Guide to Ultra-Premium Credit Card Travel Protections

Ultra-premium credit cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Reserve and American Express Platinum Card®, have annual fees that commonly exceed $500/year. Despite those hefty costs of ownership, these types of cards can be very popular in the points and miles community due to extensive lists of benefits and credits that can mitigate or completely offset those fees.

Travel protections are one of the perks provided by these cards. In some cases, these benefits can meet or even exceed those offered by paid-for travel insurance, resulting in significant savings for those who would usually purchase it.

This post has been updated to include the Wells Fargo Premier Autograph Visa Infinite card.

Below, you’ll find a summary of credit card travel protections provided by various ultra-premium travel cards, including Amex Platinum, BOA Atmos Rewards Summit, BOA Premium Rewards Elite, Capital One Venture X, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Citi AA Executive, Citi Strata Elite, US Bank Altitude Reserve, and Wells Fargo Premier Autograph Visa Infinite.

Caution: We’re far from being experts on credit card travel insurance. We did our best to read through the benefit guides to determine what was covered and when, but we can’t guarantee that we captured all the details correctly.

Credit card travel insurance overview

As you’ll see below, Chase continues to lead the field with the best automatic travel protections. Chase’s Sapphire Reserve and Ritz-Carlton cards offer the same excellent travel protections. They’re the only cards in the roundup that provide emergency medical and dental coverage, and no-fee roadside assistance. Additionally, Chase and Citi stand out in offering worldwide rental car coverage (they don’t exclude select countries).

Meanwhile, Amex’s ultra-premium cards (Platinum, Bonvoy Brilliant, Delta Reserve, Hilton Aspire) offer a killer feature: uncapped Emergency Evacuation and Transportation, even if you don’t pay for your travel with your Amex card. Unfortunately, Amex lacks several travel protections that other banks commonly offer. If cost were no object, the ideal combination would be to pay for travel with your Chase Sapphire Reserve or Ritz card, but also to have a qualifying Amex card in case you need more than $100,000 worth of emergency evacuation and transportation ($100K is Chase’s cap to that benefit).

Bank of America’s ultra-premium travel protections are probably second to Chase’s. Like Chase, BOA offers 6-hour baggage delay coverage and $100K Emergency Evacuation. Unfortunately, BOA’s Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage is limited to only $2,500.

The following chart summarizes travel protections provided by each ultra-premium card:

Card Primary Auto CDW Road-side Assist Trip Cancel Trip Delay Lost Bags Bag Delay Travel Acc. Ins. Emerg Evac Emerg Med & Dental
Amex Platinum1
No (3)

N/A

$10K

6 Hour

Yes

N/A

N/A

No Limit

N/A
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit

Yes

N/A

$2.5K

6 Hour

Yes

6 Hour

Yes

$100K

N/A
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1
Yes

N/A

$2K

6 Hour

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A
Chase Sapphire Reserve1
Yes (2)

4X / Year

$10K

6 Hour

Yes

6 Hour

Yes

$100K

$2.5K
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive
No (4)

N/A

$5K

6 Hour

Yes

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve
Yes

N/A

$2K

6 Hour

Yes

N/A

Yes

$10K

N/A
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph

Yes (2)

N/A

$15K

6 Hour

Yes

N/A

Yes

N/A

N/A
  1. The business versions of these cards offer similar protections
  2. Rental car coverage is secondary when renting within the United States for New York state residents who also have a personal car insurance policy.
  3. Amex does offer primary coverage, but you must pay an additional fee for it. Details here.
  4. Coverage is primary only outside of your country of residence

Benefit Guides

For detailed information about the protections available with each card, it’s necessary to consult each card’s Guide to Benefits:

Summary by insurance coverage type

Each table below summarizes the benefits available with each card. For each type of coverage, I’ve listed whether you must pay for travel with the card to receive coverage. In most cases, it is acceptable to pay with points rather than directly with the credit card (e.g., you can pay with Ultimate Rewards points for Sapphire Reserve coverage, Membership Rewards points for Amex Platinum coverage, or AA miles for Citi AA Executive coverage).

Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver

The following chart summarizes rental car protections provided by each ultra-premium card:

Card Primary? Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points) Where coverage is not available
Amex Platinum1 No3 100% Australia, Italy, New Zealand
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit Yes 100% Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 Yes 100% Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 Yes2 100% Coverage is available worldwide
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive Only outside your country of residence 100% Coverage is available worldwide
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve Yes 100% Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
Yes2 100% Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland
  1. The business versions of these cards offer similar protections. With the Sapphire Reserve for Business card, coverage in the U.S. is primary only if the rental vehicle is for commercial/business purposes. With the Venture X Business card, coverage depends on renting “primarily for business purposes.”
  2. Rental car coverage is secondary when renting within the United States for New York state residents who also have a personal car insurance policy.
  3. Amex does offer primary coverage, but you must pay an additional fee for it. Details here.

Roadside Assistance

The following chart summarizes roadside assistance (Towing, jump-start, tire change, lockout service, fuel delivery) offered by each ultra-premium card. We didn’t include cases where cards offer a roadside assistance dispatch service, but without providing any reduction in the fee for the actual roadside service.

Card Limits Amount required to pay w/ card Amount charged per use if within limits
Amex Platinum1 N/A N/A N/A
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
N/A N/A N/A
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 N/A N/A N/A
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $50 per service; max 2 gallon fill-up, 4X per year; None $0
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive N/A N/A N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve N/A N/A N/A
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
N/A N/A N/A
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Trip Cancellation and Interruption

Card Limit per person, per trip Max per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 $10K $10K Amex covers round-trip travel paid “in full” with their card, but “in full” includes paying full award taxes and fees or paying with Amex points for travel.
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
$2,500 $2,500 Entire fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 $2K $2K per Person Entire fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers,
or coupons
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $10K $20K Any part, but will only reimburse up to the amount paid
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive $5K $5K Any part, but will only reimburse up to the amount paid
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve $2K $2K Entire fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers,
or coupons
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
$15K $20K per 12 Months Entire cost of the Covered Traveler’s Trip less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Trip Delay Reimbursement

Card # hours delay required Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 6 $500 Amex covers round-trip travel paid “in full” with their card, but “in full” includes where you pay full award taxes and fees or when you pay with Amex points for travel.
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
6 $500 A portion of the Common Carrier fare
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 6 $500 A portion of the Common Carrier fare
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 6 $500 Any part of common carrier transportation
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive 6 $500 A portion of the Common Carrier fare
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve 6 $500 A portion of the Common Carrier fare
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
6 $300 per day Entire cost of the Covered Traveler’s Common Carrier fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Lost Luggage Reimbursement

Card Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 $3K
($2K for checked bags)
Full cost of transportation
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
$3K3 Purchase a portion of the Covered Trip
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 $3K Purchase a portion of the Covered Trip
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $3K Any part of common carrier transportation
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive $3K3 A portion of the Common Carrier fare
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve $3K2 Purchase a portion of the Covered Trip
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
$3K3 Entire cost of the Covered Traveler’s Common Carrier fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons.
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections
  2. Lesser of the following three amounts: the original purchase price of the item(s), the actual cash value of the item(s) at the time of theft or misdirection (with appropriate deduction for depreciation), and the cost to replace the item(s).
  3. $2K per bag for NY residents

Baggage Delay Reimbursement

Card # hours delay required Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 N/A N/A N/A
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
6 $500 ($100 per day) Any portion of the cost of
the Trip
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 N/A N/A N/A
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 6 $500 ($100 per day) Any part of common carrier transportation
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive N/A N/A N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve N/A N/A N/A
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
N/A N/A N/A
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Travel Accident Insurance

Card Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 N/A N/A
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
$1M Entire cost of the passenger fare, less redeemable
certificates, vouchers, or coupons
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 $1M Entire common carrier fare
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $1M Any part of common carrier transportation
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive N/A N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve $500K Entire common carrier fare
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
$1M Entire cost of Your Common Carrier fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Emergency Evacuation and Transportation

