October 28, 2024: When you use a credit card with baggage insurance to pay for your travel by airline, train, or another common carrier, you’ll often get built-in protection against loss of or damage to your luggage.
Many premium credit cards and some no annual fee cards offer this benefit, which can be invaluable if your luggage is lost or damaged while traveling. Each issuer brands this coverage differently, but they all mean the same thing:
- Amex brands its coverage as its Baggage Insurance Plan.
- Most Visa cards refer to this benefit as Lost Luggage Reimbursement.
- MasterCard terms this Lost or Damaged Luggage coverage.
Here’s what you need to know about credit card baggage insurance.
In this article…
The list: Cards that offer baggage insurance
This list is still being built out. We’ll update this post with additional cards and issuers soon.
American Express cards that offer the Baggage Insurance Plan
American Express brands its lost/damaged luggage protection as its Baggage Insurance Plan. Here are the cards and card families that offer the Baggage Insurance Plan. Additionally, you can find the individual guides to the Amex baggage insurance plan on the Amex website.
- All business and personal variants of The Platinum Card from American Express.
- All business and personal variants of The American Express® Gold Card.
- All business and personal variants of The American Express® Green Card.
- All business and personal variants of The Centurion® Card from American Express®.
- Many American Express corporate cards.
- Amazon Business credit cards. (Amazon Business American Express Card, Amazon Business Prime American Express Card)
- Delta credit cards with annual fees. (Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card, Gold Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card, Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card, Platinum Delta SkyMiles® Business Credit Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Credit Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve for Business Credit Card)
- Hilton credit cards with annual fees. (Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card, Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card, Hilton Honors American Express Business Card)
- Marriott credit cards. (Marriott Bonvoy™ American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant™ American Express® Card, Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card)
What is covered: Contents and sometimes damage to your luggage
When you pay for your trip with a credit card with baggage insurance, your credit card baggage insurance program will usually pay to repair or replace your luggage contents, up to the card’s benefit maximum.
Exactly what is covered will vary and be detailed in your card’s Guide to Benefits. For example, American Express offers coverage while in transit to or from a common carrier terminal, such as an airport. And some cards will also cover damage to your baggage in addition to its contents.
Here’s a quick summary of what is typical with each major card issuer:
| Coverage while in transit | Covers luggage | Covers baggage contents | Typical benefit limits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex | $1,250 – $3,000 per person/trip. Varies by card. | |||
| Bank of America | – | – | $3,000 per trip. | |
| Capital One | – | $3,000 per person. | ||
| Chase | – | $3,000 per person/trip. | ||
| Citi | – | $3,000 per trip. 2 claims per account per year. | ||
| U.S. Bank | – | – | $3,000 per trip. | |
| Wells Fargo | – | – | $3,000 per trip. |
Who is covered: Usually you and some of your family
Credit card baggage insurance will generally cover the primary cardmember and some number of family members. Family members usually don’t need to be traveling with you to get coverage, but you do need to book their common carrier tickets using your card.
If you’re booking travel for your children, pay particular attention to how that is defined in your card’s Guide to Benefits. Chase typically covers your children regardless of age, while American Express generally only covers dependent children under 23 years of age. Other issuers may cover children up to age 18, with higher age limits for children who are full-time students.
Here’s a quick summary of who is usually covered by card issuers’ baggage insurance plans:
| Cardmember | Spouse or Domestic Partner | Children | Extended Family | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amex | Dependents, under 23. | – | ||
| Bank of America | Legally dependent children under 18. Full time students under 25. | – | ||
| Capital One | Children under 18. Full-time students under 25. | – | ||
| Chase | ||||
| Citi | Unmarried children under 19. Full-time students under age 26. | – | ||
| U.S. Bank | Legally dependent children under 18. Full time students under 25. | – | ||
| Wells Fargo | Legally dependent children under 19. Full time students under 25. | – |
How to get coverage: Charge your trip to your card, but be aware of requirements
With many issuers’ baggage insurance programs, you’ll be covered by your credit card’s baggage insurance if you pay any portion of your common carrier travel with your card. For example, if you use frequent flyer miles and charge the cash portion of the fare (usually as low as about $5) to your card, you’ll be covered.
But if you have an Amex, Citi card, or Wells Fargo card, you’ll need to use your card or points to pay for the entire fare. These banks’ coverages require that you pay for the entire cost of your travel with your eligible card or the rewards/points associated with the card in order to be eligible for coverage. If you use frequent flyer miles or another rewards program to pay for even a portion of your travel, it invalidates your baggage coverage.
Here’s what you need to know about how to get coverage with the baggage insurance programs of major issuers:
| Pay part of fare with card. | Must pay entire fare with card. | Can use airline miles or similar. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amex | – | – | |
| Bank of America | – | ||
| Chase | – | ||
| Capital One | – | ||
| Citi | – | – | |
| U.S. Bank | – | ||
| Wells Fargo | – | May use “redeemable certificates, vouchers, or coupons” |
What to do if your luggage is damaged: Always file a claim with your airline or other transportation provider first
Here’s what you need to do if your luggage is damaged:
- File a claim with your air carrier or other transportation provider. Do this at the airport as soon as possible. Your air carrier should provide you with a reference number to track your claim. Keep this.
- Take pictures of your luggage showing the damage or missing contents. Preferably do this at the airport, with the baggage tag visible.
- Keep your baggage tags, preferably still attached to your luggage. You may be required to provide your baggage tag information to the airline or your credit card benefit administrator.
- File a claim with your credit card benefits administrator immediatly. You don’t need to have everything replaced to start your claim and many credit card insurance coverages. You can find where to file your claim in your card’s Guide to Benefits.
- Save receipts for everything. You’ll almost certainly be required to provide receipts for anything you want reimbursed. Keep your receipts.
If your luggage is lost or damaged, the first thing that you’ll want to do is file a claim with your air carrier or other transportation provider. Credit card luggage insurance is typically secondary and you’ll generally be required to produce documentation showing that you filed a claim with your transportation carrier.
Where to file a baggage insurance claim: The best place to start is online
With most card issuers, the easiest way to open a baggage insurance claim is to visit the card’s claims portal, but you can usually initiate your claim over the phone as well. The portal websites and phone numbers for major issuers will be listed in your card’s Guide to Benefits, but we’ve listed some below:
| Website | Phone Number | |
|---|---|---|
| Amex | https://americanexpress.com/onlineclaim | 1-800-228-6855 1-303-273-6497 (international collect) |
| Bank of America | https://www.eclaimsline.com/ | 1-800-592-4089 1-804-673-1468 (international collect) |
| Capital One | https://www.eclaimsline.com/ | 1-800-825-4062 1-804-965-8071 (international collect) |
| Chase | https://chasecardbenefits.com/ | Varies by card Sapphire Reserve: 1-800-350-1697 Ink cards: 1-800-349-4814 |
| Citi | https://www.mycardbenefits.com/ | 1-833-251-6404 |
| U.S. Bank | https://www.eclaimsline.com/ | 1-800-546-9806 1-804-673-7481 (international collect) |
| Wells Fargo | https://mycardbenefits.assurant.com | 1-800-316-8051 |
Bottom line: If you’ve got coverage, it’s probably all you need
The baggage insurance provided by many credit cards will be sufficient to cover most cases where an airline loses or damages your bags. However, if you’re checking valuable items or if you hold a credit card that doesn’t provide coverage when using your frequent flyer miles, you might want to consider additional travel insurance to cover your baggage, in the cases where an airline won’t.
