Citibank Platinum International Travel Insurance

[wxlen]

I understand the conditions attached to the platimum card international travel insurance which requires payments for travel to be made by your Credit card. They also have strict rules if you use FF points. You must have 15,000 points transferred in the past 6 months. It used to be 10,000 points.

Paypal are again offering cashback up to $200 for travel purchases through a number of online agents. My question is: does payment through paypal which comes off my credit card (if I change the default option whereby paypal try to steer you to a bank transfer instead) count as a credit card payment for the trip?

According to the claim form, you must show as proof your CC statement that the trip has been paid for by CC. But the statement will show a paypal payment.

I am not making a claim (I hope) just tossing up whether to rely on the platinum CC travel insurance for my next trip. I wonder if this offer by paypal will trigger an exclusion on the insurance.

 

[Mr Ed]

As your lying in a U.S. hospital for the 8th day and needing evac back to Australia.... I ask you this question.....Do you want the angst from having to ask that very question?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

As your lying in a U.S. hospital for the 8th day and needing evac back to Australia.... I ask you this question.....Do you want the angst from having to ask that very question?

Spoken like a true flight center professional :!:

 

[Mr Ed]

I use the same insurance but always use the card for flight purchase.
Your asking for trouble when trying to diddle insurance companies.
I hit a patch of ice whilst walking in Boston, slid for 5 metres and all I could think about was......hope that insurace cover isn't dodgy.

Na not in the travel industry. Having to deal with all those tourists... Yuck!!!!

 

[wxlen]

As your lying in a U.S. hospital for the 8th day and needing evac back to Australia.... I ask you this question.....Do you want the angst from having to ask that very question?

Mr Ed, you are of course right. And if I was going to the US or India or somewhere like that, I would not rely on the CC travel insurance. I usually buy seperate insurance. I will not travel without insurance under any circumstance.

However my next trip is a cruise around Australia, but it is considered "international". I can't see much risk relying on my Citi Platinum International Insurance and thereby save a few hundred dollars.

Next trip is to the Netherlands where there is a reciprocal arrangement with Medicare. My only risk is the one hour stopover on the way.
However if it was not for Citi Platimum insurance I would buy travel insurance anyway despite the reciprocal arrangement.

I have read the conditions very carefully even to the point of getting a claim form from the insurer (Zurich). Except for satisfying the conditions re payment and use of FF points, according to me a possible claim will be dealt with much the same way as having private insurance who also use Zurich. But I am being very careful, hence my question.

 

[Nutcase]

As your lying in a U.S. hospital for the 8th day and needing evac back to Australia.... I ask you this question.....Do you want the angst from having to ask that very question?

Beautifully put!

Why don't you get the AMEX platinum charge card for $600 (just ask) and your travel insurance is covered even if you don't charge the trip to the card. Plus you get the free domestic flight with the comp'd credit card.

I think that this is a bit of a gem really although you aren't covered for acts of terrorism from memory.

Just a thought.

 

[odysseus]

According to the claim form, you must show as proof your CC statement that the trip has been paid for by CC. But the statement will show a paypal payment.

I'd just see them as an intermediary, the same as a travel agent (or Cabcharge!). If you go through a TA, the charge may well be done by them on behalf of xx_ cruises, yyy airlines or hotel chain.

Simply, the question they're trying to ask is 1) is there covered travel? 2) Did it get charged to the card? Both of which are true in this case. Citibank/the insurers aren't getting less commission because the transaction went through paypal, so there's no detriment to them in this case.

Then again, some people don't handle exceptions or variations well, so if you meet one of those, there could be a hassle.

 

[Ekka]

The contraction of "you are" is "you're", not "your". The terms sound similar, but are entirely different, and thus have entirely different meanings.

In this country we have centres, not "centers", which is a word from a different dialect based loosely on English.

 

[drron]

The contraction of "you are" is "you're", not "your". The terms sound similar, but are entirely different, and thus have entirely different meanings.

In this country we have centres, not "centers", which is a word from a different dialect based loosely on English.

Around here you will find many of us whose fingers just wont do what they are told when typing.You are liable to get many fractured words.
jost mi too sents wurth

 

[mbeder]

For the past few years I have relied on the travel insurance policy that comes with the Qantas Ultimate Amex card.
Having paid for the travel (airfares) on the card, it has covered me for trips to the US, Asia, South Africa, Europe and interstate.
I did however have to take out a separate policy for a recent Asian cruise as it hadn't been paid for by the card.
I generally call Amex before each trip to ensure I'm covered for that trip and also get them to send through their latest PDS (at the same time I alert them to the countries I'm visiting so that they don't think the card has been stolen).
Perhaps I'm naive, but I feel as safe being covered by their policy as with any other. :?::!:
It also covers any accompanying family, so while I pay a fairly high annual card fee (includes a free internal flight), it is much less than the cost of an annual family travel insurance policy.

