Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance: What It Covers and How to Use It

Whether you're traveling domestically or abroad, going on a trip is an exciting way to see the world. But it can also be expensive, and the last thing you want is to end up losing your money if something goes wrong with your planned vacation.

The good news is, if you pay for your trip with your Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, you should have coverage if your trip is cancelled or delayed or if you experience certain other losses along the way.

There are details you need to be aware of to take advantage of Chase Sapphire travel insurance, though, so it's important to read the fine print to make certain you're able to use this important cardholder benefit if something goes wrong. This complete guide to Chase Sapphire insurance will help you understand what you need to know.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance broadly refers to insurance that provides reimbursement when you suffer losses in conjunction with a trip. But lots of different things could go wrong when you’re traveling, so there are different kinds of insurance that cover different major and minor calamities. Although you can buy travel insurance through an agency or insurance company, many travel credit cards come with different types of travel insurance as an included benefit.

Some of the different types of travel insurance you may want when traveling include:

• Travel delay insurance: This covers you when your common carrier (cruise line, airline, tour operator, etc.) is delayed and you get stuck somewhere for a long time or you have to stay somewhere unexpected overnight.
• Trip cancellation insurance: If your trip is cancelled for a covered reason, such as severe weather, this insurance provides you reimbursement for non-refundable expenses.
• Baggage delay insurance: If your bags are delayed for a long time, this insurance covers costs you'll incur for essential purchases such as clean clothing and toiletries.
• Lost luggage insurance: If your baggage never shows up at all, you can get reimbursed for your lost luggage and the stuff inside it.
• Car rental insurance: Car rental insurance can cover you if your rental vehicle is lost, stolen, or damaged
• Roadside assistance: If you get stuck on the road, roadside assistance can come to your rescue and provide a tow, tire change, or other help.
• Travel accident insurance: If you get into an accident or die while on a trip, travel accident insurance can provide a payout to you or your loved ones.

Chase offers some of these insurance benefits, but there are differences in coverage when you compare the Sapphire Preferred vs. the Sapphire Reserve. This could impact which card you use to make a travel-related purchase or which card you apply for to begin with.

Quick look: Chase Sapphire travel insurance

The table below shows some of the details about the travel insurance benefits on the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Chase Sapphire Reserve cards.

	Chase Sapphire Preferred	Chase Sapphire Reserve
Trip delay reimbursement	Provides up to $500 per purchased ticket for meals, lodging, and other expenses if your trip is delayed more than 12 hours or an overnight stay is required due to a delay.	Provides up to $500 per purchased ticket for meals, lodging, and other expenses if your trip is delayed more than six hours or an overnight stay is required due to a delay.
Trip cancellation insurance	Provides up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip in reimbursement for prepaid non-refundable travel expenses	Provides up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip in reimbursement for prepaid non-refundable travel expenses
Baggage delay insurance	Provides up to $100 per day in reimbursement for toiletries and clothing if your baggage is delayed by a passenger carrier for more than six hours.	Provides up to $100 per day in reimbursement for toiletries and clothing if your baggage is delayed by a passenger carrier for more than six hours
Lost luggage insurance	Receive up to $3,000 per passenger if your luggage is lost or damaged by a common carrier	Receive up to $3,000 per passenger if your luggage is lost or damaged by a common carrier
Car rental insurance	Auto rental collision damage insurance is available and covers you up to the actual cash value of the vehicle for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad	Auto rental collision damage insurance is available and reimburses you up to $75,000 for theft and collision damage for rental cars in the U.S. and abroad
Roadside assistance	Not available though you can use Roadside Dispatch for an additional fee	Up to $50 in coverage per incident four times a year
Travel accident insurance	Up to $500,000 in accidental death or dismemberment coverage	Up to $1 million in accidental death or dismemberment coverage

Each of these different kinds of coverage come with limitations, restrictions, and qualifications that are important to be aware of if you're relying on the protections Chase is offering. Let's look at each type of coverage on each card in a little more detail.

Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card travel insurance

While the benefits of the Chase Sapphire Preferred cover a number of different aspects, the travel benefits are a big draw for most cardholders. Here's what you need to know about using your travel insurance benefits available on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Trip delay reimbursement

This provides coverage for the cardholder, the cardholder's spouse or domestic partner, and the cardholder's dependent children ages 22 and under when the trip is paid for with the Chase card. This coverage applies if your trip is delayed more than 12 hours or an overnight stay is required due to a delay.

Coverage is limited to one delay per covered trip and delays are covered only if they are caused by a common carrier and are in a city away from the cardholder's home. The maximum of $500 in benefits can be spent on reasonable expenses for meals, lodging, toiletries, medication, and other personal items. To be considered for reimbursement, the cardmember must notify Chase within 60 days of the delay.

Trip cancellation insurance

Cancellation insurance covers the cardholder and immediate family members if a trip is interrupted on the way to the point of departure or after you've left. It also provides coverage if a trip has to be postponed for a covered reason and fees are incurred due to rescheduling.

