Does Chase Sapphire Have Travel Insurance?

Written By Robin RatcliffAuthor

Reviewed By Steven BennaEditor

Last Updated: March 13, 2025April 27, 2026 — 8 min read

Key Takeaways:

• The Chase Sapphire cards include a wide range of travel insurance, with strong coverage for common disruptions like trip cancellations, delays and lost luggage.
• Chase’s coverage has significant gaps compared to standalone travel insurance, especially medical coverage.
• Emergency Medical coverage is limited to $2,500 on the Sapphire Reserve card and non-existent on the Sapphire Preferred. In comparison, third-party insurers offer at least $500,000 in Emergency Medical Insurance per person.
• Claims experiences vary, with approvals often depending on documentation and whether the claim clearly fits policy rules.
• Plans on Squaremouth offer comprehensive coverage that can fill in the gaps in your card’s travel protections.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve cards are two of the most popular travel cards on the market due to their generous rewards programs and cushy travel benefits, like airport lounge access and Global Entry membership. While many cardholders focus on earning points and travel credits, one of the most valuable — but less visible — benefits of the Chase Sapphire cards is travel insurance.

Chase Sapphire travel insurance includes baseline protections that can save you significant money if something goes wrong and add peace of mind when booking travel. But it also has serious gaps, and is especially lacking in medical coverage for international travel.

In this guide, we’ll outline what your Chase Sapphire card does and doesn’t cover, and when you need to purchase a supplemental policy.

What Does Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance Cover?

The Chase Sapphire cards offer a wide range of travel protections to cover situations like trip cancellations, interruptions and delays, theft or damage to your rental car, and lost or delayed luggage. While the cards offer mostly the same protections, the Sapphire Reserve also includes Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation Insurance, making it the more comprehensive option overall.

What Does Chase Sapphire Trip Insurance Not Cover?

While the Chase Sapphire cards offer solid Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption and Rental Car Coverage, they fall short in some areas — especially medical insurance, flexible coverage, and high-risk activities. You won’t be covered for:

• High-cost vacations. You’ll get up to $20,000 of Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption protection, which may not protect expensive or luxury travel bookings.
• Pre-existing conditions. The coverage excludes conditions diagnosed within 60 days of your initial deposit.
• Non-qualifying cancellations and interruptions. Coverage only applies to specific events like unexpected illness, cancellations and interruptions due to severe weather, certain carrier-related disruptions, and terrorist attacks. You won’t be covered for reasons such as job loss, civil unrest, or war.
• Return costs for a trip interruption. Your coverage is capped at $20,000 and doesn’t cover the cost of your return ticket.
• Major medical expenses. The Sapphire Reserve’s Emergency Medical coverage has a very low cap of $2,500, which is insufficient for a major medical emergency while traveling abroad or taking a cruise.
• Short delays and missed connections. You’re only covered for trip delays exceeding 6 or 12 hours (depending on the card), meaning shorter delays that cause missed connections may not be reimbursed.
• Adventure or extreme sports. High-risk activities like scuba diving and skydiving are excluded from the Sapphire Reserve’s medical insurance.

How Difficult Is It to File a Claim With Chase Travel Insurance?

Online accounts of Chase’s claim-filing experience are mixed: Some cardholders report a straightforward process with quick approvals, while others report delays, additional documentation, and denials.

Coverage is administered by Assurant Insurance, which has a 4.5-star TrustPilot rating and a strong customer service track record. Many customers report large payouts and a smooth claims process when they submit thorough documentation for clearly covered events. Others report denials due to documentation problems or issues that don’t fit a covered reason.

To improve your chances of approval, it’s important to keep detailed records of your trip expenses and read the Guide to Benefits for the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase Sapphire Reserve carefully to understand all the limitations.

Does Chase Sapphire Provide Good Travel Insurance Coverage?

Chase Sapphire trip insurance can be sufficient if you’re just looking for basic coverage for common travel issues like delays, cancellations, and Lost Luggage insurance. But, compared to third-party travel insurance, it has major limitations that make it unsuitable as a standalone policy for many travelers:

• While many third-policy insurance policies offer up to $500,000 of Emergency Medical Insurance, the Sapphire Reserve only offers $2,500 of Emergency Medical coverage and the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t offer any.
• Third-party insurance will cover 150% to 200% of your trip costs for an interruption including your airfare home. The Sapphire cards cap this coverage at $10,000 per person, and it doesn’t include your return ticket.
• You can’t customize coverage for niche situations like adventure sports or work-related disruptions and you can’t add on Cancel For Any Reason Coverage (CFAR).

Chase Sapphire vs. Comprehensive Travel Insurance

When to Choose Third-Party Travel Insurance

If you’re traveling internationally, want more flexibility, or need to customize your policy, you should consider purchasing a separate travel insurance policy. Either way, we always recommend comparing your options to find the right coverage for the best price.

