Credit Card Travel Insurance

[papaflamingo]

We are booked on the Grand Cruise in March.  As this is a cruise that well exceeds the maximum limit my AMEX Credit Card will cover, my plan is to purchase a policy from a travel insurance company for the cost of the cruise minus the amount my AMEX card will cover.  My concern is that I was looking at the Terms and Conditions for AMEX and found 2 questions... the biggest is this:

"In no event will this coverage apply as contributing insurance. "  

So does this mean that AMEX won't cover any of the cost if we have another policy?  

Also they state "You must charge the full amount of a Covered Trip to your Eligible Card". 

Does this mean I can't split the cost of the Grand Cruise onto 2 different cards or simply the "full amount" we are claiming must be charged to our AMEX card? 

I realize this is a question for the insurance professionals and lawyers, but wondering if anyone has done this or has asked these questions before.

 

Thanks

[-Lew-]

Some good questions that might be better suited for the Cruise/Travel Insurance Board.  We book our cruises through a TA, then purchase travel insurance for the total nonrefundable cost less $20,000 which is the amount provided by Chase Sapphire Reserve.

 

I recently learned that Costco offers travel insurance with competitive benefits at a cost of 5% to 6.5% depending on whether or not you purchased any part of your trip through them.

[Vertygo]

51 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

I recently learned that Costco offers travel insurance with competitive benefits at a cost of 5% to 6.5% depending on whether or not you purchased any part of your trip through them.

The rate is lower if any part of your trip is purchased through them, even if just a hotel or car rental. Either way it can be a significant savings, underwritten by Zurich.

[-Lew-]

6 hours ago, Vertygo said:

The rate is lower if any part of your trip is purchased through them, even if just a hotel or car rental. Either way it can be a significant savings, underwritten by Zurich.

 

That's correct!  We made our first travel insurance policy purchase through Costco Travel for our winter 2025 cruise + shoreside travel.  The auto rental through Costco afforded us the 5% rate.

 

I'll add that if you've booked any part of your travel through Costco, you can purchase the insurance online.  If not, a phone call is required.

[papaflamingo]

7 hours ago, -Lew- said:

Some good questions that might be better suited for the Cruise/Travel Insurance Board.  We book our cruises through a TA, then purchase travel insurance for the total nonrefundable cost less $20,000 which is the amount provided by Chase Sapphire Reserve.

 

I recently learned that Costco offers travel insurance with competitive benefits at a cost of 5% to 6.5% depending on whether or not you purchased any part of your trip through them.

Thank you so much. Great info.  I'll definitely check Costco.

[shuguley]

Many travel insurance companies will not provide coverage for pre existing conditions unless you insure your entire trip with that company.  Full coverage must also be purchased prior to the final payment being made on your trip.

[-Lew-]

2 hours ago, shuguley said:

Many travel insurance companies will not provide coverage for pre existing conditions unless you insure your entire trip with that company.  Full coverage must also be purchased prior to the final payment being made on your trip.

 

I'm not seeing anything in the Costco policy requiring full cost of the trip be insured under their policy in order for pre-existing conditions to be covered.  See the waiver as copied from the policy below...

 

WAIVER OF THE PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSION

 

The Pre-Existing Condition Exclusions for Emergency Medical Expense Benefit, Emergency Dental Expense Benefit, Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation Benefit, Pre-Departure Trip Cancellation Benefit, Post-Departure Trip Interruption Benefit, and Travel Delay Benefit, if included in this Policy, are waived provided the Insured meets the following requirements:

 

a. the Insured's premium for this coverage is received within 21 days of his/her initial Covered Trip payment; and

 

b. the Insured is not disabled from travel at the time he/she pays his/her premium.

[asnaleah]

I can attest that AmEx Platinum benefits will be denied if you don’t use it for the entire trip, including airfare. I’m looking at switching to the Chase card. I think their insurance benefit is more consumer-friendly.

[papaflamingo]

12 hours ago, asnaleah said:

I can attest that AmEx Platinum benefits will be denied if you don’t use it for the entire trip, including airfare. I’m looking at switching to the Chase card. I think their insurance benefit is more consumer-friendly.

