Credit cards typically provide travel protections through third-party administrators, yet travelers should understand how these perks differ from standalone travel insurance policies before relying on them to cover trip costs.
Credit card travel benefits typically cover only certain cancellation or trip delay situations; by contrast, individually-owned travel insurance typically offers greater coverage, including medical evacuation.
Cancel for Any Reason
Travel insurance should be purchased when booking trips that include any prepaid or nonrefundable expenses, to protect against illness, family emergencies or pandemic threats such as coronavirus.
Credit card travel insurance with cancellation protection allows you to cancel for any reason and get back a portion of the money paid out, although this type of policy tends to be more costly than standard trip cancellation policies and it’s wise to assess if its additional expense makes sense for your trip.
Many credit cards provide valuable travel protections. From airport lounge access to annual fees credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, there’s something available to meet every travel need. Just read carefully – some policies have specific exclusions or limitations you should know about; adding Cancel for Any Reason coverage generally adds 50-100% of its cost onto an existing policy.
Trip Delay
Travel delays are both frustrating and expensive. Credit card trip delay coverage provides reimbursements for out-of-pocket expenses such as meals and hotel accommodations incurred due to delays exceeding a specified threshold period; read your policy terms to determine what those may be.
Some cards even provide travel accident coverage that covers medical costs or fatal injuries sustained on an overseas journey. This coverage can provide extra peace of mind to travelers who may not be covered under their primary healthcare insurance plan while traveling, and allows them to rely less heavily on any existing policies for coverage abroad.
Limits and terms vary by card; Tunnah suggests keeping reimbursement caps, particularly the per-day limit, in mind as well as documenting every expense with itemized receipts or charged credit card slips. Many companies provide easy mobile apps or online filing for claims submission as well as 24-hour customer service should any problems arise.
Trip Interruption
Trip interruption coverage goes beyond trip cancellation insurance by covering expenses you lose due to events outside your control, including additional accommodations and travel home should your itinerary become disrupted due to natural disaster, medical emergency or illness that prevent you from continuing with your vacation plans.
Protection typically reimburses up to 75% of insured trip costs (less any refunds), should your trip be interrupted. It can be added onto standard travel insurance policies within certain time limits (typically up to 72 hours before initial trip payment) or purchased independently through credit card travel protections separately from travel companies – although this option tends to be more costly yet still provides extensive protection in case something unexpected comes up during travel plans.
Trip Cancellation
Credit cards provide various protections when traveling and shopping, which vary depending on which card is chosen; some provide more comprehensive protections than others.
Trip cancellation coverage is a standard benefit of credit card travel insurance that reimburses nonrefundable prepaid expenses, such as flight tickets and hotel reservations, should the trip be canceled for one or more covered reasons, such as weather-related flight cancellations; death, serious illness or injury of cardholder or traveling companion; bankruptcy/financial default of tour operator/cruise line/airline, etc. Some cardholders even gain coverage if laid off from employment prior to their trip begins.
These benefits can save travelers thousands, helping them avoid cancelling or rerouting trips for unforseen reasons. Unfortunately, as travel insurance premiums rise further some card issuers may discontinue these benefits; check your card issuer’s fine print to determine whether this coverage exists and its limits and exclusions.
