How Does Credit Card Travel Insurance Work?

• Written by Rebecca Lake
  

  Rebecca Lake

  Credit cards, debt, mortgages, investing, college planning, insurance, banking, small business, and entrepreneurship

  Rebecca Lake is a certified educator in personal finance (CEPF) and a freelance writer with over a decade of experience. Her interest in finance began when she found herself with nearly $100,000 in credit cards and student loans to repay on a minimum-wage income. While she initially began her writing career covering credit cards and debt, her expertise has expanded to include mortgages, investing, college planning, insurance, banking, small business, and entrepreneurship. She also writes about marketing, practice management, and business development for growth-focused financial advisors and financial planners. Her work has appeared online at SmartAsset, SoFi, LendEDU, Investopedia, Time, MyBankTracker, MoneyRates, CreditCards.com, Bankrate, NerdWallet, Forbes, and The Balance. She's also collaborated with major banking brands, including Citibank, Discover Bank, and First Horizon Bank, to create credit card and loan-focused content. In addition to freelance writing, she operates a personal finance blog for single parents and a successful Etsy shop that she runs with her teenage daughter. When she isn't writing about finance, Rebecca is busy homeschooling her two children, taking care of the family's five pets, and working on various creative side projects. She also enjoys reading history books and biographies, experimenting with new recipes, and traveling.

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• Edited by Jasmin Baron
  

  Jasmin Baron

  Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

  Jasmin Baron is CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.

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• Last Updated Aug 29, 2025

Credit card travel insurance can reimburse you if your trip is derailed by a flight delay, lost luggage or other unexpected hiccup. Many top travel credit cards include this insurance coverage as a benefit, but if you’ve never had a reason to use it, you may not understand how it can protect you. 

What does credit card travel insurance cover? And what is travel insurance designed to do for you? Here’s an introduction to credit card travel insurance and how it works. 

What Is Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance protects you against financial losses if you experience delays, interruptions or other events during a trip, either close to home or abroad. Exactly what’s covered by travel insurance varies by policy, but the goal is to prevent you from taking a financial hit because of something beyond your control. 

Credit cards may offer insurance with other travel benefits, such as free checked luggage or airport lounge access. There are different types of travel insurance you can use to protect your trip.

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

Trip cancellation and interruption insurance reimburses you for prepaid costs that are otherwise non-refundable. For example, if you’re required to put down a deposit on a hotel room or cruise booking before your trip, that could count as a prepaid cost. 

This coverage can kick in if you’re forced to cancel your travel plans or your trip is interrupted. Your change of plans must be related to an unforeseen event covered by your policy, such as a natural disaster or a death in the family.

Trip Delay Insurance

Trip delay insurance reimburses you for certain expenses when you’re not able to travel on time for a covered reason.

For example, say that your flight is delayed for 24 hours due to bad weather. Your airline doesn’t offer vouchers for meals or a hotel stay, so you cover those expenses out of pocket. You could file a claim with your travel insurance to get that money back. 

Keep in mind that the delay may need to meet certain requirements to be covered. For example, you may need to be delayed by a specific number of hours before your coverage will pay a claim. 

Car Rental Insurance

Car rental insurance may be included with a credit card travel insurance policy or offered as a separate card benefit. This insurance covers you if your rental vehicle is damaged or stolen; it can also pay the rental car company for loss of use while the vehicle is being repaired. 

One thing to note is that car rental insurance typically does not include liability coverage. You’ll still need to have adequate liability coverage through your regular auto insurance policy or by purchasing insurance from your rental company. That coverage protects you if you get into an accident that causes injury or damage to someone else.

Lost/Delayed Luggage Insurance

Department of Transportation (DOT) rules require airlines to compensate flyers when their bags are damaged, delayed or lost. The maximum compensation for lost luggage on domestic flights is $4,700 per person; for international flights, it’s $1,700 per person. 

However, airlines can exclude certain items, which could leave you at risk if your luggage goes missing. Lost luggage insurance can reimburse you if your bags never make it from the airline to their final destination. Your policy may also cover you if your bags are lost or stolen during any other part of your trip.

