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No matter how carefully you plan your vacation, bad weather or mechanical delays can throw your trip off track without warning. That’s why it’s important to consider getting travel insurance to protect your trip.
Thankfully, many of the top travel rewards cards on the market include various travel protections automatically when you use your card to pay for your trip.
What is credit card travel insurance?
Credit card travel insurance can come to the rescue when your carefully planned trip goes sideways. And as most travelers eventually learn, things don’t always go according to plan.
Depending on the card, coverage can kick in for illness, bad weather and other emergencies outside your control.
Here’s a list of common travel protections included with many travel credit cards:
- Baggage delay coverage
- Car rental coverage/auto collision damage waiver
- Emergency medical and dental insurance
- Lost and damaged baggage coverage
- Travel accident insurance
- Travel and emergency assistance
- Trip cancellation and interruption coverage
- Trip delay coverage
Related: What’s covered by credit card travel accident and emergency evacuation insurance?
Which credit cards include travel insurance?
Not all credit cards offer travel insurance, and the cards that do aren’t created equal. Some offer a relatively basic set of protections, while others cover everything from delayed baggage to trip cancellations and emergency evacuations.
Here are some of our favorite cards that offer travel protections:
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For more information, check out our list of the best cards with travel insurance.
Having travel insurance is one thing. Having travel insurance that actually gives you the coverage you need is another. Here’s how the protections on some of our favorite cards compare:
| Card | Trip cancellation/interruption | Trip delay | Baggage delay | Emergency medical/evacuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Up to $10,000 per trip and up to $20,000 per eligible card per 12-month period* | Up to $500 per covered trip after a delay of more than six hours, with a maximum of two claims per eligible card per 12-month period* | None | Emergency medical transportation may be provided at no cost when coordinated through and approved by the Premium Global Assist Hotline** | |
None | Up to $300 per covered trip after a delay of more than 12 hours, with a maximum of two claims per eligible card per 12-month period* | None | No coverage; Global Assist Hotline can coordinate emergency medical assistance, but cardmembers are responsible for third-party costs** | |
Up to $2,000 per insured person for eligible nonrefundable common carrier tickets | Up to $500 per purchased ticket after a delay of more than six hours or an overnight stay | None | Not included | |
Up to $10,000 per covered traveler, $20,000 per trip and $40,000 per 12-month period per account | Up to $500 per covered traveler after a delay of more than 12 hours or an overnight stay | Up to $100 per day for up to five days after a delay of more than six hours | Up to $100,000 in emergency evacuation and transportation coverage | |
Up to $10,000 per covered traveler, $20,000 per trip and $40,000 per 12-month period per account | Up to $500 per covered traveler after a delay of more than six hours or an overnight stay | Up to $100 per day for up to five days after a delay of more than six hours | Up to $2,500 for emergency medical and dental expenses, subject to a $50 deductible, and up to $100,000 for emergency evacuation and transportation | |
Up to $5,000 per covered traveler, $10,000 per trip and $20,000 per 12-month period | Up to $500 per covered traveler after a delay of more than 12 hours or an overnight stay | Up to $100 per day for up to five days after a delay of six hours or more | Travel and emergency assistance is available for medical referrals and other assistance, but you’re responsible for the cost of any services provided |
*Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. Policies are underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
**Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for details. If approved and coordinated by Premium Global Assist Hotline, emergency medical transportation assistance may be provided at no cost. In any other circumstance, cardmembers are responsible for the costs charged by third-party service providers.
Related: 4 times your credit card’s travel insurance can help with summer travel woes, and 7 times it won’t
Who is covered by credit card travel insurance?
Credit card travel insurance can extend beyond just the cardholder. Depending on the coverage, your spouse or domestic partner, children, other family members and even traveling companions could be protected.
Does credit card travel insurance cover my partner?
Coverage can include a spouse or domestic partner. Take the Amex Platinum, for example.
For trip cancellation and interruption insurance*, for example, a covered traveler includes a domestic partner, spouse or unmarried child under the age of 19 (or under 26 if they are a full-time college student).
So, your partner doesn’t necessarily need to be a cardmember to be covered. However, you’ll still need to meet the requirements of the specific benefit for coverage to apply.
Related: Should you get travel insurance if you have credit card protection?
Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.*
Does credit card travel insurance cover my family?
Credit card travel insurance can extend to your family members, sometimes even when the cardholder isn’t traveling with them.
For example, trip cancellation and interruption insurance on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve covers the cardholder and eligible family members.
Chase’s definition of family is surprisingly broad, extending beyond spouses and children to relatives such as parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews.
Even better, those family members don’t need to be traveling with the cardholder for this benefit to apply.
Keep in mind that some credit card travel protections are secondary to other coverage or reimbursement available to you. That means your credit card coverage generally kicks in only after you’ve sought reimbursement elsewhere, like from the airline, hotel or another insurance policy. It may then cover eligible remaining expenses.
Related: 7 times your credit card’s travel insurance might not cover you
Does credit card travel insurance cover friends or travel companions?
Family members aren’t the only people who can be covered by your credit card travel insurance. Some benefits also extend coverage to traveling companions.
For example, the Amex Platinum’s trip cancellation and interruption insurance* includes eligible traveling companions. Amex defines a traveling companion as someone who has made advanced arrangements with you or your family members to travel together for all or part of a covered trip.
That means you don’t necessarily need to be related to someone for them to qualify as a traveling companion under the benefit.
* Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.
Bottom line
Credit card travel insurance can offer valuable protection when the unexpected disrupts your trip, and that coverage can even extend beyond the cardholder. Spouses, domestic partners, family members and, in some cases, traveling companions may also be covered.
Before relying on your card’s travel protections, make sure you understand who qualifies for coverage and what requirements you need to meet for the benefit to apply.
For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the benefits may be provided by Visa® or Mastercard® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.
For rates and fees of the Amex Platinum, click here.
For rates and fees of the Amex Gold, click here.
