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A credit card's travel insurance feature may not sound as exciting as a 100,000-point sign-up bonus or a high earning rate on everyday spending — but when you find yourself in a bind, it can be significantly more valuable.

Here's everything you need to know about credit card travel insurance, along with the best credit cards offering the most comprehensive coverage.

Compare Credit Cards With Travel Insurance

Best Credit Cards for Trip Delay Insurance

Best Credit Cards for Rental Car Insurance

Best Credit Cards for Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

Best Credit Cards for Lost Luggage Reimbursement

Best Credit Cards for Travel Accident Insurance

Best Credit Cards for Emergency Evacuation Coverage

Credit Cards With Travel Insurance Frequently Asked Questions

Which credit card has the best travel insurance?

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® has the most comprehensive travel insurance, covering everything from trip cancellations and interruptions to delayed baggage.

What does credit card travel insurance cover?

Delays, cancellations, and various other misfortunes continue to seesaw in response to travel restrictions, labor shortages, and weather. If you're a would-be traveler who is now rethinking an upcoming vacation or work trip, you'll benefit from having a credit card with travel insurance that reimburses you for things like:

  • Non-refundable flights
  • Delayed bags
  • Missed connections
  • Illness that cuts your travel short
  • Death

Do most cards offer travel insurance?

Most travel rewards credit cards offer some degree of travel insurance. For example, many American Express credit cards offer trip cancellation and interruption coverage. But the specifics can vary wildly from card to card. The big exception is Citi, which eliminated most elements of its travel coverage from cards several years ago. Don't reserve travel with a Citi card if you want any sort of insurance.

If my credit card has travel coverage, do I need to buy additional travel insurance?

If you have one of the credit cards featured in this guide, you may not need an additional travel insurance policy. However, make sure you read the fine print of your credit card's benefits guides to make sure the travel coverage is sufficient for your needs — and so you don't have any unpleasant surprises like finding out you aren't eligible for coverage when it's too late.

On the other hand, if you want some extra peace of mind, or if there's a good chance you may cancel your non-refundable trip, it's worth looking into supplementary travel insurance. Also keep in mind that you may need to purchase travel insurance if you're traveling for an extended period, since most credit card travel insurance only applies for about a month-long trip.

Read our comparison of credit card benefits versus travel insurance to get a feel for the coverage you need. And if you're shopping for insurance, be sure to check out our guide to the best travel insurance companies.

Who is covered by credit card travel insurance?

Refer to your credit card's benefits guide, but as a general rule credit card travel insurance applies to the cardholder and the cardholder's immediate family.

What isn't covered by credit card travel insurance?

Each credit card travel insurance policy is different, so it's important to look at your specific card's benefits guide to make sure you know exactly what is and what is not covered. And when in doubt, don't be afraid to call the card issuer for clarification!

Your credit card travel insurance won't cover a trip that you don't purchase with the card, though in some cases paying for a trip in full or in part with that card's rewards points will qualify you for coverage.

Other areas where potential exclusions could crop up are covered reasons (if your trip is canceled or delayed because decide to change your plans, not because of illness or weather), covered trip length (most credit card travel insurance is capped at a certain amount of time, usually around a month), and covered destination (if you're traveling to a region where your card's coverage doesn't apply).

Best Credit Cards for Trip Delay Insurance

Trip delay insurance covers you (and often family members traveling with you) for expenses like meals, transportation, lodging, medication, and toiletries. For example, if your flight is delayed by more than six hours, your card may reimburse you up to $500 in "reasonable expenses" such as:

  • An Uber or taxi from the airport to a hotel
  • A one-night hotel reservation
  • Dinner at a nearby restaurant

I've used this benefit a handful of times, and it's saved me hundreds. Just note that you must use your qualifying card to pay for your fare — even if that means simply paying taxes and fees on an award flight.

Trip delay insurance applies to more than just flights. You're eligible for coverage whenever you book a "common carrier" — defined as "any land, water, or air conveyance that operates under a valid license to transport passengers for hire and requires purchasing a ticket before travel begins." As long as it's not a taxi, limo, commuter rail, bus, or rental car, you're likely covered.

