If you’re reading these lines, you probably already know that travel insurance is included with your Visa or Mastercard, regardless of your bank. Or perhaps you’ve read our guide on how to choose the best travel insurance and would like more details on Visa and Mastercard insurance. In any case, we’ll delve a bit deeper into the general conditions of the travel insurance provided by credit card operators so that you can determine whether you need additional coverage before your departure. Because, yes, we don’t joke around when it comes to health while traveling!
Criteria for travel insurance with a Visa or Mastercard
Regardless of the card you choose, make sure to check the 4 important points of good travel insurance to see what coverage is offered to you. Also, know that with travel insurance from a Visa or Mastercard, you are only covered for the first 90 days of your trip abroad and only if you paid for your trip with your credit card (plane ticket, car rental, etc.). Keep this in mind, it’s VERY important. This will also determine whether you need additional insurance or not.
Another point to consider is that your partner and children are covered whether you have a Visa or Mastercard, as long as they travel with the cardholder.
Travel insurance with a Visa card
Visa Classic card
Let’s be clear, the travel insurance you get with a Visa Classic card is insufficient…
- Medical expenses: The limit for reimbursement of medical expenses abroad is only €11,000 per year.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: No coverage.
- 24/7 Assistance: An emergency number is available.
Just for medical expenses, it’s already very limited in our opinion. If something serious happens to you, you’ll easily exceed this limit. Not to mention trips to countries where healthcare is very expensive like the USA, Canada, or Switzerland! The fact that there is no civil liability insurance should convince you to upgrade to a premium card for better coverage.
Visa Premier card
With a Visa Premier card, your coverage is much more comprehensive compared to the Classic, and the benefits are really interesting. These cards are a bit more expensive than their Classic counterpart, but the advantages are undeniable! According to us, the Premier is THE Visa credit card to have for more than decent travel insurance.
- Medical expenses: Medical expenses are advanced and reimbursed up to €155,000 per year.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: Coverage ranges from 1 to 2 million euros in case of accidental damage.
- 24/7 Assistance: An emergency number is available.
Plus, you are entitled to additional covers: trip cancellation insurance, rental car insurance, legal assistance… Also, other benefits are included and can be interesting depending on your needs: shopping benefits, discounted cinema tickets, discounts with travel agencies and some car rental agencies… It’s free or costs a few euros per month depending on the banking institutions.
Visa Infinite card
The top tier of Visa credit cards, the Infinite card offers the ultimate in travel coverage. It includes some of the Premier’s guarantees with higher compensations, for example for baggage loss or trip cancellation. This high-end card logically retains shopping and leisure benefits and adds a permanent concierge service and membership to the Visa Infinite Club.
- Medical expenses: Like the Premier, the coverage limit is €155,000 per year.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: Up to 5 million euros per claim.
- 24/7 assistance: An emergency number is available.
If you want our opinion, the Visa Premier card is more than sufficient to cover all your needs for trips of less than 3 months. Moreover, the Infinite is much more expensive than the Premier Visa, between €210 and €350 per year depending on the banks! In short, this card is aimed at a certain audience…
Travel insurance with a Mastercard
Mastercard Standard card
Same assessment as for the Visa Classic, the Mastercard Standard card offers few guarantees in case of trouble…
- Medical expenses: Medical expenses are advanced and reimbursed up to a limit of €11,000.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: No coverage.
- 24/7 Assistance: An emergency number is available.
Like Visa, it’s better to opt for the premium card just above the Standard: the Mastercard Gold.
Mastercard Gold card
Will this famous card make you see life in gold during your trip? We hope so since its coverage is much more interesting than the Standard.
- Medical expenses: With Mastercard Gold, the annual limit for coverage of medical expenses abroad is €155,000.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: Coverage is €2 million in case of accidental damage.
- 24/7 Assistance: An emergency number is available.
You guessed it, with Mastercard, the Gold credit card has the advantage of including more comprehensive travel insurance than the Standard card. It also brings other benefits: legal assistance, trip cancellation and modification insurance, compensation in case of theft or loss of luggage, and reduced rates for dozens of experiences in all areas (cooking, sports, art, etc.). It’s the Mastercard card with the best value for money in terms of travel insurance for trips of less than 3 months.
Mastercard World Elite card
In the top tier category at Mastercard, you have the World Elite card. Here too, its cost is significant, several hundred euros per year… Granted, the limits are higher, but is it worth the price?
- Medical expenses: World Elite covers between €155,000 and €300,000 per year.
- Repatriation: Covered.
- Civil liability: €5 million per claim.
- 24/7 Assistance: An emergency number is available.
You’ve probably guessed it, the Mastercard Gold card is sufficient to cover you during or at the beginning of your trip, all without breaking the bank!