Thanks... since we have basically 3 "trips," two cruises b2b followed by a third party safari, I'm wondering if we can claim such.  We will be using the Chase card for one of the cruises and the safari, and the AMEX card for the plane flight and the second cruise.  But I'll check with AMEX (if I can ever get through to them) and see if I can claim the vacations as "3 separate" trips.  I may just not worry about it and pay the additional 3rd party premium. 

[asnaleah]

Good idea to get coverage details in writing from AmEx if you ever get through to someone. Good luck and enjoy your trips!

[edgee]

On 8/22/2024 at 1:13 PM, -Lew- said:

 

I'm not seeing anything in the Costco policy requiring full cost of the trip be insured under their policy in order for pre-existing conditions to be covered.  See the waiver as copied from the policy below...

 

WAIVER OF THE PRE-EXISTING CONDITION EXCLUSION

 

The Pre-Existing Condition Exclusions for Emergency Medical Expense Benefit, Emergency Dental Expense Benefit, Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation Benefit, Pre-Departure Trip Cancellation Benefit, Post-Departure Trip Interruption Benefit, and Travel Delay Benefit, if included in this Policy, are waived provided the Insured meets the following requirements:

 

a. the Insured's premium for this coverage is received within 21 days of his/her initial Covered Trip payment; and

 

b. the Insured is not disabled from travel at the time he/she pays his/her premium.

Unfortunately this Costco more affordable coverage is not available to those of us in NY state.  Grrr.

[papaflamingo]

23 hours ago, asnaleah said:

Good idea to get coverage details in writing from AmEx if you ever get through to someone. Good luck and enjoy your trips!

I'm planning on doing this very thing.  But not sure I have the patience (or phone battery power) to sit on hold that long.  Although I am pretty stubborn, and football season is starting, so I guess I can just put myself on hold and watch a couple of football games while waiting. Of course I'll probably keep to the SEC "bourbon on game day" tradition so God only knows what I'll ask them after more than one "football game!" 🥃🥃 😱

Edited August 25 by papaflamingo

[Babr]

The language I see in the Guide to Benefits states that the coverage is secondary to and in excess of other coverage. This noncontribution provision takes precedence over the language in other policies. That means American Express coverage is always secondary and pays only when all other benefits have been exhausted.

 

The Guide defines a round trip as departure from the point of origin and return to the same.  It is counted as a single trip door-to-door, not somewhere in between so it is unlikely that you would be allowed to split the various segments for the purpose of insuring it as a separate trip.

 

The Guide also states that the entire trip must be paid for with the American Express card in order to qualify for benefits. If your costs exceed the AmEx limits, you can’t split it with another credit card because that violates the terms of the policy.

 

I think I am reading the policy correctly, but please let us know what the AmEx representative says.

 

[asnaleah]

@Babr, your post accurately describes our experience. We submitted our trip insurance claim first, got the reimbursement, then submitted private excursions not covered by trip insurance to AmEx. I had to have a denial of benefits from the trip insurance, which I had. Then the AmEx claim was denied because every penny spent on the trip was not 100% paid with the platinum card. 

[SailorMarg]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:19 PM, asnaleah said:

I can attest that AmEx Platinum benefits will be denied if you don’t use it for the entire trip, including airfare. I’m looking at switching to the Chase card. I think their insurance benefit is more consumer-friendly.

We have the Chase Sapphire Reserve specifically for travel expenses because of their very good trip insurance. We have used this benefit twice for very costly cruises and they paid in a somewhat timely manner. And yes, they would cover losses if any portion of the trip was paid using this card. Unfortunately that will change October of this year when they will follow other cards and require that the entire trip we paid for with the card in order for them to cover the losses.

[-Lew-]

7 hours ago, SailorMarg said:

Unfortunately that will change October of this year when they will follow other cards and require that the entire trip we paid for with the card in order for them to cover the losses.

 

Interesting, but I cannot find any reference to this change mentioned on the Chase website or anywhere else.  If you would provide a link to an official statement it would be appreciated.

 

I am aware of the change in benefit administrator, but not much else set to occur on October 1st.

[papaflamingo]

Thank you all for the info.  We have paid the majority of the trip with AMEX and the balance with Chase.  Our final payment isn't until Oct. so any change in payout policy will certainly put a "monkey wrench" into the deal.  Since AMEX will only cover it if we pay 100% of the trip, and Chase possibly going the same way, I guess we'll have to start paying 100% on one card. That will become a bit more complicated on a long cruise like this.  I was counting on both cards covering a portion, guess I should have read the Terms and Conditions closer.  Oh well... maybe Chase will still cover some of it. 

