In my post “Keep or cancel Sapphire Reserve?” I estimated how much I value each of the card’s benefits in order to decide whether or not to keep the card beyond the first year. As several readers pointed out, I didn’t originally include the value of the Sapphire Reserve card’s substantial travel insurance benefits. That was an oversight.
In order to estimate how much to value these benefits, I first reviewed them. I have to admit, I haven’t given these benefits much thought before now, but I’m impressed. The Sapphire Reserve offers valuable travel insurance coverage far beyond that offered by the similar Sapphire Preferred card.
Below you’ll find a summary of each of the Sapphire Reserve’s Travel Insurance benefits. For full details of each of these benefits, review the Chase Sapphire Reserve Benefit Guide.
I’ve also included information about how each benefit compares to coverage from Chase’s other travel card: the Sapphire Preferred. Specifically, the Sapphire Reserve includes the following benefits that the Sapphire Preferred does not have:
- Primary rental insurance for expensive and exotic rentals (up to $75K)
- Free Roadside Assistance (when you are 50+ miles from home)
- 6 hour Trip Delay reimbursement (Sapphire Preferred is 12 hours)
- Emergency Evacuation and Transportation (up to $100,000)
- Emergency Medical and Dental coverage (up to $2,500)
In most cases, immediate family members on the same trip are covered. Chase defines Immediate Family Member as “your Spouse or Domestic Partner and their children, including adopted children or step-children; legal guardians or wards; siblings or siblings-in-law; parents or parents-in-law; grandpa.”
Also, in most cases, with the notable exception of rental car insurance, coverage kicks in even if you pay only part of your trip with your Sapphire Reserve card. This is an awesome benefit for those of us who frequently use points and miles or even gift cards to make trips less expensive. For example, in the emergency evacuation details, Chase’s documentation states that you are covered when:
…a portion or the entire cost of the Trip, is purchased with Your Chase credit card account (“Account”).
Does this mean I don’t have to buy supplemental travel insurance?
Personally, I’ve never bought travel insurance anyway, so the coverage provided by the Sapphire Reserve card is great just for the additional peace of mind. For those who do usually buy travel insurance, the Sapphire Reserve could be a great way to save money by declining that insurance in the future. The question is whether it covers enough?
Most of the coverage seems to me to be more than adequate for my needs, but everyone should judge for themselves how much risk they are willing to take on. I could imagine people wanting more coverage for emergency evacuations, for example. If you need to be flown internationally via a medical transport, I expect that it will cost far more than the covered $100,000. Similarly emergency medical and dental work is likely to far exceed $2,500.
What about other premium cards?
In the future I’ll summarize coverage from other premium cards (Citi Prestige and Amex Platinum, for example) to see how they compare to the Sapphire Reserve. Off the top of my head I know, for example, that the Citi Prestige card offers better trip delay insurance (3 hours vs. 6 hours with the Sapphire Reserve).
And now, a summary of each Sapphire Reserve benefit…
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (Auto Rental CDW)
Primary rental car coverage, up to $75K. You must pay for the entire rental with your Sapphire Reserve card and you must decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW or LDW). Both the cardholder (named on the Sapphire Reserve card) and any additional drivers permitted under rental agreement are covered.
You are eligible for coverage when: You “1) Initiate and complete the entire rental transaction using your card that is eligible for the benefit. 2) Decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver or similar provision if it is offered to you.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Sapphire Preferred excludes “expensive” and “exotic” rentals such as Aston Martin, Bentley, Bricklin, Daimler, DeLorean, Excalibur, Ferrari, Jensen, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Porsche, and Rolls Royce. Selected models of BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Cadillac, and Lincoln are covered.
Roadside Assistance
Roadside Assistance covers flat tires, fuel delivery, dead battery, lockout assistance, towing, etc., up to $50 per service, up to 4 times per year. You are covered by Roadside Assistance when driving any vehicle you own or lease, and when you drive a vehicle that is furnished to you by the owner, while traveling away from home.