Revolut vs. N26: which neo-bank offers the best travel insurance?
You may be familiar with Revolut and N26? These 2 neo-banks are quite popular among travelers and digital nomads. We’re not customers of the former, but we know many people who are very satisfied with it! The guarantees of these 2 mobile banks are quite good for a reasonable price. So, we find it interesting to share with you the comparison of these two alternative companies to traditional banks. For N26, we’ve written an article about it and here, it’s an opportunity to detail a bit more what it offers in terms of specific insurance for travelers.
Like their counterparts, Revolut and N26 offer several cards according to needs. Those that interest us for travel insurance are respectively the Premium and Metal cards (Visa or Mastercard), You and Metal (Mastercard). (We’re not talking here about Revolut Standard and Plus cards, nor N26 Standard and Smart cards since they don’t offer any specific travel insurance.)
Revolut
The British neo-bank Revolut presents a model with significant advantages when traveling.
- You are still covered if you pay for your trip with a card other than Revolut.
- All cards allow you to withdraw money without fees in most countries, with the monthly limit varying depending on the card.
- Payments can be made in any currency, are free, and at the real exchange rate.
- The app is ultra-intuitive.
Revolut Premium
For less than €10, the Revolut Premium card offers:
- reimbursement of medical expenses up to €10 million per year, repatriation included;
- but no personal liability coverage in case of incidents;
- nor rental car insurance…
Revolut Metal
The Revolut Metal card costs a maximum of €16.99 per month and its travel insurance coverage is more optimal:
- the same limit for medical expenses abroad as Premium;
- personal liability with a €1 million coverage per year;
- rental car insurance;
- but no trip cancellation insurance.
Certainly, Revolut Premium has an attractive price, but the absence of civil liability coverage is clearly a drawback. Therefore, the Metal card is much more interesting for travelers, but we are still a bit disappointed with the guarantees…
N26
The German neo-bank N26 is not left behind when it comes to the advantages for traveling around the world without financial worries.
- 5 free withdrawals per month, €2 per additional withdrawal.
- Withdrawals outside the eurozone are entirely free.
- Payments can be made in any currency, are free, and at the official exchange rate.
- The customer service is efficient.
N26 You
For almost the same price as Revolut Premium (€9.90), the You card offers you:
- civil liability coverage up to €500,000 per year, repatriation included;
- medical expenses reimbursed up to €1 million;
- rental car insurance;
- insurance for trip cancellations/delays;
- coverage for delayed or lost luggage.
Just for personal liability, our choice leans towards the N26 You Mastercard rather than the Revolut Premium card.
N26 Metal
With a monthly fee of €16.90, the N26 Metal covers exactly the same things as the You card in terms of travel insurance, with some additional benefits that we can do without while traveling (reduced-rate experiences, purchase protection…).
In short, for us, the You card is the best N26 card for traveling compared to Revolut.
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Specialized travel insurance or credit card travel insurance?
We reminded you in the introduction that with Visa and Mastercard travel insurance, you need to differentiate between whether your trip in Europe or around the world lasts less than 90 days and whether you are traveling for more than 90 days.
Trip less than 90 days
If your bank account allows you to have a Visa Premier or Mastercard Gold card, the associated travel insurance is often sufficient according to us. However, note that the coverage limits are slightly lower than those of specialized travel insurance such as ACS Insurance, Chapka Insurance, AVI International, or GobyAVA. In addition, reimbursement of medical expenses is made in addition to home health insurance and not from the first euro spent, which may involve some additional paperwork. Note that there may be some differences in coverage depending on your bank. So if you decide not to take out specialized travel insurance, check the general conditions of your credit card carefully. The decision is yours, but with these premium cards and by analyzing the clauses according to your type of trip, their travel insurance can be comprehensive enough to travel with peace of mind for 90 days.
Trip over 90 days
With your Visa Premier or Mastercard Gold card, you are covered for the first 90 days of your trip only! Therefore, you absolutely need to take out additional travel insurance for the rest of your long-term trip or your round-the-world trip. If you don’t know which travel insurance to choose, we invite you to read our comprehensive guide on how to choose the best travel insurance or to consult our interactive table to easily compare insurance guarantees.
If you decide to take out separate travel insurance during your trip, don’t forget to take into account the waiting period. It would be a shame to have a problem during the few days when you haven’t anticipated the subscription 😉. Last point to consider: insurance companies may be reluctant to insure you once you have left your country. Check the general conditions carefully.
Finally, as we mentioned for bank fees during a round-the-world trip, we recommend traveling with both a Visa card and a Mastercard since it’s rare that both are accepted at the same time. We hope this additional information on travel insurance with a Visa or Mastercard credit card has been helpful to you. We wish you a lot of pleasure on your next trips, and this, in complete safety!
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