There’s an old adage that headlines travel fast, but the truth takes its time catching up. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of credit card benefits and travel protections.
At Your Mileage May Vary, I make it a point not to treat rumors as facts. I wait until I can verify information directly from the source before sharing it. However, even when a headline is factually correct, the details often get misinterpreted—or, worse, completely ignored. This leads to misinformation spreading online, and before you know it, people take incorrect details as fact.
This is precisely what has happened with Chase credit cards and their recent change to travel insurance coverage.
Chase Travel Coverages: A Quick Overview
Chase credit cards offer some of the best travel protections available. The Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Ritz-Carlton Card provide industry-leading travel coverage, followed closely by the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Preferred.
So when Chase made a subtle change to one of their travel insurance policies, it became a major story—perhaps bigger than it needed to be.
What Changed?
The update that grabbed attention relates to Trip Cancellation coverage. Previously, if you paid just the taxes and fees on an award ticket with a Chase card, you’d be covered for the entire trip—even if you didn’t pay for prepaid hotels, cruises, or other travel expenses with that same card.
Now, Chase has updated the language to specify:
“[Coverage is limited to…] the actual amount charged to the Covered Card and/or Redeemable rewards used for a covered travel expense.”
In short, this means you are only eligible for reimbursement up to the amount charged to your card or the number of Ultimate Rewards points redeemed. You can no longer expect full coverage on an award trip by charging just $5.60 in taxes to your card.
The Internet Reacts: Fact vs. Fiction
Since this change was announced, I’ve seen countless posts on Facebook and Reddit claiming that Chase has “destroyed” their travel insurance benefits. That’s simply not true.
First, the only adjustment was to Trip Cancellation insurance. All other travel protections—Trip Delay, Baggage Delay, and Lost Luggage Coverage—remain unchanged. This means that even if you only pay the taxes and fees on an award ticket, you still receive these important protections.
Final Thoughts
Before you reconsider which card to use for travel purchases, take a step back. Chase still provides some of the strongest travel protections available. While this change slightly reduces coverage for award travelers, it’s a reasonable adjustment to the policy.
And if you’re booking a trip where losing your upfront costs would be a significant financial hit, consider purchasing a dedicated travel insurance policy rather than relying solely on credit card protections.
At the end of the day, Chase’s travel protections remain among the best in the industry—despite what some of the overblown headlines might suggest.
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