Baggage delay insurance reimburses you if your luggage shows up late. Specifically, you can file a claim to recoup any costs associated with replacing necessary items, such as toiletries, while you wait for your bags to show up. Both lost and delayed luggage insurance may only pay out after you receive any compensation the airline is offering. 

Medical/Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

Medical and accidental death insurance can reimburse you or your beneficiaries if you have a medical emergency while traveling. If you end up with a serious case of food poisoning that requires a hospital stay, for instance, your policy could cover the doctor bills.

Your insurance may also include medical evacuation coverage. If you need to be transported by ambulance or by helicopter to a medical facility, you could file a claim to have your policy pay for those costs.

What’s Covered vs. What’s Not Covered?

Individual credit card travel insurance policies dictate what they cover and what they don’t. Here are some examples of how my Chase travel insurance trip cancellation/interruption benefits apply as a Chase Freedom Unlimited® cardholder. 

What’s covered

Trip cancellations or interruptions caused by:

• Illness or injury that’s verified by a physician who recommends cancellation
• Death or life-threatening hospitalization that’s verified by a physician.
• Severe weather
• Named storm warnings
• Change in military orders for a covered traveler

What’s excluded

Trip cancellations or interruptions caused by:

• A voluntary change of plans
• Pre-existing conditions that arose before the trip was booked
• Travel that takes place after the 26th week of pregnancy
• Multiple pregnancies (meaning twins, triplets, etc.) that began before the booking date
• Pregnancies that are the result of in vitro fertilization
• Disinclination to travel due to fear of civil unrest
• Active civil unrest, war or rebellion, excluding acts of terrorism
• A traveler’s failure to obtain necessary travel documents, such as a visa or passport
• A country closing its borders or changing its admission policies for visitors

My Chase rental car coverage reimburses me for theft or damage, reasonable towing charges and administrative fees on a secondary basis, which means I’d have to file a claim with my personal auto policy first. And it won’t pay out for the loss of my personal belongings if a rental car I’m using is broken into.

Your credit card’s guide to benefits will have a full breakdown of its travel insurance. It’s wise to know what’s covered (or excluded) before your trip so you aren’t taken by surprise if you need to file a claim. 

Credit Cards That Offer Travel Insurance

If you’re looking for a credit card that offers travel insurance benefits, you have plenty of options. Here are some of the top choices for credit card travel insurance: 

• Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card
• Bilt Mastercard®**
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®
• Citi Strata Premier® Card (an advertising partner)
• The Platinum Card® from American Express (an advertising partner)
• Wells Fargo Autograph Journey℠ Card

Card Name	Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance	Trip Delay Insurance	Lost/Delayed Luggage Reimbursement	Travel Accident Insurance	Rental Car Insurance
Bank of America Premium Rewards credit card	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes, secondary
Bilt Mastercard	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes, primary
Capital One Venture X	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, primary
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, primary
Chase Sapphire Reserve	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, primary
Citi Strata Premier Card	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes, secondary
Amex Platinum	Yes	Yes	Lost/damaged luggage only	No	Yes, secondary
Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Card	Yes	Yes	Lost luggage only	Yes	Yes, secondary

How To File a Credit Card Travel Insurance Claim

The claims filing process can vary based on which company issues your insurance policy. Here’s what you’ll typically need to do to file a travel insurance claim:

• Review your policy to determine whether your loss may be covered
• Gather information about your loss, including receipts, cancellation notices and other documentation that can back up your claim 
• Contact your card’s travel insurance provider to start the claims process (you may be able to do this over the phone, online or via a mobile app)
• Upload, email or fax your documentation to your insurer

Once the claim is underway, stay in touch with your insurance company. Promptly respond to any questions or requests for additional documentation so you don’t risk having your claim denied. 

The information related to Bilt Mastercard®** and Chase Sapphire Reserve® was collected by CardCritics™ and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this product/card. Product details may vary. Please see issuer website for current information. CardCritics™ does not receive a commission for these products.

For the Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance and Trip Delay Insurance on The Platinum Card® from American Express, Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefit sguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

For the Baggage Insurance Plan and Car Rental Loss & Damage Insurance on the The Platinum Card® from American Express, Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefit sguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.