You are eligible for coverage when: “you drive any vehicle you own or lease, and when you drive a vehicle that is furnished to you by the owner, while traveling away from home.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: If you use the Sapphire Preferred card’s Roadside Dispatch service, you’ll pay $59.95 per service. With the Sapphire Reserve, service is free, up to $50.
Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
This benefit reimburses you for change or cancellation fees if your trip is cancelled or interrupted due to injury, death, sickness, severe weather, military orders, a terrorist action, jury duty or subpoena, etc. Coverage limit: $10K per per person per trip, up to $20K per trip (occurrence), and $40K in a 12 month period. Coverage includes trips paid partially with points or miles. You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered.
You are eligible for coverage when: “Any pre-paid tour, trip or vacation when some portion of the cost for such travel arrangements […] has been charged to your Account: while the insurance is in effect, to a destination of greater than one (1) mile from your primary residence, and is for a time period that doesn’t exceed sixty (60) days in duration.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Same.
Trip Delay Reimbursement
This benefit reimburses you for reasonable expenses incurred when your trip is delayed by more than 6 hours. Coverage limit: $500 per ticket. Coverage includes trips paid partially with points or miles. You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered.
You are eligible for coverage when: “A portion or the entire cost of the Common Carrier fare, is purchased with your Chase credit card account (“Account”).”
“A Common Carrier is any land, water, or air conveyance that operates under a valid license to transport passengers for hire and requires purchasing a ticket before travel begins. It does not include taxis, limousine services, commuter rail or bus lines, or rental vehicles.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Coverage kicks in only after a 12 hour delay with the Sapphire Preferred.
Lost Luggage
This benefit reimburses you for lost or damaged luggage, up to $3,000 per person. Certain items are limited to $500 (jewelry, watches, cameras, video recorders, and other electronic equipment). You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered.
You are eligible for coverage when: Traveling on a Common Carrier “when some portion of the fare for transportation has been charged to your Account issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates. It’s also travel on a Common Carrier when free flights have been awarded from frequent flier or Rewards programs, provided that all of the miles or Rewards points were accumulated from a Rewards program sponsored by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates.”
Common Carrier is defined as “any motorized land, water or air Conveyance, operated by an organization other than Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates, organized and licensed for the transportation of passengers for hire and operated by an employee or an individual under contract.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Same.
Baggage Delay
The benefit covers up to $100 per day for up to 5 days for emergency purchases of essential items (clothing, toiletries, charging cables, etc.). You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered.
You are eligible for coverage when: “Some portion of the fare for transportation has been charged to your Account issued by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates.” or “”when free flights have been awarded from frequent flier or Rewards programs, provided that all of the miles or Rewards points were accumulated from a Rewards program sponsored by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Same.
Travel Accident Insurance
This benefit pays up to $1,000,000 for accidental Death, Dismemberment, Loss of Speech, Sight, or Hearing. You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered. Coverage includes trips paid partially with points or miles. You are also covered when paying entirely with points as long as “the award was made from frequent flier or rewards programs provided that all of the miles or rewards points were accumulated from a rewards program sponsored by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates.”
You are eligible for coverage when: “You charge some portion of a Common Carrier fare […] to Your Account”
Common Carrier means any motorized land, water or air Conveyance, operated by an organization, structured and licensed for the transportation of passengers for hire and operated by an employee of such organization or an individual under contract.
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Sapphire Preferred accident insurance is limited to $500,000.
Emergency Evacuation and Transportation
The evacuation benefit provides emergency evacuation and transportation if you are injured or become ill during your trip and it results in a necessary emergency evacuation. Evacuation must be pre-approved by the Benefit Administrator. Coverage limit: $100,000. The emergency transportation benefit pays for a round trip economy ticket for a friend or relative to visit your bedside when you are hospitalized for more than 8 days. This insurance also covers repatriation of remains, up to $1,000. You, the Primary Insured Person, and your Immediate Family Members are automatically covered when you pay for a portion of the trip with your Sapphire Reserve card.
You are eligible for coverage when: “You charge a portion of the cost, or the entire cost of a Trip, made via a Common Carrier, to Your Account.”
A Common Carrier is defined as “any motorized land, water or air Conveyance, operated by an organization other than Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates, organized and licensed for the transportation of passengers for hire.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Sapphire Preferred does not provide Emergency Evacuation and Transportation coverage.
Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit
This benefit reimburses certain emergency medical expenses incurred during a trip. Covered trips are more than 5 days long, but less than 60 days and must be more than 100 miles from your home. Max coverage: $2,500 with $50 deductible.
You are eligible for coverage when: “You, a person to whom a United States (U.S.) credit card has been issued (“Cardholder”), and Your Immediate Family Members when a portion or the entire cost of the Trip, is purchased with Your Chase credit card account (“Account”). This benefit applies when You use Your Account to pay for a Trip via a Common Carrier that is greater than five (5) consecutive days but less than sixty (60) consecutive days, and is in excess of one hundred (100) miles* from Your place of Residence.”
A Common Carrier is defined as “any motorized land, water or air Conveyance, operated by an organization other than Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates, organized and licensed for the transportation of passengers for hire.”
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Sapphire Preferred does not provide Emergency Medical and Dental coverage.
Travel and Emergency Assistance Services
This is like an emergency concierge who can arrange things for you. Examples include: medical referral, legal referral, emergency transportation assistance, pre-trip assistance (required visas and immunizations, for example). This service doesn’t cover the costs of any of these things, just the person on the phone to help.
How this compares to Sapphire Preferred coverage: Same.
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As like any insurance product, chase trip interruption has its catch. If the delay is due to common carrier, then you are not going to get reimbursed. This will be an issue if you have several connecting flights and your first leg is delayed because of which you lost the subsequent connections. You will end up loosing all the money unless the first carrier gives vouchers. For trip delay, you will have to produce the reason for delay in carrier letterhead which is next to impossible.
[…] When you pay with points for travel, Chase’s automatic travel protections do apply. So, you can be covered for things like car rentals, trip delays, trip cancellation & interruption, lost luggage, etc. The coverage you receive will be based on which card’s rewards were used to book the trip. For example, if you have both a Chase Sapphire Preferred and a Sapphire Reserve, you would want to move your Ultimate Rewards points from the Preferred to the Reserve and then use the Reserve points to book your trip. You will get both better value (1.5 cents per point) and better travel protections. See: Sapphire Reserve Travel Insurance. […]
I have a question about the Chase Sapphire Reserve trip accident, evacuation, cancellation insurance. Would this apply to traveling by your auto in the US? So if I take a trip in my own vehicle and have reserved and paid for hotel rooms that are non refundable on my CSR card before leaving on the trip, do all the trip insurance benefits still apply. What if a family member dies and we can’t go on the trip or have to return early from the trip…….what if we are 1/2 way across the country from home (still in US) and need evacuation to a hospital back home for a serious medical issue….So for our trip, we have remained in the US and are just driving our own vehicle cross country.
Also very confused by the 2 separate definitions for “Common Carrier”, and then “Common Carrier Covered Trip“????
Thanks if you can give any clarification…..
My understanding is that if the coverage is triggered by booking with a common carrier (which is true with most of these things) then you would not be covered when driving. Common carrier, I believe, refers to airplanes, trains, etc. Basically these are modes of transportation where you could use your card to buy a ticket.
I have a question…my card is on a United States address, but I am currently abroad. I will be booking a flight from Germany to Vietnam. Will I still have those benefits (emergency/medical/dental) even though I am booking the trip from a place other than my home residence? Thanks!
– Lars
I’d suggest reading over the full policy to be sure, but I’m not aware of anything that excludes flights by location in relation to billing address. I would expect that to be covered.
Chase Sapphire Reserve Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption doesn’t work. We have medical reason to cancel our trip from US to Germany and they didn’t reimburse any dollar from it. We have provided all documnets and thy just ignored all of it. Super unpleasant experience dealing with their customer service.
question – we’re buying 4x RTW tickets so $40k total. My husband and I each have separate sapphire reserve card accounts. should we split it up and put 2 on each as the max refund is $20k for non-refundable expenses or would that be ‘worse’ ie if my kid gets sick/hurt and they are on a different itinerary would it not be covered? any better suggestions for cards with awesome (better than this card) benefits before we buy them?
