Credit cards often offer travel insurance benefits; make the most of these features before considering additional coverage.
Depending on the card, this coverage could include trip cancellation/interruption, lost luggage insurance and rental car coverage for you, your family and anyone traveling with you who uses that card. It usually applies to you alone as well.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance
The top credit cards often provide comprehensive travel protection, including trip cancellation and interruption insurance. This covers non-refundable travel expenses should you need to cancel or curtail your trip due to circumstances beyond your control – such as severe weather or medical emergencies. In addition, most policies provide coverage against work obligations and jury duty commitments as well as potential other perils such as jury duty obligations.
Policies vary, but generally this type of coverage reimburses you for travel arrangements made and paid for with eligible cards, provided they were made within a specific timeframe and paid in full. When making a claim, receipts or other documentation may be needed as evidence.
Some cards only cover airfare and hotel stays; others provide concert tickets or other perks. Travel experts like Julie Menez of Geobreeze Travel Podcast recommend purchasing additional travel insurance to cover additional unexpected expenses – although comprehensive policies may cost more than an annual credit card fee.
Baggage Insurance
Imagine that your luggage goes missing during a trip – credit card travel insurance could come to the rescue here, providing reimbursement of either its true value or costs associated with replacing them up to an agreed-upon limit set in your plan.
Baggage coverage plans vary based on their details; depending on your plan, baggage insurance can reimburse you for purchases you had to make while your bags were delayed, or cover lost or damaged personal items. In order to receive reimbursements, receipts or proof of purchase may be needed as required – these vary based on credit card and plan details.
Credit cards often provide coverage for various travel-related issues; however, credit card travel insurance usually doesn’t provide as much protection than comprehensive policies do; therefore it may be beneficial to secure additional coverage in addition to credit card benefits.
Rental Car Insurance
Many credit cards provide rental car insurance or damage reimbursement coverage as an add-on feature to existing policies such as personal auto and homeowners policies, with such protection typically applying only when all existing policies have been exhausted. It also tends to exclude liability issues like injuries you cause people or property and lawsuits related to those incidents (which should be covered under your personal auto or homeowners policies); it may only address rentals from traditional car rental companies and does not apply to services like ZipCar or peer-to-peer rental platforms that operate fewer vehicles.
Do your research before opening any claims with your card issuer; understand their policy, the documents needed for filing claims, any exclusions and prohibited behaviors which could invalidate it and so forth.
Other Coverage
Credit card companies vary significantly in their travel protections, limits and exclusions. To learn more about your card’s coverage, either read its benefits guides or contact customer service representative to walk through its policy details with you.
Credit cards that provide comprehensive travel protection typically include coverage for trip cancellations, delays or interruptions; lost baggage; rental car damage and emergency medical evacuation expenses. You can activate these coverages by paying your entire trip cost with that card.
Some credit cards provide roadside assistance services such as towing, jump starting, lockout services and fuel delivery – typically covering you, your spouse and any dependent children traveling with you. If the coverage provided by your card is inadequate for your needs, more comprehensive travel policies are also available; if not, however, simply using what’s already there could save money and prevent unnecessary spending on additional plans that don’t match.
