Last Updated on August 13, 2024 by Kristin
Unexpected trip delays can happen to anyone. Whether you’re a frequent traveler or planning to finally take that dream vacation you’ve talked about for years, these credit cards provide trip delay insurance for expenses including meals and accommodation when delays throw a wrench in your plans.
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These credit cards may have different reimbursement limits and rules about what constitutes a delay or eligible expense. Check the fine print of your benefits guide carefully to ensure you understand how each card approaches reimbursements. Generally, you must have used the same credit card to book a delayed trip to get the reimbursement.
5 Best Credit Cards Offering Trip Delay Reimbursement
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Chase Sapphire Reserve
The Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa card is an all-around great option for frequent travelers, with trip delay reimbursement being just one of the many perks it offers for those on the go. The Chase Sapphire Reserve offers up to $500 in trip delay reimbursement per ticket for you and family members. The card covers delays of more than six hours as well as situations that require an unexpected overnight stay as a result of a delay. Like many similar cards, covered expenses include meals, accommodation, toiletries or medicines you may need.
In addition to trip delay reimbursement, the Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers a host of other travel-related benefits including primary rental car coverage, lost luggage reimbursement, baggage delay insurance, roadside assistance, travel accident insurance and more. The only downside to this card is the $550 annual fee, but the card’s $300 yearly travel credit helps make up for it.
It’s worth mentioning that the Chase Sapphire Preferred card also reimburses up to $500 in expenses for travel delays, but this only kicks in for delays that last more than 12 hours or require an overnight stay.
American Express Platinum Card
The American Express Platinum card reimburses up to $500 in expenses per trip for delays lasting more than six hours. Cardholders may only file two claims for trip delays per year. The card will reimburse expenses including meals, lodging, toiletries, medication and related personal items that a traveler needs during a delay. In addition to providing trip delay insurance, the Platinum card offers a host of travel perks including trip cancellation and interruption insurance, 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels, a $200 hotel credit and a $200 credit for airline fees.
Even with those credits, the American Express Platinum card does have a hefty $695 annual fee and may not be for everyone. American Express does offer trip delay insurance through its Green and Gold cards as well as several others, but the reimbursement those cards offer will only kick in when delays last at least 12 hours.
Capital One Venture X Rewards Card
The Capital One Venture X Rewards Card is well-known for its travel perks, including trip delay insurance as a secondary benefit to reimburse meals, lodging and personal items. This premium card offers trip delay reimbursement of up to $500 for each ticket purchased as long as the airline or your primary insurance policy do not already cover those charges. The benefit kicks in when you have a delay of more than six hours or must stay overnight in a different place than you were expecting. The Venture X Rewards card is known for other travel perks, including a $300 annual travel credit, a $100 credit for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry enrollment and 10,000 bonus miles equivalent to $100 in travel rewards annually. The Venture X card has a $395 annual fee.
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Bank of America Premium Rewards Credit Card
The Bank of America Premium Rewards card reimburses up to $500 of expenses such as meals, lodging and toiletries per ticket for delays of more than 12 hours. This card also offers perks including benefits at luxury hotels and special discounts on rental cars. It also offers a secondary rental collision damage waiver (CDW). The card’s $95 annual fee can be recouped through various credits. These include up to $100 in credits to enroll in Global Entry or TSA PreCheck. The card also includes trip cancellation and interruption insurance and baggage delay coverage.
United Explorer Credit Card
If you’re looking for a card without a huge annual fee that provides trip delay protection, the United Explorer card is a solid bet. This Visa card reimburses up to $500 in expenses for items including meals and lodging per ticket. While most of the other cards on this list reimburse delays of six hours or more, this card’s benefit does not kick in until after a 12-hour delay. However, the key draw of this card is that it offers travel perks with no annual fee for the first year. After that, the fee increases to $95. Other perks of the United Explorer card include priority boarding and a free checked bag on United, as well as the ability to rack up 7x miles on United flights.
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