4 Credit Cards with Free Trip Cancellation Insurance

Paying for trip cancellation insurance is a hassle and costly. Fortunately, there are credit cards with trip cancellation insurance. Here are four of them.

Frequent travelers should approach credit cards differently than the rest of us. They have to look for cards that offer travel perks and rewards. Perks like no foreign transaction fees make travel cheaper. Another important feature is credit cards with free trip cancellation insurance.

This perk could save travelers a lot of money and hassle. With this perk, you don’t have to debate whether or not to purchase additional trip cancellation insurance. So you can nix those insurance premiums out of your travel budget. Furthermore, a credit card’s trip cancellation coverage kicks in automatically whenever you book a trip using that card. It’s a no-brainer if you frequently book trips for either work or pleasure.

This means that you’ll get to enjoy the peace of mind that goes along with knowing that you have cost-free protection without meeting any special enrollment criteria or paying an annual premium. In fact, if you travel two or three times per year, you might even consider one of these cards with an annual fee. The trip cancellation insurance alone should balance out that fee within the year.

What can you expect from cards that offer trip-cancellation insurance? Some rules are pretty universal throughout the trip cancellation coverage terms offered by credit cards. For instance, most will cover the nonrefundable, prepaid arrangements you’ve booked with hotels, airlines, and tour operators to some degree.

However, not all of these programs are the same. Some cards only offer reimbursement for airfare. Others will cover every part of your trip, including pre-booked tours and activities. How much each program reimburses and what qualifies for reimbursement also vary from program to program.

Here’s a look at the four popular credit cards that offer trip-cancellation insurance with the biggest reimbursement amounts and the best terms.

3 Credit Cards with Trip Cancellation Insurance

Chase Sapphire Preferred Card:

• Reimburses costs when customers have purchased travel arrangements, tours, trips, or vacations using an eligible Chase card or with rewards earned with an eligible Chase card
• Entire cost must be paid using a Chase card or benefits to qualify
• Covers the cardholder and immediate family members, even if the cardholder isn’t traveling with them
• Covers up to $10,000 per trip with maximum limits of $20,000 per occurrence and $40,000 in a 12-month span
• Also covers trips that you must cancel due to severe weather, terrorist activity, jury duty, court subpoenas, financial insolvency of a travel provider, and more

Citi® Card:

• Covers cardholder, family members, and travel companions
• Offers reimbursement of up to $5,000 per covered traveler per trip
• Kicks in when all or just part of the cost of a travel arrangement was made using a Citi® card or ThankYou® points
• Covered cancellation reasons include illness, injury, loss of employment, active military service, weather, natural disasters, terrorist activity, and more

Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card:

• Provides reimbursement of up to $2,000 for airline costs if your trip is canceled or interrupted for a covered reason
• Entire amount of a passenger’s fare must be charged to a Wells Fargo Visa Signature® Card to qualify for reimbursement
• Covered cancellation reasons include the financial insolvency of an airline carrier or the death, injury, or illness of the traveler or an immediate family member

In addition, you’ll find a complete list of the best travel reward credit cards here.