 

[benbegg]

We transferred 260,000 QF points a while back from Citibank to QFF and then booked a RW QF Airfare. We were assaulted at Trastavere Station in Rome and lost all our valuables. The CitiBank Travel Insurance covered us for the lot when we got back, BUT I must say it was a bit inconvenient that we had no support overseas for emergency cash and immediate replacement of items etc. It was week 2 of a 12 week trip and we lost our camera, all our credit cards, mobile phone. We made arrangments with Mastercard over the phone to send us some cash which was a saviour and we replaced the items (at inflated prices). Needless to say I luckily had the passports around the neck and lets just say the 2 guys just grabbed the backpacks (one was on my wife's back at the time) and ran!!

 

[Killakoala]

After reading the fine print (in detail) of Mastercard Platinum travel insurance for a recent trip of mine to NZ, I decided that with all the required information I was required to take with me that it was much easier to arrange independent travel insurance with a 'proper' insurance company.

I do not trust insurance companies in general but I did eventually go with a company that I had had a successful claim with previously. The clauses that Mastercard had were actually difficult to attain. Having to provide the information and printouts of travel documentation, etc, was going to prove to be no easy task. The fine print of the company I went with was readable, understandable and I could provide all the relevant documentation.

It really pays to read the fine print, especially when dealing with insurance.

 

[cornucopia]

I must admit to ingrained scepticism about insurance companies, particularly when the cover is 'free'. However, when travelling overseas I've relied on the cover provided by my CBA Platinum Master Card through Zurich for some years now and I have a very positive experience to relate in that regard.

In 2006 we had arranged a long holiday in the US and Europe and some months before our scheduled departure my then 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma, aka Lympahtic Cancer. Of course we cancelled all travel arrangements immediately, however there were thousands of dollars in non refundable travel expenses. We lodged a claim with Zurich and it was dealt with both promply and courteously and the entire amount of the claim was paid (less the $200 excess) within weeks. I can't imagine a 'paid' policy yielding a better result. Footnote: in case you were wondering, our daughter is in remission and she's going with us to Colorado skiing in December. With her boyfriend!!

 

[Dreamweaver]

My wife & I used our Gold Commonwealth Visa Card free travel insurance on a recent Canada trip. We only needed to have paid for our international air tickets using our gold card to quallify for the free insurance. We took evidence with us that we paid by credit card. My wife broke her leg after 6 days in Canada. We contacted the reverse charges number. We had hotel accommodation paid in Canada after the accident, hospital expenses paid, air tickets including business class for my wife back home (costing $10,000 one way), cancellation of our Canada & other holiday costs exceeding $20,000 paid & a car and driver from the airport to home. All went very well. We can recommend this product provided you read & understand the conditions. Most of the policy terms are very similar to policies that you buy elsewhere.

 

[ethernet]

I have CBA Gold, but have not use it. Oh, and I believe you have you use it both ways and not paypal.

I paid for travel insurance once - denied because a cruise ship at sea was declared a 'public place' . Feeling cheated, no more money for doubtful policies.

US Credit cards offer much more insurance and CDW (at least on US Amex), and were very easily obtained before GFC. Nowadays not so, and credit limits have been frozen or lowered for everyone - thats why USA shopping malls are sparse.

If you have a US friend with an Amex, they can order another card for you, and with a bit of address creativity, Amex will to offer you your 'own' card after a while - but I dont know post GFC.

On tricks, a sock or ribbon on your suitcase handle helps mixups, a dummy wallet and dummy handbag, and wired to an emergency 'screamer' . Wearing a plastic $4 watch and steel cap shoes tells the baddies to move on to other pigeons, whereas a silk tie and a briefcase attracts them.

 

[Ev1dent]

Before heading OS for 3 and a bit months last year I upgraded to a CBA Plat Mastercard to pay for our flights because the gold card only covered trips of up to 30 days I think.

One thing to be aware of is exclusions. Some commercial insurance offers automatic coverage of common illnesses, such as well controlled diabetes, whereas credit card insurance usually involves messing around getting a medical report and paying a fee to the credit card company. For a short trip, the fee, the cost of going to the doctor plus the hastle factor doesn't make it worth using the credit card cover.

How does the Amex cover compare on these fronts?

