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Published on October 1, 2007

The family of one victim who paid for the ticket using a platinum Krungthai Card will receive an additional Bt20 million in insurance on top of the Bt5 million paid by the airline's insurers.

No one wants to see these tragedies, but insurance at least alleviates financial difficulty for the families of victims.

Today almost all credit-card issuers offer free travel-insurance coverage to cardholders who buy tickets with plastic, but insured sums and conditions are different.

The following are some examples of benefits offered.

Krungthai Card, the country's biggest issuer in terms of volume, provides the most attractive compensation. Pay with its Infinite card, and compensation for accidental death is Bt40 million.

Platinum, titanium and classic cardholders receive Bt20 million, Bt4 million and Bt1 million respectively.

Accidental-death coverage for spouses aged between 18 and 65 years and children under 23 travelling with the cardholder is 50 per cent of cardholder coverage.

Insurance covers medical costs in cases of illness or injury during a journey. Luggage is covered for loss or damage too.

All Siam Commercial Bank cardholders receive free travel insurance. Its silver and gold cardholders who purchase tickets with their cards are eligible for up to Bt1-million and Bt3-million coverage respectively. Titanium and platinum cardholders are eligible for up to US$500,000 (Bt17 million) in case of accidental death.

Citibank Visa and MasterCard offer up to Bt5-million travel insurance for platinum cardholders and Bt3 million for silver and clear cards.

Accidental-death coverage is a maximum of Bt25 million, delayed flights are covered up to Bt40,000, and luggage loss to Bt100,000.

Citibank Royal Orchid Plus Platinum Select Card has a maximum accidental-death coverage of Bt25 million, Bt20,000 for flight and luggage delays and Bt50,000 for lost baggage.

American Express offers free travel insurance for all cardholders. Maximum coverage is Bt25 million for platinum cardholders, Bt2 million for gold and Bt1.5 million for the basic card for accidental death and accidents.

It covers spouses and children travelling with cardholders.

Somruedi Banchongduang

The Nation