How good are credit card free travel insurance offers

[Ultimobo]

rental car excess - when I researched this intensively before my US trip last Aug-Sep I found it only covered a relatively small difference in excess only, NOT the main insurance, and only AFTER you took out all the various main insurances for rental cars which pretty much seemed a rip-off to me.

I short - it didn't cover the main thing I was interested in, and only then after I'd paid for a lot of stuff I didn't want ...

in other words excess insurance is NOT main insurance - confuse them at your own risk!

I ended up not renting a car because after a months heavy research I couldn't satisfy myself that I was covered for all likely risks. And cheap interstate buses for like $20 ended up way cheaper than the $50++ a day I would have paid anyway ...

 

[serfty]

...
I ended up not renting a car because after a months heavy research I couldn't satisfy myself that I was covered for all likely risks. And cheap interstate buses for like $20 ended up way cheaper than the $50++ a day I would have paid anyway ...

You should have come here first ... and found out about cartrawler type sites such as Arguscarhire.com - search over 550 car hire suppliers worldwide and DriveAway Holidays who offer rentals at competitive rates that include ALL insurances.

FWIW, it's often OZ and NZ that have the 'excess reduction' type terms that many Oz insurance relate to.

 

[AdMEL]

You should have come here first ... and found out about cartrawler type sites such as Arguscarhire.com - search over 550 car hire suppliers worldwide and DriveAway Holidays who offer rentals at competitive rates that include ALL insurances.

FWIW, it's often OZ and NZ that have the 'excess reduction' type terms that many Oz insurances relate to.

.... and the UK and Europe!

It's really only the US that doesn't have an excess on their car hire insurance (i.e. either no insurance or insurance with no excess).

 

[Muriel]

We have Amex Gold (now upgrading to Platinum), & Qantas Visa but have not been able to use for any of our LONG trips. 5 months in 2008 and 5 months in 2010. From what we were told, they only cover you for (from memory) up to 2-3 months AND each company has different rules as to how much you need to spend on the card to be able to claim. Usually about $250 prior to dpearture. Others you need to pay the whole fare on the card. Call the company for info over the phone and ask them to send the information in writing! Also look out for age restrictions, pre existing conditions etc. Non payment if you leave things in public transport etc.

Another way to go is - talk to your normal health insurer, get a quote from them (they are usually very favourable) and consider puting a halt on your health insurance for the time you are away and using that money to pay for your travel insurance. Health insurers will allow you to do this. You need to do it before you leave and let them know the minute you arrive back in the country to restart your normal health insurance. From memory, you can do this for up to 6 months. Howevere you do not get membership credits for the time the policy in is in abeyance. When you put a temporary stop on your health ins. you don't necessarily have to use that company for tvl insurance. You are at liberty to insure with whoever you choose.

 

[Muriel]

You should have come here first ... and found out about cartrawler type sites such as who offer rentals at competitive rates that include ALL insurances.

FWIW, it's often OZ and NZ that have the 'excess reduction' type terms that many Oz insurance relate to.

Drive Away are marvellous. We have used them many time, often booking at the last minute while overseas. You pay in Aussie dollars and we have been told by other rental car companies that they can't beat driveaway. We have also been given upgrades. However - be wary of HUGE drop off fees if you are returning a car to a different location. We hired a car in Canada (not through drive away) and the drop off fee was almost as much again as the rental - even though it was being dropped off at a well used location.

 

[Moopere]

Call the company for info over the phone and ask them to send the information in writing!

All the info you'll ever really need is in the PDS which the various companies will always send you as they change conditions and are generally available on the web too. The difficulty is remembering to always read them cover to cover and keep up to date as the companies change their policies over time.

I always take my CC insurance PDS with me when I travel just in case I need to call and have an argument.

 

[Ultimobo]

thanks for the car rental insurance suggestions serfty - I'll keep that in mind for next time ...

 

[Dougo]

Westpac Gold Card insurance does not, nor has it ever to my knowledge, provided cover for rental car excess in Australia.

Although I never relied upon the "free TI" for hire cars in Australia, I thought it was covered, I did not see anything in the policy to indicate hire cars in Australia weren't covered.

We relied upon the "free" TI for hire car insurance in the UK and now realise what a big risk we took.

 

[Dougo]

Another way to go is - talk to your normal health insurer, get a quote from them (they are usually very favourable)

I think that would depend very much on your age and individual circumstances. The quote we got from our health insurer was the highest quote of any of the insurance companies we contacted ... and we contacted quite a number of them.

Some insurance companies won't insure people over 60 yo and others almost double the premium if you are say retirement age. And if you're travelling to the Antarctica you practically need to take out a 2nd mortgage !

One of the things that does concern me about the "free" CC insurance is that I haven't as yet read anything about needing to inform the insurer about where you are travelling to - it's basically the first question that any insurance company asks you. So my question is ... is there any fine print that says you must inform the insurance company of where you are travelling to or do you just go and assume you will be covered as you have no pre-existing conditions etc

 

[straitman]

One of the things that does concern me about the "free" CC insurance is that I haven't as yet read anything about needing to inform the insurer about where you are travelling to - it's basically the first question that any insurance company asks you. So my question is ... is there any fine print that says you must inform the insurance company of where you are travelling to or do you just go and assume you will be covered as you have no pre-existing conditions etc

I am only referring to the Amex Platinum Charge card with this answer. There is no requirement to notify them about when or where at all.

 

[oz_mark]

One of the things that does concern me about the "free" CC insurance is that I haven't as yet read anything about needing to inform the insurer about where you are travelling to - it's basically the first question that any insurance company asks you. So my question is ... is there any fine print that says you must inform the insurance company of where you are travelling to or do you just go and assume you will be covered as you have no pre-existing conditions etc

I haven't seen any where you do need to. The free CC insurance is generally run under a master policy between the bank and the insurance company, and you only have to comply with whatever the requirements specified in the document are (paying on the card or whatever)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

ANZ plat does seem the way to go - 6 months coverage, some pre-existing covered, low $250 spend. And coverage until 80 years of age (which is important for my parents - premiums with other companies are double or triple at that age).

I was very surprised when I first learned about the trip spend requirements with some other (non-ANZ) cards. They say you have to put the whole cost of the ticket on your card to be covered, and that INCLUDES having to have earned all the FF points via that ticket.

 

[melaus]

Quite agree MEL_T

I've had a few different "free" policies over the years and am yet to fault the ANZ one which I think is the same for Gold & Platinum holders.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I'm very much a sceptic when it comes to dealing with insurance companies and strongly believe that they are not in the business to pay out money and will look for any opportunity to weasle out of paying claims (just look at the recent situation in Qld).

With the travel policies offered by credit cards I'm even more sceptical and therefore rely soley on travel insurance purchase directly with the insurance company so I know exactly what it is I'm getting (and not getting!). Here's a another link relating to credit card travel insurance policies

Best and worst credit cards for travel insurance - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

+1
I have a Earth Gold CC and always purchase a separate Travel Insurance policy on top of my CC Insurance, just to be on the safe side.
I find that Columbus is decent.