American Express Platinum for trip insurance

[Roccaforte]

Has anyone relied on the Amex Platinum card for trip insurance?  Our cruise is in January and our final payment date is looming.  When I check regular insurance companies the prices are shocking.  They tell me because one of us is 80.  With the price of the cruise and the possibility of being denied boarding because of a positive covid test this worries me.  Also, can coverage be customized?  I don’t care as much about luggage problems as I care about actually being unable to sail for some reason.  Amex Platinum advertises trip cancellation insurance as one of their benefits but it doesn’t look too comprehensive.  So, am I brave enough to simply stay uninsured???

[doowopbob]

We have the Chase Reserve Visa which gives us trip insurance for a total of $20,000.  We had to use it twice in the last 6 years and had no problem.  That said our upcoming cruise is more than $20,000 so we either had to buy additional insurance (which as you stated is very high) or take our chances.  We decided to take the chance.  Regardless we are at least covered for the $20,000  

[Halfmoonfan]

We have.  We booked a 16 Day Crystal Cruise (Miami to LA) was that planned for May with American Express Platinum Travel and bought the insurance from them at the same time.  The insurance was resold from Generali Global.  When the trip canceled, I was made whole with very little effort on my part.

[RachelG]

I have the Chase Reserve visa and the Am ex platinum card both.  I use both for more expensive trips, i put my part on one and my husbands on the other.  Haven't had to make a claim fortunately. 

[Ladys Mom]

11 minutes ago, RachelG said:

I have the Chase Reserve visa and the Am ex platinum card both.  I use both for more expensive trips, i put my part on one and my husbands on the other.  Haven't had to make a claim fortunately. 

Do you know if both insurance companies will be off on a single incident?  That has been the reason we have not purchased both cards.

[Roccaforte]

2 hours ago, Halfmoonfan said:

We have.  We booked a 16 Day Crystal Cruise (Miami to LA) was that planned for May with American Express Platinum Travel and bought the insurance from them at the same time.  The insurance was resold from Generali Global.  When the trip canceled, I was made whole with very little effort on my part.

 

Was there a significant charge for the insurance you bought over and above what was covered by the Amex Platinum card.

[RachelG]

16 hours ago, Ladys Mom said:

Do you know if both insurance companies will be off on a single incident?  That has been the reason we have not purchased both cards.

They wouldn't both pay off for both parties.  Only for the person who paid for the trip with that card.  With the AM EX card, the whole trip has to be paid for with that card.  But I interpret that to mean for that person--just like if you went on a trip with your friend and you paid your fare and your friend paid theirs.  Haven't ever had to make a claim on either.  Mostly just use the Chase Card as it is not quite as specific that the entire trip has to be paid for with the Chase card.

[Halfmoonfan]

15 hours ago, Roccaforte said:

Was there a significant charge for the insurance you bought over and above what was covered by the Amex Platinum card.

It was exactly 10% of the cruise fare.  Note, both my wife and I are younger than 65, so that may affect the price.

[SusieQft]

@RachelG, when you split the cost between Chase & Amex, do you have anything to document whose trip was paid with which card?  I presume the booking confirmations are combined.  Mine just show payments applied to the total.

[Carol From California]

We have both the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards. We use the CSR for insurance. The coverage is better. Also, you only have to put "some portion" of the trip on the card to get full coverage. With Am Ex you have to put the entire trip on the card to be covered. 

Travel insurance: Sapphire Reserve vs Amex Platinum - The Points Guy

[PhD-iva]

1 hour ago, Carol From California said:

We have both the American Express Platinum and the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit cards. We use the CSR for insurance. The coverage is better. Also, you only have to put "some portion" of the trip on the card to get full coverage. With Am Ex you have to put the entire trip on the card to be covered. 

Travel insurance: Sapphire Reserve vs Amex Platinum - The Points Guy

“…..You only have to put some portion of the trip on the Chase Sapphire reserve to get full coverage.”
I’m not sure how this works. Is Chase going to provide travel insurance and reimburse costs you did not charge to their credit card? Is this really correct?

[wristband]

Carol' answer is spot on.  Chase Reserve Sapphire will insure up to $10,000 per person paid on your invoice with, say, Regent.  If you & your partner book a cruise costing $30,000 and you paid $30,000 or $20,000 with your CSR...CSR will cover your loss up to $20,000 max.  CSR will not cover the full fare.

 

However, CSR's coverage is secondary.  CSR expects you to seek reimbursement from other sources first.  We typically insure the cruise cost through a policy obtained through the Trip Insurance Store with $20,000 not included in the policy coverage. 

 

Example: Cruise fare $40,000, travel insurance policy coverage purchased for $20,000 the balance of $20,000 is covered through CSR which was used to pay for the $40,000 cruise fare.