Card Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 No Limit None
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
$100K Portion
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 N/A N/A
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $100K Any part of trip
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive N/A N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve $10K Purchase either a portion or the entire cost of the
Covered Trip
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
N/A N/A
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

Emergency Medical and Dental

Card Max coverage per person per trip Amount required to pay w/ card (or associated points)
Amex Platinum1 N/A N/A
Bonvoy Brilliant
Delta Reserve1
Hilton Aspire
BOA Atmos Rewards Summit
N/A N/A
BOA Premium Rewards Elite
Capital One Venture X1 N/A N/A
Chase Sapphire Reserve1 $2,500 Any part of common carrier transportation
Ritz-Carlton
Citi AA Executive N/A N/A
Citi Strata Elite
US Bank Altitude Reserve N/A N/A
Wells Fargo Premier Autograph
N/A N/A
  1. The business versions of these cards offer the same protections

American Express Platinum Emergency Evacuation and Transportation Coverage

It’s important to note that this coverage is part of the Amex “PREMIUM GLOBAL ASSIST HOTLINE” which is available with Amex’s ultra-premium Amex cards, including Platinum cards, Hilton Aspire, Delta Reserve, Delta Reserve for Business, and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant.

Detailed information about the hotline’s benefits can be found by clicking here.

There is no requirement to pay for any part of your trip with your Amex card to use this benefit.

Here are some of the relevant terms from the above-linked document:

In the event the Card Member or another Covered Family Member becomes injured or ill while traveling and is seeking medical treatment as a result, the Premium Global Assist Hotline medical department can assess the adequacy of local facilities and the medical need for emergency medical transportation/evacuation. Such emergency medical transportation/evacuation may be provided at no cost if the Premium Global Assist Hotline medical department, after review of the medical information and in consultation with the local medical service provider or facility, determines there is a medical need at
the time of the incident for such transport and such transport is advisable due to the inadequacy of local facilities. To be eligible for emergency medical transportation/evacuation to a more appropriate medical facility, the covered Card Member or Covered Family Member identified above must:

• be under the care of a local medical service provider or facility
• authorize the Premium Global Assist Hotline to obtain medical records and
recommendations to determine the medical need and fitness for travel
• complete and return all required documentation for the review of Premium Global
Assist Hotline
• not be traveling against a physician’s advice
• not be traveling with a pre-existing condition*
• not be traveling to seek medical treatment

*A pre-existing condition is any sickness, illness, or injury that has manifested itself, become acute, or was being treated in the 60-day period immediately prior to the start of a trip.

If all above criteria are met, Premium Global Assist Hotline will provide the timing and means of emergency medical transportation/evacuation, including medical equipment and supplies and medical personnel to be used in connection with these services. The selection of the Card Member’s (or Covered Family Member’s) final destination for the emergency medical transportation/evacuation from an inadequate medical facility to an adequate medical facility will be made by the Premium Global Assist Hotline.

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230 Comments
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Frank

I believe the citi strata premier card has primary car rental worldwide.

Kevin

Thanks for the very useful charts, but what i struggle with is how to build a coherent strategy. Like, let’s say i’ve got a bunch of these cards and have a trip coming up. My instinct is to micromanage to get the highest benefit (bonus or insurance) from every line item. One flight on Amex Plat. Another on Atmos Summit. Airbnb on Ink Preferred. Hotel on CSR. Tour on Savor.  Int’l car on Citi Strata Elite. Mid-trip flight on a VX travel credit. All totally optimal on paper.

But then let’s say there’s an insurance-triggering event. Will Amex cover a flight since the return was on the Atmos summit? Will Atmos cover a cancelled airbnb on that CIP? Clearly if something happens, all the resultant spending (which I’ll hope to reimburse thru insurance) should be charged to the card that’s going to be getting the claim (maybe not necessary but seems like a best practice). But it’s the prebooked stuff I’m more dubious about. The other option is to book everything on a single card with good insurance (plat/vx/CSR), and hope that’ll streamline everything, but that’s leaving a lot of points on the table potentially.

