Related FAQ's & Guides
Q. What's the best type of credit card to use abroad?
A. The cheapest cards to use abroad are those that waive any foreign transaction fees as well as offering reduced handling fees and interest rates on cash withdrawals and foreign currency purchases.
Q. Where can I withdraw cash abroad?
A. ATM machines are location around the world – and most accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
How Travel Service Credit Cards Work
Credit cards offer varying levels of travel services and benefits, with some rolling out the red carpet to offer free comprehensive travel insurance, medical and legal help abroad, emergency card replacement services and even to the extent of a personal concierge service, VIP airport lounge access and more.
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TRAVEL accident insurance covers you in the case of accidental injury or death whilst travelling when the travel has been paid for on the credit card offering the insurance.
Travel accident insurance should not be mistaken for full travel insurance, which covers you in all cases of loss, sickness, emergency, theft and delays.
Some credit cards do offer a full travel insurance policy, such as Goldfish's i24 Card and the family of Barclaycard credit cards when you book through their travel service.
However, if your credit card only offers a travel accident insurance policy you will still need to take out full travel insurance when traveling abroad.
Some credit cards offer a range of travel services to the cardholder including travel accident insurance to provide protection whilst you are away. You can compare travel service credit cards here.
Often, you will find that travel accident insurance is available to you if you have:
Making sure you have adequate cover
Travel accident insurance is a type of cover that comes as one of the benefits of perks of certain credit cards, and this cover is usually offered for as long as you have your credit card account.
Although many consumers that tend to travel abroad a lot are impressed with this particular benefit it is important to remember that travel accident insurance is not the same as travel insurance.
The travel accident insurance that is offered with credit cards can be misleading, as many people assume that it covers them in the same way as standard travel insurance.
However, this is not the case - travel accident insurance is a very specific cover and will cover you only if you die or are injured as the result of an accident when travelling on transportation that you paid for with that credit card, such as a plane or car that was paid for with the card.
It is important that you therefore look into comprehensive travel insurance when heading off on holiday or business, as if you rely on your travel accident insurance you will in effect not be covered for loss, sickness, emergencies, theft, and all of the other things that comprehensive travel insurance covers you for.
Although the travel accident insurance offered on these credit cards can be a valuable add on to your protective cover it is certainly no substitute of comprehensive travel insurance.
If you have a credit card that offers travel accident insurance and you are planning to travel abroad you need to also ensure that you have standard travel insurance to cover you against other situations, such as sickness, theft, and emergencies.
You will find that the level of travel accident cover and the terms and conditions of claiming can vary from one card to another too, so you should also familiarise yourself with the terms and conditions so that you know exactly what is and isn't covered.
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