To qualify, you must pay for eligible travel expenses with the card that offers the benefit. If you use credit card rewards to pay for a trip, purchases may still be covered, depending on the card. With Chase, for example, a spokesperson confirms that trip cancellation insurance covers qualifying purchases booked with rewards earned on an eligible credit card.
Benefits like these may also change on credit cards, so to avoid unwanted surprises, review your card’s terms and conditions prior to booking a trip.
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT MAY QUALIFY
Insurance offered through a credit card extends to different circumstances. For example, unexpected illness and accidental bodily injury are the predominant cause for trip cancellation and trip interruption claims on eligible Mastercards, said Ralf Riehl, director of loyalty solutions for Mastercard, in an email .
“In specific regard to COVID-19, these benefits do not provide coverage for fear of traveling to a specific destination, even for fear of illness or quarantine,” he said.
The terms I qualified for cited coverage that includes “sickness experienced by you or your traveling companion which prevents you or your traveling companion from traveling on the trip.”
Depending on the card, other circumstances that may qualify for trip cancellation coverage include physician-ordered quarantine, loss of life, severe weather that prevents travel, changes in military orders and jury duty, to name a few. Trip interruption may cover similar incidents.