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American Express Card Changes: Trip Delay Insurance; Corporate Card Lower Annual Fees & Earning Rates [Updated 11/4]

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Updated 8:30am PT on 11/4: I just reviewed my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card statement and noticed changes to trip cancellation / interruption insurance, trip delay insurance, Boingo Preferred Plan, and Gogo Preferred Plan.  Please scroll to the bottom of the post to see those updates.


Good afternoon everyone, I hope your weekend is going well.  I was just reviewing my recent American Express credit card statements and spotted a few announcements / changes.  None of these changes seem that important to me, but they do cover Gold Card trip delay insurance, corporate card annual fees, corporate card earning rates, Green Card bonus categories, and mediation / arbitration.  This statement came from my American Express Gold Card, but I saw most of the same announcements / changes listed on my other American Express credit card statements too.

Effective January 1, 2020, the American Express Gold Card is introducing trip delay insurance.  This insurance only kicks in when you book a roundtrip flight and your flight is more than 12 hours delayed.  If that happens, you are covered for up to $300 in reimbursements for meals and accommodations.  It says this coverage is secondary, so it must kick in after the airline’s coverage (primary coverage).  I’m not sure how competitive that is with other premium travel rewards credit cards.

a close-up of a card

The next page has information about changes to corporate cards and their annual fees.  Corporate cards are different than small business cards, so you must be an employee of a large company to be issued a corporate card. Effective March 6, 2020, the annual fees on certain corporate cards are being lowered.  In the Getting Points section, it says that you could earn 1 Membership Rewards Point per dollar or 1 Membership Rewards Points per two dollars, your company can choose which earning structure they want, and they have the ability to change that earning structure every year.

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The next page doesn’t have any useful information.

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This page summarizes the changes that were announced earlier.  It also covers changes to the American Express Green Card regarding the bonus categories.  Interestingly, in the travel bonus category, you will not earn bonus points for timeshare purchases (bummer!); in the restaurant bonus category, you will not earn bonus points for restaurants located inside hotels, casinos, or event venues; or at bars, nightclubs, cafeterias, and convenience stores (no love for cafeterias, but maybe cafes will work).

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This page covers mediation and arbitration – two subjects I know very little about.  But under the Arbitration Procedures heading, it says that the arbitration is to be kept confidential and that you are not allowed to discuss the proceedings or the outcomes – this is very hush hush.

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Lastly, there is an announcement about EFT Error Resolution – another area that I know nothing about, but it does sound like an annoying process if you have to go through the steps.

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As I mentioned above, here are the new announcements / changes that were listed on my American Express Business Platinum Charge Card statement.  If you book a roundtrip flight with your card and experience a trip cancellation or trip interruption, you are covered up to $10,000 per trip and up to $20,000 per rolling 12 month period.  That is really generous.  If your roundtrip flight is delayed by more than 6 hours, you are eligible for the trip delay insurance which will reimburse you up to $500 for meals and accomodations.  Both coverages are secondary, so you must work with your airline first before these benefits kick in.

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In other news, effective January 1, 2020, both Boingo and Gogo wifi plans will no longer be offered to cardmembers.  I never got much use out of Boingo, but I enjoyed using the internet on flights with Gogo.

a close-up of a card

If you have any questions about any of these announcements / changes, please leave a comment below.  Have a great weekend everyone!


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