Credit cards with travel cancellation insurance offer you financial support if your trip needs to be cancelled or interrupted for any number of reasons, from bad weather and natural disasters, to medical conditions affecting immediate family members or other unexpected issues. Reimbursement amounts can typically cover you as the principal cardholder as well as immediate family members (terms may differ depending on card issuer).
These benefits often include primary rental car collision damage waiver and secondary auto rental loss and damage coverage that could save you thousands. Premium rewards cards generally offer broadest coverage.
Cancellation and Interruption Coverage
An advantageous credit card offering trip cancellation insurance can make life easier when plans go awry during travel. Such protections reimburse cardholders for nonrefundable prepaid expenses like flights, hotels and guided tours when an eligible reason compels them to cancel or cut short their journey.
For instance, coverage with the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card provides up to $10,000 per covered person and $20,000 total during any 12-month period for eligible events and associated prepaid travel expenses. Cardholders should read their benefits guide or call their card issuer’s benefits administrator in order to understand all of their coverage’s details (such as exclusions) as well as details regarding how to submit claims.
These policies generally require you and your immediate family members to charge their travel purchases to an eligible card, while some also cover travelers charged round-trip common carrier fares to return home or rejoin their trip.
Medical and Emergency Evacuation Coverage
If either of you become seriously ill or injured during your travels, some credit cards offer travel insurance that could cover some or all costs related to emergency medical evacuation coverage – some even providing emergency evacuation coverage that can get both of you home safely.
The specifics of each card’s coverage for this type of assistance vary, making it essential that you read their policies thoroughly. Please also be aware that any such coverage provided by them comes secondary to any health insurance policies in effect.
Many credit cards allow travelers to upgrade their travel insurance plan with “cancel for any reason” coverage, which allows you to cancel for reasons not covered in the standard policy – such as pandemic or legal obligations such as jury duty. Unfortunately, this type of coverage tends to be expensive and unnecessary if other types of coverage exist; additionally, its annual fee can often exceed other types of travel coverage.
Baggage Delay Coverage
Credit card travel protections do not offer all of the coverage of travel insurance policies, yet many aspects are similar. They cover expenses related to illness or severe weather that cause your trip to be cancelled or interrupted and reimburse for nonrefundable expenses that have already been incurred if something comes up requiring cancellation or interruption – specifically nonrefundable expenses such as flights.
Card issuers that offer this coverage usually offer reimbursement of several hundred dollars per traveler whose luggage is delayed while traveling between points A and B. To file a claim, travelers will need to keep receipts for items they may have to buy while their baggage is delayed and present them to their card issuer.
Baggage delay coverage differs depending on which card you have. To know what’s covered and what’s not, consult their benefits guide or customer service to find out exactly what coverage there is available to you. In general, however, keep any receipts or documents that demonstrate their value while your luggage was delayed in order to seek reimbursement through either your card issuer or homeowners/renters insurance policies.
Lost or Stolen Luggage Coverage
Most credit cards offer baggage insurance coverage, although to access it you may need to purchase all or at least part of your ticket using it or earn points/miles with it – check your card’s Guide to Benefits for specific terms.
Airlines now mishandle bags less frequently; but should your luggage go missing, replacing your belongings can be expensive. Some premium travel credit cards provide reimbursement of up to several thousand dollars per lost bag if you book through them and/or earn rewards with them.
Though most credit cards with trip cancellation and luggage delay coverage can help minimize travel stress, there’s no guarantee your journeys will go smoothly. Therefore, it’s wise to have a backup plan such as travel insurance policy; or use one with fraud protection and other security features to safeguard purchases made with it.
