Zero Minimum Spend on CBA cards?

[Renato1]

I discussed Credit card complimentary travel insurance with many of you in the Open Discussion area nearly a year ago, where the state of play then was discussed in great detail.

I'm just sorting out the details for our upcoming trip to the USA, and I had my wife spend $1000 to pay for accommodation with her CBA Platinum Awards card, and during activation I filled out the Allianz questionaire, and paid an extra $102 for pre-exiting medical conditions.

Then I went and had a look at the CBA site just to make sure that the $1000 spend that I had read nearly a year ago was still current. And for the life of me I can't see a minimum spend requirements for the credit cards specified anywhere. All I read is that complimentary travel insurance is given to people holding Gold, Platinum and Diamond cards.

Am I blind, or is this actually now the case?
Regards,
Renato

P.S. I also just got an NAB Premium Rewards card in the mail, and its conditions said I needed to spend $500 on the trip. So I spent $500 on accommodation with that one. Can't hurt.

 

[Coops1]

Am I blind, or is this actually now the case?
Regards,
Renato

P.S. I also just got an NAB Premium Rewards card in the mail, and its conditions said I needed to spend $500 on the trip. So I spent $500 on accommodation with that one. Can't hurt.

Your not blind. You get basic travel insurance without even registering with the cba plat card. If you register and fill out the traveller details etc, you get the full box and dice, well at least what most policies give you anyways. They send you a policy number and contact details via email. Don't have to spend a thing on the credit card. . Have used it 3 times now, no claims though. Noting $250 claim excess.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Your not blind. You get basic travel insurance without even registering with the cba plat card. If you register and fill out the traveller details etc, you get the full box and dice, well at least what most policies give you anyways. They send you a policy number and contact details via email. Don't have to spend a thing on the credit card. . Have used it 3 times now, no claims though. Noting $250 claim excess.

Two additional notes:
(1) If you have a pre-existing medical condition and you want to be covered in relation to it you must register and may have to pay a fee. I had to pay $65 for 6 weeks insurance because I disclosed a history of gallstones.
(2) The $250 excess is not universal - some categories of claims are excess-free!

 

[Renato1]

Your not blind. You get basic travel insurance without even registering with the cba plat card. If you register and fill out the traveller details etc, you get the full box and dice, well at least what most policies give you anyways. They send you a policy number and contact details via email. Don't have to spend a thing on the credit card. . Have used it 3 times now, no claims though. Noting $250 claim excess.

Thanks very much for confirming that what I thought couldn't be right, was right.
Pretty amazing I think.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Two additional notes:
(1) If you have a pre-existing medical condition and you want to be covered in relation to it you must register and may have to pay a fee. I had to pay $65 for 6 weeks insurance because I disclosed a history of gallstones.
(2) The $250 excess is not universal - some categories of claims are excess-free!

Thanks for the information about the excess.

One good thing about the CBA/Allianz pre-existing conditions declaration was that they actually insured me.
When I tried filling out the Amex paid travel insurance policy with the same pre-existing conditions, it rejected me out of hand. When CBA changes insurer, I may have that problem again and have to go back to paid insurance with Allianz.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Coathanger]

Used to get a Southern Cross policy for each trip, but since the change I've always used the free insurance from my CBA Diamond card.

It's reassuring to get an actual insurance policy certificate that you can show when needed (e.g. applying for a Russian tourist visa), and having made a claim (accommodation and food) for a 24 hour delay due to Jetstar cancelling a flight I can say it was a relatively smooth experience. There was no $250 excess in this instance.

 

[Renato1]

Used to get a Southern Cross policy for each trip, but since the change I've always used the free insurance from my CBA Diamond card.

It's reassuring to get an actual insurance policy certificate that you can show when needed (e.g. applying for a Russian tourist visa), and having made a claim (accommodation and food) for a 24 hour delay due to Jetstar cancelling a flight I can say it was a relatively smooth experience. There was no $250 excess in this instance.

Yes thanks, you are quite correct. The certificate does indeed make it feel more real for me too.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Cryptarcadian]

Yeah it's great the minimum spend is gone now... no need to worry about being eligible if you're redeeming points, or using different combinations of payment methods.

Just remember to activate activate activate! You only get a very basic level of coverage otherwise, so don't forget to activate via NetBank the moment you start booking things for your trip, in case you need to call upon the cancellation cover!

(Did I mention, activate? )

 

[Renato1]

Yeah it's great the minimum spend is gone now... no need to worry about being eligible if you're redeeming points, or using different combinations of payment methods.

Just remember to activate activate activate! You only get a very basic level of coverage otherwise, so don't forget to activate via NetBank the moment you start booking things for your trip, in case you need to call upon the cancellation cover!

(Did I mention, activate? )

Yes, activation is indeed most important.

Which is actually a possible negative - if people think the old system is still in effect - which didn't require activation - they may be seriously out of pocket if something goes wrong on their trip.
Regards,
Renato