Travel Insurance and Purchase Protections On Top Premium Credit Cards

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Credit cards with high annual fees usually get attention for their points-earning potential and travel/lifestyle perks like lounge access. But they tend to include great benefits which can be overlooked. If you want peace of mind while traveling and making retail purchases, the below list is for you.

These metal cards all include features such as trip cancellation or interruption insurance, trip delay reimbursement, lost luggage reimbursement, rental vehicle insurance, travel and emergency assistance, purchase security, extended warranty service, and return protection. They also have variations of Priority Pass access and Global Entry reimbursement.

Most Visa Infinite cards have similar benefits. It does vary by issuer though. Some benefits are listed below as “N/A” to show that similar cards may offer that benefit. It’s a quick comparison tool. As of February 2021, most Visa cards should include free NortonLifeLock ID Navigator. This service has dark web monitoring and more, similar to existing free services through issuers like Discover and Capital One. Visa Infinite cardholders also get special discounts/offers with companies like Shipt, Sofar Sounds, and Skillshare. These perks were added around the same time.

Note: Details here are current as of early 2022 and are subject to change.

1. Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa Infinite

Full details are listed in the benefits guide.

  • Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance – covered up to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement (6+ hours or overnight stay) – covered up to $500 per person
  • Lost Luggage Reimbursement – covered up to $3,000
  • Baggage Delay Insurance (6+ hour delay) – covers up to $100 per day, or up to $500 per trip
  • Travel Accident Insurance – covered up to $1,000,000
  • Emergency Evacuation and Transportation – covered up to $100,000
  • Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit – covered up to $2,500
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver – Primary Coverage – covered up to $75,000
  • Travel and Emergency Assistance – “Assistance and referrals are offered at no cost, but cardholders are responsible for the cost of any medical, legal, transportation, and other services and goods incurred.” Visa Infinite also has a 24/7 concierge to call.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
  • Extended Warranty Protection – Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.
  • Return Protection – You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $500 per item, $1,000 per year.
  • Roadside Assistance in the USA or Canada – “If you have a roadside emergency, you can call for a tow, jumpstart, tire change, locksmith or gas (up to 2 gallons). You’re covered up to $50 per incident 4 times a year.”
  • Cell Phone Protection – N/A
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – This card doesn’t have specific coverage to help with or protect against identity theft. There’s just the standard Visa Infinite free Norton LifeLock alert service.

Note that a “Covered Trip” (ie, Emergency Evacuation or Emergency Medical/Dental benefit) is defined as “arrangements that are made by a commercial licensed travel establishment consisting of travel agencies and/or common carrier organizations, for which the expense has been charged to Your eligible Account and/or rewards programs associated with Your eligible Account, which is not travel for the purposes of obtaining medical treatment.” It must be a trip between 5 and 60 days in length, and over 100 miles from your home. So if you drive to a neighboring state for a weekend getaway, you’re not eligible – not a common carrier (bus, train, plane, etc) and not 5+ days.

Overall: Chase has some of the most comprehensive insurance and protections for cardholders. The Sapphire Reserve is often considered the industry leader in these benefits. It’s even comparable to separate travel insurance ($100-200 annual value depending on which company you use for comparison).

2. City National Bank Crystal Visa Infinite

Full details are listed in the benefits guide.

  • Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance – covered up to $5,000 per person
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement (6+ hours or overnight stay) – covered up to $500 per person
  • Lost Luggage Reimbursement – covered up to $5,000
  • Baggage Delay Insurance – N/A
  • Travel Accident Insurance – covered up to $1,000,000
  • Emergency Evacuation and Transportation – covered up to $10,000
  • Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit – N/A
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver – Primary Coverage – covered up to $75,000
  • Travel and Emergency Assistance – “Assistance and referrals are offered at no cost, but cardholders are responsible for the cost of any medical, legal, transportation, and other services and goods incurred.” Visa Infinite also has a 24/7 concierge to call.

Other protections include:

  • Price Protection – covered up to $1,000 per item or $4,000 per year for price discrepancies within 60 days of purchase
  • Purchase Protection/Security – Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per cardmember.
  • Extended Warranty Protection – Extends a warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 3 years or less. Covered up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per cardmember.
  • Return Protection – You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item or $1,000 per year.
  • Roadside Assistance – Covers a few services like towing for a flat fee of $70+ per incident, as part of the generic Visa Infinite Roadside Dispatch benefit.
  • Cell Phone Protection – N/A
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – CNB “provides reimbursement up to $15,000 for covered expenses You incur to restore Your identity” and as a Visa Infinite card, it likely has the standard Visa Infinite free Norton LifeLock alert service.
  • Hotel Theft Protection – covered up to $1,000

Overall: CNB has great benefits, especially “price protection” which has been removed from most cards in recent years. The ID theft protection is slightly better than U.S Bank’s, and CNB has a unique hotel theft protection benefit. The main downside is that the CNB Crystal has limited regional availability and is more difficult to apply for than similar cards.

3. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve Visa Infinite

Full details are listed in the benefits guide for each section.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per cardmember.
  • Extended Warranty Protection – Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 3 years or less. Covered up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per cardmember.
  • Return Protection – You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item.
  • Roadside Assistance – Covers a few services like towing for a flat fee of $70+ per incident, as part of the generic Visa Infinite Roadside Dispatch benefit.
  • Cell Phone Protection – N/A
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – “provides reimbursement for covered expenses you incur to restore your identity, up to a maximum of $10,000” and as a Visa Infinite card, it likely has the standard Visa Infinite free Norton LifeLock alert service.

Overall: The Altitude Reserve is slightly better than the Capital One Venture X when it comes to benefits. It also has the unique perk of identity theft reimbursement. The Chase Sapphire Reserve is still arguably number one, though, especially with its wider availability. U.S Bank has some regional restrictions and the Altitude Reserve is only for current bank customers.

4. Capital One Venture X Visa Infinite

Full details are listed in the benefits guide.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
  • Extended Warranty Protection – Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 3 years or less.
  • Return Protection – You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item, $1,000 per year.
  • Roadside Assistance – Potentially available for a flat fee of $70+ per incident, as part of the generic Visa Infinite Roadside Dispatch benefit. Capital One doesn’t specifically mention details about this, so it may not be part of the Venture X list of benefits.
  • Cell Phone Protection – covered up to $800 per claim, $1,600 per 12 months. $50 deductible.
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – This card doesn’t have specific coverage to help with or protect against identity theft. There’s just the standard Visa Infinite free Norton LifeLock alert service.

Overall: while Venture X isn’t as impressive as the Sapphire Reserve, it does have a lot of benefits and a lower annual fee for the cardholder. The effective annual fee is $0 if you spend at least $400 on travel annually. The added cell phone insurance is a nice perk to have, despite some no-fee cards having that option.

5. American Express Platinum

Full details are listed in the benefits guides.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account (per calendar year) except for natural disasters, which are up to $500 per claim.
  • Extended Warranty – Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 5 years or less. Covered up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account (per calendar year).
  • Return Protection  You can be reimbursed for eligible items that the store won’t take back within 90 days of purchase, up to $300 per item, $1,000 per year.
  • Roadside Assistance – N/A
  • Cell Phone Protection (coverage provided by AIG) – covered up to $800 per claim, $1,600 per 12 months. $50 deductible.
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – N/A

Overall: The Platinum is missing what some people would consider key features. It combines some options together, though. The car rental insurance is possibly the most comprehensive of any card, although it’s only secondary coverage, so the usefulness is debatable.

Runner-up: Signature Federal Credit Union Visa Signature

This is the only card without an annual fee to have such great perks. Full details are listed their 2014 benefit guide:

  • Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance – covered up to $2,000 per trip
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement (12+ hours) – covered up to $300 per trip
  • Lost Luggage Reimbursement – covered up to $3,000
  • Baggage Delay Insurance – N/A
  • Travel Accident Insurance – covered up to $250,000
  • Emergency Evacuation and Transportation – covered up to $10,000
  • Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit – covered up to $2,500, with a $50 deductible
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver – N/A
  • Travel and Emergency Assistance with Visa Signature 24/7 concierge

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Security ($500 per claim)
  • Extended Warranty Protection (+1 year if 3 years or less)
  • Return Protection ($250 per claim within 90 days)
  • Price Protection ($250 per claim within 60 days)
  • Roadside Assistance (standard Visa Signature benefit with pre-negotiated rates)
  • Cell Phone Protection ($100 max per claim, with $50 deductible)
  • Personal Identity Theft ($1,000)
  • Hotel Theft Protection ($1,000)

Overall: This doesn’t quite stack up to the Visa Infinite cards above, but it’s still strong. It has some unique benefits that no other card on this list has: Price Protection, Hotel Theft Protection, and Identity Theft Reimbursement. These perks are very rare, especially next to the Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit, and make the Signature card worth considering.

Runner-up: Barclaycard Black World Elite Mastercard

Full details are listed in the benefits guide.

  • Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance – covered up to $5,000 per trip, or up to $10,000 per 12 months
  • Trip Delay Reimbursement – N/A
  • Lost Luggage Reimbursement – N/A
  • Baggage Delay Insurance (4+ hour delay) – covers up to $100 per day, or up to $300 per trip
  • Travel Accident Insurance – covered up to $250,000
  • Emergency Evacuation and Transportation – N/A
  • Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit – N/A
  • Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver – Secondary Coverage – covered up to $500 per incident
  • Travel and Emergency Assistance – A free hotline for travel advice, assistance, or referrals. They also have a 24/7 concierge for other topics.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – N/A
  • Extended Warranty – N/A
  • Return Protection  N/A
  • Roadside Assistance – Covers a few services like towing in the USA for “pre-negotiated rates” by calling 1-800-Mastercard for referrals. This isn’t really a “card benefit” because it’s something you can probably do yourself. Similar to the generic Visa Roadside Dispatch, except the Black card doesn’t list its pre-negotiated rates.
  • Cell Phone Protection (coverage provided by AIG) – covered up to $800 per claim, $1,000 per 12 months. $50 deductible.
  • Mastercard ID Theft Protection (provided by Generali Global Assistance, Inc.) – free service similar to the Visa Infinite ID Navigator Powered by NortonLifeLock benefit

