How to Use Amex Trip Delay Insurance
Tl;dr: After a train cancellation, I made a phone call, submitted some receipts by email, and had a check for my hotel bill in about 5 weeks.
I recently took an Amtrak trip to New York City, where I was stranded when an electrical issue completely shut down service back to Boston. With no realistic alternative transportation available, I ended up spending an extra night in New York. Fortunately, because I paid for my train tickets with my new Amex Platinum, the card’s trip delay insurance paid off that hefty last-minute, Manhattan hotel stay. Here’s how it works.
Qualifying for coverage
The exact coverage depends on the specific terms of the card in question. Most high-end cards offer up to $500 in coverage for delays over six (6) hours, while mid-tier cards generally offer up to $300 in coverage for delays over twelve (12) hours.
To make a trip delay claim to Amex, you must meet certain requirements that vary slightly depending on the card (full terms in the link). First, only round trips are covered, although you can combine one-way and round-trip tickets, so long as you depart your city of residence and return within 365 days. Second, you must pay the entire fare with your eligible card. The delay must be due to a covered loss, most likely inclement weather that would stop “ a reasonable and prudent person from traveling or continuing” or an equipment failure by the common carrier (e.g. airline, train, etc.).
Coverage includes reasonable expenses such as lodging, meals, and toiletries. You must initiate the claim process within 60 days of the delay, and submit the required proof within 180 days.
Filing a claim
Unfortunately, to file a claim you’ll have to start by using the phone function of your phone. The claims are processed by a third-party insurer, AIG, rather than Amex directly, so you will have to contact them, and will have to do so by phone.
Once you reach out and explain the situation, they will send you an email with the claim number, forms, and the documentation you need. You will likely need:
Two different 1-page AIG Claim forms,
An acknowledgement form containing legal disclosures from AIG and agreeing to provide true and accurate information,
Both an original receipt or booking confirmation with the trip costs and a copy of the Amex billing statement showing that the trip was paid for with the same eligible card,
A copy of the new or revised Common Carrier Details (new ticket),
Proof of reason for the delay provided by the common carrier, and
Receipts for the expenses incurred due to the delay
My experience
I received the email with the claims forms and documentation requirements just a few hours after calling AIG. It took 30-60 minutes to fill out the paperwork and find, copy, and upload all the required documentation. I did not receive an acknowledgement email, but I received an email confirming that my claim was approved about 20 days later. I then received the check in the mail about 20 days after that.
I stayed in a very nice, but hardly luxurious, hotel near the train station. I used my IHG Premier to book a night at the Crowne Plaza, earned IHG 26 points per dollar, and got an upgrade, welcome points, a snack, and a glass of champagne thanks to my Platinum status from the card. I had no issues getting reimbursed despite using a non-Amex card to book the hotel.
Recommendations
Remember that a cancellation can be a delay. I spent about half an hour in the train station trying to decide whether my train cancellation was a “trip cancellation” in Amex-speak. But that’s a whole other thing, where you simply don’t travel. If your flight (or bus, or train, etc.) is cancelled, but then you continue your trip with a later one, then your trip is only “delayed.”
Document everything. Keep your receipts, obviously, but also be sure to get documentation of the weather issue or carrier equipment issue to use when filing your claim. I made sure to take a screenshot of the Amtrak announcement of the equipment failure:
Claim everything. For some reason, I paid for my dinner with an inKind credit and discount, so I decided not to claim dinner as an expense as I wasn’t sure what AIG would make of inKind’s unusual payment structure. If I could go back and do it again, I would have just paid for dinner with a credit card and claimed it, or at least have submitted the receipt from inKind and hoped for the best. The worst they can say is no.
Be reasonable. I thought my hotel was very, very nice, but I didn’t splurge. Clean, comfortable hotels with solid reviews were running $250-350 on the night of my delay; the Crowne Plaza cost about $290 and did not raise any questions. Perhaps I could have tested the limits, but I was happy with my stay and got reimbursed fairly quickly.
Conclusion
Amex’s trip delay insurance can save you a lot of money and stress when unforeseen delays put your travel plans on hold. The claims process is relatively painless and only took me about a month and a half from the time I started my claim until I was reimbursed for my hotel. It’s a great reason to have a premium travel card and to use it when booking trips.