Newbie2FT

GeoBlue for non-US medical. American Express Travel Insurance (the build-your-own section, choosing only medical) for combined US and non-US medical, with medevac. Also, Geezer Couple above mentions MedjetAssist.

You can also price specifically for just the medical and medevac components of travel insurance at the comparison sites that have been mentioned:

TripInsuranceStore, InsureMyTrip, AardvarkCompare, SquareMouth, and InsuBuy

bigbuy

Google "view from the wing amex platinum medical evacuation insurance may 10, 2017".
This compelling story is the reason I carry the Amex Platinum world wide although I almost never use the card. The amazing thing about this coverage is that you DO NOT need to purchase your trip with the card.

Newbie2FT

Unfortunately, it's a little more complicated than that.

First, simply being an Amex Platinum cardholder or having that card in your wallet is not enough to receive Amex medical or medevac coverage. The trip must be purchased with the Amex card and/or Amex points.

This was the case in the View From the Wing article: "Reader Arthur‘s parents were in Singapore on an award trip he helped to book using Membership Rewards points transferred to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer. Taxes were paid with his father’s American Express Platinum card."

Amex Platinum terms:

Second, since September 2017, the policy explicitly no longer covers heart attack or stroke (which was the subject of the article):

It's questionable whether it did even prior to September 2017, because it excluded "sickness" -- but apparently Amex decided not to fight it:

That $275,000 medevac in April 2017 discussed in the article might have pushed Amex to change the terms by September.

bigbuy

I had previously read that even though they paid the taxes with the card, it was not necessary according to some other blogs.
Thanks for the updates^. I do carry additional annual medical evacuation insurance capped at $250k plus the chase reserve with $100k limit as my international travel is extensive.

Newbie2FT

I would agree that it's unclear whether taxes and fees technically need to be paid with the Amex card. Are taxes and fees part of the "full fare"? The policy definition is not explicit on this point.

But if Amex tried to deny $200,000+ of coverage to a Platinum cardholder because ~$80 of taxes on a flight already funded by Amex Points was not placed on that card, they know that many Plat members would raise hell, alert the media, and file a lawsuit over the meaning of the term.

And in this case, that likely would have happened. Apparently the same Arthur successfully challenged fuel surcharges on an award ticket, as discussed in a 2012 VFTW post. He also appears to be a regular commenter on the site in general.

Given how much he appears to spend in general on that card, Amex's Assurance Company probably would have decided it was better to pay than fight it, given the negative publicity (and they may have some sort of re-insurance arrangement to defray the costs).

In the end, though, cardholders making sure that the $50 or $100 of taxes and fees is charged to the same benefit-level of card that originated the points is obviously the much safer route.

bigbuy

Really good info newbie. Thanks!

bigbuy

In the American Express thread "Medical Evacuation Benefit with USA Platinum?" read post #86

Newbie2FT

Ah, you're right. This benefit ("Premium Global Assist Hotline") is somewhat hidden, as it's only given two brief sentences of vague description on the general benefits page and it's referred to as just a 'Hotline'.

But the Global Assist terms do spell out that it offers "medical evacuation ... at no cost ... to a more appropriate medical facility ... near the person's home" -- if the evacuation is "authorized and arranged through the Premium Global Assist Hotline Program."

(As noted in the comments to a TPG article, this makes it very important that all your travel companions know -- in advance -- that medical evacuation must be coordinated through Amex, in case you are left unconscious and can't communicate this information when you fall sick or injured.)

On the other hand, it does not cover a pre-existing condition: "any sickness, illness, or injury that has manifested itself, become acute, or was being treated in the 60 day period immediately prior to the start of a trip."

Also, the benefit "does not cover medical expenses", except for those incurred during transport.

So overall, it does look like a great deal as a substitute for a MedjetAssist policy or the evacuation component of a travel medical policy, especially for domestic trips that are not covered by GeoBlue, etc.