Amex Adds Lucrative $1600 Cell Phone Protection Benefit To Many Cards

A new phone is a great joy in life, probably even more than it should be. Dropping it – not so much.

There’s no quicker way to wipe the smile off your face, than dropping the phone on day one while attempting to put the screen protector on. Fears over losing the phone, further damaging it or dropping it down the toilet forever remain too, but Amex has a compelling new reason to pay your phone bill with their cards, which takes most of the worries away.

Amex, in its latest move to keep cardholders happy while travel is on pause for many, is adding an amazingly lucrative new benefit for many premium cards which sees new protection for phones, even cracked screens, up to $1600 per year.

New Amex Cell Phone Protection Benefit

Amex is not only adding a cell phone protection benefit for cardholders, but going further than most, to cover cracked screens too! The changes kick in automatically for a variety of cardholders from April 1st, 2021 – so don’t drop your phone before that date!

Under the new coverage, Amex cardholders carrying a variety of the credit card issuers premium offerings will enjoy up to $800 per claim, usable twice annually. Here’s how American Express describes the new complimentary coverage, and card benefit…

Effective April 1, 2021, if a Card Members’ cell phone is stolen or damaged, including a cracked screen, they can be reimbursed for the repair or replacement costs for up to two approved claims, for a maximum of $800 per claim or $1,600 per 12-month period, when their cell phone line is listed on a wireless bill and the prior month’s wireless bill was paid by an Eligible Card Account. A $50 deductible applies to each approved claim. 

American Express

Amex will automatically add the coverage to a variety of premium cards, and the benefit alone is reason to further consider many of these cards, if you were before. The Amex cards which benefit from this new automatic cell phone coverage include…

• Platinum Card® from American Express
• Business Platinum Card®
• Centurion® Card from American Express
• Business Centurion Card®
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
• The Platinum Card® Exclusively for Charles Schwab
• The Platinum Card® Exclusively for Morgan Stanley
• The Platinum Card® Exclusively for Goldman Sachs
• The Centurion® Card Exclusively for Goldman Sachs

What You Need To Do For Amex Cell Phone Coverage

This one is pretty clear. For Amex cell phone coverage to apply to your card, you need to have paid that phone’s bill with your eligible American Express card. That means, in practice, it’s best to just autopay your phone bill with your Amex card, so that-that’s always the case if anything comes up.

You can read through all the T&C’s of the new American Express cell phone coverage policy here. In broad strokes, as long as the card account is open and current, and you didn’t cause the damage intentionally and you’re not renting the phone, all should be good.

Amex Benefits Continue To Increase

Amex has been busy in the last year adding limited time benefits, such as fee credits toward streaming services, mobile phone bills, delivery and more. The Platinum Card also benefits from exclusive airfare discounts on domestic US travel, which has proven to be a huge hit.

There’s no doubt many people would gladly trade credit card benefits they hope they never need to use for the ability to travel safely and freely again, but it may not be long before you have both, and the cell phone protection is here to stay. If there was ever a case being made for using your Amex card to pay your cell phone bill, this would be it.