How the Amex Platinum’s Trip Delay Insurance Saved Me $300

The Platinum Card^® from American Express has long been considered the premier travel rewards card. The Amex Platinum card makes it easy to earn valuable travel rewards and comes with numerous travel perks and benefits.

However, it also comes with lesser-known benefits. One of these benefits is the card’s fantastic trip delay insurance, which got me a free hotel night and saved me a lot of money on a recent trip.

Here’s a look at how the Amex Platinum card’s trip delay insurance benefit came through and saved me hundreds of dollars, making the Amex Platinum card even easier to justify.

Amex Platinum Card Overview

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

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The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

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The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The Amex Platinum reigns supreme for luxury travel, offering the best airport lounge access plus generous statement credits, and complimentary elite status.

Welcome Offer

Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on the Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.

80,000 points

UP's Offer Valuation*:

Up to $1,760

Annual Fee

$695

APR

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Credit Recommended

Upgraded Points credit ranges are a variation of FICO^®Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit cardapplication.

Good to Excellent

Why We Like This Card

When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card^® from American Express.

Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• The best airport lounge access out of any card (by far) — enjoy access to over 1,400 worldwide lounges, including the luxurious Amex Centurion Lounges, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), Plaza Premium Lounges, and many more!
• 5x points per dollar spent on flights purchased directly with the airline or with AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per year)
• 5x points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com

Cons

• $695 annual fee (rates and fees)
• Airline credit does not cover airfare (only incidentals like checked bags)

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Card Highlights

• Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards^® Points after you spend $8,000 on eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership.
• Earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year and earn 5X Membership Rewards^® Points on prepaid hotels booked with American Express Travel.
• $200 Hotel Credit: Get up to $200 back in statement credits each year on prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts^® or The Hotel Collection bookings through American Express Travel using your Platinum Card^®. The Hotel Collection requires a minimum two-night stay.
• $240 Digital Entertainment Credit: Get up to $20 back in statement credits each month on eligible purchases made with your Platinum Card^® on one or more of the following: Disney+, a Disney Bundle, ESPN+, Hulu, The New York Times, Peacock, and The Wall Street Journal. Enrollment required.
• With American Express Global Lounge Collection^® you can enjoy access to over 1,400 airport lounges globally, including The Centurion^® Lounge, Unlimited Delta Sky Club^® Access when flying an eligible Delta flight, Escape Lounges, Lufthansa Lounges when flying Lufthansa Group, Plaza Premium, Priority Pass™ Select Lounges, & Additional Global Lounge Collection Partner Lounges subject to visit limitations. Lounges may have their own rules, like additional access rules and guest fees, and for Priority Pass Select, you need to enroll and there are unlimited airport lounge visits for Card Members. With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year. To find a lounge, visit the membership section in the American Express^® App or visit http://www.americanexpress.com/findalounge#/loungefinder.
• $155 Walmart+ Credit: Save on eligible delivery fees, shipping, and more with a Walmart+ membership. Use your Platinum Card^® to pay for a monthly Walmart+ membership and get up to $12.95 plus applicable taxes back on one membership (excluding Plus Ups) each month.
• $200 Airline Fee Credit: Select one qualifying airline and then receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card^®.
• $200 Uber Cash: Platinum Card^® Members can ride or dine in style with $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a bonus $20 in December after adding their Card to their Uber account. Use your Uber Cash on rides and orders in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
• $199 CLEAR^® Plus Credit: CLEAR^® Plus helps to get you to your gate faster at 50+ airports nationwide and get up to $199 back per calendar year on your Membership (subject to auto-renewal) when you use your Card. CLEARLanes are available at 100+ airports, stadiums, and entertainment venues.
• Receive either a $120 statement credit every 4 years for a Global Entry application fee or a statement credit up to $85 every 4.5 years for a TSA PreCheck^® (through a TSA official enrollment provider) application fee, when charged to your Platinum Card^®. Card Members approved for Global Entry will also receive access to TSA PreCheck at no additional cost.
• Shop Saks with Platinum: Get up to $100 in statement credits annually for purchases in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or at saks.com on your Platinum Card^®. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
• Unlock access to exclusive reservations and special dining experiences with Global Dining Access by Resy when you add your Platinum Card^® to your Resy profile.
• $695 annual fee.
• Apply with confidence. Know if you're approved for a Card with no impact to your credit score. If you're approved and you choose to accept this Card, your credit score may be impacted.
• Terms Apply.

