November 19, 2024: Amex Trip Delay Insurance is a benefit on some American Express cards that can cover expenses like food, transportation, and lodging when your trip is delayed for weather, terrorist action, equipment failure, or lost or stolen passports or other documents.
To get coverage, you must book your travel using your eligible American Express card. Here’s everything you need to know about American Express trip delay insurance.
In this article…
Which expenses does Amex trip delay insurance cover?
American Express trip delay insurance can cover reasonable expenses that you incur as a result of your trip delay.
Reasonable expenses include things like meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal use items. Other expenses may be reimbursed if they are reasonable.
Depending on your card, you may have either $300 of coverage after a 12 hour delay or $500 of coverage per trip with delays of six hours or more.
How to get Amex trip delay insurance coverage
To be eligible for coverage under Amex trip delay insurance, you must charge your common carrier transportation to your card that carries the benefit. Amex trip delay insurance covers only round-trip travel, but it may include combinations of round-trip and one way tickets.
Here are the most important things to remember:
- Your trip must be round-trip, starting and ending at the same city.
- You can purchase one-way tickets. As long as your entire journey is round-trip, Amex trip delay insurance coverage will cover you.
- You must charge all common carrier fares to your eligible card. If you purchase a common carrier fare (airlines, ferries, train tickets, etc.) on another card, you may be ineligible for coverage. (Taxis, limousine services, commuter rail and bus line, personal automobiles and rental vehicles do not count as common carriers.)
- The round trip may not exceed 365 days away from your city of residence.
Which cards offer Amex trip delay insurance?
These cards offer the premium tier of Amex trip delay insurance, which has a benefit limit of $500 per delay and kicks in after a six hour delay:
- The Platinum Card®
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Goldman Sachs
- The Platinum Card® from American Express Exclusively for Charles Schwab
- The Platinum Card® from American Express for Morgan Stanley
- Business Platinum Card®
- The American Express Corporate Platinum Card®:
- Centurion® Card from American Express
- Business Centurion® Card from American Express
- The Corporate Centurion® Card from American Express
- Delta Reserve® Credit Card
- Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card
- Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card
These cards offer the standard tier of Amex trip delay insurance, which has a benefit limit of $300 per delay and kicks in after a 12 hour delay:
- American Express® Gold Card
- American Express Green Card®
- American Express® Business Gold Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
- Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card
- Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card
What types of delays does Amex trip delay insurance cover?
Amex trip delay insurance won’t cover every type of delay. Here are the types of delays that Amex trip delay insurance will cover:
- Inclement weather, including severe weather that delays the arrival or departure of a common carrier, such as an airline
- Terrorist action or hijacking
- Common carrier equipment failure
- Lost or stolen passports or travel documents
There are a few types of delays that are notably absent from this list. Crew scheduling delays and crew time-out delays likely won’t be covered. Delays to involuntary denied boarding or caused by equipment swaps for operational reasons may also not be covered.
If you need to file a claim, Amex will likely require you to obtain a statement of the reason for a delay from your air carrier or other common carrier.
Who is covered by Amex trip delay insurance?
American Express trip delay insurance covers you and your family members when you book the entire round-trip cost of your eligible trip with your card. You do not need to be traveling with your family members for them to be eligible for coverage. Here’s who is included in family:
- Your spouse or domestic partner.
- Your dependent children up to age 19, or under age 26, if they are full-time students.
Additionally, your traveling companions are eligible for coverage if they are traveling with you for all or part of your trip.
Other things to know about Amex trip delay insurance
Here are a few other things you should know about Amex trip delay insurance.
There is no provision for overnight delays. While other credit card trip delay protection benefits cover overnight delays regardless of length, there is no such coverage on Amex trip delay insurance. If you booked your trip using a card with Amex standard trip delay insurance and are delayed overnight, but your total delay is less than 12 hours, you will likely receive no reimbursement from the benefit.
Limits are per trip, not per passenger. When you travel together with eligible traveling companions, it’s important to understand that the benefit maximum on your card is per-trip. This means that you and any eligible people traveling with you will be cumulatively limited to $300 of expenses total if you booked your trip using a card with the standard tier of travel insurance.
How to file an Amex trip delay insurance claim
You must begin your claim within 60 days of the date of your travel delay, or your claim might not be honored. Like with most things insurance-related, it’s best to submit your claim as soon as possible.
To start your claim, you must call the benefit administrator at 1-844-933-0648.
The benefit administrator will provide you with more information about how to provide them with your proof of loss. You will likely be asked to fill out a claim form and provide the following:
- A statement from the airline or common carrier the the trip was delayed.
- The receipt for your travel showing your charge to your eligible card.
- Copies of your airline or common carrier tickets.
- Receipts for travel expenses.
- Other information requested by the benefit administrator.
The Amex trip delay insurance policy states that you must furnish written proof of your loss within 180 days after the date of your loss. American Express can extend this deadline up to one year. But it’s best to get your proof of loss in promptly.
After you file your claim, the benefit administrator will review your trip delay claim and make a determination. If they determine that you have a valid claim, you will receive reimbursement for your expenses, up to the limit of coverage.
What to do when you trip is delayed overnight
When your trip is delayed significantly, the most important thing to remember is this: Get receipts for everything.
When you later submit your claim, the benefit administrator will ask you for documentation, including your receipts. In many cases, if you don’t have itemized receipts, the benefit administrator may use that as a basis for denying your trip protection claim. At a minimum, be sure to do the following:
- Save all receipts from expenses that you want to have reimbursed.
- Get itemized receipts for everything. Don’t assume that the receipt you sign at the restaurant or the credit card receipt from the hotel. Get itemized receipts for meals and ask for an itemized bill at the end of your hotel stay.
- Print a copy of your boarding pass, flight itinerary, and receipt. You should be able to do this at an airport kiosk, or an agent might be able to assist.
- Snap a photo showing the flight. You’ll need to later get a statement from the carrier about the delay, but having some documentation can help.
My experience: Easy claims process and full payment
In October 2024, I was scheduled to fly to Orlando with my family for a wedding the day after Hurricane Milton rolled through Florida. We originally booked a direct flight to Orlando, since we were traveling with three kids, getting in at a reasonable 7:00 p.m. local time.
An hour after we arrived at the Minneapolis airport, all of the flights to Orlando were canceled and we ended up getting rebooked to Jacksonville, Florida, getting in around Midnight. It would have been impractical to get to Orlando that night, so we stayed overnight in Jacksonville and rented a car to continue our trip to Orlando.
I had booked my travel with my Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, so when we returned home. I submitted an Amex trip delay insurance claim. Expenses I requested included food, transportation to the hotel via Uber, the hotel charges, our rental car to Orlando, and gas charges.
The claims process was fairly simple—it took about half an hour total to assemble the documentation Amex requested. And within two weeks, I had a check reimbursing everything I had requested.
Bottom line: Amex Trip Delay insurance is great
Amex trip delay insurance protection can cover your expenses when you book your trip with a card that offers the benefit and your trip is delayed for one of a handful of covered reasons, including weather. And in my experience, the claims process is straightforward and low-hassle.
