I spoke to Chubb today and thought I'd close the loop on the earlier discussion in the thread on this question.
My clear understanding was that yes, we are covered if we use the card to pay for taxes on an award flight, irrespective where the points come from, and on re-reading the Activation clauses, that makes sense now I reflect on it --- the clause says 'AMEX reward points, frequent flyer points' - as somone else pointed out, it doesn't say 'frequent flyer points transferred from AMEX rewards'
I'm also clear that it doesn't matter whether the trip is booked as one or more transactions (eg, separate PNRs), and by extension, I would think it is therefore unlikely to matter whether it's same or different airlines, as long as you can prove that it is, in practice, a return trip, departing from and returning to Australia (there is a reference to a maximum trip conditions somewhere in the T&Cs - from memory, 180 days).
I'm pleased as that saves me quite a bit of $ in taking out a separate policy for an upcoming trip - I get that it's all a question of 'risk tolerance' and some might take out a separate policy anyway, but I'm comfortable based on above.
Lastly, an interesting part of the discussion was that I assumed that f you only booked your trip to a destination before leaving Aust, but didn't book your return trip until after departing, that you wouldn't be covered - however, appears I'm incorrect - it appears that even if you booked your return trip after arriving at your destination, your cover would then be activated (and apparently activated from the date you left Aust, although I didn't drill-down for complete clarity on this point as it was more a side-issue that came up).