[asnaleah]

Thanks @SailorMarg for the Chase update. I guess switching cards won’t give us any different coverage so I won’t change cards.

[forgap]

I haven’t read about this change, either.  I wonder if we can split the fares?  I mean, charge one of us entirely on one card, and the other on another Chase card?  Is the trip considered one fare or two?  

[Portolan]

23 minutes ago, forgap said:

I haven’t read about this change, either.  I wonder if we can split the fares?  I mean, charge one of us entirely on one card, and the other on another Chase card?  Is the trip considered one fare or two?  

The Chase Sapphire benefit is $10,000 per person ($20,000 total), so splitting the fares would face the single person limit.

 

We just used the Chase insurance recently and the process was managed quite well and fairly expeditiously.

Edited August 30 by Portolan

[SailorMarg]

3 hours ago, -Lew- said:

 

Interesting, but I cannot find any reference to this change mentioned on the Chase website or anywhere else.  If you would provide a link to an official statement it would be appreciated.

 

I am aware of the change in benefit administrator, but not much else set to occur on October 1st.

Here is a link to the Guide to Benefits in effect as of 10/01/24 (see page 33). The actual details are slightly different than my comment.  Coverage will be for only the amount charged to the card (this is the change), but will be covered if any portion is charged to the card.  So, the entire trip need not be charged to the card as I commented, but the amount covered will only be for the amount charged to the card.  That is the change.  Previous to October 1, 2024 I was able to be reimbursed under this benefit for an entire trip even though a portion of it was paid using a different card. 

 

[-Lew-]

1 hour ago, SailorMarg said:

Here is a link to the Guide to Benefits in effect as of 10/01/24 (see page 33). The actual details are slightly different than my comment.

 

Thank you for clarifying.  Insuring only up to the amount charged to the card makes perfect sense.  Not an issue for us as we use our Chase Sapphire Reserve card for all travel expenses.

[SailorMarg]

3 minutes ago, -Lew- said:

 

Thank you for clarifying.  Insuring only up to the amount charged to the card makes perfect sense.  Not an issue for us as we use our Chase Sapphire Reserve card for all travel expenses.

Agreed.  We always thought it unusual that the Chase benefit covered expenses charged on other cards.  In our case the original (relatively small) deposit was made on a different card before we started with our Chase Sapphire Reserve.  The large balance was paid with the Chase card.  Medical issues came up and we had to cancel very close to the sail date.  The Chase benefit paid off the large amount charged on their card and only needed the benefit refusal from the other card for the small deposit amount before Chase would pay it also.  The other card required the entire amount be paid in order to pay the benefit and provided an email stating this for me to then forward to Chase.  With that refusal letter Chase paid us that amount also.  So, yes, the change seems reasonable.  I’m glad they did not change it to the entire amount needing to be charged on the card for any benefit to be paid.

[SailorMarg]

12 hours ago, SailorMarg said:

We have the Chase Sapphire Reserve specifically for travel expenses because of their very good trip insurance. We have used this benefit twice for very costly cruises and they paid in a somewhat timely manner. And yes, they would cover losses if any portion of the trip was paid using this card. Unfortunately that will change October of this year when they will follow other cards and require that the entire trip we paid for with the card in order for them to cover the losses.

Please allow me to correct myself.  Here is a link to the Guide to Benefits in effect as of 10/01/24 (see page 33). The actual details are slightly different than my comment above.  Coverage will be for only the amount charged to the card (this is the change), but will be covered if any portion is charged to the card.  So, the entire trip need not be charged to the card as I commented, but the amount covered will only be for the amount charged to the card.  That is the change.  Previous to October 1, 2024 I was able to be reimbursed under this benefit for an entire trip even though a portion of it was paid using a different card.   

 

 

 

[-Lew-]

6 minutes ago, SailorMarg said:

I’m glad they did not change it to the entire amount needing to be charged on the card for any benefit to be paid.

 

Agree...  We also use the Barclay Arrival+ card for travel although the benefits are not nearly as good as Chase Sapphire, they do credit points on all purchases at 2%.  We accumulated enough points to pay for a six night hotel stay in Rome last year.