Does Chase Sapphire Have Travel Insurance?

Written By Robin RatcliffAuthor

Reviewed By Steven BennaEditor

Last Updated: March 13, 2025August 20, 2026 — 6 min read

Key Takeaways:

• The Chase Sapphire cards include a wide range of travel insurance, with coverage for common disruptions like trip cancellations, delays and lost luggage.
• Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption are the strongest benefits of Chase Sapphire travel insurance, covering 100% of prepaid, non-refundable trip expenses, up to $20,000 per trip.
• 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?

Chase offers two personal credit cards with robust travel insurance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred and Reserve. These cards cover a wide range of travel disruptions, like cancellations, interruptions, delays, and  lost luggage.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred comes with Trip Cancellation insurance for hotels and flights and up to $100,000 for medical evacuations, but lacks Emergency Medical coverage. The Sapphire Reserve includes all this, plus Emergency Medical coverage, making it the more comprehensive option overall.

Chase Sapphire Insurance Benefits

What Does Chase Sapphire Trip Insurance Not Cover?

The Chase Sapphire credit cards fall significantly short on health 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 health insurance.

Tip: You can purchase Travel Medical Insurance for less than $5 per day and pair it with your card’s Trip Cancellation Insurance if you’re strictly worried about medical emergencies.

How Difficult Is It to File a Chase Trip Insurance Claim?

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,  but has major limitations that make it unsuitable as a standalone policy for many travelers:

• Insufficient medical insurance: While many third-party 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.
• Low limit on Trip Cancellation and Interruption: 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.
• Inflexible coverage: 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 and the Sapphire Preferred doesn’t have any. Medical policies on Squaremouth offer significantly higher limits for Emergency Medical coverage, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000. Also, the cards’ $100,000 worth of Medical Evacuation coverage falls well short of our $200,000 recommended limit for international travel.
• 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. Third-party insurance will cover your entire trip 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. Many Squaremouth policies will cover pre-existing conditions for policies purchased 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 if you’re taking a higher-cost trip, you should consider purchasing supplemental luxury travel insurance.
• You’re planning an adventurous vacation: Chase excludes many risky activities from its coverage, so you may need a specialized policy for a sports or adventure trip. 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 more customized coverage than Chase. For example, you can purchase coverage for employment layoff or other work-related reasons, or you can add CFAR coverage for an extra fee. This can be useful if you’re worried about cancelling for non-covered reasons, like an upcoming company merger.

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?

No, Chase Sapphire travel insurance may not be enough in most cases. 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. 

The Sapphire Preferred and Sapphire Reserve do offer better protection than most credit cards, especially for Trip Cancellation protection and Primary Rental Car insurance. Chase travel insurance may be enough if you just want to cover your rental car or you want basic cancellation protection for an inexpensive trip.

However, 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.