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Credit cards may provide important travel and purchase benefits that can help you stretch your dollar and protect you from unexpected circumstances. Here's a look at how the most popular credit card travel and purchase protections work. We've also spoken to industry experts to understand recent trends and find out what they expect to happen in 2025.
Credit Card Travel Protection Trends in 2025
Travel protections can help cover travel-related costs. However, you typically need to book your trip, lodging or other service with the card that offers these protections to be eligible. Alternatively, you can use points from the card's rewards program to pay for the trip.
"Credit card issuers look at what consumers are spending their money on and try to address those use cases with benefits and other features," says Peter Alter, vice president at CBSI, which provides benefits services to card issuers.
For example, credit cards travel purchase and insurance benefits may include:
- Trip accident insurance: This offers coverage for when a traveler is killed or seriously injured during a trip. Serious injuries may include loss of speech, sight, hearing or a limb.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: It may reimburse you if your trip is canceled or cut short due to a covered event, such as covered illnesses or severe weather.
- Trip delay insurance: This can cover expenses, including meals, transportation and lodging, if your planned trip is delayed or canceled.
- Baggage delay insurance: This can reimburse you for necessary purchases, such as clothing and toiletries, while you wait for your bags to arrive.
- Roadside dispatch or assistance: This coverage could either help connect you with nearby roadside help while you're on the road or help cover the cost of certain services.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver: This is primary or secondary coverage for when a rental car is damaged or stolen.
The benefits and coverage details can depend on the type of credit card you have, which is one reason that you want to compare the top travel credit cards before applying.
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Here's a close look at some of the current trends for travel-related benefits.
Delay, Cancellation and Interruption Remain Popular Benefits
Of all the travel benefits, trip delay, cancellation and interruption insurance benefits have been especially popular since the pandemic.
In recent years, claims increased as airlines dealt with systemwide computer issues, travelers got held up by long airport security lines and severe weather events led to delays and cancellations.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation, 22.74% of flights were delayed in 2024, an increase from 22.52% in 2023 and the highest amount over the past 10 years. Cancellations aren't as common (1.69%), although a canceled flight could be much more disruptive.
Alter says that overall claims continued to increase in 2024. However, the increase was generally in line with the increasing number of travelers—a sign that the benefits aren't being abused.
Card Issuers Highlight Travel Benefits
Credit card issuers are increasingly focused on travel as a selling point. Some issuers have their own travel portals and incentivize booking travel through their website or app. Card rewards programs even have branded airport lounges for cardholders.
Although card issuers have to pay for benefits and insurance coverage, these perks are also a selling point that gets people to sign up for and use a credit card. With this in mind, you might see more marketing material and reminders about your card's benefits in the coming year.
Travel Providers Steer Travelers Away From Credit Cards
Alter says there's been an increase in the number of phone calls from travelers who are booking with tour operators or travel agencies. They want to know if the travel-related insurance and benefits will apply even if they don't pay with a credit card.
"It seems like tour operators and travel agents are becoming more aggressive at adding surcharges to credit card transactions," Alter says. Avoiding fees can be enticing, but Alter warns that consumers won't receive card benefits.
For example, although it's not exactly a travel benefit, you might be able to dispute a purchase and get your money back if a company doesn't follow through after you pay it.
"If the company goes out of business, that's a real risk," Alter says. "Or, if you book one class of travel and they deliver something lower."
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waivers Claims Increase
Credit cards' auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW) benefit can help cover the cost of repairs or a replacement if a car you rent is damaged or stolen.
Some cards offer primary coverage, which means that even if you have auto insurance coverage, the credit card benefit kicks in first. With secondary coverage, you have to file a claim with your insurance company first. If you don't have auto insurance, the card's secondary benefit could count as your primary coverage.
"The frequency of claims is rising as the rental companies become experts at identifying damage," Alter says. The cost of auto repairs is also increasing, which could make the credit card benefit more valuable for cardholders.
Rental car agencies also began asking for proof of insurance more often starting in 2023, "partially because they want to sell the CDW, and partially because they don't want you to drive a car off a lot without insurance," Alter says.
Credit Card Purchase Protection Trends in 2024
Most credit cards include zero-liability protection for unauthorized purchases, and many offer additional protections on products and services you pay for with your credit card:
- Return protection: Allows you to return a product and get a refund when the original retailer doesn't accept the return.
- Purchase protection (or purchase security): Get reimbursed for products that are damaged, lost or stolen.
- Extended warranties: Extends the manufacturer's warranty on a product.
- Price protection: Can cover the difference between your purchase price and a lower advertised price after you make a purchase.
- Cellphone protection: Reimburses you if your phone is stolen or damaged.
As helpful as these card benefits can be, it's important to remember they all have requirements and limits.
For example, return and purchase protections usually only last a few months from the purchase date, and there may be per-claim and annual limits. Or, the extended warranty benefit may only apply to purchases when the original manufacturer's warranty was for one or two years.
But many of the benefits, even cellphone protection, are available on cards that don't have an annual fee.
Learn more >> How Do I Check My Credit Card Benefits?
Extended Warranties Claims Are Still High
The extended manufacturer's warranty became increasingly popular when supply chain shortages and rising costs made replacing items more difficult and expensive. That trend continued in 2024, and Alter expects it will remain popular among cardholders. "Claim trends suggest that extended warranty is offering a great value," he says.
A Renewed Focus on Porch Piracy Protection
Porch piracy protections are becoming more common, Alter says. Sometimes, the benefit is part of a broad purchase protection, but that's not always the case. Porch piracy happens when a delivered purchase is stolen before you retrieve it.
"Purchase security has different levels of coverage," Alter says. "The medium and high levels do include porch piracy. But there's also a benefit that's just porch piracy."
Many credit cards that have purchase security already have the level that covers porch piracy, Alter says. However, increased online shopping and package theft have drawn attention to the benefit. Issuers are now promoting the benefit as a standalone feature even when it's part of their card's purchase protection coverage.
New Credit Card Benefits in 2025
Rather than introducing new benefits in 2025, benefit providers may continue focusing on making the claims filing process easier for consumers. Alter says there's also some interest in allowing people to select the benefits on their cards.
"Technology is catching up with the goal of allowing people to build their own benefits," he says. "If people don't travel that frequently or don't want the travel benefits, they could focus more on retail benefits or assistance benefits."
The customization could be implemented in different ways. Perhaps you can choose from different benefits that the card issuer offers for free. Or, there might be options to pay a small premium to get certain benefits.
Card issuers aren't offering this type of customization yet, but keep an eye out for these types of changes in the next few years.
Start Looking for Your Next Credit Card
Looking for a credit card that has all the benefits you want? Some of the best ones are only available with premium cards, which tend to require good credit. But Experian can match you to credit cards based on your credit profile. Review the results and compare the cards' fees, features and benefits to see which one might be the best fit.