Below are the top three credit cards for trip delay insurance. Even if you don't travel regularly, you should be using one of these cards to reserve your travel, because trip delay insurance will come in handy sooner or later.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the gold standard of trip delay insurance. After just six hours of delay — or any delay that requires an overnight stay — you're eligible for up to $500 in covered expenses per ticket. You and those traveling with you (a spouse and dependent children under 22) are covered.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® charges a Chase Sapphire Reserve® annual fee, but it also comes with valuable travel benefits such as:

You'll also earn Chase Sapphire Reserve®. That's worth Chase Sapphire Reserve® in travel, based on Insider's valuation of Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 1.8 cents each.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card Review

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is Capital One's first premium travel credit card. It's a Visa Infinite card (similar to the Chase Sapphire Reserve®), and benefits from extremely generous trip delay insurance***. You'll get up to $500 per ticket in covered expenses after a delay of six hours or more. Those eligible for this insurance are your spouse and dependent children under age 22.

The card has a welcome bonus offer of Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. That's worth Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card in travel, based on Insider's valuation of Capital One miles. In addition, it also comes with travel perks like:

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card Review

U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card is another one of the few Visa Infinite cards on the market. As you'd expect, it's got excellent trip delay insurance. You'll receive up to $500 per ticket in coverage for expenses like meals and lodging (that aren't reimbursed by the airline or other "common carrier") when your trip is delayed more than six hours or requires an overnight stay.

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card comes with U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card. These points are worth 1.5 cents each when you use them toward travel. That means this bonus is worth U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card. You'll also get benefits like:

  • $325 in annual travel credits
  • Up to $100 in statement credits toward Global Entry and TSA PreCheck
  • Up to 30% discount on Audi on Demand (formerly Silvercar) rentals

U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Review

Best Credit Cards for Rental Car Insurance

You probably already know that most travel rewards credit cards offer some form of rental car insurance. It's a great benefit because it can save users significant money in the case of damage or theft to your rental. Even by renting a car for just a few days, you could save $50+ by waiving the rental agency's in-house insurance CDW and instead covering your rental by paying with this card.

Two kinds of rental car insurance come with many popular cards:

  • Secondary insurance — Offers coverage benefits that are secondary to your personal auto insurance policy. In the event of damage due to theft or collision, car renters still have to file a claim through their personal auto insurance policy, and the secondary insurance is there to cover a portion of leftover costs. So, although this is a nice perk, it doesn't ease the sting of having to report to your personal insurance — often with resultant premium hikes.
  • Primary insurance — Coverage for loss or damage will be taken care of by the credit card company without you having to make a claim with your personal policy. In the long run, this could save a car renter significantly on both CDW and LDW, and it could help avoid raising premiums on their personal auto policy.

Primary car rental insurance is what you want. You must pay for the entire transaction with the credit card you'd be filing the insurance under. Some cards even require that renters book the entire trip on the card, so read the fine print carefully.

Primary insurance also generally doesn't include liability, damage to other cars, damage to personal property, personal bodily injury, or injury to others. See Insider's guide to shopping for auto insurance to get this liability coverage.

Below are the top three credit cards for car rental insurance.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® comes with up to $75,000 for theft and collision for rental cars in the US and abroad.

You'll be extra motivated to make this card your dedicated car rental payment method now that it earns 10 points per dollar for this expense when reserving through the Chase Travel Portal. Insider estimates Chase points value to be 1.8 cents each when used for travel — so earning 10x points equates to an 18% return.

When booking outside the portal, you'll earn 3 points per dollar for travel including rental cars.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is another rewards-earning monster when it comes to car rentals. Not only will you receive primary rental car insurance***, but you'll earn 10 miles per dollar on rental cars booked through the Capital One Travel Portal. You'll earn 2 miles per dollar for travel booked outside the portal.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Platinum Card® from American Express doesn't offer primary rental car insurance by default. However, you can receive primary premium car rental protection for a flat rate between $15.95 and $24.95 per rental period (not per day). It's not free like the other insurances on this list, but premium rental car benefits may fit your situation better:

  • You'll be covered for up to 42 consecutive days, whereas most other cards won't allow your rental to exceed 31 consecutive days.
  • You're insured for up to $100,000 of primary coverage against damage or theft — a higher number than several other credit cards.

You can enroll your The Platinum Card® from American Express and automatically be covered whenever you rent a car. You'll be charged this flat rate whenever you pay for a rental with your card.

