Sapphire Reserve & Preferred Devalue Trip Cancellation & Interruption Coverage

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One reason to pay the Chase Sapphire Reserve‘s $550 annual fee is the card’s travel coverage. A reason that the coverages from the Sapphire Reserve, in addition to the Sapphire Preferred, was that you were covered even if you only paid for a portion of the trip with your card.

For example, if you booked a business class trip to Asia using points, you’d only be responsible for paying the taxes and fees, which could be as low as $5.60. By paying the taxes with your Sapphire Reserve, you’d be covered for trip cancellation/interruption, trip delay, and emergency evacuation coverage.

Changes To Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption

Well, Chase recently updated the Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage terms with the Sapphire Reserve and Preferred. Here are the previous terms of the Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred.

The Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption benefit provides reimbursement for Eligible Travel Expenses charged to the Cardholder’s Account up to ten thousand ($10,000.00) dollars per Covered Person and up to twenty thousand ($20,000.00) dollars per Trip, if a loss results in cancellation or interruption of the travel arrangements. The Cardholder and Immediate Family Members are covered when the Cardholder’s name is embossed on an eligible Card issued in the United States, and the Cardholder charges all or a portion of a Trip to his or her Credit Card Account and/or Rewards programs associated with the Account.

And here are the updated terms for the two cards.

This benefit provides reimbursement for covered travel expenses if a Trip is cancelled or interrupted due to a covered reason. Coverage is limited to the lesser of the following:

• $10,000 per Covered Traveler
• $20,000 per Trip for all Covered Travelers and $40,000 per twelve (12) month period per Account
• the actual amount charged to the Covered Card and/or redeemable Rewards used for a covered travel expense

Note: Eligible purchases made with redeemable Rewards will be reimbursed in dollars.

The Covered Traveler is covered when You charge all or a portion of the cost of the Trip to Your Covered Card and/or use redeemable Rewards. Covered Travelers do not need to be traveling with You for benefits to apply.

What This Means

While the Sapphire Reserve and Sapphire Preferred continue to offer coverage when you charge only a portion of the trip cost to your card, coverage is limited to the actual amount charged to the card and/or redeemable rewards. Unless you charge the entire amount to your Chase card, you’re not covered for the total amount of the trip.

This doesn’t make much difference to us because if we’re paying for an expensive trip, such as a package tour or cruise, I’ll make sure to purchase trip insurance.  This will cover us for almost all travel-related problems, including medical coverage while out of the country. For a recent policy, I bought coverage that would pay 100% of the trip cost for cancellation and up to 150% for trip interruption.

This includes the following for trip interruption.

The Company will pay a benefit to reimburse the Insured for any of the following applicable expenses, up to the maximum limit shown in the Schedule or Declarations Page, for Trips that are interrupted due to any of the Unforeseen events listed above: (a) Cancellation Penalties, and (b) additional transportation expenses incurred by the Insured (not to exceed the same class as the Insured’s original ticket or the cost of economy airfare, less any refunds paid or payable) for travel by the most direct route to: (1) the Return Destination; or (2) the Insured’s Destination, or to a place where the Insured can continue their Trip.

What About Other Coverages?

While the Trip Interruption and Cancellation coverage has changed only to cover the amount charged to the card, there have been no changes to the Trip Delay, Baggage Delay, Lost Luggage and Emergency Evacuation covered. You’ll receive total compensation for these coverages when paying a portion of the travel expense with your Chase Card.

 

Will I Change How I Pay For Trips?

This change will not significantly affect how I pay for our travel expenses. As mentioned above, this change only pertains to Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage. When I spend a large amount in advance for travel, I also purchase travel insurance, which covers us in case our travel plans change.

For domestic travel, there’s not usually a significant out-of-pocket expense before the trip. And if we need to cancel the trip or head home early, I can find a way to make that happen.

I’m using my Sapphire Reserve to pay for the taxes on flights so I can get Trip and Baggage Delay coverage. The charge is usually small, so I’m not worried about how many points I’ll earn. I know my expenses will be covered if I have to spend an extra night away from home if my flight is canceled or buy some essentials if my bag is delayed.

For those relying on this coverage, I recommend considering travel insurance, as most other credit cards have similar coverage limitations to those recently adopted by Chase.

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