V-Flyer

If I hire a car "on the hoof" so to speak will the insurance cover afforded by my amex plat be sufficient to cover me or will I get a load of hassle from the rental agent about taking additional insurance options? I usually pre-book my car hire from the UK with a plat package from the renter (as it's usually cheaper given the free tank of fuel and extra driver) and all my my other car hire is pre- booked for my forthcoming trip, but I've booked nothing in Oahu as yet and plan to do his when we arrive in Waikiki.
I know lots of people here have the plat, can anyone shed some light please?
Thanks .
DL

Yes, the cover is more than adequate.

Of course the rental agent will try and tell you otherwise, but just take a copy of the benefits book with you, show it to them and then should eventually realise they are fighting a losing battle!

As Neil says, and it is one specific reason why I took out the same card.

I'd not spotted the car hire insurance bit before, that is interesting. I must have another add up to see if the 300 GPB fee is covered by the benefits saving.

Still not sure whether I could 'afford' the plat and the Amex Black together though.....

Slipperman wrote:I'd not spotted the car hire insurance bit before, that is interesting. I must have another add up to see if the 300 GPB fee is covered by the benefits saving.

Still not sure whether I could 'afford' the plat and the Amex Black together though.....

Slipperman there's £80 cashback through Quidco at the mo (and 40,000 MR points with qualifying spend). This promo ends at the end of September.
Thank you Neil and slinky- I'm now suitably reassured oo) .

DL

DragonLady wrote:

Slipperman wrote:I'd not spotted the car hire insurance bit before, that is interesting. I must have another add up to see if the 300 GPB fee is covered by the benefits saving.

Still not sure whether I could 'afford' the plat and the Amex Black together though.....

Slipperman there's £80 cashback through Quidco at the mo (and 40,000 MR points with qualifying spend). This promo ends at the end of September.
Thank you Neil and slinky- I'm now suitably reassured oo) .

DL

Thanks DL

..and with topcashback too...... so only 220 GPB of benefit savings to find.

Anyone know when you pay the fee?

Slipperman wrote:]

Thanks DL

..and with topcashback too...... so only 220 GPB of benefit savings to find.

Anyone know when you pay the fee?

First statement- it's a no brainer really, given the benefits (including Priority Pass and the travel insurance as well ).
DL

Neil wrote:Of course the rental agent will try and tell you otherwise, but just take a copy of the benefits book with you, show it to them and then should eventually realise they are fighting a losing battle!

My experience is that all agents know the coverage your plat Amex provides and don't even try to sell any extra coverage when you pull the plat Amex out

My understanding is that you have to pay for the insurance with your Anex before you are fully covered, but I always get a full package in the UK so am not sure if this is 100% true

Nick

Nottingham Nick wrote:My understanding is that you have to pay for the insurance with your Anex before you are fully covered, but I always get a full package in the UK so am not sure if this is 100% true

Nick

Ok, I am now lost ?| ?| . I thought there would be nothing to pay as the Amex covered the insurance ...?
DL

DragonLady wrote:

Nottingham Nick wrote:My understanding is that you have to pay for the insurance with your Anex before you are fully covered, but I always get a full package in the UK so am not sure if this is 100% true

Nick

Ok, I am now lost ?| ?| . I thought there would be nothing to pay as the Amex covered the insurance ...?
DL

I'm also lost.

You don't need to pay/buy anything for the insurance cover to be valid, we have used it before without any issue this way.

Hmmm. I'm having trouble finding a detailed breakdown of benefits on the site. I've found the insurance info, but the link around the priority pass leads to a login screen! ?| Other details, like which hotel programmes they link with, I cannot find. !

Does anyone know the site well enough to embarrass me by showing me the links I'm probably obviously missing?

link here to Plat card insurance benefits incl car hire (point 1.5)

Neil

Neil wrote:link here to Plat card insurance benefits incl car hire (point 1.5)

Neil

Thanks Neil. That was the one I found, It's other details I can't find.

