Amex Adds Travel Coverage To Premium Cards

In September 2019, American Express revealed some significant changes to the travel & purchase protection offered on some premium cards. This announcement came just two days after Citi made massive cuts to the purchase and travel protection offered by their cards.

The changes are both positive and negative, as we’re seeing improved travel protection, while we’re also seeing reduced extended warranty protection and purchase protection, and some other protection being cut as well.

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This coverage is exciting, because it’s an area where Amex has historically lagged. Meanwhile, these changes are potentially bad news for those who valued the purchase and protection benefits previously offered by the card.

So here’s a refresh of the details:

Amex Trip Cancelation & Interruption Coverage

As of January 1, 2020, Amex offers reimbursement for trip cancelation and interruption:

• This is valid for roundtrip tickets paid for entirely with your eligible Amex card (“roundtrip travel may consist of roundtrip, one-way, or combinations of roundtrip or one-way tickets”)
• Paying taxes on an award ticket with your card would qualify for this, as would using the Amex Pay With Points feature to pay for your ticket
• This applies to covered reasons, which includes accidental bodily injury, inclement weather, military orders, terrorist action, call to jury duty, one’s dwelling made uninhabitable, and a quarantine imposed by a physician for health reasons
• You can be reimbursed for up to $10,000 in non-refundable travel expenses per trip, up to $20,000 per 12 consecutive month period
• Coverage applies to you and your family members (including domestic partners) and traveling companions who purchase a trip with your card
• You must file your claim within 60 days of the covered event

Of course, you’ll want to check your benefits guide for all of the details, because there are a lot more things to be aware of (here’s a look at a sample benefits guide for the Amex Platinum, for example).

This coverage applies to the following cards:

• American Express Platinum Card® (review)
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express (review)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (review)
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

Amex Trip Delay Coverage

As of January 1, 2020, Amex offers reimbursement for trip delays. The terms are largely the same as with the trip cancellation & interruption coverage. The major difference is that:

• This applies if you’re delayed by at least six hours
• If eligible, you can be reimbursed up to $500 per trip for necessary expenses, like hotels, meals, and other essentials

This coverage applies on the following cards:

• American Express Platinum Card®
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
• Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
• Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card

Additionally, American Express is offering similar coverage with lower reimbursement limits ($300) and longer delay requirements (12 hours) on the following cards:

• American Express® Green Card (review)
• American Express® Gold Card (review)
• American Express® Business Gold Card (review)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card (review)
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card

The information and associated card details on this page for the American Express Green Card have been collected independently by OMAAT and have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Amex Extended Warranty Protection Reduced

As of January 1, 2020, Amex has made significant changes to their extended warranty protection:

• Amex is reducing the extended warranty on most of their cards from two years to one year
• Some no annual fee cards will lose extended warranty coverage altogether

Amex Purchase Protection Reduced

As of January 1, 2020, Amex has made significant changes to their purchase protection. Specifically, Amex cards that currently offer purchase protection are seeing the eligible period reduced from 120 days to 90 days.

Amex Travel Accident Insurance & Roadside Assistance Removed

As of January 1, 2020, American Express has eliminated two types of protection altogether:

• Amex is cutting travel accident insurance, which covers expenses related to death or dismemberment while traveling
• Amex is cutting roadside assistance

My Take On Amex Coverage Changes

Whether or not these changes are good or bad news depends entirely on your purchase patterns. Personally, I’ve never taken advantage of roadside assistance, travel accident insurance (thank goodness), extended warranty, or purchase protection.

Suffice to say I’m thrilled to see Amex adding proper travel protection for delays and cancelations, especially given that American Express Platinum Card® offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and then 1x.

This coverage rivals what’s offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review), which was previously the gold standard for travel coverage (that card offers just 4x points on airfare purchased directly, rather than 5x points, though).

So for my purchase patterns, I’m quite happy with this, though others may not view these changes so positively. I’m absolutely using my Amex Platinum for all airfare purchased directly with airlines as of today.

What do you make of these changes to Amex’s travel & purchase protection?