I think that’s a good idea. Put you and one kid on one itinerary and your husband and the other kid on the other. One potential issue: if the airline has to re-book you on a different flight (maybe the original flight is cancelled for example), they won’t necessarily keep all 4 of you together.
Unrelated to insurance: Have you thought about getting RTW award tickets instead? ANA has a great RTW award chart and it’s possible to buy the required miles fairly cheaply. You can read about ANA RTW awards here: http://lazytravelers.net/ana-round-the-world-award-ticket-best-ff-program-for-u-s-travelers-part-6/
Let’s say that you buy miles for 2.5 cents each and you book RTW business class award at 145,000 miles per person. Then the price per person would be $3,625 plus fuel surcharges. On the other hand, it may be very difficult to find 4 business class seats on all of the flights you want.
Related posts:
Buy miles for 1.82 cents each (ends today): https://frequentmiler.com/2018/02/02/buy-spg-points-35-off/
Buy miles for 2.5 cents each anytime: https://frequentmiler.com/2018/01/30/buy-miles-via-amex-membership-rewards/
I purchased a ticket with another travel card. If I purchase a seat upgrade afterwards with my Chase Sapphire Reserve, is that considered “a portion or the entire cost of the Common Carrier fare”?
My guess is no. I think that you’d have to pay a portion of the original ticket price. On the other hand, it can’t hurt to do that just-in-case it helps
Hello Greg,
What medical condition justifies the travel cancellation claim for insurance? Any link of inputs on this area?
Thanks!
I believe that any medical condition (other than pre-existing conditions) can qualify as long as you have a physician recommendation that you don’t do the trip. The benefits guide states: ” If a Physician has advised that making the Covered Trip is medically inadvisable, you must immediately notify the appropriate Travel Supplier that you are cancelling your travel arrangements…”
I currently have the chase sapphire preferred and wanted to downgrade it to the freedom unlimited card for the 1.5 points and then open a new chase sapphire reserve. Does anyone know if there will be a better card and signing bonus offered by chase in the next few months as this would change my plan of opening a new reserve card.
Thank you!
I don’t know, but I think it is extremely unlikely that Chase will increase the signup bonus for the Reserve card anytime soon.
[…] week I reviewed the Chase Sapphire Reserve card’s travel insurance. I was impressed with how favorably it compared to the lower cost Sapphire Preferred card. But, […]
[…] Fantastic travel insurance although I would still recommend booking flights using the Citi Prestige […]
Even though we fly free and stay free using points we always buy real travel protection insurance for a number of reasons including much better medical coverage than what any cc offers. And, we’ve used it multiple times and have always been taken care of. Cc insurance can balk at award travel since the fare/hotel wasn’t purchased on the card (some won’t accept taxes/fees as requirements met. In some places in the world your own health insurance won’t cover you, so it’s important to have travel insurance. Even some doctor offices in US territories won’t even accept Medicare, but cash only. We use CSA. Try finding a doctor on a remote island. CSA found someone and sent them to our bungalow, provided a translator and paid the medical person. They also took care of flight delays, put us up for another night and another time paid for my transportation cost back and forth to a clinic.
Do the CSP or CSR have a deductible for collision insurance?
No, I don’t think so
As one who enjoys soft adventure travel, I would like to see a more detailed analysis of medical evacuation coverage across cards. As I read the fine print, it appears that some cards will only cover evacuation from a hospital, with no coverage for getting to that hospital – say if you injured yourself on a safari or rural area. The cost of getting a medical evacuation helicopter flight to a hospital could be very high. In this regard, I believe the Amex Platinum cards provide the best coverage since they provide coverage anywhere an aircraft can land. I believe the Platinum cards do not have an upper limit on the cost of that coverage. Nor do they require you pay for your trip with the Platinum card.
[…] response to yesterday’s post about Sapphire Reserve Travel Insurance, one reader noted that they had to pay for flights with their airline credit card rather than their […]
Let me add an important warning! It seems that if you have a collection of points with a rental company (say, Avis) and use them to book a car, then paying the remaining taxes and fees does not give you the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver. You have to pay for the entire rental with your CSR. This is distinctly different from the travel insurance, which kicks in even you pay just for a part of your trip with your CSR.
