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Credit Cards with the Best Flight Insurance Policies

Many of us plan our trips well in advance, but as the saying goes, sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men go awry. Unfortunately, when you’re forced to change your flight, cancel your trip at the last minute or wait hours due to a flight delay, you could face some hefty charges or extra costs. But if you hold one of these travel rewards credit cards, your excess expenses could be offset by the insurance coverage on them.

To compare the best flight insurance credit cards, we ranked them based on the maximum amount of coverage offered. Flight insurance on these credit cards may apply to immediate family and additional travelling companions. When booking, consider using your credit card to pay for the entire trip or a portion of it since each card offers different qualifications to be eligible for insurance coverage.

1. Scotiabank Gold American Express

  • Flight delay insurance for up to $500 per trip for eligible expenses during a delayed flight or missed connection flight of 4 hours or more
  • Trip interruption insurance for up to $2,500 per insured person to a maximum of $10,000 per trip
  • Trip cancellation insurance for up to $2,500 per insured person to a maximum of $10,000 per trip

Breathe a little easier if you’re forced to cancel a trip or your trip is interrupted, thanks to the Scotiabank Gold American Express’ travel insurance perks. You’ll be reimbursed up to $2,500 for each insured person or $10,000 per trip if you charged at least 75% of the trip’s costs to your credit card or used Scotia Rewards points, which differentiates the card’s requirements from the other options. The coverage protects you and your partner, along with any dependent children and one travelling companion, if their expenses were charged to your account. Also, if your flight is delayed by 4 hours or more due to bad weather, mechanical breakdown or overbooking, don’t worry about the extra hotel costs, restaurant meals or refreshments you buy while waiting, since up to $500 per trip will be covered. The card also offers other insurance privileges such as delayed and lost baggage insurance, travel emergency medical insurance and common carrier travel accident insurance to help travellers out when something goes wrong.

2. BMO World Elite MasterCard

  • Flight delay insurance covers up to $500 per account per trip
  • Trip interruption insurance covers up to $2,000 per insured person
  • Trip cancellation coverage of up to $2,500 per insured person for up to a maximum of $5,000 per account

In third place, the BMO World Elite MasterCard lets cardholders access its trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance, even if you only partially charged the cost of your trip to the credit card. While the BMO credit card offers more cancellation coverage per person compared to other credit cards, it has a lower maximum coverage amount. The insurance only covers you and your family, but there’s no maximum amount specified for the trip interruption insurance within the card’s insurance policy. The card’s flight delay insurance offers coverage in the middle of the two other cards, but it only covers costs when cardholders face a 6-hour delay.

Have you ever had to use your credit card’s flight insurance? What happened?

Flickr: Doug