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

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.

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.

» Learn more: How to find the best travel insurance

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

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

• United℠ Business Card.

• United Club℠ Infinite Card.

• Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.

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.

» Learn more: Chase Sapphire Reserve review: A first-class premium travel card

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.

» Learn more: The majority of Americans plan to travel in 2022

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.

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.

» Learn more: The guide to Chase trip cancellation insurance

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.