The insurance policies that come with your credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) are more like assistance contracts that help you in the event of an incident, for a short period of time without offering very extensive health cover, and under no circumstances if you stay for more than 3 consecutive months. They do not cover epidemics and therefore do not cover Covid-19-related medical expenses. Mondassur offers a wide range of travel insurance products to complement your credit card insurance and insure you abroad for the many situations where your credit card won’t cover you. You can request a free quote for travel insurance and view coverage details online.
If you want to be well covered, we advise you to use them as a complement to specific travel insurance. Without going into too much detail, we’ll give you an outline of the benefits on offer.
The most important services offered by your credit card
Please note: This analysis is not exhaustive and has no legal value. In addition, certain guarantees may have been updated by banking organizations but have not yet been included in our presentation. We recommend that you always check with your bank for details of the guarantees they offer. Guarantees for Visa, Mastercard and other credit cards vary considerably depending on the bank that supplies the card and the “level” of the card. Basic cards offer extremely limited cover.
Here is an outline of the coverage
Insured persons
In general, this means the cardholder, his or her spouse or partner, dependent children under 25 years of age for tax purposes, and ascendants and descendants. It should be noted that for Visa cards, the spouse and dependent children are covered even if they are not accompanying the cardholder. For Mastercard “standard” cards, on the other hand, the cardholder’s family must accompany him or her in order to be covered. So if you’re traveling with friends or on business and haven’t bought your own ticket, no guarantee will apply.
Duration of coverage
Credit card cover takes effect on the date of purchase (subject to certain conditions) for the entire period of validity of the card, until automatically cancelled or renewed by the cardholder in the country of residence. If you are staying abroad, assistance cover applies for the first 90 days only. This condition may vary from one card to another, depending on the type of cover (assistance or insurance). If the stay is to last longer for specific reasons (death, disability due to an accident during the stay), for the “Visa Premier” card, insurance cover applies for the first 180 days of the stay.
Please note : if your stay exceeds 3 months, your “standard” credit card will not cover you. You will no longer be considered a simple traveler. It’s very easy to prove that your stay exceeds the authorized duration, and the insurance company will ask you for the relevant documents. If you can’t provide them, you won’t be reimbursed.
Territorial coverage
For Visa “standard” and “premier” cards, you’ll be covered worldwide, with no mileage allowance during your business or private stays, in your country of residence (if you’re a French resident: metropolitan France including Corsica, Monaco, Andorra, DOM TOM and COM) or outside your country of residence, for assistance coverage. For insurance cover, this applies to distances of more than 100 km from your home or usual place of work. For Mastercard and American Express cards, assistance does not require a mileage allowance, except for the Amex “Gold” card, with which you are only covered from 50 km away from your home for vehicle assistance, medical assistance and repatriation costs, and from 100 km away from your home anywhere in the world for rental vehicle coverage.
Terms and conditions of warranty
Assistance cover applies as soon as the credit card is purchased, for illness, injury, death, legal proceedings abroad and help with travel.
If you have paid for your travel services and related purchases with your credit card, you are covered for travel incidents (delays to planes, trains, luggage) and travel accidents (death, disability). This may vary from card to card. Be careful if you have not paid for your trip yourself.
Amount of healthcare costs covered
The ceilings offered by credit cards are derisory compared with the medical expenses that can be incurred in some foreign countries, such as the USA, so we strongly advise you to take out additional insurance. Your medical expenses will be reimbursed up to a maximum of €11,000 for Visa and Mastercard, with a deductible of €50 for the former and €75 for the latter. The Visa Premier card has a higher limit (€155,000), with a €50 deductible. Amex cards have a reimbursement limit of €9,200. For example, with a €50 deductible, if a doctor’s consultation costs you €60, you’ll only be reimbursed between €0 and €10 with your bank card.
For example, hospitalization for appendicitis (1 night) can cost up to $40,000. You can see for yourself that bank card limits are very low compared with Mondassur’s international insurance plans, with limits ranging from €500,000 to over €1,000,000.
Assistance services
Generally speaking, the guarantees offered by the various credit cards cover virtually the same services:
- Payment of transport and hotel costs for a relative in the event of hospitalization of the insured for more than 10 days (“Visa Premier” 125€/day for 10 days up to 375€ beyond, “Platinum Mastercard” 250€/day for 10 days up to 750€ beyond).
- Repatriation and accompaniment to home or hospital of children under 15.
- Early return in the event of hospitalization of more than 24 hours or death of a close relative (return tickets paid).
- Sending medicines.
- Repatriation of the body in the event of death during the stay.
- Legal assistance abroad.
Trip cancellation guarantee
Travel cancellation cover is not generally offered with “standard” cards. The Visa Premier card offers this guarantee, with a ceiling of €5,000 and a refund of €200 per insured party if cancellation is made 30 days before departure. Amex Gold and Platinium cards cover cancellation costs from €4,500 to €10,000 per insured person per year. The Platinum Mastercard reimburses up to a maximum of €10,000.
Flight or baggage delay guarantee
Standard” cards don’t usually offer compensation to cover basic expenses when your plane or luggage is delayed. Visa Premier offers €250 for delays of 4 hours or more per journey. Amex cards compensate between €150 (“personal bank card”) and €800 (platinum) for delayed luggage, and between €100 and €200 for delayed planes. Delay insurance for Mastercards covers costs from €250 (Gold) to €500 (Platinum).
Luggage theft or damage
Standard cards do not compensate you. The Visa Premier card covers you up to €800 per item of luggage, with a €70 deductible. The Amex Platinium card covers personal effects in the event of theft, loss or damage up to €2,000 per trip. The “Platinum” Mastercard covers up to €3,200 per year.
Death or disability benefit
Application of this cover is generally subject to the use of your card to purchase your travel ticket. The accident causing death or disability must have occurred during the trip, which must be a trip “guaranteed” by the insurer (check the conditions of application for each card). The trip may be by public transport or rental car. Mastercard pays up to €95,000 (public transport) and €46,000 (rental car). In the event of death or disability, Visa Premier and Gold Mastercard cards pay up to €310,000 per family and per event. Gold Amex and Platinum Mastercard cover up to €300,000 and €620,000 respectively per family and per claim.
Civil liability
Standard bank cards don’t cover you. Visa Premier and Platinum Mastercard cover you up to €1,525,000 per event for all property damage and bodily injury caused to third parties. The Amex Platinium card covers you up to 2,000,000€ for property damage and bodily injury caused to others during a trip.
Don’t forget that in the event of an accident, 1.5M€ in certain countries such as the USA goes very quickly between medical expenses, legal fees…etc.
Specific warranties
To benefit from these guarantees, you usually need to take out additional insurance. In conclusion, the assistance and insurance cover provided by your credit card varies according to the type of card you have. If you don’t have either a Visa Premier, Platinium Mastercard or Gold Mastercard, we feel it’s essential to take out additional travel insurance, even for stays of less than 90 days, especially for countries with high medical costs such as the USA, Canada and many Asian and Latin American countries.
