Travel Insurance Benefits from the Sapphire Reserve Card (2020)

Primary rental car insurance. Covers damage to your rental car, in lieu of a "Collision Damage Waiver". Unlike the "secondary" insurance that comes with most other credit cards, the Sapphire card's "primary" coverage doesn't require you to involve your personal auto insurance company. So, if you simply damage the rental car, your regular insurance rates aren't likely to be affected .

Does not cover damage that you do to other people or property. That's called liability insurance and is normally covered in North America by your personal auto insurance. Internationally, liability coverage is sometimes included in the car rental rates and sometimes needs to be purchased separately. Car rental insurance from credit cards, including from the Sapphire card, also does not cover medical issues or the theft of objects from the car. Guide to Car Rental Insurance.

Trip cancellation and interruption insurance. If you need to cancel your trip, or come home early because of sickness, a death in the family, severe weather, a terrorist event, jury duty or other covered situation, you will be reimbursed for any prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses. This also covers you if your travel supplier goes bankrupt. But you are not covered from medical issues that arise from pre-existing conditions. Coverage is limited to $10,000 per person and $20,000 per trip.

Only components of the trip that you purchased (at least in part) with your card will be reimbursed. For example, if you use a Hilton card to book a non-refundable hotel rate, it won't be eligible for reimbursement from Chase. Trip components booked with Ultimate Reward points are reimbursable.

You are only covered for the listed reasons—not because you decided to change your plans, got a new job, can no longer afford the trip, etc. It also doesn't cover prepaid expenses that are lost because of cancelled or changed travel arrangements that aren't caused by the covered reasons. In other words, there is no coverage when a travel supplier cancels part of the trip, which then causes you to lose deposits on other parts of the trip.

Trip delay coverage. Covers "reasonable" expenses associated with a travel delay (such as meals, lodging, toiletries, and medication), up to a total of $500 per ticket. You aren't covered if the delay was announced prior to departure, and you won't be reimbursed for any prepaid arrangements that you miss due to the delay, just for expenses accrued while you are waiting. With the Sapphire Reserve, the delay needs to be at least 6 hours, with the Sapphire Preferred, the delay needs to be at least 12 hours.
Baggage delay insurance. Like trip delay insurance, but it kicks in when you arrive, and your bags don't. Covers purchases of essential items such as clothing, toiletries, and phone chargers, of up to $100 per person per day, for a maximum of 5 days.
Lost luggage insurance. Covers bags that never show up and any damage to your bags or their contents during transport. Coverage is based on costs minus depreciation. Up to $3,000 per person, with a maximum of $500 in total for jewelry, watches, cameras, and other electronics.
Emergency medical and dental insurance. You are covered for up to $2,500 in emergency medical expenses (with a $50 deductible), due to illness or accident, while on a trip. They'll also cover $75 per hotel night, for up to 5 nights, if you need more time to recover.
Emergency evacuation and transportation coverage. If you need to be evacuated because of an injury or illness, your costs are covered, up to a total of $100,000. Evacuations need to be approved by the benefits coordinator ahead of time.
Travel and emergency assistance services. Chase operates a hotline that will try to help out with any issue you are having on a trip. 888-675-1461.
Travel accident insurance. If someone dies, is dismembered or loses their sight, hearing, or speech on a trip, you'll receive an insurance payout from Chase.

Coverage details

With the exception of the rental car insurance, all coverage is "secondary". This means that coverage is only for expenses that aren't covered by the travel provider or your other insurance. For example, if the airline pays for your hotel due to a delayed flight, you won't be also reimbursed for a hotel room your card. Or if you need medical care on your trip, you still need to file a claim with your regular health insurance company. The credit card coverage only covers what's left over.
Coverage is typically for the cardholder and immediate family members. Family members are still covered even if the cardholder is not travelling with them (as long as the card was used). But, trip delay coverage only covers a spouse or domestic partner and dependent kids up to age 21.
Transportation related coverage (trip delay, baggage delay, lost baggage) is covered if any part of the transportation was paid with the Sapphire Reserve card (including just the taxes for award tickets) or if the trip was paid for using Ultimate Rewards points (including through partners).
Emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage is only available for trips that last 5-60 days, and are more than 500 miles from your house.

Official terms

Make sure to read Chase's official terms as the above information is incomplete and could be slightly inaccurate or out of date. Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred.