If you’re a Chase Sapphire Reserve® cardholder, you might not need to purchase travel insurance for your next trip. The travel protections that come with your card might be enough coverage for you.
Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers a long list of travel protections, including more common benefits like trip cancellation/interruption insurance and lost baggage reimbursement. It also offers protections like travel accident insurance as well as emergency medical and dental insurance.
| Benefit | Coverage amount |
|---|---|
| Rental car insurance | Up to $75,000 |
| Trip cancellation/interruption | Up to $10,000 per person or $20,000 per trip |
| Trip delay reimbursement | Up to $500 per ticket |
| Lost luggage reimbursement | Up to $3,000 per person (except for New York residents who are limited to $2,000) |
| Delayed baggage reimbursement | Up to $100 per day for five days |
| Roadside assistance | Up to $50 per incident four times per year |
| Emergency evacuation and transportation | Up to $100,000 |
| Emergency medical and dental | Up to $2,500 |
| Travel accident insurance | Up to $1,000,000 for Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance |
| Travel and emergency assistance | Legal and medical referrals and other third-party assistance |
Rental car insurance
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $75,000 in primary coverage (except for New York residents who may only be eligible for secondary coverage) |
| What it covers | Theft and collision damage |
| Important exclusions | Vehicles older than 10 years; rented moving trucks or vans; peer-to-peer car sharing; hourly car rentals; motorcycles, scooters and mopeds; vans exceeding nine passengers; valuables left inside the vehicle. Driving the rental car off-road can void coverage, and the rental period cannot exceed 31 days. |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers exceptional rental car insurance. Because it offers primary coverage, you can use it without having to file a claim with your personal insurance. The $75,000 coverage amount should cover any potential damage to most rental cars. Just decline the rental agency’s collision coverage and put the full cost of the rental car on your Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
TRIP CANCELLATION/INTERRUPTION
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $10,000 per person or $20,000 per trip |
| What it covers | Nonrefundable, prepaid travel expenses for a trip that is canceled or interrupted due to sickness, accidental injury, loss of life; quarantine; a transportation strike; severe weather; terrorist actions; jury duty or court subpoena that can't be postponed or waived; a change in military orders; burglary or severe damage to a traveler's home and uninhabitable accommodations. |
| Important exclusions | Preexisting conditions, trips exceeding 60 days, financial insolvency of travel company, a declared or undeclared war, civil unrest, border closures, epidemics, pandemics (unless quarantined), travel scheduled after the 26th week of pregnancy and travel for a medical procedure. Travelers currently on the waiting list for a medical procedure, pregnant with multiples or pregnant with the help of certain fertility treatments are also excluded. |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve®‘s trip cancellation insurance comes with fairly standard exclusions, but coverage amounts are generous compared to other premium travel credit cards.
To be eligible, you must prepay trip expenses with your Chase Sapphire Reserve®, and the cancellation must be for a covered reason. Any amount reimbursed by the travel company or any other travel insurance you hold will be subtracted from your benefit amount. There is a $40,000 annual maximum for this benefit.
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $500 per ticket |
| What it covers | Reasonable expenses, such as food, personal items and accommodations, incurred due to a trip delay that is either overnight or more than six hours. To qualify for coverage, a delay must have occurred because of inclement weather, equipment failure or a hijacking. |
| Important exclusions | Delays that occur for any reason other than weather, mechanical problems or terrorism. |
If you’re ever stuck at an airport or overnight in a foreign city due to a covered event, this benefit could come in handy. Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits include trip delay reimbursement, which will cover any reasonable expenses you incur (minus any insurance reimbursement or refund). The amount — $500 per ticket — should be more than enough to cover a typical delay.
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $3,000 per passenger except for New York residents who are limited to $2,000 |
| What it covers | Checked or carry-on luggage that's damaged or lost by an airline or stolen and personal items within the luggage |
| Important exclusions | Documents, money, securities, tickets, checks and furs; loss due to war; coverage of jewelry, watches and electronics is limited to $500 per person per trip |
If an airline or other common carrier damages or loses your luggage on a trip you’ve paid for with your Chase Sapphire Reserve®, you can use your Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel insurance to claim up to $3,000 in reimbursement for the luggage and covered personal property within the luggage. You must first use up any other coverage like the airline’s reimbursement policy and outside travel insurance. Both the cardholder and immediate family members are covered by this benefit. The coverage amount is in line with competing cards that offer this benefit, although many credit cards don’t offer luggage reimbursement at all.
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $100 per day for up to five days |
| What it covers | Essential items such as toiletries, clothes and one cell phone charger |
| Important exclusions | Hearing aids; artificial teeth, dentures or prosthetic devices; jewelry; watches; cameras; video recorders; recreational and electronic equipment; tickets; valuable documents; money; securities and checks and losses resulting from war |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® delayed baggage benefit comes into play if you paid for your trip with the card, and your luggage is delayed for more than six hours. This policy covers the cardholder, the cardholder’s spouse or domestic partner, and dependent children under the age of 26. You can use this benefit to purchase emergency essential items you need during your delay, and the daily coverage amount lasts for up to five days. This is better than some competing cards that only offer up to three days of coverage. If you have your own travel insurance, or if the transportation provider offers reimbursement, you’ll have to file a claim with them first.
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $50 per incident four times per year |
| What it covers | Breakdown services required while on the road, including jump start, flat tire service, fuel delivery, towing, standard winching and lockout assistance |
| Important exclusions | Areas that aren't commonly traveled such as off-road areas, vehicles with a payload above 10,000 pounds, campers, vehicles-in-tow and trailers with over one-ton capacity |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers roadside assistance for cardholders driving a vehicle they own or lease in the U.S. or Canada. You can receive up to $50 per event on covered roadside assistance service, up to four times per year. You’ll have to call the Chase Sapphire Reserve®‘s roadside assistance line — which is available 24 hours per day, seven days per week — at 1-800-474-4243.
