For years, I have been a proponent of travel insurance products because they can literally save lives in the worst-case scenario. More importantly, many travelers already have some form of travel insurance, without even knowing it is available to them.
Recently, I wrote about the travel insurance benefits provided by the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Although their suite of benefits is impressive, this is not the only high-end card that carries travel insurance. In my quest to find the truth, I began looking at other cards that offer travelers a little peace of mind as they go abroad. I found it in the Citi Prestige card.
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Citi Prestige® Card
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$450 first year
$450 after first year |
40,000 Points After $4,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open. Read Review » |
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Citi Prestige® Card |
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
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$0 intro first year
$95 annual fee |
Earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $625 in travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards® Read Review » |
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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card |
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Although certain other benefits may soon be devaluating, this card still offers a tremendous value proposition on the benefits alone. For those who are considering their next international trip, here are some of the travel insurance benefits that may make you want to charge your trip to the Citi Prestige card.
Medical Evacuation
Because of the sheer expense of traveling an injured or ill traveler, many cards do not offer medical evacuation as part of their travel insurance benefits. The Citi Prestige card is one of the few credit cards that come with a medical evacuation benefit as part of their overall package.
The benefit language is simple: if a doctor certifies that a traveler is too ill or injured to require emergency attention, the medical evacuation benefit can arrange transportation to the nearest facility where the person can get treatment, or it can transport the traveler to an appropriate hospital near their home. This benefit is maxed out at $100,000, which is enough to cover an air ambulance if needed.
To qualify for this benefit, travelers must pay for their itinerary with their Citi Prestige card, Citi ThankYou points, or some combination of both and travel on a common carrier. From there, travelers must be transported on the most cost effective means possible. If the travel was for commuting purposes or was not pre-authorized by Citi in advance, travelers may not qualify for this benefit.
Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
On every trip, cancellation or interruption is a common concern for travelers. The Citi Prestige card offers generous benefits for travelers who experience unfortunate circumstances.
Travelers who cancel for a covered reason or experience a qualified interruption may receive a reimbursement of $5,000 per trip for expenses. To receive coverage, travelers must pay for their entire trip on their Citi Prestige card, with ThankYou points, or some combination.
Qualifying events for trip cancellation include experiencing an illness or injury 30 days before a trip, being fired or laid off after two years of service, or being called to jury duty at the same time as a trip. For trip interruption, covered situations include severe weather, delayed connections, involuntarily denied boarding, or a lost or stolen passports along the way.
Trip Delay
Finally, trip delay is one of the most common situations every traveler faces when they board their aircraft. However, those who used their Citi Prestige card to pay off at least a portion of the expenses are not alone in their travels.
According to the guide, travelers who are displaced by a common carrier for a number of reasons, including having documents stolen or overbooking, may receive a $500 reimbursement for incidental costs on their trip. This can include hotels, ground transportation, and meals.
While this benefit may sound generous, it does come with some important caveats. First, travelers must not be delayed due to government regulations or customs agents stopping them. Second, if a traveler accepts an offer of a coupon to be voluntarily denied boarding, they may not qualify for a delay benefit.
While travel insurance can help travelers in a bind, it can only help to the extent they understand their benefits. By knowing what benefits come with the Citi Prestige, travelers can make the most of their coverage in the worst-case scenario.
Do the travel insurance benefits on the Citi Prestige make it one of your must hold cards again? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
[Image via Getty]