DragonLady wrote:
Ok, I am now lost ?| ?| . I thought there would be nothing to pay as the Amex covered the insurance ...?
DL

Sorry my bad! I meant to say that I thought you had to pay for the car hire with your plat Amex before the full insurance cover kicked in ;-(

Nick

Sorry, misread what you wanted.

I see what you mean about the links. Can't remember everything but the basics are:

Hilton Gold for one year
SPG gold for as long as you have card
Access to FHR hotels/rates/benefits
Hertz No1 Gold for as long as you have card
Priority Pass for you and other Plat supp card holder (top pass worth £250 each)
Full insurance benefits you and all the supp card holders (you can have 1 supp Plat card, and up to 5 gold or green supps also)

There is another hotel program but it's only silver level so nothing amazing, and also Avis preferred level for car hire.

Happy to try and answer any other questions you may have (also a number of threads about this on the site if you have a search, and the AmEx forum on FT is very useful).

Neil wrote:Sorry, misread what you wanted.

I see what you mean about the links. Can't remember everything but the basics are:

Hilton Gold for one year
SPG gold for as long as you have card
Access to FHR hotels/rates/benefits
Hertz No1 Gold for as long as you have card
Priority Pass for you and other Plat supp card holder (top pass worth £250 each)
Full insurance benefits you and all the supp card holders (you can have 1 supp Plat card, and up to 5 gold or green supps also)

There is another hotel program but it's only silver level so nothing amazing, and also Avis preferred level for car hire.

Happy to try and answer any other questions you may have (also a number of threads about this on the site if you have a search, and the AmEx forum on FT is very useful).

Thanks Neil.

Yes, just going through a few searches.

Cheers

Dave

This is a real eye opener and seems a no-brainer to me - thanks all

Nottingham Nick wrote:

DragonLady wrote:
Ok, I am now lost ?| ?| . I thought there would be nothing to pay as the Amex covered the insurance ...?
DL

Sorry my bad! I meant to say that I thought you had to pay for the car hire with your plat Amex before the full insurance cover kicked in ;-(

Nick

So the hire charge must be paid for with the plat card before the car hire benefits become valid...

northernhenry wrote:

Nottingham Nick wrote:

DragonLady wrote:
Ok, I am now lost ?| ?| . I thought there would be nothing to pay as the Amex covered the insurance ...?
DL

Sorry my bad! I meant to say that I thought you had to pay for the car hire with your plat Amex before the full insurance cover kicked in ;-(

Nick

So the hire charge must be paid for with the plat card before the car hire benefits become valid...

No you don't

Neil wrote:
No you don't

Bugg*r I'm even more confused.... ?|
So, for the simple souls (like me).
Plat card =all the benefits incuding car insurance but you DON'T need to PAY with Amex card to attain the benefits??
DL

If Neil is sure that you don't need to pay with the card to get the insurance benefits, then I won't disagree. It was something that was mentioned to me a few years ago, when I last had the plat card - it was anecdotal, which is why I asked the question.

Nick

DragonLady wrote:

Neil wrote:
No you don't

Bugg*r I'm even more confused.... ?|
So, for the simple souls (like me).
Plat card =all the benefits incuding car insurance but you DON'T need to PAY with Amex card to attain the benefits??
DL

Yes that is correct.

Neil wrote:

DragonLady wrote:

Neil wrote:
No you don't

Bugg*r I'm even more confused.... ?|
So, for the simple souls (like me).
Plat card =all the benefits incuding car insurance but you DON'T need to PAY with Amex card to attain the benefits??
DL

Yes that is correct.

Thank you .
DL

Sorry, Me again, still 'costing' the benefits.

Looking to hire a car in the US next year and maybe take advantage of the insurance on the card. The usual carhire sites I am going to have the insurance included.

I tried a direct booking with Alamo and that came out at $1900 :0 for a 'full size' for two weeks two days (albeit dropping off at another location, bit still....)


Does anyone know of any car hire sites that offer reasonable rates but do not have the insurance automatically included?

Try dollar.com

I always use that and have had no issues using my plat Amex for the insurance.

Last month 12 days with a Ford Escape was only £288 - not bad

David