Amex Platinum Insurance Enhancements Nov 2017 (Actually Enhanced)

[robtemt]

There has been some recent conversation about travel insurance, Bali, Volcano's, etc lately, and this morning I received an email from Amex about Platinum Insurance Enhancements. I instantly felt sick to the stomach, but upon reading the PDS, was pleasantly surprised.

All limits etc. seem to be the same as far as I could tell in the 30 minutes I spent reading the previous and new PDS.

Effective for claims from 1 November 2017.

Actual Enhancements:

To Travel Cancellation benefit:

• Natural Disasters - Added, if you didn't know about the event at time of booking.
• DFAT Travel Warning- Added, when warning zones issued are upgraded to "advise against travel" (after you book)
• Special Event - Added, if the event you were planning to attend is cancelled.

To Travel Cancellation, and Resumption of Journey

• Age of close relative changes from 80 to 90

New Benefit

• Smart Phone Screen Cover - $500 (-10% excess) if you buy your phone or pay for the phone via a contract with your card (same as Amex Explorer coverage).

The only gripe I have, is war and terrorism is still excluded:

• declared or undeclared war or any act thereof
  
• an act of Terrorism except when such event occurs under the cover in Section (A) Transport Accident Cover, Section (J) Hijack Cover or Section (K) Kidnap Cover of these Terms and Conditions

There ARE some changes to the wording about alcohol intoxication in the exclusions... Where it used to refer to being intoxicated as interpreted by laws in the jurisdiction you are traveling, it now says conduct which has been impaired by Your consumption of alcohol or drugs.

Also the addition of exclusions re: coverage in Cuba for US citizens.....

All in all though, not a bad enhancement.

Link to new policy:
https://www.americanexpress.com/au/...id=NsgG8W&om_mid=_BZyXxpB9f5KtKo&om_lid=amex7

 

[zig]

Agreed. Received the email this morning and was pleasantly surprised. Having parents over 80 I was pleased to see the age increase to 90.

 

[robtemt]

Having parents over 80 I was pleased to see the age increase to 90.

Same here. Just remember pre-existing conditions are often excluded for the family member too. My 86 y/o father in law has the usual 80 y/o + problems (heart, stroke, diabetes). It would be a hard sell not attributing death to one of those or a complication caused by one of those. Now my mother in law, not a thing wrong with her (medically )

 

[M@rcoPolo]

CAREFUL CAREFUL... there's a negative change I could find in the new policy as below:

Important: One-way Trips are not covered.

This was not a requirement in the previous T&Cs - particularly painful if you are overseas for an extended period of time and use frequent flyer points to have the flexibility to book your return flights when it best suits you. Very sneaky of Chubb & AMEX to hide this change deep in their T&Cs without any mentions in their announcement!

 

[robtemt]

CAREFUL CAREFUL... there's a negative change I could find in the new policy as below:

This was not a requirement in the previous T&Cs

I think this might be more of a clarification of language in the new policy rather than a change of terms. The previous policy did state in the activation section: Cover is effective when You pay the full fare for a Trip: i) on the American Express Platinum Card Account; or......., and then in the definitions section stated "Each Domestic Trip or International Trip must commence and end in Your Country of Residence" implying that there had to be a return trip.

I don't think it's deceitful, I think its probably more aimed at keeping people who might be retired or semi-retired and as an example, "travel" to Thailand for 8-9 months a year, from using this as a primary form of medical and repat insurance.

These policies have a maximum number of days allowed in a trip (180 days per trip and a max of 183 days a year) and most countries require you to have a return ticket as a condition of entry if you are on a tourist visa, so for an "average" traveler charging travel to an Amex Platinum Charge, having a return ticket isn't a stretch.

 

[Mr_Orange]

New Benefit

• Smart Phone Screen Cover - $500 (-10% excess) if you buy your phone or pay for the phone via a contract with your card (same as Amex Explorer coverage).

I was pleased to see this added and it made me look into paying my Vodafone bill by Amex again, only Vodafone charge 2.365% for the privilege which seems way more than they would actually pay to Amex.

 

[theblank]

Interesting that this Platinum card covers for travel booked with FF points, and Platinum Edge cover does not.

 

[straitman]

Interesting that this Platinum card covers for travel booked with FF points, and Platinum Edge cover does not.

Agreed. I simply don't understand why they have so many variations to their policies. It does my head in.

 

[theblank]

I am not surprised the higher value card has higher value insurance benefits. But am surprised all are not updated at the same time.

The platinum edge policy appears to use an ancient template

 

[dragoman]

Am I eligible for travel insurance under the Platinum Charge PDS if (having paid for my Qantas premium economy fare with my card) I upgrade with Qantas FF points?

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Am I eligible for travel insurance under the Platinum Charge PDS if (having paid for my Qantas premium economy fare with my card) I upgrade with Qantas FF points?

Yes of course, as long as you paid for the original fare with your card. You would also be covered if you got your tickets entirely using points!

 

[dragoman]

Yes of course, as long as you paid for the original fare with your card. You would also be covered if you got your tickets entirely using points!

Thanks for the reassurance, MarcoPolo. I understand that the PDS comprehends fares bought wholly with points but was a bit worried by the possibility of loopholes in their interpretation of 'full fare', and I couldn't find a definition.