Financial Snapshot

• APR: See Pay Over Time APR
• Foreign Transaction Fees: None

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American Express Membership Rewards

The Amex Platinum card is unmatched when it comes to premium travel perks. It gives cardholders comprehensive airport lounge access, elite status with the Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty programs, rental car elite status, and top-notch travel and purchase protections (enrollment is required).

The Amex Platinum card also makes earning highly valuable travel rewards easy. It earns 5x points for flights booked directly with airlines or AmexTravel.com (up to $500,000 per calendar year) and 5x points on prepaid hotels booked with AmexTravel.com.

Best of all, the earned rewards are in the form of American Express Membership Rewards points. We value Membership Rewards points at 2.2 cents each, the highest valuation for any transferable points currency. 

As expected, the Amex Platinum card also has a massive $695 annual fee (rates & fees). To offset the fee, it offers several annual statement credits (enrollment required), including up to $240 digital entertainment credit, up to $200 Uber Cash credit, and up to $200 prepaid hotel credit.

How the Amex Platinum Card’s Trip Delay Insurance Benefit Works

The Amex Platinum card has many travel insurance benefits, including trip delay insurance. With this coverage, cardholders can be reimbursed up to $500 per covered trip for necessary and reasonable expenses when a trip is delayed for more than 6 hours or requires an overnight stay for a covered reason.

To be eligible for trip delay insurance, you must use your Amex Platinum card to pay for round-trip travel. You must charge the full amount of a covered trip to your card — although you can charge the taxes and fees of an award ticket to your Amex Platinum and still get the coverage.

Despite Amex requiring round-trip travel, 2 separate one-way trips are also allowed as long as they start and end at the same airport.

You must file a trip delay insurance claim within 60 days of the travel interruption. You can take advantage of the trip delay insurance benefit up to 2 times per 12-month period. The benefit covers the cardmember and the cardmember’s spouse or domestic partner, qualifying children, and traveling companions.

My Experience With the Amex Platinum Card’s Trip Delay Insurance

In late 2024, I booked a weeklong trip to Orlando, Florida. The trip was wonderful, as I spent time with my dad. However, the return flight from MCO to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), the last nonstop flight of the night, was delayed because of a maintenance issue, and United Airlines gate agents informed passengers that the flight would be delayed until the early morning.

Rather than get in the long line for a hotel voucher, I booked my own hotel for the night, as I knew I had the insurance. I booked the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport because of its convenient location within the airport. Cash rates were slightly under $200, including taxes and fees. The hotel was fantastic, although I was only there for a few hours.

I had dinner at McCoy’s Bar and Grill on the lobby level. Fortunately, the sushi bar was still open — I enjoyed myself.

After returning home, I immediately began the trip delay insurance claim process. I contacted AIG, Amex’s benefits administrator, over the phone. I explained the situation and said I wanted to take advantage of the Amex Platinum card’s benefits.

The phone representative asked for basic information about the affected trip, including when I purchased the tickets and proof of payment on the Amex Platinum card, to ensure I met all the criteria for the claim. He then said I would receive a claim form via email with a list of required supporting documents, which was sent shortly after our 10-minute conversation.

After filling out the claim form, I provided the required supporting documents, which included:

• Proof of round-trip travel of the original itinerary
• Card statement proving payment of the itinerary on the Amex Platinum card
• Proof of the reason for the trip delay
• New itinerary
• Receipts for the expenses incurred I wanted to be reimbursed
• Card statement showing payment for the expenses

Overall, the claim process was simple, although gathering the necessary documents was not.

A few weeks after submitting my claim, I received an email notifying me that it had been approved. The following week, I received a check for the full amount, which amounted to slightly over $320.

Final Thoughts

The Amex Platinum card provides trip delay insurance, a valuable perk that reimburses cardholders for up to $500 in necessary expenses when their trip is delayed by at least 6 hours. 

The claim process was relatively straightforward, and I am glad that I got reimbursed for the entire amount, which covered my hotel stay for the night, a sushi dinner, and toiletries.

By taking advantage of one of the many Amex Platinum card benefits, I was able to recoup nearly half the card’s annual fee.

For the trip delay insurance benefit of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, up to $500 per covered trip that is delayed for more than 6 hours; and 2 claims per eligible card per 12 consecutive month period. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.