How My Amex Credit Card Benefits Provide Peace Of Mind While Traveling

I could easily extract another $500 to $1,000 in benefits from my Amex Business Platinum card—but here are the ones I’ve used (or take comfort in knowing are available) in the past few years while traveling.

Lounge Access

The American Express Business Platinum offers several lounge access options. It includes over a dozen Amex-owned Centurion Lounges, as well as a partnership with Priority Pass and other lounge networks to give cardholders access to over 1,400 lounges around the globe.

I now live in Florida—but frequently travel back to Washington state to visit family. Over the past few years, I’ve traveled through Seattle’s SeaTac airport (SEA) at least five times—and have enjoyed access to one of the newest Centurion lounges in the country.

The SeaTac Centurion lounge is located on the second floor adjacent to the food courts—and I’ve been able to save money (and my sanity) by spending time at the lounge before my departure.

The Centurion lounge allows you to arrive up to three hours prior to your departure and enjoy free coffee, excellent food (buffet-style) and access to private restrooms and blazing-fast WiFi. I book most of my flights for late morning because SeaTac is far away, and I hate getting up early. The breakfast buffet is excellent, and the coffee bar offers Seattle-worthy lattes at no extra expense.

I have also spent some time in Denver’s Centurion Lounge—and was able to enjoy a fantastic breakfast scramble and mimosas before a late morning flight.

Both of these lounges melt away the hustle and bustle of busy airports—allowing me to actually get work done in a quiet and comfortable space—all while enjoying better food than most airports offer.

I have yet to take advantage of the Priority Pass lounge access, but I have definitely gotten my money’s worth from the Centurion lounges alone.

Travel Delay Insurance

I occasionally (OK—more than occasionally) fly Frontier and Allegiant Airlines. These carriers are notorious for travel delays and missed connections, as well as flight cancellations.

While I have yet to use the travel delay insurance¹, I love knowing that I can be compensated for trip delays of six hours or longer. Amex partners with New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company—and will reimburse me for up to $500 in expenses related to a delayed trip. One important thing to note is that trip delay coverage from Amex is covered for round-trip travel.

Now, I did have Frontier miss a connection once, but the airline gave me a hotel voucher and shuttle service, plus a meal voucher. However, it was much less stressful knowing I could have it covered through my Platinum card, if needed.

Rental car Insurance

American Express offers car rental insurance coverage⁴ as part of the benefits of many cards, but the Platinum card offers higher coverage limits. For example, the Amex Business Platinum card covers up to $75,000 in damage or theft costs, while the Amex Gold card (and Business Gold) covers up to $50,000 in damage or theft costs.

But those are both secondary insurance coverages—which means my personal auto insurance policy needs to cover me, or I need to purchase primary coverage from the car rental agency.

Instead, I upgrade my car insurance to the American Express Premium Car Rental Protection plan. This is a paid service that lets me add primary car insurance coverage to a rental car for up to 42 consecutive days of coverage—at a flat rate (not per day).

All I have to do is enroll in this coverage on the Amex website, and when I rent a car, the coverage is automatically in effect—assuming I pay for the car rental with my Amex Platinum card.

I’ve rented several cars over the past few years and always elect this coverage. The cost is anywhere from $12.25 to $24.95 per rental period—while primary coverage from a car rental agency can be upwards of $50 per day!

As a Florida resident, I have only paid $15.25 for a one week rental several times. This covers up to $100,000 of primary coverage for damage or theft, up to $100,000 for accidental death and dismemberment coverage, up to $15,000 in secondary medical expenses (per passenger), and up to $15,000 in personal property damage.

• Note. Personal property damage coverage is $5,000 for everyone else, but I get $15,000 in coverage as a Florida resident.

My Amex Business Platinum lets me save hundreds in primary and secondary coverage costs—as well as rest easy knowing I have high coverage amounts.

Hertz Status

Another rental car perk is Hertz President’s Circle status. As an Amex Platinum cardholder, I simply applied for President’s Circle Status through my American Express benefits portal. Once approved, I was able to take advantage of free car upgrades and the Hertz Ultimate Choice® lot at several airports—allowing me to pick any available car in that lot.

I’ve been able to pick up minivans for the price of a basic midsize sedan—saving me hundreds of dollars for a week-long rental. And Hertz also offers preferred rates for Amex Platinum cardholders—giving me lower rates than most other rental car agencies—with more choice.

I enjoy this perk and have even impressed my family when they walk on the lot, and I say “pick a car, any car!”

CLEAR® Plus Credit

Once, I was running late. Like—I only had an hour until departure.

And I was stuck in a TSA line that nightmares are made of at Denver International Airport.

Luckily, I remembered I had an Amex Platinum that I had just picked up—and it came with a $189 CLEAR® Plus credit. I quickly grabbed a CLEAR agent, told him I needed to sign up right now and became a CLEAR® Plus member in about five minutes.

I was instantly whisked through security (much to the chagrin of my TSA line-waiting brethren), placed in the front of the line, and was through the TSA checkpoint in about eight minutes. I was on time for my flight and was even able to grab a coffee before I boarded.

A few weeks later, the CLEAR® Plus credit hit my Amex account—and I never had to pay a dime. Since then, I’ve used CLEAR® Plus about four or five times, and it’s usually a huge time-saver. It was another no-brainer perk that I was able to use without even giving it a second thought.