Credit Card Feature: Free Roadside Assistance

Having car problems? Let American Express help you fix your car, with its free road assistance service for American Express Platinum credit cardholders.

Find out what free roadside assistance actually means on the American Express Platinum Card. Check out the other emergency cover options offered on this prestigious card.

Free Roadside Assistance is offered as a benefit of carrying an American Express Platinum Card. There are various platinum credit cards on the market, and several versions are offered by American Express, but this one is the real-deal of platinum credit cards. Its annual fee should tell you that: $900.

As you might expect from such a prestigious card, there are benefits attached that are not available on lesser cards. One of those is free roadside assistance. Specifically, if your car breaks down when you’re travelling anywhere more than 51kms from your home in Australia, American Express will arrange and pay up to $125 for your car to be towed to the nearest garage, or pay the same amount to cover on-the-spot repairs.

American Express Credit Card

			Interest Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)
	American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card	Receive 15,000 Membership Rewards Bonus Points – enough for $200 worth of Travel Agency Gift Vouchers. Also receive a complimentary Virgin Australia domestic economy return flight every year.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 20.74% )		$149
	American Express Velocity Platinum Card	The flagship card from the new American Express Velocity range. 2 for 1 Business Class Flexi Fares with V Australia, Complimentary Virgin Australia Domestic Flight Every Year, 3 Velocity Points per $1 spent with the Virgin Australia group of Airlines.	20.74%		$349
	American Express Velocity Business Card	A truly dedicated business rewards credit card. Download all your card expenses in a format readable by Quicken, MYOB, Microsoft Excel and more, helping you simplify your quarterly BAS reporting.	%		$249
	American Express Platinum Card	Receive 75,000 Membership Rewards Bonus Points when you spend $500 on your card – that is enough points for a return flight from Sydney to Hong Kong!	%		$900
	American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card	Receive a complimentary domestic or international return flight every year OR choose to receive a Complimentary 1 night stay at one of the selected luxury hotels in Australia.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 20.74% )		$395
	American Express Qantas Ultimate Card	Receive up to 30,000 bonus Qantas Frequent Flyer points after you make your first purchase on your credit card, and 2,500 after your first spend in Australia on selected Qantas Services.	20.74%		$450	20.99%
	American Express Platinum Business Card	Provides easy tracking and management of business expenses – reporting meets ATO requirements. Dedicated Platinum Business Concierge to assist you day-to-day.	%		$1200

Free Roadside Assistance within Amex Platinum Emergency Assistance Cover

This free roadside assistance is part of the Platinum Card’s Emergency Assistance Cover. This also includes:

• Emergency Card Replacement, which replaces a lost or stolen card within 24 hours almost anywhere in the world
• Emergency Cheque Cashing, allowing you to cash a personal cheque in most American Express Travel Service Offices around the world
• Emergency Cash Advances, providing up to US$1,000 in local currency in an emergency resulting from the loss or theft of all necessary travelling documents, where there is no access to an ATM or the Amex Emergency Cheque Cashing Service
• Home Assistance, to source a plumber, electrician or locksmith if you need one (and you presumably don’t want to deal with such people yourself).

How useful the free roadside assistance element of this is in reality will depend upon the extent of the problem you suffer. $125 is a nice gesture but won’t actually cover very much. It is also highly unlikely that anyone earning at least $100,00 a year (the minimum income criteria to apply for this card) will not have organised some level of breakdown cover for their Aston Martin.

This is probably one of those perks that is in there just to make this card stand further apart from other platinum level credit cards. If you look at the American Express Platinum Card insurance booklet, you also get Hijack & Detention Cover and Kidnap Cover. However, this does not mean they will be sending Russell Crowe in to get you back.

Image source: ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE MELBOURNE

Check out today's featured offers:

Westpac Low Rate	Citibank Clear Platinum	Qantas AMEX Discovery	ANZ Platinum
0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers	2.9% p.a. for 12 months on balance transfers	$0 annual fee Up to 10,000 Bonus QFF Points	0% p.a. for 6 months on purchases & balance transfers

Subscribe to our newsletter and get "The Ultimate Guide to Balance Transfers"

Popular Credit Card Offers

			Interest Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)
	Westpac Low Rate Card - 0% Offer	A credit card with a low rate offer on both balance transfers and purchases, plus a low annual fee.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 13.49% )	0% for 6 months	$45	21.49%
	Citibank Clear Platinum Card	Competitive interest rate on purchases and balance transfers offer.	11.99%	2.9% for 12 months	$99	21.74%
	St George Vertigo	Take advantage of this great offer from St.George with a low rate on purchases and a low balance transfer offer.	13.24%	0.99% for 12 months	$55	21.49%
	ANZ Platinum Credit Card	An introductory interest rate offer on balance transfers and purchases, plus a $0 first year annual fee.	0% for 6 months (reverts to 19.24% )	0% for 6 months	$0 annual fee for the first year( $87 thereafter)	20.99%