 

[AllanG]

After reading the fine print (in detail) of Mastercard Platinum travel insurance for a recent trip of mine to NZ, I decided that with all the required information I was required to take with me that it was much easier to arrange independent travel insurance with a 'proper' insurance

Not sure what is mean't here I use CBA Platinum mastercard for a while and 2 years ago my wife had to be hospitalised in China. I contacted the insurance company and they were great, they immediately checked on the hospital and the doctor as they said if they weren't happy they would have her immediately transfered to Bejing or flown home, then had Australian doctors talking to me daily telling me what questions to ask etc. when I put the claim in for mediacl, extra hotels, meals rebooked more expensice airfares it was paid immediately without a question.

I am currently in North America after 3 months in South America and prior to going I carefully read the credit card policy and compared it 2 other leading ones pushed by travel companies and the difference were so minute not to matter

 

[bazzam]

I understand the conditions attached to the platimum card international travel insurance which requires payments for travel to be made by your Credit card. They also have strict rules if you use FF points. You must have 15,000 points transferred in the past 6 months. It used to be 10,000 points.

Paypal are again offering cashback up to $200 for travel purchases through a number of online agents. My question is: does payment through paypal which comes off my credit card (if I change the default option whereby paypal try to steer you to a bank transfer instead) count as a credit card payment for the trip?

According to the claim form, you must show as proof your CC statement that the trip has been paid for by CC. But the statement will show a paypal payment.

I am not making a claim (I hope) just tossing up whether to rely on the platinum CC travel insurance for my next trip. I wonder if this offer by paypal will trigger an exclusion on the insurance.

Coming back to the original question, the Citibank policy is unclear as to whether paypal purchases would be covered. It states

"“use of the cardholder’s eligible Platinum credit card account”
means that your overseas travel ticket (but not taxes or airport or
travel agent charges) was obtained prior to the commencement date of
your journey by one of the following methods:
• cost charged to a cardholder’s eligible Platinum credit card
account"

This would imply that charging it to paypal who then charges the cost to your card would be covered. However the exclusion says that:

"Please note that no cover is provided under the International Travel
Insurance Policy when the overseas travel tickets have been fully or
partially obtained by redeeming points or rewards from schemes other
than as outlined above."

So basically, it depends on whether Zurich considers paypal to be a scheme as per the exclusions. I would just call and ask them...

 

[Dougo]

Last year for our 3 1/2 mth holiday overseas, we tossed up whether or not to relly on our gold Mastercard insurance and after reading what was covered / not covered, we decided not to buy any additional cover.

I could have used the medical services in Belgium, but forgot about contacting them first before seeking medical advice - that cost me only 23 Euros so I wasn't worried at all. When we got to the States, I had a really bad flu/cold and wanted to see a Dr but had inadvertantly left the copy of our cover etc at a friend's place on the other side of the country...so needless to say I relied on old fashioned methods to get well enough to make the flight home.

A few weeks ago on a cruise, I fell down a flight of stairs on the ship - cost to see the Dr on board, x rays, splint, copy of Xray - $US 260. I'm tossing up about whether to claim or not as I'd probably only get about $AUD 70 back and I'm not sure if in this instance it's worth the hassle of getting the paperwork together. Plus, some 15 hours later that day, a medical emergency kind of put my medical issues into perspective.

There was a urgent call for blood donors of a particular type about 4 hours after we left port (around 10.00pm). Then at 1am, the Captain announced they had to turn the ship around to rendevous with the coast guard some 3 hours away at 4am. The critically ill person had to be airlifted off the ship at sea somewhere along the Canadian coast line.

I'd hate to think how much that cost.

 

[brucek]

OK, can someone simplify this for me pse? Call me thick if you like, but the original posting was about Citibank, and some respondents are also talking about CCs from other banks/providers.

I have a Citibank Platinum Visa card issued in Australia. Have just purchased two airfares MEL-SIN-MEL off the Emirats WWW site using my Citibank CC.

If my wife or I have an accident enroute or whilst OS, are we covered for any accident or medical emergency by the insurance attached to Citibank CC by virtue of making the airfare purchase with my Citibank CC?

Where do we stand if, for instance, we take a side trip on a bus and slip getting out of the bus or whilst at the tourist attraction the bus took us to? I ask this because I've been led to beleive that the cost of the travel or activity has to be paid for using my Citibank CC. I'm trying to understand where the insurance cover begins and ends.

I've been told that one should call Citibank first before engagaing medical assistance and get an authorisation number before proceeding? Is this correct? (A bit hard to do if you've just had a heart attack and are incapable of thinking to make the call or are incapable of doing so even if one has the presence of mind under the circumstances to do so!).

I'm heartened by what some of you have writen, but would appreciate your feedback re my questions, and how they apply to Citibank specificaly.