Platinum Card, what will I get for $900

[Rono]

If you have been platinum charge card holder for a number of years and/or been putting what you believe to be not-insignificant value of charges, you may consider approaching Amex to halve the fee. I did and fee was reduced to $450.

As for insurances...I have not made any claim on covers provided through numerous cards I have. I rely on corporate cover provided by my broker which though costly covers all employees, my family, for all domestic and international travel.

Thanks Foreigner, appreciate the suggestion. One definitely worth a try.

regards

Paul R Ronis

 

[Rono]

I have claimed twice on travel insurance and it was quite painless, both for baggage that was delayed.

The car hire cover from the PDS on Amex's website.

Firstly "Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Your Country of Residence and includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle, where the period of hire shown in the Rental Agreement is thirty-one (31) days or less, of which the entire cost has been charged to Your American Express Platinum Charge Card account"

However then

"Geographical Scope means worldwide including country of domicile provided the rental takes place further than two hundred and fifty (250) kilometres from the permanent or temporary place of residence You are currently residing in.

Also you are not covered when:

"Damage sustained whilst not driving on a sealed public road"
"Rental Vehicles with a retail purchase price in excess of AUD70,000 or vehicles
over twenty (20) years old."

1. So no good for anything overseas
2. You need to charge the full amount to your Plat CC
3. No good if you rent some of the nicer cars from Hertz or Avis, as they can be over $70,000.
4. No good if you are renting in your home area

Basically a waste of time in the majority of cases for me!

Dear lovestotravel, thanks for such a detailed reply. Very much appreciated. Having said that I am still keen to hear from people that have made any claims - just to get a better picture of how well supported the product is.

regards

Paul R

 

[Rono]

It does cover overseas hire.

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Your Country of Residence and includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle". This simply means the trip has to be originated & end in Australia. E.g. You can't go to the U.S. for over 180 days (as it voids your travel insurance by term definition) and it disqualifies your "trip" as ending in Australia.

The geographical scope has further clarified that the cover is for "Worldwide including the country of residency", provided it's 250km away from your postal address.

All in all, you are covered anywhere outside the radius of 250km of your home. Provided that the trip starts & ends in Australia within 180 days. And other bits that you mentioned above.

Dieselife, if I have understood you correctly then, yes I have been doubling up on the CDW. Thankyou for the additional clarification.

regards

Paul R

 

[lovestotravel]

It does cover overseas hire.

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Your Country of Residence and includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle". This simply means the trip has to be originated & end in Australia. E.g. You can't go to the U.S. for over 180 days (as it voids your travel insurance by term definition) and it disqualifies your "trip" as ending in Australia.

The geographical scope has further clarified that the cover is for "Worldwide including the country of residency", provided it's 250km away from your postal address.

All in all, you are covered anywhere outside the radius of 250km of your home. Provided that the trip starts & ends in Australia within 180 days. And other bits that you mentioned above.

Hmmm - I always read it as not including coverage in the USA where most of my car rental takes place, but it does state overseas usage as well.

Either way the $70,000 limit is not really enough as most of my rentals in the USA are a Cadallic Escalade which would exceed the $70K limit.

Also much easier to have all the insurances with Hertz and not have to worry if any damage/loss occurs. No bills or trying to chase up $$ from the insurance company.

Personally I ALWAYS take out all insurances with a rental overseas.

 

[Rono]

Hmmm - I always read it as not including coverage in the USA where most of my car rental takes place, but it does state overseas usage as well.

Either way the $70,000 limit is not really enough as most of my rentals in the USA are a Cadallic Escalade which would exceed the $70K limit.

Also much easier to have all the insurances with Hertz and not have to worry if any damage/loss occurs. No bills or trying to chase up $$ from the insurance company.

Personally I ALWAYS take out all insurances with a rental overseas.

Lovestotravel, your points re travel & insurance in the US are worth noting and I will make a point of asking AMEX specifically about it. As for your comments about the Cadillac Escalade, follow this link

2007 Cadillac Escalade

It says that prices start at $57-60k US, perhaps now with the strong Aussie dollar trading around 89-90c to the US dollar it might be worth rethinking..


Thanks for your time, regards

Paul R Ronis

 

[playbargain]

Hello,

Recently received my Plat Charge Card and interestingly it has a 4 year expiry date. Every other cards that I've ever had all had a 3 year expiry period, including the Plat Credit Card. Does any one know why is Plat Charge Card so different? 4 years is a long time for a card to last...

 

[Diesellife]

Hello,

Recently received my Plat Charge Card and interestingly it has a 4 year expiry date. Every other cards that I've ever had all had a 3 year expiry period, including the Plat Credit Card. Does any one know why is Plat Charge Card so different? 4 years is a long time for a card to last...

