What You Need to Know About Chase’s Trip Delay Insurance

Chase travel insurance includes coverage for trip delays over 12 hours in length or overnight.
By Rebecca Lake 
Updated
Edited by Mary M. Flory

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.

A delayed trip can cause headaches, especially if it means missing a connecting flight to your next destination. When a delay happens, having the right credit card can make all the difference in keeping your trip moving along as smoothly as possible.

Chase offers trip delay reimbursement coverage with some of its top travel credit card options. Having this benefit means you could be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses if your trip gets held up. Here's what you need to know.

1. What does Chase trip delay insurance cover?

Chase trip delay insurance offers reimbursement for expenses you pay if your trip is delayed, including meals, lodging, toiletries and medication.

You can use this coverage if:

  • Your trip is delayed for more than 12 hours or requires an overnight stay (with two exceptions; see below).

  • The trip is away from your city of residence and is less than 365 days in length.

  • You purchased the fare for your trip with an eligible Chase card or rewards earned with an eligible Chase card.

Chase trip delay insurance covers you up to $500 per ticket, per trip. You're covered for delayed flights, as well as other types of travel that are classified as a “common carrier.” For example, you could still be reimbursed for delays if you booked travel by bus, cruise ship or train (but not taxi or commuter rail/bus).

Note that these benefits kick in after you've exhausted any other trip delay reimbursement benefits you might have through your frequent flyer program or third-party travel insurance coverage.

2. Which Chase cards include trip delay insurance?

The good news is there are several Chase cards that come with built-in trip delay reimbursement.

Chase cards with trip delay insurance
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
NerdWallet Rating
Apply now

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
NerdWallet Rating
Apply now

on Chase's website

Marriott Bonvoy Boundless™ Credit Card
Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
NerdWallet Rating
Chase United Airlines Mileage Plus Credit Card
United℠ Explorer Card
NerdWallet Rating
Apply now

on Chase's website

Annual fee
$95
$550
$95
$0 intro for the first year, then $95
Horizontal scroll

You're also covered if you have any of these cards:

Again, most of these cards specify that a delay last 12 hours or more or require you to stay overnight before your reimbursement coverage kicks in. The exception is the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, which only requires a six-hour or more delay to use your coverage.

Get up to 100,000 bonus points with our favorite Chase cards
Check out our nerdy picks for the best Chase credit cards and find the right card for you.

3. Who is covered?

As the cardholder, you're covered — but your coverage can also extend to the people traveling with you. Chase will cover your spouse or partner and any dependent children under the age of 26. The same $500 reimbursement limit per ticket, per trip applies to everyone on your booking.

4. How to file a claim for trip delay reimbursement

Filing a claim means first making sure you have eligible expenses. If you're traveling under a known hazard alert, such as a hurricane warning, then Chase may deny your claim. And prepaid expenses are never covered by trip delay reimbursement.

As the cardholder, you must notify a Chase Benefit Administrator within 60 days following the date of the delay to file a claim. You'll be sent a claim form that you'll need to fill out detailing the circumstances of the delay and your expenses. You have up to within 100 days of the date of the delay to return this form, along with copies of receipts or other supporting documentation.

The good news is all of this can be done online through a third-party company called Card Benefit Services. Once you've filled out the form and uploaded your documents, a representative will review your claim. If asked for any additional documents or if you have questions, you can email them to [email protected].

Required documents for submitting a trip delay claim include:

  • Copy of monthly billing statement.

  • Copy of both the original and updated travel itineraries showing the date and time of both flights and the total amount charged.

  • Copy of the statement from the common carrier to verify the reason the flight was delayed.

Here is how to verify your flight delay, broken down by airline.

Airline

How to verify your delay

Alaska Airlines

Call Alaska customer service at 800-654-5669.

American Airlines

Fill out the contact form on American's website. Input "Trip insurance verification" then "Verify flight cancel/delay."

Delta Air Lines

Fill out the airline's delay verification form.

JetBlue Airways

Request a receipt on the JetBlue website here.

Southwest Airlines

Email the airline via its contact page.

United Airlines

Email your contact and flight information to [email protected].

5. Is this different than trip cancellation/interruption insurance?

Chase trip delay insurance is different than cancellation/interruption insurance.

  • Trip delay coverage applies to instances when your trip still happens, just on a different timeline than you were originally anticipating.

  • Trip cancellation or interruption insurance, conversely, provides reimbursement for covered travel expenses when you have to cancel a trip entirely or end it early.

Some Chase credit cards have both trip delay and trip cancellation/interruption coverage, while others only have one or the other. For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers both, whereas the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card only offers delay coverage. The World of Hyatt Credit Card and the IHG One Rewards Premier Credit Card, meanwhile, only have trip cancellation/interruption coverage.

The bottom line

Ideally, you always arrive on time when traveling, but when a delay happens, having a Chase credit card could save the day. If you're not a Chase cardmember yet, consider applying for a card to take advantage of trip delay reimbursement when you need it.


How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are our picks for the best travel credit cards of 2024, including those best for:

Cards for Travel Insurance from our Partners
Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Reserve®
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-10x

Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

Points
Chase Sapphire Preferred Credit Card

on Chase's website

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
5.0
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-5x

5x on travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

60,000

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $750 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Ultimate Rewards®.

Points
Chase Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card

on Chase's website

Southwest Rapid Rewards® Plus Credit Card
4.2
NerdWallet Rating
Rewards rate

1x-2x

Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

Points

Intro offer

50,000

Earn 50,000 bonus points after spending $1,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Points
See more cards
Get more smart money moves – straight to your inbox
Sign up and we’ll send you Nerdy articles about the money topics that matter most to you along with other ways to help you get more from your money.