Travel is a mess right now, and with so many things going wrong, it’s entirely possible that you’ll be stuck somewhere overnight or have your luggage delayed on an upcoming trip. Of course, you can always take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy to cover any additional expenses you might incur, but many credit cards have some level of cover built in. It may be enough that you can save the cost of a dedicated policy. Here are some of the best cards that come with travel insurance.
Chase Sapphire Reserve: the most comprehensive travel coverage
The Chase Sapphire Reserve has the most comprehensive travel insurance of any credit card on the market, but it will cost you $550 in annual fees. Included travel insurance benefits include:
- Collision Damage Waiver for Primary Rental Vehicles: Up to $75,000 of coverage
- Travel-Delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger when your trip is delayed six hours or more
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $10,000 per Covered Passenger ($20,000 per Covered Trip)
- Baggage Delay Coverage: Up to $100 per day for up to five days per covered passenger when your baggage is delayed for at least six hours
- Reimbursement for lost baggage: up to $3,000 per covered passenger
- Roadside assistance: up to $50 per incident, up to four times per 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 Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance or $100,000 for 24-Hour Travel Accident Insurance
For the card’s high annual fee, cardholders will also receive up to $100 to cover application fees for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck, a Priority Pass Select lounge membership, and a $300 annual credit that is automatically applied to the first $300 of travel purchases made. .
The card earns 10 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked through Chase Travel, five points per dollar spent on flights booked through Chase Travel, three points per dollar spent on all other travel and catering, and one point per dollar. on all other purchases. Points can be redeemed for 1.5 cents each through Chase Travel and on qualifying purchases through Pay Yourself Back or transferred at a 1:1 ratio to Chase’s travel partners.
Chase Sapphire Preferred: the most comprehensive travel coverage with annual fees under $100
The travel insurance offered by the Chase Sapphire Preferred is almost as good as that offered by the Reserve, and the card only has a $95 annual fee. Benefits include:
- Collision Damage Waiver for Primary Rental Vehicles
- Travel-Delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger when your trip is delayed 12 hours or more
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $5,000 per Covered Passenger (maximum two) ($20,000 maximum per 12 month period)
- Baggage Delay Coverage: Up to $100 per day for up to five days per covered passenger when your baggage is delayed for at least 12 hours
- Reimbursement for lost baggage: up to $3,000 per covered passenger
- Travel Accident Insurance: up to $500,000 for Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance or $100,000 for 24-Hour Travel Accident Insurance
The Chase Sapphire Preferred also offers a 10% annual bonus on points earned and a $50 annual credit that can be used to book hotels through Chase Travel.
This card earns five Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on travel booked through Chase Travel, three points per dollar spent on dining, online grocery and streaming purchases, two points per 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 are redeemable for a lower value 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 insurancebut you’ll have to dig into the fine print on various maps to make sure there aren’t any pitfalls. Other notable cards include:
Capital One Venture X
The Capital One Venture X offers the following travel benefits:
- Collision Damage Waiver for Primary Rental Vehicles
- Travel-Delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger when your trip is delayed six hours or more
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $2,000 per Covered Passenger
- Reimbursement for lost baggage: up to $3,000 per covered passenger
- Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $1,000,000 of coverage
The Capital One Venture X also offers cell phone insurance coverage, Priority Pass Select lounge membership, $300 annual travel credit, 10,000 annual bonus miles, up to $100 travel expense credit apply for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry and earn valuable points that can be redeemed through Capital One Travel or transferred to Capital One travel partners.
The Venture X earns 10 miles per dollar spent on hotels and rental cars 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.
American Bank Altitude Reserve
The US Bank Altitude Reserve offers the following travel protections:
- Collision Damage Waiver for Primary Rental Vehicles
- Travel-Delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger when your trip is delayed six hours or more
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: Up to $2,000 per Covered Passenger
- Reimbursement for lost baggage: up to $3,000 per covered passenger
- Travel Accident Insurance: Up to $500,000 of coverage
The card also offers $325 travel credit annually, Priority Pass lounge access, application fee credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, and earn points redeemable for 1.5 cents each for travel.
Altitude Reserve earns five points per dollar spent on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the Altitude Rewards Center, three points per dollar spent on travel and mobile wallet purchases, and one point per dollar spent on other purchases . The card has an annual fee of $400.
The 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 are lacking:
- Secondary Collision Damage Waiver for rental vehicles (cardholders have the option of paying an additional $12.25-$24.95 for primary coverage with increased limits)
- Travel-Delay reimbursement: Up to $500 per covered passenger when your trip is delayed six hours or more
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: up to $10,000 per trip ($20,000 per 12 month period)
- Reimbursement for lost baggage: up to $3,000 per covered passenger for carry-on baggage or $2,000 per covered passenger for checked baggage with a combined limit of $3,000 per person, per trip
- Emergency evacuation: no cost cap
The Platinum Card from American Express offers a ton of extra perks, but with an annual fee of $695, it’s one of the most expensive personal credit cards out there. It offers up to $240 per year in Digital Entertainment Credits, up to $200 in Airline Incidental Credits, up to $200 in Uber Cash Credits, up to $300 in Equinox Credits, up to up to $100 in credits for Saks Fifth Avenue, 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 on a Delta flight on same day.
The card earns five Membership Rewards points per dollar spent on flights booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year), five points per dollar spent on hotels booked through Amex Travel and one point per dollar. spent on all other purchases. Membership Rewards points can be transferred at a 1:1 rate to various airline and hotel partners.
Cards with no annual fee with limited travel insurance
While all of 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, the Chase Freedom Flex offers:
- Secondary Collision Damage Waiver for Rental Vehicles: Secondary means that you will need to file a claim with your personal automobile insurance before the credit card coverage takes effect.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: up to $1,500 per passenger ($6,000 per trip)
The Chase Freedom Flex also includes mobile phone insurance coverage.
At the end of the line
Travel insurance via a credit card is an amazing benefit, and usually all you have to do is charge your travel expenses to the card (which should be even easier if your credit card offers bonus points on trips). Take a look at the credit cards you already have to see if any offer built-in travel insurance. If not, or if the coverage isn’t enough for you, consider whether another credit card might do the trick.