I got the SR because of the great Travel Insurance. Now you have me worried because it only covers up to $100,00 for emergency evacuation and transportation and you stated that it might cost a lot more than that . Also, the medical was less than I had realized. What card would make a better choice? I go on out of country trips one or two times a year but I do worry about emergency evacuation and transportation and also repatriation of remains, up to $1,000 doesn’t seem like it would cover the entire cost. Help!
It’s very hard to find a cc that has evac coverage over $100,000. CSR travel insurance is one of the best (premium). However, check your home/auto policy to see if you have built in travel insurance. As a back up, try insuremytrip.com
Please remember that emergency evac only gets you to the closest medical facility. It will not get you transport back home in the event you are stable but require long term care.
How does the trip delay work? Say, I used my CSR/CSP card to pay for taxes/fees to book a JAL flight using Alaska, AA, or BA miles. Then, the JAL flight is delayed for a covered amount of time. Since payments for the tax/fess portion of booking miles went to Alaska, AA, or BA, but the airline is JAL, would the trip delay still work?
Yes it will still work
Great info to have on hand for my upcoming trip.
A couple of updates:
1) The original link to the Sapphire Reserve benefits guide was wrong. It is now fixed.
2) I’ve added text to each section titled “You are eligible for coverage when:” And I’ve quoted from the benefits guide in each section. In most cases you must pay for a portion of the “common carrier” with your Reserve card. Common carrier is defined slightly differently from place to place in the guide, but generally it is “any land, water, or air conveyance that operates under a valid license to transport passengers for hire…” In other words, yes cruises and trains are covered, in addition to flights. BUT by a strict reading of the terms, most of the coverage is not in place if you don’t pay for a portion of the conveyance with the Reserve card. For example, if you pay for hotels with the Reserve card, but pay for flights with other cards, you may not be covered for things like medical evacuation. To me, a lot of the language in the guide is up for interpretation, so I can’t say 100% that you wouldn’t be covered, but that’s how I read it.
On either the Reserve or Preferred does the Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver (Auto Rental CDW) apply if you rent a motorcycle?
No, motorcycles are excluded.
This seems like a good place to start and I hope somebody can help with answer. I have a trip booked with Air Berlin in December SFO/Copenhagen via Dusseldorf with a return and 10 day layover in Dusseldorf. If Air Belin’s schedule and routes all go sideways or disappear altogether either before or during my trip. Would the Sapphire insurance cover the difference in price for new tickets? What redress would I have? It is a non-refundable ticket. Planned way ahead since my daughter is in Copenhagen for a semester!
I think that you’re covered, but it’s murky:
The CSR trip cancellation insurance covers “Financial insolvency of the Travel Agency, Tour Operator, or Travel Supplier whose services you booked”
But it explicitly does NOT cover: “travel arrangements canceled or changed by a Common Carrier, Tour Operator, or any Travel Agency unless the cancellation is the result of severe weather or an organized strike affecting
public transportation.”
The better comparison is to Citi Prestige. If you already have justifiable reasons to keep Prestige and, let’s say, Chase Ink Plus/Bold, does the CSR really add anything?
Yeah, but you have to pay in full with Citi Prestige. The fine print makes a big difference.
No you don’t.
Citi Prestige is way better if you want travel protection. 3 hours vs 6 hours for CSR and it covers anyone you paid for, not just family.
Amazing article! Thanks for all your hard work. Hope u’ll create a comparison chart with other cards (platinum, etc) of this criteria.
For our upcoming trip to Europe, I used a variety of points (IHG, Amex MR (transferred to BA), UR (transferred to BA), Hilton, Wyndham and probably some that I am forgetting.. But I charged all taxes, then our flights within Europe, rental car, plus train and bus rides to the Sapphire Reserve. I think that should cover everything that we could possibly have a problem with.
Thanks Greg – great summary. Question for you as you’ve been a big proponent of the Amex Biz 50% rebate:
How do you decide between using the Amex Biz rebate and using CSR? For example, I have booked a couple Caribbean flights on SW using MR points and the rebate. Would you have done that or would you have used SW points and paid taxes with the CSR to get free travel delay protection?