Overall: while some protections are useful, several options aren’t covered here. The Black card doesn’t measure up to Visa Infinite cards in most respects. Other touted benefits are similar or the same, such as: “Mastercard Global Service provides worldwide, 24-hour assistance with Lost and Stolen Card Reporting, Emergency Card Replacement, and Emergency Cash Advance.” One of the interesting benefits is cell phone protection, but cards without annual fees have this, so it’s not a main draw. The Black card even has more limitations than AMEX Platinum or CO Venture X. In general, despite the Black card presenting itself as a luxury card, it frequently falls short.

Honorable mention: American Express Gold & Green

Full details are listed in the benefits guides.

  • Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance – N/A
  • Trip Delay Insurance (coverage provided by AIG) (12+ hours) – covered up to $300 per trip or $600 per 12 months
  • Lost Luggage Reimbursement (Baggage Insurance Plan) – covered up to $1,250 per person
  • Baggage Delay Insurance – N/A
  • Travel Accident Insurance – N/A
  • Emergency Evacuation and Transportation – N/A
  • Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit – N/A
  • Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance (Secondary Coverage)
  • Global Assist Hotline for travel or emergency assistance.

Other protections include:

  • Purchase Protection – Covers your new purchases for 90 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account (per calendar year) except for natural disasters, which are up to $500 per claim.
  • Extended Warranty – Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of 5 years or less. Covered up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account (per calendar year).
  • Return Protection  N/A
  • Roadside Assistance – N/A
  • Cell Phone Protection – N/A
  • Personal Identity Theft Protection – N/A (paid option available)

Overall: Both Gold and Green have the same protection benefits. American Express has a good extended warranty policy, and is otherwise lacking. Platinum is far better when it comes to benefits. We’re only mentioning Gold and Green because they have annual fees above the standard mid-tier $95, so people might believe they’re premium cards with premium benefits. Unfortunately that isn’t exactly the case.

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TOP 5 LIST FOR EACH BENEFIT

We compared dozens of credit cards, including cards with low or no annual fees. We compiled a non-comprehensive list of different benefits and these are what we believe the top options are.

Note: all of the below offer Travel and Emergency Assistance plus 24/7 Concierges. In some cases we’ve excluded top cards from a list due to difficulty of application. Cards from CNB and UBS are highly restrictive, Citi Prestige isn’t currently available, and U.S. Bank is somewhat restrictive. If there’s a good alternative which is widely available, we’ve listed that card instead.

Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Chase Sapphire Preferred
  3. American Express Platinum
  4. City National Bank Crystal
  5. UNFCU Elite

Trip Delay Reimbursement

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Capital One Venture X
  3. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
  4. Chase Sapphire Preferred
  5. Bank of America Premium Rewards

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Capital One Venture X
  3. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
  4. Bank of America Premium Rewards
  5. Chase Sapphire Preferred

Baggage Delay Insurance

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Bank of America Premium Rewards
  3. Chase Sapphire Preferred
  4. Penfed Pathfinder
  5. Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One SavorOne when Mastercard World or World Elite

Travel Accident Insurance

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Capital One Venture X
  3. Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One SavorOne when Mastercard World or World Elite
  4. City National Bank Crystal
  5. UNFCU Elite

Emergency Evacuation and Transportation

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. UBS Wealth Management
  3. City National Bank Crystal
  4. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
  5. Citi Prestige

Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit and/or Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. American Express Platinum
  3. Capital One Venture X
  4. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
  5. City National Bank Crystal

Price Protection

  1. City National Bank Crystal
  2. UBS Wealth Management
  3. Capital One Quicksilver or Capital One SavorOne when Mastercard World or World Elite
  4. Navy Federal Credit Union More Rewards
  5. UNFCU Azure

Purchase Protection

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. American Express Platinum, Gold, or Green
  3. Capital One Venture X
  4. Bank of America Premium Rewards
  5. Citi Premier or Prestige

Extended Warranty Protection

  1. American Express Platinum, Gold, or Green
  2. Citi Premier or Prestige
  3. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  4. Capital One Venture X
  5. Bank of America Premium Rewards

Return Protection

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. Capital One Venture X
  3. American Express Platinum,
  4. UNFCU Azure
  5. Navy Federal Credit Union More Rewards

Roadside Assistance

  1. Chase Sapphire Reserve
  2. UBS Wealth Management
  3. Penfed Pathfinder
  4. U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve
  5. City National Bank Crystal

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