My green charge : 3yrs
My gold charge : 3yrs
My plat credit: 3yrs
My plat charge: 4yrs

Perhaps they don't want to print too many of them and to reduce cost? LOL
Anyway the card does not last for 4 yrs with moderate to heavy usage.

But requesting the new card will change the card number (which is quite annoying)

 

[moa999]

hopefully one will get a card with chip sometime soon

 

[daYZman]

IMHO the free flight and insurance pretty much pay for the card and I'm yet to be convinced that the others compare because of these.

Sorry for digging up an old post: doesn't the Plat Credit Card already provide the same travel insurance?

 

[Stephen65]

As I understand it the platinum credit card only covers you if you pay for the tickets with the card while the charge card covers you regardless.

 

[daYZman]

It does cover overseas hire.

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Your Country of Residence and includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle". This simply means the trip has to be originated & end in Australia. E.g. You can't go to the U.S. for over 180 days (as it voids your travel insurance by term definition) and it disqualifies your "trip" as ending in Australia.

The geographical scope has further clarified that the cover is for "Worldwide including the country of residency", provided it's 250km away from your postal address.

All in all, you are covered anywhere outside the radius of 250km of your home. Provided that the trip starts & ends in Australia within 180 days. And other bits that you mentioned above.

If a supplementary card holder resides overseas, then his/her trip would start and end in a foreign country. Supplementary card holders do not have to reside in Australia, right?

 

[straitman]

Sorry for digging up an old post: doesn't the Plat Credit Card already provide the same travel insurance?

As I understand it the platinum credit card only covers you if you pay for the tickets with the card while the charge card covers you regardless.

I believe, though I'm happy to be corrected, that there are some other differences also.

 

[Diesellife]

If a supplementary card holder resides overseas, then his/her trip would start and end in a foreign country. Supplementary card holders do not have to reside in Australia, right?

Hi daYZman,

what you mentioned above is correct based on the previous T&C.
The most updated one (downloaded today) changed the T&C from the previous post.

Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Australia and
includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle, where the period of hire shown in the Rental
Agreement is thirty-one (31) days or less, of which the entire cost has been charged
to Your American Express Platinum Charge Card account.

They now changed the T&C to fix that loop hole.

 

[lovestotravel]

Okay so you are NOT covered for a rental vehicle overseas anymore ??????

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Australia and
includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle, where the period of hire shown in the Rental
Agreement is thirty-one (31) days or less, of which the entire cost has been charged
to Your American Express Platinum Charge Card account."

But then "Geographical Scope means worldwide including country of domicile provided the rental takes place further than two hundred and fifty (250) kilometres from the
permanent or temporary place of residence You are currently residing in."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[moa999]

Okay so you are NOT covered for a rental vehicle overseas anymore ??????

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Australia and includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle, where the period of hire shown in the RentalAgreement is thirty-one (31) days or less, of which the entire cost has been charged to Your American Express Platinum Charge Card account."

No, no change to that, so long as the overall journey commences and ends in Australia.

 

[daYZman]

Hi daYZman,

what you mentioned above is correct based on the previous T&C.
The most updated one (downloaded today) changed the T&C from the previous post.

They now changed the T&C to fix that loop hole.

It seems the T&C doesn't enforce that the driver has to be the card holder, right? So I could pay for someone else's car and they would still be insured?

 

[Diesellife]

Okay so you are NOT covered for a rental vehicle overseas anymore ??????

"Covered Rental Trip means a journey that commences and ends in Australia and
includes the hire of a Rental Vehicle, where the period of hire shown in the Rental
Agreement is thirty-one (31) days or less, of which the entire cost has been charged
to Your American Express Platinum Charge Card account."

But then "Geographical Scope means worldwide including country of domicile provided the rental takes place further than two hundred and fifty (250) kilometres from the
permanent or temporary place of residence You are currently residing in."

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

As moa999 said, no change if you live in Australia. But you could no longer enjoy the benefit if you moved to overseas (E.g. Your postal address is in overseas).

 

[daYZman]

No, no change to that, so long as the overall journey commences and ends in Australia.

Does that mean I'd be covered if I fly to any country and hire a car there, as long as I return home within half a year?

 

[Diesellife]

Does that mean I'd be covered if I fly to any country and hire a car there, as long as I return home within half a year?

Yes, provided other requirements within T&C are satisfied.

 

[straitman]

It seems the T&C doesn't enforce that the driver has to be the card holder, right? So I could pay for someone else's car and they would still be insured?

daYZman,

I thought I understood all this until you started asking questions and now I'm not so sure.

The part I'm unclear on is the reference earlier in the thread toward extra people needing to be Supp card holders and why.

If what you mention above is the case then I assume I could hire a vehicle in my (or someone else's) name, get them to pick it up and then arrive later and join the rental as an extra driver.