I obviously prefer redeeming MR at 2cpp but don’t love not having any travel delay protection.
Great question. Personally, until writing this post, I’ve just used whatever credit card I though best from a cost perspective. Ask me again after I write the comparison of the various premium cards 🙂
Have you had any experience with purchase insurance? Last year I had a mobile phone stolen. I’d purchased the phone with a Chase Ink card. I had to file an insurance claim and mail in the police report. Received a full reimbursement, $250. It was a benefit I’d almost forgotten about; but wow, tremendous value when I needed it. Thanks for the article, very informative.
this was within 90 days of purchase, correct?
It’s actually within 120 days of the purchase. And you have to report the loss within 90 days of it happening; then you have 120 days from the incident to complete the paperwork. I think that’s how it works, at least. I believe you’re limited to $500 per claim. https://www.chase.com/content/chasecom/en/card-benefits/benefit-details/freedom_vp/purch_protect_500_v1.html
Cool. Yes, most credit cards have some purchase protections. I’m not ready to take on a comparison of those yet!
I hope you do in the future! It’s definitely made me reconsider which cards I use for certain purchases.
The trip canx insurance is $10K per person up to $20K per trip (occurrence) and $40K in a 12 month period.
https://www.chase.com/card-benefits/sapphirereserve/travel
Is there a requirement that a round trip be booked for the insurance benefits to kick in, or would they also apply to a one way ticket? If a one way ticket doesn’t work, how about a series of one way tickets (all paid for using Sapphire Reserve)? Does it matter if that series of one way tickets returns to the starting point?
I don’t see any requirements in the guide for booking round-trip. I think you just need to pay any part of any leg for CSR coverage to kick in.
Would appreciate you looking into this because someone on another blog said it was round trip only. I read the detailed document and found that Trip Delay Insurance only applies to round trip from your primary residence.
However the Emergency Medical and Dental Benefit is ambiguous. I never says that a round trip is required for coverage. But under instructions for filing a claim it says to include a copy of your receipt to prove you paid for a round trip ticket.
This point has never been mentioned before in all these blogs saying how great this card is. So some clarification is in order.
Thank you Cindi! I didn’t know about this. It’s on my list to research
From what I am reading in the guide to benefits, coverage for travel booked with rewards only apply if “Rewards have been accumulated through use of a Rewards program sponsored by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates.” and “accumulated from charges on the Insured Person’s Account”
From that, it sounds like it would not apply if you paid the taxes, but used points you earned from American Express membership rewards or miles you earned from flying on Delta for example.
I have a trip coming up that I booked with BA points I got from transferring AE MR points. I will be renting a car with my Chase Sapphire Reserve. I would think that would be a pretty common scenario.
Do you think the trip would be covered? Maybe it would kick in once I picked up the car?
Since this is something I do quite often, perhaps the smart thing to do would be to transfer some Chase UR points into my BA account.
Very sticky wicket indeed. I am sure Chase would look at it very closely if it was a big pay out.
What do you think?
Thanks
As long as you pay the taxes on your award flight, that’s a portion of the cost and you are good to go. As I understand it and have always read it analyzed and explained, you will only be covered for those parts of your trip that were paid in part with your CSR.
If, for example, you used 100% Capital One points to pay for your trip, that would be an example of a trip booked with rewards not accumulated in the Chase program and no part of your trip was paid for with your CSR, so the insurance would not cover you on that flight.
If you used BA Avios and paid the taxes with your Walmart Mastercard, your CSR would not reimburse you for anything to do with the flight. However, they would cover you with the rental car if you paid for that with the CSR. But they aren’t going to cover your flight due to paying for the rental car with your CSR. Does that make sense? However, I believe the emergency medical evacuation and medical/dental during your car rental would be covered. I’m not sure how far before or after the rental would be covered (mostly because I don’t think many people have been in that situation to report back experiences, and I’m not going to go and break my leg before, during, and after a car rental to test that one out :-).
