Your Credit Card May Provide Travel Insurance You Didn’t Know You Had

Editor’s note: Many travel insurance policies won’t cover COVID-19-related cancellations booked after late-January, 2020, but they can help with other expenses. For travel insurance information specific to the current COVID-19 epidemic, see our stories on Travel In the Time of COVID: What You Need to Know; Travel Insurance Coverage: 18 Things Your Policy Won’t Cover; and Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance, Explained.

These days, it’s pretty hard to buy an airplane ticket without the carrier trying to sell you additional insurance with your ticket. In fact, some carriers, like United, literally won’t let you complete your purchase until you’ve accepted or declined the optional travel insurance policies that they offer through a third party.

But what most travelers don’t know is that their credit card may already include numerous travel insurance protections, making it unnecessary to purchase the optional insurance. Here’s some of the credit cards that offer you the best travel insurance, so that you can decline to pay extra for the same coverage.

Credit Cards with Trip Insurance and Other Travel Protections

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

In addition to offering outstanding rewards, this card also comes with very strong travel benefits. Most importantly, it offers trip cancellation/interruption insurance, that provides a benefit if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. It can reimburse you up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels. Other benefits include baggage delay insurance, trip delay reimbursement and auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card, which currently offers 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening.

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Related: 8 Credit Cards That Will Get You ‘Free’ Checked Bags

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Mastercard® Titanium Card™

This card offers a surprising array of travel benefits including trip cancellation and interruption coverage that works if your covered trip is canceled or interrupted due to a covered reason. This benefit can reimburse you up to $5,000 per trip and $10,000 per 12-month period. You also receive baggage delay insurance and auto rental collision damage waiver insurance. There’s a $195 annual fee for this card. You also get the same coverage from the $495 Mastercard® Black Card™ and the $995 Mastercard® Gold Card™.

United℠ Explorer Card

You can feel comfortable declining the optional insurance offered by airlines with this card, because it includes trip cancellation/interruption insurance. This will offer you a benefit if your trip is canceled or cut short by sickness, severe weather and other covered situations. It can reimburse you up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip for your pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses, including passenger fares, tours, and hotels. Other benefits include baggage delay insurance, trip delay reimbursement and auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. There’s a $95 annual fee for this card (waived the first year), which currently offers 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 within three months of account opening. (See rates and fees)

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