Covered losses include severe weather; terrorist actions; jury duty; court subpoenas; or accidental bodily injury, death, or sickness of the cardholder, immediate family, or a traveling companion. The cardholder doesn't need to be traveling with family for them to be covered, but the trip must be paid for by the Chase card.

The benefit is limited to $10,000 per covered trip and $20,000 per occurrence and benefits paid can't exceed $40,000 over 12 months. So if a family of five goes on a $30,000 trip, the maximum coverage is still $20,000 even though each individual family member would theoretically be entitled to $10,000 in reimbursement.

The coverage is secondary to other travel insurance or reimbursement from others, so if your cruise line or travel insurance policy offers any reimbursement, you have to go through them first.

Baggage delay insurance

The cardholder, spouse or domestic partner, and immediate family members are covered if a common carrier delays luggage for six or more hours. This coverage provides up to $100 per day for a maximum of five days to pay for essentials such as clothes, toiletries, and one cell phone charging cable.

This insurance is secondary to other reimbursement or travel insurance coverage, so claims have to be made with those other providers first. To get reimbursement from Chase, you have to file your claim within 20 days of the delay.

Lost luggage insurance

Checked and carry-on baggage are both covered, along with personal property in your suitcases or bags. The cardholder and immediate family members are covered, even if the cardholder isn't traveling with the family members.

The insurance provides up to $3,000 per insured person on each covered trip; however, coverage for jewelry, watches, and electronics is limited to $500 per person and there's no coverage for loss of money or travelers checks or for losses resulting from a war.

Claims have to be made within 20 days of the occurrence and the loss must have been reported to the carrier in a timely manner. Coverage is secondary, which means you have to try to get reimbursed by any other primary travel insurance or by the occupancy provider (hotel, etc.) or common carrier first.

Car rental insurance

The Chase cardholder and additional drivers on the rental agreement are covered by this policy, which provides reimbursement for collision or theft for rental vehicles in the U.S. and abroad. Coverage is secondary in your own country when renting for personal reasons, so you have to make a claim on your other auto insurance first. This isn't required if you're renting abroad.

You're covered for up to the actual value of the rental car, but won't be covered if you're renting the car for more than 31 consecutive days. Chase also excludes expensive, exotic, and antique automobiles as well as trucks, recreational vehicles, and large vans.

Travel accident insurance

If you pay with your Chase card, you're covered for $500,000 in benefits for loss of life if you have an accident while on a common carrier. You'll also get a payout for dismemberment or a loss of speech, sight, and hearing. The amount you get will depend on your injuries. If you have an accident at any other time, your maximum coverage is $100,000 for loss of life and you get partial compensation for dismemberment up to $100,000, depending on what injuries you sustained.

The cardholder and immediate family members are covered even if the cardholder isn't traveling with them as long as the cardholder files a written claim within 20 days of the incident. But if multiple eligible people are hurt, coverage can't exceed twice the applicable benefit amount ($500,000 or $100,000) and the total amount will be divided up among the eligible injured people.

Emotional distress is not covered, nor are injuries or deaths sustained in the commission of illegal acts or when car racing, parachute jumping, or participating in sports activities where potential prizes are at stake.

Bottom line on Chase Sapphire Preferred travel insurance

The Chase Sapphire Preferred provides similar travel insurance benefits to the Sapphire Reserve, which we’ll discuss in detail next. But with the Sapphire Preferred, your trip delay insurance doesn't kick in until 12 hours have passed instead of six with the Reserve and your travel accident insurance offers $500,000 in coverage instead of $1 million. You also won't get roadside assistance, though you can use roadside dispatch if you pay for it.

On the plus side, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card comes with a much lower annual fee ($95) than the Sapphire Reserve ($550). The Sapphire Preferred card also offers plenty of other travel-related benefits, including 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠,  2X bonus points on other travel purchases, and a 25% points bonus when you redeem your rewards for travel through the Chase Travel℠ portal.

Overall, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great choice for frequent jetsetters who want to be protected in case of a problem on their trip.

Chase Sapphire Reserve^® travel insurance

The benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve are plentiful, and there’s no shortage of travel-related perks with this card. Here's what you need to know about using the travel insurance benefits you're provided with as a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder.

Trip delay reimbursement

When your common carrier delays your trip for six or more hours or a delay requires an overnight stay, you'll get up to $500 in coverage per purchased ticket. Cardholders, their spouses or domestic partners, and dependent children under age 22 are all covered.

However, coverage is limited to one covered hazard per trip, and you won't be covered for prepaid expenses or for covered hazard delays you knew about before departing. You have just 60 days to provide notice after a covered delay and you'll be reimbursed for reasonable additional expenses only.

Trip cancellation insurance

This coverage kicks in if you can't go on your trip before it starts due to a covered loss. The cardholder and immediate family are covered even if the cardholder doesn't go along on the trip with family.

