Travel insurance for credits cards – what you should look out for

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Why shouldn't I rely on my credit card insurance?

Have you often paid for a holiday via your credit card in the belief that you are well covered on your trip? Many credit card companies offer their customers integrated travel protection such as travel health insurance or travel cancellation insurance. The catch: In order for the insurance cover to be valid, you usually have to pay for the trip via your credit card. What many do not know: Despite high credit card fees, most travel health insurance policies that come included often offer insufficient protection.

High deductible in the event of insufficient cancellation protection

If you are considering relying solely on the insurance cover provided by your credit card when travelling, you should read the insurance terms and conditions of your provider carefully beforehand. You often find that the insurance cover is significantly less than with private travel health insurance.

For example, if you want to claim on your included trip cancellation insurance, you usually have to have paid the entire price of the trip by credit card. If you pay at your accommodation or by direct debit, the insurance cover usually does not apply. Neither will you if you make a deposit by bank transfer and pay the remaining amount later by credit card. Have you also informed your insurer about the destination and duration of the trip before you travel? This can also be decisive for valid travel protection.

Finally, credit card providers often only cover part of the travel cancellation costs. You pay the rest in the form of a deductible.

Limited insurance cover for the cardholder.

If you are travelling with your family or within a group, you should make sure that not only you as the credit card holder are insured. This is because, in the event of a trip cancellation, the insurer may only reimburse your cancellation costs and your family may not be able to make use of the trip travel cancellation insurance policy.

It is also worth taking a look at the general conditions of your credit card insurance policy. Up to which travel price is your stay insured (e.g. € 2,500)? More expensive trips or longer stays abroad are often not covered. Anyone planning a trip overseas should check whether the respective countries of travel are insured via credit card. In particular, countries with expensive healthcare systems, such as Canada and the USA, are usually not included.

What benefits does credit card insurance cover?

Find out exactly what benefits your insurance cover includes. For comparison: Comprehensive travel protection consists of travel health insurance including medically reasonable return transport to the home country, travel cancellation insurance and travel curtailment insurance (holiday guarantee).

In addition, we recommend travel luggage insurance to protect your luggage from damage and theft. Many credit card insurance policies only include trip cancellation or travel health insurance with limited cover. How do you recognise this? Check whether your travel health insurance covers medically advisable return transport or only medically necessary return transport. The latter only takes place if you are unable to obtain necessary treatment in the country of travel. You can also make use of a medically reasonable return transport in an emergency if you would prefer to be treated in a hospital at home.

How can I extend my travel protection?

If you conclude a trip via your credit card, we recommend that you do not rely on the limited travel protection – especially if you are not travelling alone or are not only planning a short trip.

HanseMerkur's travel insurance policies not only offer comprehensive travel protection, but also cover a larger group of risk persons when you travel together with your family or partner. With or without already existing credit card insurance, we recommend our cancellation and travel protection, which provides you with comprehensive insurance before and during your trip worldwide up to a duration of 31 days.

In your integrated international health insurance policy, we fully cover outpatient medical treatment at the doctor's and inpatient hospital stays (up to € 300,000 in the Carefree plan). A medically reasonable return transport to Austria is also insured. In addition, you benefit from travel cancellation insurance for you and your fellow travellers and travel curtailment cover. If you cancel your trip within the first half of the trip (max. within the first 8 days) for various reasons, we will pay the full price of the trip. The maximum insurable travel price is € 10,000 per person/family.

Luggage, travel liability and travel accident insurance complete your all-round cover. You have the option of booking travel protection not only within Europe, but worldwide. If you are travelling with your family or with a group (10 or more people), you can benefit from cheaper rates.

Are you travelling for longer than 31 days? In this case, you can extend the travel protection up to a maximum of 366 days.

Who can advise me in a medical emergency?

Credit card insurers often offer a blocking hotline in case of credit card loss, but not advice in case of a medical emergency. As part of our travel insurance, you can reach our emergency call service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our experts advise you, for example, on the choice of local doctors or hospitals or organise repatriation.

At a glance – Cancellation and travel protection from HanseMerkur.

If you have to cancel or interrupt your trip for various reasons, you can benefit from these advantages with our cancellation and travel protection, among others, in addition to the travel cancellation and curtailment insurance:

Suitable with and without existing credit card insurance
Extra return travel protection: Costs of catching up with the travel group where trip is interrupted, accommodation and return travel costs
Delay and transfer protection
No deductible
Luggage insurance
Travel accident insurance
Reimbursement of costs for outpatient and inpatient medical treatment and medically reasonable return transport at 100 % (in travel health insurance)
Travel liability insurance (up to € 1 million in the premium plan for liability risks of daily life)
Worldwide 24-hour emergency call service

Framework conditions

The following general conditions apply to the cancellation and travel curtailment insurance provided by HanseMerkur:

Scope of cover: Europe and worldwide
Validity period: Commencement of trip until the end of the trip (from reaching the border)
Plans for families and groups
Maximum duration of trip: 31 days (extension up to 366 days possible)