If anyone has any experience (with getting insurance on one card to pay for a loss on something booked with another card), please help guide us!

snackinghand

Any chance you add the UBS Infinite and HSBC cards to this? Thanks!

Tom

As well as Chase United Club Visa Infinite. Since the Amex Delta Reserve and Citi AA Executive are included.

Jan W

If I transfer my Chase UR to, say, AF/KLM and pay the taxes on an appropriate Chase card, is there any coverage? Or do I have to use UR points through the Chase travel portal?

Tom

The Wells Fargo Premier Autograph offers unlimited no-charge Roadside Dispatch with fixed-fee Roadside Assistance services.

Greg The Frequent Miler

According to the benefits guide, they charge per use, but don’t say what the charge is, but “you may save money because their rates are pre-negotiated”

What is Roadside Dispatch?

Roadside Dispatch is a pay-per-use roadside assistance program. The program provides you with security and convenience wherever your travels take you.

No membership or pre-enrollment is required. No annual dues. No limit on usage.

For a set price per service call, the program provides:

  • Standard Towing — Up to 5 miles included1
  • Tire Changing — must have good, inflated spare
  • Jump Starting
  • Lockout Service (no key replacement)
  • Fuel Delivery — up to 5 gallons (plus the cost of fuel)
  • Standard Winching

1Any vehicle with wheels is covered under the program as long as it can be classified as ‘Light Duty’. ‘Light Duty’ vehicles are vehicles that weigh 10,000 lbs. or less. Vehicles weighing more than 10,000 lbs. are considered ‘Medium Duty’ or ‘Heavy Duty’ and are NOT covered under this program.

Roadside Dispatch will ask you where you are, what the problem is, and while they remain on the phone with you, they will arrange a dispatch to a reliable tow operator or locksmith to provide help. (If you feel you are in an unsafe location – Roadside Dispatch will advise you to hang up and dial 911. If you are not able to dial 911, they will call the non-emergency police number in your area, and will remain on the phone with you at your request until the police arrive.) You have the convenience of one toll-free phone number and you may save money because their rates are pre-negotiated.

Dependable roadside assistance is available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States. No membership or pre-enrollment is required. Just call Roadside Dispatch toll-free when you need them.

duke5150

Taking into account the cost of the card…..Atmos Rewards Summit is best.

Grant

The Amex round-trip requirement honestly might deserve its own article.

It DOES NOT require that you purchase round-trip tickets.

> The period of round-trip travel may consist of roundtrip, one-way, or combinations of roundtrip and one-way tickets with Common Carrier(s).

I don’t have an Amex at all but what I’ve heard people get tripped up is not actually returning to the same airport they departed, either due to using commuter rail, taxi, or coterminal airports that happen to be in different cities.

R D

This post is very helpful. Could you update it to include Bilt Palladium as well?

Tom

Curious that it wasn’t.

justmeha

is the Citi premier significantly worse than the strate elite?

jeph36

Hopefully this is purely a hypothetical scenario: I was wondering how long before an emergency evac scenario someone would need to have the card for the benefit to apply. As I was hiking around the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan over the weekend, I wondered if I fell and hurt myself in a place where I still had cell connection if I could apply for a Platinum while waiting for help to arrive and get it covered under the Platinum’s coverage. The trick up there (or in a lot of wilderness) would be actually having cell connection, but sometimes it works. If I am just laying there for a half hour anyway, waiting for help, maybe I should apply for a $900 card that could save me several thousand $$.

In case anyone is wondering, I made it out without needing emergency evac. ~30 miles hiking across two days, one blister on each foot, and one snow bank I got the car stuck in but managed to dig it out (and had to help someone else who got stuck in a different snow bank).

Tony

If the card stipulates that the entire trip must be paid for with the card to get protected, can we still pay with cash AND point/miles and get protected (as long as the entire cash amount including taxes and fees is paid with the card)? “The Covered Card and/or rewards program associated with Your covered Account must be used to purchase the entire cost of the Covered Traveler’s Common Carrier fare less redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons.”

