4.jpg

I have telephoned and lodged a complaint - I really don't think the card is worth the £300 a year any more.

Anybody knows if this also affects the Centurion member or ICC Platinum? Thanks!

It's crazy. It states that if your travel provider doesn't take Amex then you're fully covered anyway if you use another card.

So if they take Amex you must use your Amex, but if they don't it doesn't matter.

Very confusing.

In reality virtually every airline, hotel and car hire place takes Amex.

Every airline, hotel and car hire may accept Amex but some charge ridiculous fees for using it compared to a visa debit.

The £50 excess also sucks.

I too received the letter today and the OP is correct, this represents a massive downgrading of travel insurance and travel inconvenience cover including delayed/lost luggage. Amex now insist you pay for travel using a range of specified (note not all) Amex cards. I cannot believe that the cost of this insurance has, first, risen so much, and second that income they receive from travel costs booked on the card will in any way compensate them. In essence the 'use Amex' rule is an attempt to reduce the number of claims, as of course is the loss 70+ medical cover.

All this was a major benefit of the Platinum Charge Card for me, especially luggage delay claims. The changes bring it into line with insurance provided free or at lower cost by other card providers when travel is booked on their card and I will seriously consider cancelling my Amex card as a result.

This is very bad news indeed.

bmifly:mad:

bmifly, make sure you let Amex know - the more people that tell them how unhappy they are, the better.

Olly, I've just done exactly that via their online secure e-mail system. As far as I am concerned I paid my £300 for a set of benefits and the changes represent breach of contract. These are not small changes. They are fundamental to the card and without them I won't continue to use it.

bmifly

To put this in context, it appears the requirement to pay with an American Express card existed up until 2006. See this thread started by bmifly:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...k-upgrade.html

I think my card is due for renewal and the reason I got the card was primarily for the travel insurance, and then the Priority Pass. I am not certain it is worth £300 any longer.

Has anyone looked at other cards or is this a trend ?

Yes, you'd think they might offer a quid pro quo of 0% foreign use surcharge, like US plats and Centurions, to smooth the change, or at the very least acknowledge the devaluation by lowering the annual fee :eek: or maintaining current coverage for a surcharge.

The package before was unbeatable. It no longer is. The 2x PP membership and car rental coverage probably make it worthwhile for me, but it's marginal.

Time to look at alternatives such as the NatWest/RBS black card, I think. Or is that being enhanced away?

I don't think it's available to new customers any more - you have to switch your current account to their private banking arm instead and upgrade to their 'Black Account' that has similar benefits.

I have not received any letter from AmEx advising that this applies to my UK-issued International Dollar Card. Does anyone know?

As mia stated, the requirement to charge travel on the relevant AmEx card used to exist. I remember being pleased when it changed. My husband's $30,000+ emergency appendectomy was covered 100% based on this card, and we had charged our airline tickets to my US-issued Centurion card.

I wonder also how they will define what constitutes a relevant AmEx card for charging travel costs. For example, will charges to a US- based AmEx card be sufficient for coverage under the UK-issued AmEx with the medical and travel insurance.

The 90-day maximum trip length is also a disappointment.

No - it specifically states that it must be a card issued by AmEx UK directly (so for example MBNA AmEx cards like the Virgin Atlantic card don't count).

Thanks, Olly. This is disappointing as I was only keeping my UK-issued IDC for the insurance.

Susan