Trip Insurance through a Credit Card

[luxecruisers]

Years ago, I remember someone telling me that she never purchased travel insurance since her credit card had great coverage. She ended up hospitalized before the cruise within cancellation penalties; her credit card reimbursed her every cent. 

 

I totally forgot the credit card company that she mentioned. Any ideas??? 

 

 

[Jersey42]

Several of the Chase cards including Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred offer insurance benefits. AmEx Platinum has also added insurance benefits.  The insurance benefits you get from these type of cards can be very helpful, but be sure to read the benefits document carefully so you know what is covered and the exclusions.  For example expect little if any medical coverage.  If you have other medical coverage that covers you out of the country, then this may be ok.  All of the cards that I am familiar with exclude pre-existing conditions.  So if you have to cancel, or interrupt your trip due to something deemed a pre-existing condition, then you will not be covered.  This would include not only you, but non traveling family members such as a child or parent.

 

Most cruise line plans have the same issues with pre-existing conditions. Third party insurance plans usually waive the pre-existing clause as long as you meet certain criteria such as buying the plan xx days after your initial trip deposit and covering the entire trip cost. In addition, many third party plans do not have a pre-existing conditions clause for those non traveling family members as long as you were able to travel on the date you purchased the insurance.

 

Unfortunately, none of this is as simple as it should be.  We have credit card insurance, but we supplement it with an annual travel medical policy.  Plus, depending on the situation we have also occasionally purchased a separate third party plan for a specific trip.

[luxecruisers]

1 minute ago, Jersey42 said:

Unfortunately, none of this is as simple as it should be.  We have credit card insurance, but we supplement it with an annual travel medical policy.  Plus, depending on the situation we have also occasionally purchased a separate third party plan for a specific trip.

 

Thank you for such a detailed post! I appreciate it.

 

I know that she didn't use Amex. And she didn't have any additional cruise line insurance, supplemental insurance, etc. She had a heart attack and the credit card company reimbursed the full cost of the cruise after she submitted mounds of paperwork. 

 

I also remember speaking to someone else who told me that he never purchased travel insurance; his card covered everything. Surprisingly, it wasn't an Amex card either. The coverage must have been okay since he was constantly sailing on $50,000+ cruises. 

 

Will look into Chase. Thanks! 

[klfrodo]

I've got the Chase Sapphire Reserved

For cruises out of the US and down to Mexico or the Caribbean, I'll usually not buy coverage for incidentals like cancellation, trip delay, trip interruption, etc. I will get medical and evac coverage though.

 

The best thing about the CSR card though, in my opinion, is the rental car coverage. Covers up to $75,000 CDW to include Loss of Use.

[luxecruisers]

Thank you for the post! I appreciate it. 

 

Do you purchase the medical and evac through the cruise line or some other carrier? 

 

18 minutes ago, klfrodo said:

I've got the Chase Sapphire Reserved

For cruises out of the US and down to Mexico or the Caribbean, I'll usually not buy coverage for incidentals like cancellation, trip delay, trip interruption, etc. I will get medical and evac coverage though.

 

[Mary229]

I recently posted this in another thread.  I ended up writing Steve and getting a very good med insurance recommendation tailored to my personal criteria

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2751701-chase-credit-card-travel-insurance-supplementary/?do=findComment&comment=60039763

[luxecruisers]

16 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I recently posted this in another thread.  I ended up writing Steve and getting a very good med insurance recommendation tailored to my personal criteria

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2751701-chase-credit-card-travel-insurance-supplementary/?do=findComment&comment=60039763

 

Thanks, Mary229! Super helpful. 

[Jersey42]

2 hours ago, luxecruisers said:

I know that she didn't use Amex. And she didn't have any additional cruise line insurance, supplemental insurance, etc. . . .

 

I also remember speaking to someone else who told me that he never purchased travel insurance; his card covered everything. Surprisingly, it wasn't an Amex card either. The coverage must have been okay since he was constantly sailing on $50,000+ cruises. 

 

Will look into Chase. Thanks! 

Amex Platinum only recently added  travel insurance benefits.  Citibank used to have a card with decent travel insurance, but those benefits were recently eliminated.  Both changes were within the past year or so.  Chase Sapphire Reserve and Amex Platinum also have a hefty annual fee ($550+), but if you take advantage of all the benefits it can be worth it. Chase Sapphire Preferred is much cheaper ($95), but it does have fewer or reduced benefits.

[Jersey42]

1 hour ago, klfrodo said:

The best thing about the CSR card though, in my opinion, is the rental car coverage. Covers up to $75,000 CDW to include Loss of Use.

Better yet, the $75K rental card coverage is primary coverage.  Most other credit card rental car insurance is secondary (in your home country).  So if you do not have to first file a claim with your auto insurance company.  It's not only simpler, it keeps your insurance company out of it and hopefully avoids an increase in auto insurance premiums.

[luxecruisers]

17 minutes ago, Jersey42 said:

Amex Platinum only recently added  travel insurance benefits.  Citibank used to have a card with decent travel insurance, but those benefits were recently eliminated.  

 

I have a feeling she used Citibank ... Thank you! And I love knowing that the rental car insurance is primary coverage. 

[terry&mike]

Similar to one of the posters above, we use Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, and also purchase an annual GeoBlue travel insurance policy. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card sounds expensive when you first consider it, at over $500 a year, but we find that we receive at least that much value in return from it. 

[luxecruisers]

1 hour ago, terry&mike said:

Similar to one of the posters above, we use Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, and also purchase an annual GeoBlue travel insurance policy. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card sounds expensive when you first consider it, at over $500 a year, but we find that we receive at least that much value in return from it. 

 

Thank you, terry&mike! The benefits look good, but I wonder about customer service with Visa/MCs. I am going to have to read all the fine print. Looking into GeoBlue too. 

[klfrodo]

8 hours ago, luxecruisers said:

 

Thank you, terry&mike! The benefits look good, but I wonder about customer service with Visa/MCs. I am going to have to read all the fine print. Looking into GeoBlue too. 

Good luck with GeoBlue. I would like to enroll in their plan, but GeoBlue cannot ( or they choose not) to be available to residents of Washington State.

 

Somewhere somehow, in some mysterious language part of the policy, GeoBlue and the State Insurance Commissioner cannot come to a satisfactory compromise and let GeoBlue be marketed and sold to us.

[luxecruisers]

On 7/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, klfrodo said:

Somewhere somehow, in some mysterious language part of the policy, GeoBlue and the State Insurance Commissioner cannot come to a satisfactory compromise and let GeoBlue be marketed and sold to us.

 

Thank you for the warm wishes! From other threads, I've read about some of the limitations of GeoBlue so I will need to read all the fine print. 

 

Love CFAR on cruise line insurance but hate the idea of a future cruise voucher right now.