Credit card travel insurance can be an efficient and economical way to travel abroad, but it’s essential that consumers understand its differences from traditional business travel coverage before making their decision.
Credit card trip protection policies often contain age limitations and exclusions such as preexisting medical conditions that restrict coverage. When researching various cards it’s also essential to carefully compare available coverages, exclusions and deductibles in order to make an informed decision.
Cancel for Any Reason
Many credit cards provide travel insurance perks that cover certain trip-related expenses if they need to cancel for covered reasons, like hurricane or terrorist attack. These policies differ from standalone insurance in several ways: for one thing, they require you to charge the full amount of prepaid nonrefundable trip onto your card before qualifying for coverage; secondly, these policies generally have lower limits and may exclude reasons like preexisting medical conditions or traveling against medical advice.
Some travel credit cards include car rental insurance and emergency medical coverage to help with expenses while overseas. You can purchase standalone travel insurance that offers greater coverage and higher limits, but this expense often becomes unnecessary for most travelers.
Trip Delay
Credit card trip delay insurance provides reimbursement of expenses incurred due to long trip disruptions such as flight delays. It covers reasonable additional costs such as meals, hotels and toiletries and is applicable for travel on common carriers like an airplane, train or cruise ship. Most cards offer this coverage as an add-on feature of their travel protection benefits and both cardholders and family members may be protected under its provisions.
As these benefits vary depending on the card and issuer, it’s crucial that you familiarize yourself with its terms and conditions before selecting an issuer or card. Many cards provide travel assistance services that can assist with creating new itineraries or replacing lost luggage, while no- and low-annual-fee credit cards tend to offer less comprehensive travel protection policies than their higher annual fee counterparts; trip cancellation/interruption coverage tends to be more extensive than baggage loss/damage coverage or travel accident policies.
Trip Interruption
If your trip needs to be curtailed or cancelled unexpectedly, credit card travel insurance may cover some nonrefundable expenses that arise; but be sure to read up on its benefits guide for specifics.
Credit cards that offer travel protection often cover trip cancellations, interruptions and delays as well as lost luggage or emergency medical costs and evacuations – providing coverage comparable to standard travel policies.
Some cards require you to book all or part of your trip on their card in order to qualify, while others provide automatic coverage simply by owning it. Coverage generally extends both to primary cardholders and family members on the account – Chase Sapphire Reserve lists “quarantine imposed by government authorities for health reasons” as an acceptable reason for canceling an itinerary under its Trip Cancellation & Interruption policy (See rates & fees).
Rental Car Accident or Loss
Credit cards provide travelers with various forms of travel protections. Some cards may cover you if your rental car is stolen or damaged; but coverage varies by card and country; be sure to call your customer service number ahead of your trip in order to determine whether coverage exists there – particularly if renting a vehicle will be part of your plans.
Credit cards with rental car insurance typically provide a collision damage waiver (CDW), which covers the costs associated with repairing or replacing the rental car in an accident, theft, or vandalism. But it should be understood as secondary coverage: first file your claim with your auto insurer and then have them file one on behalf of their own card – therefore keeping both policies active is vital when traveling abroad.