This card has a The Platinum Card® from American Express annual fee — but it also offers The Platinum Card® from American Express. That's worth The Platinum Card® from American Express in travel per Insider's valuation of Amex points. You'll also find travel perks such as:

American Express Platinum Credit Card Review

Best Credit Cards for Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

Trip cancellation/interruption insurance protects you if you're no longer able to go on a covered trip or your covered trip is interrupted mid-travel for reasons such as:

  • Illness
  • Your airline declared bankruptcy and cancels your flight
  • Injury
  • One of your immediate family members dies
  • Weather
  • There's a terrorist incident

This coverage will reimburse you for prepaid nonrefundable travel such as airfare, hotel stays, activities, etc. which you can't use (or finish). Additionally, you may be reimbursed for an unexpected flight back home.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® will reimburse you for up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses like plane tickets, hotel reservations, cruises, etc. Chase states that if your name is embossed on the card, you and your immediate family are all covered under this benefit. That means authorized users can utilize this benefit, as well as the primary cardholder.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card can reimburse you, your spouse, and your children up to $2,000 each for prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses like plane tickets, hotel bookings, etc. This is a significantly smaller per-person payout than the Chase Sapphire Reserve® — but there doesn't appear to be a hard cap on how much you can earn.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a trip cancellation/interruption reimbursement of up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses like plane tickets, hotel reservations, and hotels.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the single best beginner points credit card. Its annual fee is reasonable at Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card per year, and it manages to offer many similar travel protections as much more expensive credit cards.

In terms of return rates, this card earns:

  • 5 points per dollar on Lyft rides through March 2025
  • 5 points per dollar on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards
  • 3 points per dollar on dining, including eligible delivery services, takeout, and dining out 
  • 3 points per dollar on select streaming services
  • 3 points per dollar on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
  • 2 points per dollar on other travel 
  • 1 point per dollar on everything else

You'll also receive perks like up to $50 in annual statement credits toward hotel stays booked through Chase and a 10% anniversary point bonus (based on the dollar amount you spend).

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is currently offering an impressive increased welcome bonus of  Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. That's worth an average of Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card in travel, based on Insider's points and miles valuations.

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card Review

Best Credit Cards for Lost Luggage Reimbursement

If your carry-on or checked baggage goes missing — or if the airline, cruise ship, etc. damages your belongings, this coverage could reimburse you up to a specified amount. Card issuers tend to price your belongings as the lesser of the following:

  • The original purchase price of your items
  • The actual cash value of your items when they were lost
  • The cost to replace those items

You must pay for your trip with an eligible card to be covered. Below are the three best credit cards for lost luggage reimbursement.

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

This card will give you up to $3,000 per person if you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

If you or an immediate family member's check or carry-on luggage is damaged or lost, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card will cover you for the difference between the "value of the amount claimed" and the common carrier's compensation, up to $3,000 per covered trip.

U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card

The U.S. Bank Altitude® Reserve Visa Infinite® Card provides up to $3,000 per person if you or an immediate family member check or carry on luggage that is damaged or lost — again, calculated by the difference between the "value of the amount claimed" and the common carrier's payment.

Best Credit Cards for Travel Accident Insurance

Ideally, you'll never find occasion to use any credit card travel insurance. But this is the one to really hope will never come in handy.

Travel accident insurance covers you for things like dismemberment and death during your trip (most commonly, while you're riding as a passenger in, or entering/exiting, a licensed common carrier like an airplane or a cruise ship). Some of the best cards will pay up to $1 million. The payout you'll receive depends on the severity of the accident.

Generally, you'll get 100% of the benefit amount for things like:

  • Loss of life
  • Loss of speech and hearing
  • Loss of speech/hearing and loss of a hand, foot, or sight from one eye
  • Loss of sight in both eyes
  • Loss of a combination of any two of a loss of hand, foot, or sight of one eye

You'll get 50% of the benefit amount for things like:

  • Loss of one hand
  • Loss of one foot
  • Loss of sight in one eye
  • Loss of speech
  • Loss of hearing

You may also get 25% of the benefit amount for the loss of a thumb and index finger of the same hand. Credit card benefits vary by product and issuer, so be sure to read all the fine print.

Below are the top three credit cards for travel accident insurance. Remember, you must pay the entire cash portion of your travel with these cards to be covered.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the few cards that will give you up to $1 million of accidental death or dismemberment coverage under this benefit. That's double the coverage of most other cards. You'll get:

  • $1 million for common carrier travel accident insurance
  • $100,000 for 24-hour travel accident insurance

If your name is embossed on the card you've used to pay for your travel, you and your immediate family are covered.

Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is another (rare) card that will cover you for up to $1 million of accidental death or dismemberment insurance.