For the record, I don’t think transferring Chase points to Avios will make a difference one way or another. You either need to buy the flight on points through the Chase travel portal OR pay the taxes with your CSR (this is what I would do).
I definitely see hot it could get murky if you paid for a bunch of different pieces of your trip with different cards in terms of the ancillary med evacuation-type benefits, but cancellation/delay will likely just apply to the parts paid at least in part with your CSR.
I think you are right.
“Covered Trip – any pre-paid tour, trip or vacation when some portion of the cost for such travel arrangements less any redeemable frequent flyer miles, points, coupons or certificates, or other types of redeemable Rewards has been charged to your Account: • while the insurance is in effect • to a destination of greater than one (1) mile from your primary residence • and is for a time period that doesn’t exceed sixty (60) days in duration Covered Trip also includes covered trips awarded from frequent flier or points programs provided that all of the miles or points were accumulated from charges on the Insured Person’s Account.”
The last sentence had me concerned. I guess it only applies if the trip cost nothing, you are still covered if you used points earned from a chase account.
Thanks for helping me clarify that.
What if we book using points and pay the taxes using the Chase card? Do we still get the benefit?
Yes. The wording says a portion of your trip needs to be paid for with your CSR — so the taxes would be a portion.
Are you sure about this, Nick?
So, if I use 20,000 Delta SkyMiles on a trip, and then I pay the typical $5.60 or $11.20 tax/fee, which is “United States – September 11th Security Fee (Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee) (AY)”, that counts as part of the fare?
Thanks!
To the person who asked if AUs get same benefits – Yes, i called them to check.
To Greg – how does Roadside assistance compare to AAA?
I haven’t compared in-depth at all to AAA. It appears to check the same boxes: towing, lock-out, flat tire, etc., but the limits are probably different. Also, AAA has multiple tiers that you can buy up to. I also have no idea how responsive the network is compared to AAA.
One area where AAA is clearly better is with discounts. Many hotels and attractions offer discounts to AAA members.
In terms of the included Roadside Assistance, it could be a hit or miss because they (Chase) choose the nearest service provider in the area without shopping around and if that provider charges $100 to replace a flat tire, you’re kind of stuck with paying $50.
My wife had a flat tire in Philly in July and called CSR. They quoted $50 for a tire replacement. Luckily she also has another roadside assistance included with the car’s extended warranty so she used that without paying any extra.
An yes, unless the Roadside Assistance rep made a mistake, I feel it’s a ripoff to charge $100 for replacing a flat…
Thanks Dimi
Do these benefits apply to flights/car rentals booked in the UR mall using fully points under CSR?
Yes
Would be interested to see your comparison of travel insurance, as there is quite a bit of information out there, specifically around the Platinum card. The top result on Google specifically often returns a document from Amex that is nice looking, but if you dig into it, it appears to be a UK (or perhaps EU) issued card, probably not valid for US-based holders. Naturally there are plans you can also purchase, but would be nice to see a real comparison of what cards actually have on them as well!
Thanks. I’m looking forward to seeing the results too.
I would appreciate if you include the US Bank Altitude Reserve in your comparison.
Does this work for cruises? I plan on doing more cruises and I wonder about the insurance they offer. We have never bought it, but I wonder if we should or if using the Reserve card to pay for part of the cruise would work.
I checked with Chase and their insurance covers cruises. A lot of CSR card holders forgo travel insurance vendors. However, you may want to increase your medical transportation to $500 or $1,000,000.
Thanks for the information. Does the entire cruise need to be paid for with CSR or does partial work? Where do I increase the medical transportation?
Partial works. I don’t think you can increase medical transportation. Instead, if that is important to you, you’d have to buy insurance elsewhere to cover that.
Partial payment will kick in the insurance. Check insuremytrip.com for 3rd party travel insurance.
Partial works… but I’ve been told that you need a flight to make it happen. We’re in NYC and supposedly if we just book a cruise that leaves from NYC the cruise is not covered by the CSR trip insurance. This was explained in detail to me…. by the trip insurance specialist at Chase…. I personally am just taking her word for it.
That’s weird. While much of the language in the benefits guide is vague, it is quite clear that for most benefits it covers air, land, and water travel. There is no mention of a flight requirement.
