Credit card travel insurance can be an overlooked advantage. According to WalletHub, some cards offer trip cancellation coverage, rental car damage protection and flight delay reimbursement as perk benefits.
But, how exactly does travel insurance work and should you rely on it to cover your trip expenses? Let’s find out.
Coverage
Many premium travel credit cards provide robust travel insurance benefits as a draw to their cardholders, but it’s essential that cardholders understand the difference between this coverage and that purchased separately.
Credit card travel insurance typically only offers protection in limited situations, including trip cancellation and interruption coverage, which reimburses you for pre-paid expenses if your trip must be cut short due to unavoidable events such as severe weather, jury duty obligations that cannot be postponed, terrorist activities or military orders.
Other coverage includes lost baggage and rental car insurance. Your credit card may cover medical emergencies during your trip; however, for greater comprehensiveness it may be worthwhile paying an additional cost for travel health coverage policy. Credit card travel insurance generally has lower maximum coverage amounts for both trip cancellations and medical emergencies due to their individual terms and conditions being more difficult to interpret than travel health plans with greater granular coverage amounts; it also may have less flexible cancellation policies owing to interpretation issues involved with each card’s terms and conditions.
Reimbursement
Credit card travel insurance benefits like trip cancellation coverage or rental car damage waivers can save money and ease anxiety when something unexpected occurs on your trip. But as each card’s coverage may differ significantly, make sure that you read up on how they operate to fully understand how each one affects you.
Many credit cards provide various travel protections, such as accident and medical, trip delay/interruption/lost luggage/rental car coverages. To qualify for these coverages, all travel-related expenses must be charged onto the card and paid off fully; additionally, card providers may require receipts, documentation on an event occurring, correspondence from travel providers who refuse to cover expenses as well as medical records in order to process claims successfully.
Note that credit card travel insurance policies are secondary coverage, meaning they only come into play once your primary travel insurer (such as an individual policy or government-backed plan ) has paid out. Most policies also don’t offer cancel for any reason coverage like some independent plans do.
Exclusions
Terms and conditions of credit card travel insurance can be confusing, so always read your policy with care, paying special attention to words that might imply certain exclusions. If you need help understanding one, reach out to your credit card company; especially important with policies offering trip cancellation and interruption coverage as well as emergency evacuation coverage.
Credit card travel insurance is usually obtained by purchasing your airfare or accommodations with a card that provides it. With the right card and coverage, credit card travel protection benefits may help save money after unexpected travel delays or cancellations and help get back on schedule quickly after delays occur. Please keep in mind, though, that coverage provided through this method supplements any existing baggage, accident death coverage you already possess as well as covering preexisting medical conditions that might occur while away.
Claims
Credit card travel insurance provides coverage for nonrefundable expenses in case your trip is interrupted due to unexpected injuries or illness, inclement weather, terrorist threats, military orders changing without prior notice, jury duty duties or an authoritative order to stay home. But before making your travel plans based on this kind of policy coverage, read carefully through all pages and fine print in its policy document to understand exactly what’s covered before you rely on this type of protection.
Typically, to qualify for reimbursement with a qualifying credit card company, all expenses for your trip must have been charged on that card and supporting documents such as receipts or correspondence with travel providers may need to be submitted, including receipts and correspondence between providers or even doctor’s notes in cases of travel accident coverage. Credit card companies usually have more limited claim limits than independently held travel policies as well as typically not covering preexisting medical conditions.
