How credit card travel insurance works

• Not all credit cards have travel insurance cover for cardholders.
• The travel insurance cover that comes with most credit cards is complimentary and is covered by the annual fee on the credit card.
• When offered, the policy usually covers accidents, medical expenses, trip inconvenience, and baggage and property.

How does travel insurance on your credit card work? Who is covered and what types of cover come with credit card travel insurance? What terms and conditions apply and what limitations are there? Is it better to pay a higher annual fee for a travel card that carries extensive travel insurance needs or should you opt for standalone travel insurance when you travel? These are some of the most common questions asked about credit card travel insurance.

This guide covers all that you need to know about credit card travel insurance, helping you to decide whether or not it is worth having.

What is credit card travel insurance?

Credit card travel insurance is there to protect you from unforeseen events that can disrupt your travel plans.

If your credit card comes with travel insurance, you may be able to get reimbursed if your trip is affected by health issues, bad weather conditions, cancellations, loss, theft, and other emergencies that are not within your control.

What does credit card travel insurance cover?

Exactly what your credit card travel insurance covers depends on the credit card and the policy that came with it.

Credit card travel insurance is typically underwritten by a company that also offers standalone travel insurance and is of a similar quality, but subject to more limitations.

Travel insurance covers a number of broad categories. Depending on the card, you may have cover for domestic and international trips, with varying conditions.

Travel accident and medical benefits

• Medical expenses (injury or sickness)
• Emergency medical evacuation, repatriation, or return of remains
• Daily in-hospital cash benefits

Inconvenience protection

• Flight cancellation
• Interstate flight inconvenience
• Trip curtailment
• Postponement
• Delays
• Missed connections
• Personal liability abroad
• Replacement travel documents and personal money
• Rental vehicle excess (usually within Australia)

Baggage protection

• Loss, damage, or theft of personal baggage (including laptop computers)
• Common carrier baggage delays

Emergency travel assistance

Emergency travel assistance services include lost card and ticket replacement, medical assistance, relay of urgent messages and a variety of other services.

Please refer to our credit card emergency travel assistance page for more information on how it works.

General rules for credit card travel insurance

As with any insurance policy, there are conditions.

• Premium cards typically have better and more comprehensive cover.
• For the policy to be active, it is typically required to have used the card to pay for the trip, including flights, before leaving. Some credit cards require a minimum amount of the cardholder’s travel costs — and their spouse and dependants’ if travelling together — to be charged to the account holder’s card for the policy to come into effect.
• Typically your credit card travel insurance will only cover two way trips which begin and end in Australia.
• Cover for dependants may be conditional on each dependant having a return overseas travel ticket before leaving Australia, paid for with your card.
• There are limits on the number of consecutive days of travel that are covered by your credit card’s travel insurance policy. The specific number varies. Check how long the policy will cover if you are planning a long trip.
• Typically, persons over 75 years of age are not covered.
• Pre-existing medication conditions and mental health conditions are typically not covered.
• There may also be insurance cover limitations by location, with some areas identified as dangerous being excluded from the coverage map for overseas travel.

Who is covered by credit card travel insurance?

The cardholder is covered, but some policies also cover the cardholder’s partner or spouse, dependents, and employees.

However, typically, each card has limits on how many children are covered..

There is a general requirement that those who are to be covered travel with the cardholder at least half (50%) of the time. This percentage may vary with each card and card issuer.

The exact coverage, for whom, on what, to what extent, and for how long, varies between issuers and cards. Some cards may have travel insurance cover for six months while others may offer for 12 months.

If you plan on solely relying on your credit card’s travel insurance policy, you will be well served by clarifying exactly who, what, when, where, for how long and how much insurance cover you have before you leave.

Credit card travel insurance vs standalone policy

How do credit card travel insurance benefits compare with standalone travel insurance policies?

Here’s an overview, but you should compare what cover your card offers against standalone options before really making a decision.

Is credit card travel insurance worth it?

It is probably not a good idea to travel on credit card travel insurance alone.

Is credit card travel insurance a good perk to have anyway? Yes, it is. But should you apply for a card based on the travel insurance alone? No, because it is an added benefit and the more extensive the travel insurance cover, the higher the card fee is likely to be.

Whether you travel frequently or only occasionally, consider the potential costs of standalone travel insurance against the cost of paying a high annual fee for getting extensive travel perks including insurance from your credit card.

In general, standalone insurance — taken only if you are travelling or for the year — may work out to be the more affordable option.

When is a standalone travel insurance better?

In certain situations, standalone travel insurance is clearly a better option.

• When your credit card does not include travel insurance benefits. They may also deny you travel cover if you pay for the trip with another card or in some other way. Some cards specify a percentage or dollar amount of your travel costs that must be spent using that particular credit card; and sometimes you may not qualify on that account. Some cards limit travel insurance to those who purchase air tickets and accomodation within their network. If you fall into any of these categories, you want to buy standalone travel insurance.
• You need more extensive coverage than what is offered by your credit card. During the COVID-19 pandemic, mandatory costs — for diagnostics, cost of accommodation and medical expenses if you are quarantined or happen to be positive — may call for additional coverage. These are not typically part of most credit card’s travel insurance policy. There may also be travel restrictions that delay or prevent scheduled travel and those disruptions may be covered by standalone insurance policies.
• Some fellow travellers of yours may not be covered. Since most credit card travel insurance can cover your spouse, partner, and dependents, some family members — older dependents such as parents or grandparents and those with preexisting conditions — and friends or fellow workers and employees will not typically have cover. You will need to buy standalone travel insurance for these people.
• Adventure activities. Most credit card travel insurance policies do not cover accidents as a result of adventure and travel activities that are deemed too risky. If that’s something you plan on doing while travelling, then you’ll need a standalone travel insurance policy that explicitly covers these activities.
• Medical cover or disruptions due to pre-existing medical conditions are excluded by most credit card insurance policies. If you want travel insurance that covers pre-existing conditions, a standalone travel insurance policy would be a better alternative to what your credit card offers.
• Non medical evacuation insurance. Typically, credit card medical insurance will cover only medical insurance and related evacuations.