It’s not pleasant when unforeseen circumstances disrupt travel plans. However, the financial implications can be reduced in advance – for example, by using credit cards that include substantial travel insurance.
Despite the high cost of living, Germans do not plan to save on travel. A survey by the Forschungsgemeinschaft Urlaub und Reisen (Leisure and Travel Research Association) shows that 69% of Germans are planning at least one trip this year.
At the same time, the bitter experience of the pandemic has shown that the need for forced travel cancellations must be anticipated. The easiest way to do this is to use a credit card, which not only provides the necessary amount of money, but also reliably reimburses travelers in the event of a trip cancellation.
On behalf of ntv, FMH-Finanzberatung has studied which credit cards best meet these requirements. In order to determine the winners, the Frankfurt experts evaluated various criteria.
Costs don’t just matter
The estimate included cost factors such as the annual price of the cards and fees for overseas cash advances. The FMH has also taken into account card payment costs outside the euro zone. This last point is all the more important as travel to the US or other non-EU countries can quickly become a cost trap – many providers charge 2% of the amount booked for each payment transaction .
In the event of unforeseen obstacles, the experts also checked whether the offers included travel health insurance and trip cancellation or interruption insurance. If so, under what conditions do they operate? Do the providers only pay if the trip was paid for by card or is the insurance payment independent of this? And how important is the customer’s own contribution to the costs, if any?
As a rule, one cannot do without annual installments on credit cards, but one should not forget that flat-rate policies from an insurance company, depending on the tariff and the sum insured, can quickly devour a hundred euros or more. For example, with a travel cost of 3,000 euros, customers quickly reach an additional cost of more than 100 euros.
As a result
For customers who like to travel, it’s probably worth choosing a credit card with higher annual fees if it offers protection comparable to traditional travel insurance. Ideally, if the insurance coverage does not depend on whether the trip was paid for by card or in some other way. This eliminates problems, especially if you use several credit cards.
The Bank Norwegian Visa and Barclays Platinum Double cards tied for points were the winners of the FMH evaluation, followed by two cards – WeCanHelp mastercard and Mastercard Gold from Advanzia.
The special Visa Gold card was rated “good”. With 20,000 euros, it covers the highest amount (in comparison), but only if the customer paid for the trip with a card. The deductible amount is again nice – a maximum of 200 euros per person. The total amount for the whole family is limited to 400 euros, which is a very low value in comparison.
decide yourself
The importance of comparing the differences between card providers is evident not only for travel insurance, but also for other value-added services such as comprehensive rental car insurance.
In addition, some cards offer, among other things, Internet delivery protection: the customer only pays when the goods are delivered within the agreed time. For particularly anxious people, some credit cards even include ATM insurance – theft within two hours of withdrawing money is insured.
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