The maximum payout is $10,000 for each covered trip and $20,000 for each covered incident, with an aggregate maximum payout of $40,000 over a 12-month period. This means if a three-person family goes on a trip that costs $10,000 each, they would be entitled to a maximum payment of $20,000 if the trip is cancelled for all of them for a covered reason, even though they'd be out $10,000 that wasn't reimbursed.

Claims have to be made within 20 days after the occurrence that causes the trip cancellation, and there must have been a covered reason for cancelling such as severe weather; jury duty or a subpoena that can't be postponed; or accidental injury or death of the cardmember, an immediate family member, or a traveling companion. Coverage is secondary to other travel insurance or reimbursement from the common carrier or occupancy provider.

Baggage delay insurance

The cardholder, spouse or domestic partner, and immediate family members get up to $100 per day in coverage when a common carrier delays a bag for more than six hours. This $100 can be used to purchase one cell phone charging cable, clothing, toiletries, and other essential personal care items.

The cardholder has to file a claim within 20 days of the loss and reimbursement from Chase comes only after exhausting other travel insurance or seeking funds from the common carrier.

Lost luggage insurance

The cardholder and immediate family can be reimbursed up to $3,000 per person per trip for checked bags or carry-ons that are lost by a common carrier. Claims have to be made on other travel insurance policies or with the carrier first, though, and coverage is limited to $500 per person per covered trip for jewelry, watches, and electronics.

The cardholder has to report the loss right away to the common carrier and to Chase within 20 days and no coverage is provided for travelers checks, money or security, or losses resulting from war.

Car rental insurance

This provides reimbursement for up to $75,000 in losses for the cardholder and additional drivers if a rental vehicle is in an accident or stolen. The reservation for the car rental can't exceed 31 consecutive days, and expensive or antique vehicles are excluded.

The insurance coverage is primary, so there's no need to file a claim with other insurance first, but the entire rental transaction has to be completed with Chase and you have to decline the rental company’s auto rental collision damage waiver or loss damage waiver.

Roadside assistance

The cardholder and anyone driving a vehicle the cardholder owns or leases is eligible for roadside assistance 24/7. Coverage includes battery charges, flat tire changes, fuel delivery, help if you're locked out, and towing.

You're covered for a maximum of $50 per service event and get a maximum of four service events annually. If you're in an off-road area or in a place not regularly traveled, you won't be covered.

Travel accident insurance

The cardholder and immediate family members get up to $1 million in coverage for accidents on a common carrier and $100,000 in coverage for other types of accidents on a trip. The $1 million is reserved for loss of life but a partial payout is available for dismemberment, loss of speech, loss of sight, or loss of hearing. The specific amount you'll receive depends on the nature of your injuries.

Chase doesn't provide payments for emotional trauma; dismemberment or death during a war; if you're hurt or killed during an illegal act or while on an aircraft not certified by or registered with the government; or if you get hurt racing cars, parachute jumping, or participating in competitive sports.

Bottom line on Chase Sapphire Reserve travel insurance

If you want coverage for shorter trip delays, need roadside assistance or want more travel accident insurance coverage, the Chase Sapphire Reserve is the ideal card for you.

The Sapphire Reserve also has a $550 annual fee, though. While you’ll earn 5X points on flights and 10X points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually; 3X points on other travel and dining & 1X points per dollar on all other purchases, and you’ll also enjoy a 50% redemption bonus when you redeem your Chase Ultimate Rewards through the Chase travel portal, you'll want to make sure other cardholder perks — such as a $300 annual travel credit and statement credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry application fees — make this card worth your while.

If you’re a regular traveler wanting to take advantage of the travel insurance protections this card offers, then the Chase Sapphire Reserve might be the best travel credit card to have in your wallet.

How to file a claim with Chase

If you believe you have a valid claim under Chase's travel insurance, call 800-356-8955 to request a claim form. You can also submit a claim online at eclaimsonline.com.

To file your claim:

1. Start by selecting the type of claim you wish to file
2. Provide your personal details including your contact information
3. Input details about your claim, including the type of loss you endured and the amount of financial damage you're seeking reimbursement for
4. Be prepared to upload documentation such as receipts from expenses incurred; a statement from your common carrier detailing your delay or its refund or cancellation policy; a copy of your original tickets or receipts; and, if necessary, proof you filed a claim for reimbursement from your common carrier, auto insurer, or travel insurer
5. Confirm the details and submit your claim

Chase may contact you to request that you provide additional details or documentation to support your claim.

FAQs about Chase Sapphire travel insurance

Bottom line on Chase travel insurance

If you are a frequent traveler, both the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Chase Sapphire Reserve offer you important protections, whether you're renting a car or taking a train, bus, cruise, or plane. You’ll also have some protections even if you can't go on your trip at all because it's cancelled or delayed.

Although the travel insurance benefits differ slightly on each card, both can earn you valuable travel rewards, charge you no foreign transaction fees, and provide travel protections for many of the losses you're likely to encounter when you’re off adventuring. You just need to make sure to read the fine print and have one of these valuable rewards credit cards in your wallet.