“Maximizing Your Credit Card Benefits in 2024: Travel and Purchase Protections”

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Credit Card Travel Protection Trends in 2024

Credit card travel and purchase benefits are increasingly important to cardholders in 2024. This is partly due to travel delays and rising costs, making these perks more valuable. Additionally, cardholders are better informed about the benefits their cards offer. Here’s a look at how the most popular and common types of perks work, and how they might change in 2024.

Credit Card Travel Protection Trends in 2024

To be eligible for travel protections, you typically need to book your trip, lodging, or other services with the card that offers these protections or use points from the card’s rewards program. When you do, credit cards’ travel purchase and insurance benefits may include:

• Trip accident insurance: Coverage for when a traveler is killed or seriously injured during a trip.
• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: Reimbursement if your trip is canceled or cut short due to a covered event.
• Trip delay insurance: Coverage for expenses if your planned trip is delayed or canceled.
• Baggage delay insurance: Reimbursement for necessary purchases while you wait for your bags to arrive.
• Roadside dispatch or assistance: Help connecting you with nearby roadside help or covering the cost of certain services.
• Auto rental collision damage waiver: Coverage for when a rental car is damaged or stolen.

Credit card issuers look at what consumers are spending their money on and try to address those use cases with benefits and other features.

Travel Insurance Claims Are Rising

Trip delay and trip cancellation and interruption insurance benefits continue to be a top benefit as more people travel and experience delays. The big theme for 2024 is that Covid is in the distant past, and travel trends and related claims have resumed, surpassing pre-Covid levels. Benefits claims have risen due to airline-caused delays, systemwide issues, and severe weather events.

Cardholders Are Increasingly Savvy

Some of the increase in claims can also be attributed to people learning more about their credit cards’ benefits. Consumers are increasingly aware of the difference in coverage details, such as trip delay coverage that starts at different hours or whether their trip cancellation covers severe weather. Reviewing your credit cards’ trip cancellation, delay, and interruption coverage details could potentially save you a lot of money.

Travel Benefits Might Become Less Common

Increasing claims could lead to card issuers removing some of these benefits, but that likely won’t be the case across the board. The credit cards that want to attract frequent and aspirational travelers might continue offering these benefits, but other cards might strip them away. Keep this in mind as you compare the top travel credit cards.

Rental Agencies Ask for Proof of Insurance

Credit cards’ auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW) benefit can help cover the cost of repairs or a replacement if a car you rent is damaged or stolen. Some cards offer primary coverage, while others offer secondary coverage. The big change for 2024 is that rental car agencies are increasingly asking for proof of insurance when you want to rent a car. To make this easier for cardholders, a real-time mobile and web-accessed Letter of Eligibility can be requested and shown to rental agencies.

Credit Card Purchase Protection Trends in 2024

Most credit cards include zero-liability protection for unauthorized purchases, and many offer additional protections on products and services you pay for with your credit card:

• Return protection: Allows you to return a product and get a refund when the original retailer doesn’t accept the return.
• Purchase protection: Reimbursement for products that are damaged, lost, or stolen.
• Extended warranties: Extends the manufacturer’s warranty on a product.
• Price protection: Covers the difference between your purchase price and a lower advertised price after you make a purchase.
• Cellphone protection: Reimbursement if your phone is stolen or damaged.

As helpful as these card benefits can be, it’s important to remember they all have requirements and limits. For example, return and purchase protections usually only last a few months from the purchase date, and there may be per-claim and annual limits. But many of the benefits, even cellphone protection, are available on cards that don’t have an annual fee.

Extended Warranties Remain Important

Receiving an extended manufacturer’s warranty was always a nice credit card benefit, but it became increasingly important when supply chain shortages made replacing broken items more difficult. Now, even if companies resolve their supply chain issues, replacement costs may be much higher. People are keeping items longer, and claims are being made closer to the end of the warranty period.

Purchase Protection Benefits May Become More Common

Credit card purchase protection can vary, but they generally last 60 to 120 days from the date of purchase. Because online shopping is here to stay, this benefit will likely continue and possibly grow. Cardholders may even be able to file a claim if someone steals an item they buy from their porch or mailbox.

The Big Picture for 2024: A Focus on the Claims Experience

In past years, new types of benefits were introduced, such as rideshare protection and coronavirus-specific travel protection benefits. That’s not the case for 2024. There is a focus on helping cardholders understand and take advantage of their benefits. The electronic Letter of Eligibility for renting a vehicle is one example. You can also file other types of claims on eclaimsline.com, and systems have been developed to make the process easier and faster.

Want to find a great credit card that offers all sorts of benefits? O1ne Mortgage can show you credit cards matched to your unique credit profile. Review the results and compare the cards’ fees, features, and benefits to see which one might be the best fit.

For any mortgage service needs, call us at 213-732-3074. At O1ne Mortgage, we are here to help you make the best financial decisions.

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