These Credit Cards Have the Best Built-in Travel Insurance.
Travel is a mess right now, and with so many things going wrong, it’s entirely possible that you’ll end up stuck somewhere overnight or hold up your luggage on an upcoming trip. Of course, you can always purchase comprehensive travel insurance to cover any additional costs you may incur, but many credit cards have some level of coverage built in. This may be enough to save you money on a special policy. Here are some of the best cards that come with travel insurance.
Chase Sapphire Reserve: The Most Comprehensive Travel Coverage
Chase Sapphire Reserve has the most comprehensive travel insurance of any credit card on the market, but it will cost you $550 a year. Included travel insurance benefits include:
- Collision rental car damage waiver: up to $75,000.
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger if your trip is delayed by six hours or more.
- Trip cancellation/interruption: up to USD 10,000 per covered passenger (USD 20,000 per covered trip)
- Baggage Delay Coverage: Up to $100 per day for up to five days per covered passenger if your bag is delayed for at least six hours.
- Lost baggage reimbursement: up to USD 3,000 per insured passenger.
- Roadside Assistance: Up to $50 per incident, up to four times a year.
- Emergency evacuation: up to $100,000
- Emergency Medical and Dental Care: Up to $2,500.
- Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $1,000,000 for shared carrier travel accident insurance or $100,000 for 24-hour travel accident insurance.
For the high annual fee, cardholders will also receive up to $100 to cover Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees, Priority Pass Select Lounge memberships, and a $300 annual credit that automatically applies to the first 300 US dollars when making travel purchases. .
The card provides 10 Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel, five points for every dollar spent on flights booked through Chase Travel, three points for every dollar spent on all other trips and purchases in a restaurant, and one point per dollar. for all other purchases. Points can be redeemed for 1.5 cents each through Chase Travel and for qualifying purchases through Pay Yourself Back, or transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Chase travel partners.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: Most comprehensive travel coverage with annual fees under $100.
The travel insurance offered by Chase Sapphire Preferred is almost as good as the insurance offered through Reserve, and the annual card fee is only $95. Benefits include:
- Disclaimer for collision damage when renting a car
- Trip Delay Compensation: up to $500 per insured passenger in the event of a trip delay of 12 hours or more.
- Trip cancellation/interruption: Up to USD 5,000 per passenger (maximum two) (USD 20,000 maximum for a 12-month period)
- Baggage Delay Coverage: Up to $100 per day for up to five days per covered passenger if your luggage is delayed for at least 12 hours.
- Lost baggage reimbursement: up to USD 3,000 per insured passenger.
- Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $500,000 for shared carrier travel accident insurance or $100,000 for 24-hour travel accident insurance.
Chase Sapphire Preferred also offers a 10% annual bonus on earned points and a $50 annual credit that can be used towards hotel bookings through Chase Travel.
This card earns five Ultimate Rewards points for every dollar spent on travel booked through Chase Travel, three points for every dollar spent on food, online groceries and streaming purchases, two points for every dollar spent on all other travel purchases, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. .
Ultimate Rewards points associated with Chase Sapphire Preferred can also be transferred to Chase Partners at a 1:1 ratio, but can be redeemed for a lower amount of 1.25 cents each through Chase Travel or Pay Yourself Back.
Other credit cards with good travel insurance
A number of other credit cards offer good travel insurance , but you’ll have to look at the fine print on various cards to make sure there aren’t any catches. Other notable cards include:
Capital One Venture X
Capital One Venture X offers the following travel benefits:
- Disclaimer for collision damage when renting a car
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger if your trip is delayed by six hours or more.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $2,000 per covered passenger.
- Lost baggage reimbursement: up to USD 3,000 per insured passenger.
- Travel accident insurance: up to $1,000,000 coverage.
Capital One Venture X also offers cell phone insurance, Priority Pass Select lounge membership, $300 annual travel credit, 10,000 annual bonus miles, up to $100 TSA pre-screening credit, or application fee credit Global Entry and earn valuable points that can be redeemed through Capital. One Travel or transferred to Capital One travel partners.
Venture X earns 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel, five miles per dollar spent on flights booked through Capital One Travel, and two miles per dollar spent on all other purchases. The card charges an annual fee of $395.
US bank height reserve
US Bank Altitude Reserve offers the following travel protections:
- Disclaimer for collision damage when renting a car
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger if your trip is delayed by six hours or more.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $2,000 per covered passenger.
- Lost baggage reimbursement: up to USD 3,000 per insured passenger.
- Travel accident insurance: up to $500,000 coverage.
The card also offers $325 per year travel credit, Priority Pass Lounge access, TSA Pre-Apply or Global Entry fee credit, and earns points redeemable for 1.5 cents each per trip.
Altitude Reserve earns five points for every dollar spent on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the Altitude Rewards Center, three points for every dollar spent on travel and mobile wallet purchases, and one point for every dollar spent on other purchases. The annual fee for the card is $400.
Platinum card from American Express
The Platinum Card offers some travel insurance benefits that are more generous than other cards on the market, but some of them are missing:
- Secondary damage waiver for car rental (cardholders have the option to pay an additional fee of $12.25 to $24.95 for basic coverage with increased limits)
- Trip Delay Reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger if your trip is delayed by six hours or more.
- Trip cancellation/interruption: up to $10,000 per trip ($20,000 for a 12-month period)
- Lost Baggage Reimbursement: up to USD 3,000 per passenger with carry-on insurance or USD 2,000 per passenger with checked baggage with a total limit of USD 3,000 per person per trip.
- Emergency evacuation: no cost limits
The American Express Platinum Card has a ton of added benefits, but with a $695 annual fee, it’s one of the most expensive personal credit cards on the market. It offers up to $240 per year in Digital Entertainment Credits, up to $200 in Airline Contingency Credits, up to $200 in Uber Cash Credits, up to $300 in Equinox Credits, up to $100 in Saks Fifth Avenue Credits, up to $189 in credits. for CLEAR, up to $155 in Walmart+ credits, and access to Priority Pass Lounges, Amex Centurion Lounges, and Delta SkyClubs when flying Delta on the same day.
The card earns five Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on flights booked directly with an airline or through American Express Travel (on purchases up to $500,000 in a calendar year), five points for every dollar spent on hotels booked through Amex Travel, and one point per dollar. spent on all other purchases. Membership Reward Points can be transferred at a 1:1 rate to various partner airlines and hotels.
Cards without annual fees with limited travel insurance
While all the best credit cards that offer travel insurance charge an annual fee, there are a few cards with no annual fee that offer limited coverage. For example, Chase Freedom Flex offers:
- Secondary Collision Car Rental Damage Waiver: Secondary means you will need to file for your personal car insurance before credit card insurance takes effect.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $1,500 per passenger ($6,000 per trip)
Chase Freedom Flex also includes cell phone insurance .
bottom line
Travel insurance with a credit card is an amazing perk, and usually all you have to do is charge your travel expenses to the card (which is even easier if your credit card offers travel reward points). Take a look at the credit cards you already have to see if they offer built-in travel insurance. If they don’t, or if the coverage isn’t enough for you, consider whether another credit card can help.