With the high travel volume and lower supply of flights post-pandemic, there have been reports of canceled and delayed flights. There has never been a better time to have credit cards with travel protection.

Perhaps you’ve never worried about having travel protection. That’s often the case until you’ve needed it. My sister broke her wrist in Mexico on an ATV one time and was so happy she had randomly added a $20+ insurance policy to her airline ticket – it saved her thousands of dollars! You don’t need to add on that airline insurance if you have a good credit card with travel protection though. Here are some things that might be covered on a credit card:

 

Sample Items Covered on Credit Cards with Travel Protection (varies per card)

• Primary or secondary car rental insurance depending on the card
• Lost or damaged luggage – If your bags are lost or damaged by a carrier, or items have been stolen from your baggage, your provider may provide monetary compensation.
• Trip interruption or cancellation – If you miss part of your trip due to a covered reason, they will reimburse you for any unused, prepaid, non-refundable reservations like an excursion or hotels.
• Trip delay reimbursement- If your trip  is delayed, you may receive money or vouchers to help cover meals, hotels, transportation, and necessary purchases up to a certain amount per ticket
• Delayed baggage – you may be reimbursed for clothing or toiletries
• Emergency medical and dental expenses – If you are injured on your trip, you will be reimbursed for medical expenses up to a certain amount.
• Travel accident insurance – In the case of accidental death or dismemberment, your credit card may provide coverage to you or to your beneficiary (yikes)
• Medical evacuation- If your illness or accident requires you to return home for treatment, your credit card may cover the cost.

Know what items are covered on the cards you have and be sure and pay the items you need to pay for (like taxes and fees) on that card. Here are some credit cards with travel protection.

 

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve Card

Our favorite beginner card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, comes with great travel protection. One time Alex’s nice stroller was damaged during travel and she was sent a check in the mail for the full cost of the stroller (which happened to be 6 years old) just because she had used this card to book her taxes and fees for the flight!

You can count on these cards to give you trip cancellation and interruption coverage, trip delay, lost and damaged luggage, luggage delay, and rental car coverage. You can get up to $500 in reimbursements for things like airfare, hotels, and meals if you incur a delay of 12 or more hours. That can be huge If you are stranded!

You can also get up to $100 a day for five days if your luggage is delayed for more than 6 hours. Several years ago, my luggage was delayed four days on a trip to Greece. Getting reimbursed for some clothes and toiletries made it much easier for me to continue enjoying my trip!

The rental car coverage is amazing. Coverage is primary and provides reimbursement up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for most rental cars in the U.S. and abroad. I always book my rental cars with this card.

• Trip cancellation or interruption – Up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $40,000 per year.

• Trip delay – Up to $500 per ticket for delays of more than six hours with the Reserve and 12 hours with the Preferred.

• Baggage delay -Up to $100 per day for five days.

• Lost luggage – Up to $3,000 per passenger.

• Travel accident -Up to $1,000,000 for the Reserve and up to $500,000 for the Preferred.

• Rental car insurance – Up to $75,000 for the Reserve and up to the actual cost of the car for the Preferred.

 

United Explorer Card

The United Explorer Card is a surprising contender for one of the credit cards for travel protection. I love that a simple airline card offers such good protection.

• Trip cancellation and trip interruption- Up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip.

• Trip delay – Up to $500 per ticket for delays of more than 12 hours.

• Baggage delay -Up to $100 per day for three days.

• Lost luggage – Up to $3,000 per passenger.

• Travel accident insurance – Up to $500,000.

• Rental car insurance – covers damage or theft with restrictions.

   

The Platinum Card from American Express

With an annual fee of $695, the American Express Platinum Card better be one of the credit cards with travel protection! The interesting thing is, that most cards seem to have almost identical protection. Are you seeing similarities with their coverages?

• Trip cancellation – Up to $10,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $20,000 per 12-month period.

• Trip interruption – Up to $10,000 per trip. Maximum benefit of $20,000 per 12-month period.

• Lost luggage – Up to $3,000 per passenger.

• Travel accident insurance – Up to $500,000.

• Rental car insurance – Up to $75,000.