vulle

I called Amex this morning and after 20 minutes of listening to elevator music I got through to an agent. She was very understanding (good agent) but had no answers to why this decision was taken. According to her if the trip is paid with miles then the insurance is not valid.

I asked that somebody with more knowledge of this insurance/decision would call me as I have more questions regarding this. This is a very stupid decision by Amex as much less "prestigious" cards as Nordea Visa or MasterCard Gold both have a quite ok insurance which is valid also when the trip is not paid with that card. I am going to ask if they are willing to compensate current owners somehow for this decision - won't be holding my breath though.

As I am finally earning my *G I will think through very hard if I really need the Plat anymore. Lounges through *G, insurance through Nordea Visa Gold, points earned through... maybe SK MasterCard (Any other ideas for best mileage earning card in Finland?). I can live without concierge service anyway, can book restaurants myself.

WilcoRoger

Not too many choices

- with SK EB Diners you get access to Diners lounges (and also a MC) - but the talk over at the EB forum is, that free access is history for SE/DK members, so who knows how long it will stay in Finland. So far both AY and DC websites market strongly the free lounge access.

- AY DC - more points, but it's a black art of comparing the value of SK points to AY points

- AY Visa (Gold) - with Gold you get 10k points every year, but costs 90€ more than plain vanilla

- AX - so far I've been happy with them, though over the years (decades) it got weaker and weaker. First the AY co-branded card went, then the Hilton co-branded, now we're stuck with MR - which is not too rewarding but offers flexibility for redemptions


At the moment AX Gold is my main card, AY Visa is for where AX is not good and AY DC for the sign-up bonus and the occasional lounge access. But as I am losing all status with AY soon but am about getting SK Gold, I may as well switch over to the SK co-branded ones soon

vulle

Thanks WilcoRoger for your analysis! I have been relatively happy with Amex over the years, especially with the Hilton co-branded, but recently I feel that their service has gotten much worse - Amex moved their customer service to Sweden and after that I had big problems with automatic payments of my bills that took three months to finally fix. I had paid everything in time but was still getting overdraft bills for no reasons. Also their stop service was really bad after my wife lost her purse, the service agent spoke really bad Finnish and couldn't even find my wife's details.

If I choose to cancel Plat - maybe Amex Gold could be good as then I'd also have less demands on service. Or SAS MasterCard.

I'll report on the response I hopefully get from Amex later today (or after Christmas).

sakari1707

I have sent e-mail to Amex asking explanations on insurance policies, will report when/if i get answers. I haven't heard that their customer service is in Sweden, but if so, one more reason to quit Plat.

finflyer

Really bad news if we lose benefits. Amex plat. is already an expensive card to use with yearly fee of 550€. Are FHR hotel bookings available for Amex Golds as well? Cause this is pretty much only benefit I use.

Saturne-79

Hello,
This same letter arrived to me last week. Unfortunately. This was a big devaluation for Amex Plat, as we pay 550 € for the card!

Which was strange, they had little different rules compairing to UK: One must pay 75% from the trip with amex (or with MR points), then the insurance will cover as it just do now. In UK one must pay with amex BUT if you can not use amex (like in some travel agencies), it is still covered by the amex insurance...

I called Amex to find out few things:

- What about business trips, when your company will reserve and pay your trip?
- If using points (else than MR) for flights and hotels, what then? Will the insurance cover, if I use the points, transferred from MR to any frequent flyer or hotel program...

They could not answer any of these questions... ... ...
Also gave complaints about the plat program in Finland, it is not worth of 550eur!

Lookin for other card as well, unfortunately there are not so many options here in Finland, but MC Plat and Black Diners. Looking forward for those, any comments?

My suggestion is that we all call amex about these changes and give them pressure to make the card better in the future!

tentativetraveller

I think I pay a little bit less than 100e for my travel insurance per year from Tapiola (covers max 3month long trips). What additional stuff you get with extra 450e you spend on AMEX plat?

I'v AMEX Gold, MC Gold and S Visa. All "free" (except see my previous post about AMEX) and would not pay for any of them since I don't see any extra value in them. But maybe I've overlooked something useful?

harri

Exactly - I'll give them a call today!

vulle

Looking forward to hearing what they tell you. I gave them a call five days ago and after a resultless discussion asked for a manager to give me a call... still waiting for it. Not impressed.

harri

I asked about insurance coverage when flights bought with FF-points and hotels bought with Hotel rewards - they answered that in those cases insurance is not valid

vulle

Thanks Amex...

Did you ask anything about possible compensation to current clients?

sakari1707

Did they ever call you back?

I sent e-mail just before Christmas asking about insurance terms, no answer so far, called them this week Tuesday, the person I talked with said they would give me an answer no later than next day, but no reply has come! Not even to tell you they are dealing with the queries.

This is how much they care for their loyal customers.

vulle

Called them on December 23rd and was promised a callback. As I never received it I sent them an e-mail on January 4. Still no answer. Customer care at its finest...

Quite a few friends and acquaintances have Plat and are very disappointed with this decision. I know some who already have changed to Gold and others who are thinking of either changing or even cancelling Amex.

The reason why we haven't gotten any answers could be damage control on Amex side, they need to decide how they will reply to all of us so that we all will get the same answer. I just don't think they should wait for too long! I will give them a call mid next week again anyway if I haven't received answer by then, will keep you posted.

vulle

Well, still no answer from Amex so I called the customer service to ask what's happening. I spoke with a very nice lady who said that the insurance decision had been a big surprise for customer service too and that they have been flooded with questions and comments. She also mentioned that most of the questions have been forwarded to higher levels and that those questions still remain unanswered. So I guess Amex is in damage control mode and they still haven't decided what to answer us clients.

It will be interesting to see how they will respond. If they really care for us profitable clients they would cancel the insurance decision, if they don't care that much they would probably offer us a lower yearly fee or some MR-points. I can't belive that they would let this decision be without some compensation to the clients.

sakari1707

I have just this afternoon received a respond to my e-mail I sent Amex just before Christmas. In short they say:
- the insurance terms are final
- if travelling domesticly, travel must include air + pre-booked accomodation
- if abroad, also other means of transportation are ok
- if accomodation is free (with friends/relatives), it is ok
- if travel abroad or dometicly is less than 24 hours, no accomodation needed

On all cases 75% of travel and accomodation (=unless with friends/relatives) must be paid by amex.

They did not answer to my question about accomodtions not accepting amex, for instance if you rent a villa, you hardly are able to pay by credit card, and for sure not amex.

Also they said if you want to cancel your amex, you may do so and will receive refund of the unused time. This is how they said that there will be no reduction on the yearly fee of 550€. Absolutely no compensation for this drastic change on insurance policy, thus meaning they do not care what you do.

I'm pretty sure I'll cancell my card.