EMERGENCY EVACUATION AND TRANSPORTATION
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $100,000 |
| What it covers | Transportation (including land ambulances, air ambulances and motor vehicles), medical services and medical supplies that are necessary for an emergency evacuation |
| Important exclusions | Trips booked for medical treatment; trips lasting longer than 60 days or less than seven days; trips within 100 miles of a traveler's home; non-emergency medical care; medical care rendered outside of a hospital or by non-physicians; non-commercial air travel; intentional injuries and injuries sustained due to war, military duties, civic unrest or illegal activities |
If you’re severely injured or fall ill while traveling, you might require emergency evacuation services to a medical facility. This can easily cost $25,000 or more depending on the location and circumstances, so emergency evacuation coverage can be a financial lifesaver. You’re covered up to $100,000 as long as you paid for the trip with your credit card, and it involves common carrier transportation, such as airline, bus, train or cruise ship travel, or arrangements booked through a travel agent. A Chase Benefit Administrator must also arrange the emergency evacuation in order for it to be covered by your Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Up to $2,500 |
| What it covers | Necessary medical or dental services, hospital charges, ambulance services, medication and therapeutic services and related supplies |
| Important exclusions | Non-emergencies and care that's not medically necessary; care not administered by a qualified medical professional; experimental care; care received in countries that are deemed unsafe for travel by the U.S. government; care for intentional injuries and care for injuries related to war, military duties, civic unrest, illegal activities, non-commercial air travel and certain recreational activities, such as scuba diving, rock climbing, hang gliding and parachuting |
While the Chase Sapphire Reserve®‘s medical and dental coverage of up to $2,500 (with a $50 deductible) isn’t enough to cover many potential medical emergencies, it’s still generous considering most cards, including premium cards, don’t offer this benefit at all. You’ll also get $75 per day for a hotel for up to five days if a physician deems it necessary for you to stay and recover. To qualify, you need to be traveling at least 100 miles from home.
| Quick takeaway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Types of insurance | Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance | 24 Hour Travel Accident Insurance |
| Coverage amounts | Up to $1,000,000 for Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance | Up to $100,000 for 24 Hour Travel Accident Insurance |
| What it covers | Covered loss that occurs while traveling with an airline, bus, train or cruise ship company for Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance | Loss that occurs during a trip that doesn't exceed 30 days |
| Important exclusions | Emotional trauma, illness, disease, infection (unless caused by an accident), pregnancy, illegal activity, certain high-risk sports or recreational activities, war, travel on aircraft that aren't registered or certified by the government | |
Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel accident insurance provides coverage for accidental death, dismemberment, or a combination of loss of speech, sight or hearing. There are two different types, but you cannot receive a payment from both for the same event:
To take advantage of this benefit, you must pay for your trip using your Chase Sapphire Reserve®.
TRAVEL AND EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE
| Quick takeaway | |
|---|---|
| Coverage amounts | Not applicable |
| What it covers | Assistance and referrals via phone for emergency services while traveling for the cardholder, cardholder's spouse or domestic partner and dependent children below age 26 |
| Important exclusions | The cost of emergency services |
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® also comes with a travel and emergency assistance benefit. It’s not insurance. Instead, it’s an emergency assistance phone line available to cardholders at all times during their travels. As a cardholder, you can call this toll-free number if you ever need assistance like medical referrals, legal referrals, emergency transportation assistance, emergency ticket replacement, help locating lost luggage, emergency message service, emergency translation, prescription assistance, valuable document delivery or pre-trip assistance. This benefit doesn’t cover any costs you incur, however.
You can file a Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel insurance claim at chasecardbenefits.com by selecting “Sign-In” if you already have an account or by verifying your card and registering. After that, you’ll be asked to select a claim type to begin filling out your claims form. The exception is Chase’s emergency evacuation and transportation insurance. In order to use this benefit, you’ll have to first contact your benefit administrator who will preapprove and arrange the evacuation.
You’ll want to be able to provide basic personal and contact information, as well as information about your trip and/or incident. You’ll also want to have gathered all of the relevant documents you need to file a claim.
You’ll likely need a few documents to file your Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel insurance claim, although the exact documents you need will vary depending on the benefit you’re filing for.
Here’s what you’ll need for different types of insurance claims:
Once you’ve submitted your Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel insurance claim, you’ll want to get confirmation that your claim has been received, since there is often a limited time window to file a claim. If you submit the claim online and don’t hear back within a few business days, it may be a good idea to follow up and confirm that no additional information is needed.
You can call Chase Sapphire Card Benefits Services and ask to speak with a claims examiner at 1-800-350-1697. If Chase seems to be missing documents you submitted through the online portal, you may want to check and see if you can email your documents to them, using your claim number instead, at [email protected].
There’s no other card on the market that beats the Chase Sapphire Reserve® travel insurance in terms of what’s covered and coverage amounts. The list of travel insurance benefits offered by this card is long and includes some forms of insurance you’re unlikely to get from other cards, and coverage maximums are either in line with or above what competing cards cover.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® shines for its travel interruption coverage including trip cancellation or lost and delayed luggage. But for health-related incidents that can occur during your travels, credit card travel insurance alone will likely not offer enough coverage.
For certain types of travelers and certain types of trips, more extensive medical coverage might be needed. To decide if you should supplement your Chase Sapphire Reserve® benefits with outside travel insurance, ask yourself:
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