Consider third-party insurance if:

You Need Medical Coverage for an International Trip

The Sapphire Reserve card only has $2,500 of Emergency Medical coverage. For international trips, especially to remote areas or countries with high healthcare costs, this may not be sufficient. Medical policies on Squaremouth offer significantly higher limits for Emergency Medical coverage, ranging from $100,000 and $500,000.

Also, while the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s $100,000 worth of Medical Evacuation coverage meets the CDC’s recommendations, you might want a policy with a higher limit if you’re traveling to a remote area. Evacuations sometimes exceed this cap.

Tip: You can purchase Travel Medical Insurance for a low price and pair it with your card’s Trip Cancellation Insurance if you’re strictly worried about medical emergencies.

You’re Making Purchases With Multiple Cards

Chase won’t reimburse purchases made on other cards. So, for instance, if you purchased your airfare with your Sapphire Reserve but used a card without insurance to book your hotels, you won’t be able to recover your hotel costs. Purchasing a separate policy will ensure that all your purchases are covered, regardless of which card you used.

You Have a Pre-existing Condition

Chase does not cover cancellations, interruptions, or medical expenses related to pre-existing conditions diagnosed within 60 days of your initial trip payment. Most policies on Squaremouth will cover pre-existing conditions as long as you purchase the policy within 14-21 days of your first trip payment.

Your Trip Costs More Than $10,000 Per Person

Chase Sapphire cancellation and interruption coverage is capped, so you should confirm that your total trip costs fall with its limits. If you’re taking a higher-cost trip, you should consider purchasing supplemental luxury travel insurance.

You’re Planning an Adventurous Vacation

Credit card travel insurance policies generally exclude risky activities, so it’s a good idea to purchase a specialized policy if you’re planning a trip that includes sports or adventure. You can buy adventure sports coverage for activities like scuba diving, snorkeling, biking, deep-sea fishing, or hiking.

You Need Maximum Flexibility

Third-party policies allow for far more customization than credit card insurance. For example, you can purchase Employment Layoff insurance or a policy that lets you cancel for work reasons if you’re worried that your company’s upcoming merger is going to disrupt your travel plans. You can also add CFAR coverage to a third-party plan for an extra fee to give yourself the flexibility to cancel for the multitude of other reasons that aren’t covered by your Chase Sapphire card.

A recent Squaremouth survey shows that 56% of Americans are worried about trip cancellations and interruptions caused by events like government shutdowns, military action, and geopolitical unrest. Interest in Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage has increased by 27% in the past month since it can cover you for events that don’t fall under a typical travel insurance policy.

Is Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance Enough?

Yes, Chase Sapphire travel protections are well worth it for many travelers. The Sapphire cards offer some of the best credit card travel protections around, especially for Travel Cancellation protection and Primary Car Rental insurance. These benefits can save hundreds of dollars in standalone insurance costs and provide reimbursement for thousands of dollars in expenses, greatly offsetting the cards’ annual fees.

However, these policies are not a substitute for Comprehensive Travel Insurance. They have important limitations, especially when it comes to major medical emergencies during international travel. If you’re looking for robust travel coverage, we strongly recommend comparing travel insurance plans on Squaremouth to find policies that better match your needs.

Frequently Asked Questions: Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance

What Cancellation Reasons Does Chase Trip Cancellation Cover?

Qualifying reasons for Trip Cancellation protection on your Chase Sapphire cards include:

• Accidental injury, death, or sickness experienced by you or companion or an immediate family member
• Severe weather that prevents you from traveling
• Named storm warnings
• A change in military orders for you or your spouse
• Jury duty and court subpoenas
• Flooding, fire, burglary, or catastrophic damage of your home or your traveling companion’s home
• Catastrophic damage to the lodging accommodations at your destination or the death of your host at that destination
• A quarantine of you or your traveling companion
• An organized strike affecting public transportation that causes you or your companion to miss at least 20% of the trip or miss the departure of a cruise or tour

Do You Have to Book 100% of Your Trip With Your Card to Get Chase Travel Insurance?

No, you don’t have to pay 100% of your trip with your card to qualify for Chase travel protection. You just need to charge a portion of a qualifying travel purchase to your card or use the card’s points to pay for a portion of the purchase. However, Chase will only reimburse you for the portion charged to your card in case your trip is cancelled or interrupted due to a qualifying reason.

Does Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance Cover Partial Refunds?

Yes, Chase travel insurance covers non-refundable prepaid travel expenses, meaning that Chase will refund any portion of an expense that is non-refundable. One caveat to keep in mind: If the travel supplier issues a credit for future travel instead of a refund, Chase won’t refund you for that portion of the purchase, unless the credit expires.

If You Pay With Points Instead of Cash, Can You Still Use Chase Sapphire Travel Insurance?

Yes, if you make any portion of a travel purchase with your Sapphire card’s Ultimate Rewards points, that purchase will qualify for protections under your card’s policy. This applies even if you pay the remainder of the balance with cash or with another credit card.