It does not appear that immediate family traveling with you will receive this benefit — so while the potential payout is the best in the game, you may want to opt for a smaller benefit amount with more widespread coverage.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card incurs no annual fee, yet offers travel accident insurance with some of the best cards on the market. You'll get up to $500,000 in coverage:

  • $500,000 for common carrier travel accident insurance
  • $100,000 for 24-hour travel accident insurance

This card comes with Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card. That's worth Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card, per Insider's valuation of Marriott points. You'll also earn: 

  • 3x points* at participating Marriott Bonvoy hotels
  • 2x points on other eligible travel purchases
  • 1 point per dollar on all other eligible purchases

Other than that, the card doesn't offer an immense value proposition — its best benefit is the 15 Marriott elite night credits each calendar year, which can help you to achieve Marriott elite status much more quickly.

Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card Review

Best Credit Cards for Emergency Evacuation Coverage

If you're injured or otherwise incapacitated and need to be evacuated, this coverage would reimburse expenses such as:

  • Any land, water, or air transportation you require
  • Medical services
  • Medical supplies that are necessary related to your emergency evacuation

The benefit often requires that you be at least 100 miles from home. Additionally, if you're hospitalized for a certain period of time (usually more than eight days), the benefit can reimburse a round-trip coach ticket for a friend or relative to come to see you. As ever, benefits vary from card to card.

Below are the three best credit cards for emergency evacuation and transportation coverage.

The Platinum Card® from American Express

The Platinum Card® from American Express covers you, your spouse/domestic partner, and legally dependent children for emergency evacuation and related emergency medical services, no matter how much it costs. Your trip must not exceed 90 days.

If a child under 16 is unaccompanied as a result of the emergency, this benefit will pay for a coach flight to get them home — and even pay for them to be escorted if necessary.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

This card will cover up to $100,000 for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and/or legally dependent children for emergency evacuation and related emergency medical services. If your name is embossed on the front of the card, you can take full advantage of this perk.

Also, if you die during your trip, you are covered for $1,000 for your remains to be repatriated to your home country.

United Club℠ Infinite Card

The United Club℠ Infinite Card will cover up to $100,000 for you, your spouse/domestic partner, and/or legally dependent children for emergency evacuation and related emergency medical services.

The United Club℠ Infinite Card comes with an annual fee of United Club℠ Infinite Card, but that's easily offset by its ongoing benefits, such as:

  • Full-fledged United Club membership (worth $650 per year)
  • Free first and second checked bags on United flights (when you pay any cash portion of your ticket with this card)
  • Priority boarding on United flights
  • Premier Access travel services
  • Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS application fee credit
  • Complimentary Premier upgrades
  • Expanded access to United award flights

This card also earns:

  • 4 miles per dollar on eligible United purchases
  • 2 miles per dollar on travel
  • 2 miles per dollar on dining
  • 1 mile per dollar on everything else

United Club Infinite Card Review

Different types of credit card travel insurance coverage

Before we jump into the best credit cards with travel insurance, let's examine some important definitions. Several types of protections fall under the umbrella of travel insurance:

  • Trip delay insurance — If your covered trip is delayed by a specified number of hours due to a covered reason,  this will cover expenses like meals and lodging (up to a specified maximum).
  • Baggage delay insurance — This coverage provides reimbursement for essentials like clothes and toiletries if your luggage is delayed on a covered trip. 
  • Trip cancellation/interruption insurance — This protects you if you're no longer able to go on a covered trip or your covered trip is interrupted mid-travel for reasons such as illness, injury, weather, or a terrorist incident. This is the type of coverage you'd invoke if you needed to adjust your travel plans due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
  • Lost luggage insurance — If your carry-on or checked baggage goes missing, this coverage could reimburse you up to a specified amount.
  • Rental car insurance — Many credit cards offer either primary or secondary car rental insurance, so you can waive the coverage offered for an additional fee when you rent a car. With primary car rental insurance, in the event of damage due to theft or collision, your credit card coverage will kick in before your personal insurance. With secondary insurance, the coverage kicks in after whatever other insurance is in place. Note that liability coverage isn't included in any credit card auto collision damage waiver.
  • Travel accident insurance — This is the kind of insurance you'll hopefully never have to use.
  • Emergency evacuation insurance — If you're injured or otherwise incapacitated and need to be evacuated, this coverage would reimburse expenses such as a helicopter evacuation.

For these coverages to kick in, you'll have to pay for your travel with a card that offers trip insurance. In other words, if you book your flight and hotels with a debit card, you won't be eligible for coverage from your credit card.

On that same note, however, redeeming airline miles or bank points for your travel should not disqualify you from coverage — as long as you pay the taxes and fees with your eligible credit card.

 

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The Best Credit Cards With Travel Insurance of May 2023