I talked to a specialist in the department for about 30 minutes. She claimed that they cover cruises — but that you needed a “common carrier” (ie a flight or amtrak) and that the cruise itself is not a “common carrier” — and that it’s more like the hotel portion of a trip….
But I’d love to get to the bottom of this. (of course I hope to never have to find out how to actually cash in on trip insurance)
Hmm. I think you need to talk to a different specialist. Chase defines Common Carrier as:
“Common Carrier – any motorized land, water or air Conveyance, operated by an organization other than Chase Bank USA, N.A. and/or its affiliates, organized and licensed for the transportation of passengers for hire and operated by an employee or an individual under contract.”
I suppose they could argue that a cruise is not “for the transportation of passengers” but rather a destination in itself, but that seems like a mighty stretch. Plus, further down in their definitions they have this:
“Travel Supplier – a Tour Operator, occupancy provider, cruise line, airline, railroad or other Common Carriers”
Notice that “cruise line” is specifically a travel supplier.
Yes. Right after my DH got the CSR we booked a 2 week Caribbean cruise and opted to not take separate insurance after reviewing the coverage provided by the CSR. Savings = $250.
We are soon to embark on a 16 cruise in Europe and have used the CSR for all our travel arrangements. After comparing a separate travel insurance policy (based on our ages and cost of trip) to the CSR coverage, we again opted to just use the CSR benefit. Savings = $478.
HOWEVER, a few things to note as to our choices and other coverage supplementing the CSR. We are both late 60’s and on Medicare, which does not provide coverage out of the USA. We EACH have Medicare supplemental insurance that provides $50K lifetime overseas emergency medical coverage. As of now, we have not tapped into this benefit, so we have the full amount available, which is far exceeding the CSR benefit. We also took out an annual Medjet Assist evacuation policy in April (at AARP discounted rate) because we were driving in Sicily. It provides more coverage than CSR, and it was the one benefit area that our cruise travel agent stressed was important (sadly, she’s known of cases where evacuation has cost more than the $100K).
We’ve never taken travel insurance except for cruises, and now the CSR has proved to be very worth it to us. My DH is definitely renewing his!
If you pay with the Reserve account, you don’t get the free baggage you get if you pay with an airline card. Are the travel benefits worth paying for checking bag(s)?
However, your baggage fees are covered by your travel expense Acct of $300
The airline ticket itself is covered by the travel credit, so you’re still paying Nx$25 more for the baggage..
With AA, Alaska, and Delta primary cardholders of the airline credit cards get free checked bags as long as their loyalty number is on the ticket. They don’t have to pay with the airline credit card.
United is the lone US carrier (that I’m aware of) which requires paying with the United card to get free checked bags. If you’re flying United, it makes sense to pay for the flight (or taxes on an award) with that card (which also has travel insurance benefits). Then pay for the rest of the trip with the Sapphire Reserve.
I’ve had trouble in the past with Delta on this. I was told I could not check in online and avoid the luggage fee (when paying with a cc other than Delta). I had to check in at the airport to get the luggage fees waived. Does this sound right to you? I’m uncomfortable waiting until I arrive at the airport to check-in. I have a big trip coming up with 8 of us on one reservation (luggage fees add up!). I would much rather pay with my Reserve vs Delta card.
Clarifying . . . thinking back, I believe the issue was with those traveling with me. Their fees were not waived when doing online check-in. Had to check in at airport to make that happen.
That’s strange. Companions definitely should get their first bag free. I’ve never heard the requirement of checking in at the airport for that. Can anyone else confirm?
My memory is terrible, but I believe the issue may have been the time I had booked my husband separate from me under a different res#. If there were two different reservations, it makes sense there would be hoops to get his fee waived. Sorry for the confusion!
JP: Thanks for clarifying
Similarly, don’t we need to use the Citi AA card to pay the fees on AA award tickets to get the 10% miles rebate?
No, definitely not. I’ve never paid the taxes with my AA card and I’ve always gotten the 10% miles rebate (up to 10K rebated per year).
Do the same benefits also apply for authorized users on the account?
Yep