So do points/miles count as “redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons”?
For example, United pay with points and cash or Southwest flight credit from a cancelled flight.

Last edited 2 months ago by Tony
Greg The Frequent Miler

I think in practice that would work, yes. But it will depend on the coverage you need to determine whether you’ll be fully covered. For example, if you use a card’s trip cancellation coverage, you’ll probably only be able to get back the amount charged to your card and not the amount paid in the form of airline miles or flight credit.

Tony

Thanks for the reply. I have the Ritz Carlton but just recently got the $95 Wells Fargo Premier Autograph Visa Infinite card (could that be added to the article above?). I think the protections that matter the most are flight delay over 6 hours. So I should be good to pay with WF and earn 4x points which transfer to Choice and Wyndham at 1:2 and get those solid Visa Infinite protections even if sometimes paying a part of airfare with Travelbank or Southwest flight credit.

Last edited 2 months ago by Tony
Greg The Frequent Miler

I’d love to add the Wells Fargo Premier Autograph Visa Infinite card to this post, but I can’t find the benefits guide online. If you have access to it, could you provide a link or send the PDF?

Tony

This is bizarre. I posted a link to the benefits guide in a reply but it does not appear here. I posted it again and it said I posted a duplicate. I even posted it in a comment on the most recent FM YouTube video, but again it does not show. it is wells fargo credit card premier autograph visa infinite guide to benefits and you can get to it from https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/1rb5gko/wf_premier_autograph_infinite/

Tony

I have tried a dozen times to post the link, but it looks like none are approved by your system. Just now I tried bitly but that didn’t work either. As in my previous reply, there is a reddit post which midway down the page has the link for the benefits guide so it can be obtained from there: https://www.reddit.com/r/CreditCards/comments/1rb5gko/wf_premier_autograph_infinite/

John

https://www.capitalone.com/credit-cards/benefits-guide/ This states that for the Venture X Business: “To get coverage: The rental vehicle must be rented primarily for business 
purposes.” The footnote to the CDW chart implies that this isn’t a restriction for Capitol One.

Greg The Frequent Miler

Fixed this. Thank you!

CobaltSunsets

This appears to vary between payment networks.

The business restriction appears to apply to the Mastercard World Elite variant (https://ecm.capitalone.com/WCM/card/world-elite-business-mastercard.pdf) and not to the Visa Infinite Business variant (https://ecm.capitalone.com/WCM/card/benefits-guide/visa-benefits-guides/visa-infinite-business-english.pdf).

For the Visa Infinite Business variant:

“You are eligible for the benefit if Your name is embossed on an eligible card issued in the United States or if You are authorized by Your company to rent an eligible Rental Vehicle using the company’s covered business Account, as long as You initiate and complete Your entire Rental Vehicle transaction with the Account.” 

Last edited 1 month ago by CobaltSunsets
FlyingNinja

Could you add the Wells Fargo Autograph Journey Visa Infinite benefits to this list?
If someone could qualify for the Premier level at Wells, this card seems to have pretty good travel benefits for $95 less $50 airline credit per year.

Tony

Just a slight correction, the card is called Premier Autograph (doesn’t have the word “Journey”). I’m also wondering if not maintaining Premier level would necessarily mean forced conversion down to the Journey.

Adam

Would love to see Chase Sapphire Preferred added to the table too as I think its competitive for travel protections.

BDLS

I am in the midst of a medical emergency right now in Peru and find the AMEX Business Platinum benefit largely worthless after my call with Global Assist a few minutes ago. I have been in the hospital for five days. Once out, I will need to re-book a flight home since I cannot continue travel. My original business class return flight was booked 7 months ago, but AMEX will only cover the cost of an economy flight home less what I am refunded from the airline for my original flight. AMEX/AIG will not cover my forfeited hotel and rental vehicle because they were booked on a different travel card. I *might* be reimbursed for the 3-hour rural taxi to the hospital. This is an expensive lesson about travel insurance.

Dan

That sounds awful. I hope you’re doing better.