Travel insurance and credit cards

What type of assistance does your credit card actually cover during your trip?

Separate travel insurance or insurance linked to your credit card: what should you choose?

1. You've taken out separate travel insurance

When taking out this type of trip cancellation insurance, it's best to carefully check the terms and conditions of your contract. Indeed, some insurance policies exclude from their cover unforeseen circumstances, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters (see note below), while others step in partially in the form of financial compensation. So when choosing travel insurance, it's important to check the scope of your cover.

2. You paid for your trip with your credit card

You probably assume you're insured when you book your trip with your credit card. However, this isn't always the case, even with a Premium card (often called "Gold" or "Platinum").

Indeed, cancelling or changing your trip due to unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks is almost always excluded. So you wouldn't be able to cancel your trip if, say, a cyclone hits Guadeloupe two days before your departure.

If your credit card allows for cancellation, you'll however be able to cancel your trip for reasons such as the death of a family member, serious damage at your home requiring your urgent presence (fire, burglary…) or economic unemployment.

What assistance and/or travel insurance does my credit card offer?

Credit cards can include assistance services and/or travel insurance benefits:

• Assistance covers, for example, repatriation, payment of medical costs in the event of an accident or illness, or a swift return home due to circumstances in your home country.
• Insurance cover, meanwhile, is very useful in cases of trip cancellation or lost or stolen luggage.

Standard credit cards <-> premium credit cards

• When you book your trip with a standard credit card, you'll probably find yourself in a tight spot. You won't benefit from medical assistance, repatriation, or technical assistance. What's more, you're not insured against theft, damage or loss of your luggage.
• However, if you book your trip with one of the premium credit cards, you can benefit from a wider range of guarantees, depending on the bank and the card chosen. For example, you may enjoy the following services: medical and/or technical assistance, cancellation insurance, travel accident insurance, luggage insurance (loss or theft, but also delay of checked luggage).

How do you benefit from the insurance linked to my credit card?

• To be entitled to these guarantees, you must have paid for at least part of your trip with the credit card in question.
• The cover offered is usually capped. To find out more about the terms of your insurance, don't hesitate to contact your bank.

Generally, the cardholder, their spouse or partner, dependent children under 25, as well as descendants and ascendants (to a certain extent) benefit from this additional cover. However, banks may set their own rules.
If you find yourself in one of the situations above, you need to contact your bank as quickly as possible by calling the number shown on the back of your card.

Separately taken-out travel insurance can be useful

Credit cards can provide several additional types of insurance, but there are still restrictions:

• The amount you get isn't always enough.
• The excess imposed (the amount you have to pay yourself first) can be restrictive.
• You're only insured for a short period, which can be a concern when travelling for a long time. For these kinds of trips, it can therefore be worthwhile taking out separate insurance, which generally offers much higher cover.

Useful advice

In summary, it's important to review the guarantees and insurance linked to your credit card before your trip. If these don't offer you enough protection, it's wise to take out separate travel insurance.

Several credit cards to compare?

Don't hesitate to browse TopCompare.be to compare the different credit cards with travel insurance.

Note:

Unforeseen circumstances

Of course you'll have wonderful moments during your trip, but zero risk doesn't exist. As a result, it's important to be insured in case of unforeseen circumstances. Terrorist attacks or natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc.) can be a legitimate reason for wanting to cancel or postpone a trip.

• You want to cancel your trip yourself: if you choose to cancel the trip you've booked, the tour operator has no legal obligation to refund your flight.
• The tour operator can no longer organise the trip: it's also possible that the tour operator is no longer able to organise the trip. In that case, they will either have to refund your money or suggest other dates or destinations.

Dangerous destinations

It can happen that the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs issues a negative travel advisory for a country or city, based on potential security risks, which may lead you to want to cancel the trip you've booked.

• Most tour operators provide for the cancellation or modification of your trip in the event a negative travel advisory is issued. However, they have no legal obligation to do so. This “service” can be seen as a form of goodwill towards the customer.
• When you want to cancel your trip, you can submit a refund request to the tour operator. If they don't wish to act on your request, you won't really have any recourse and can at best hope for an amicable settlement, in accordance with the contractual terms of your trip.

Author: Julie Lamotte, topcompare.be
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