The Hidden Value Of Your Credit Card Benefits
Premium cards like the Capital One Venture and Chase Sapphire come with protections that can quietly save you money long after you swipe.
✅ Price Protection Some card benefits can reimburse you if an item you bought drops in price after purchase (up to 120 days), meaning less buyer’s remorse and more confidence hitting “buy.” Last week I bought new wicker chairs on Wayfair for $400, the next day, they were the deal of the day for $300. Thank you, price protection, and Mastercard sent me back the $100 already.
✅ Extended Warranty Eligible purchases can get up to double the warranty coverage beyond the manufacturer’s warranty. A few years back my Macbook screen went out, Apple said no thanks, but Chase stepped up and provided $500 equal to the repair amount a year after the original warranty expired.
Travel Insurance via Chase Sapphire (thanks Roberto). I just always book big travel on Chase so didn’t even register. I never even think of buying trip insurance when I use CSP. Be mindful that many other card travel insurances are minimal in comparison.
These benefits often go unused, but they can add real value.
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Comments
Thanks for posting. I’ve never used these benefits. Great examples!
I have Sapphire and have relied on its travel insurance in the past. However, I recently realized that it doesn’t cover any medical expenses while you are on the trip. (If you cancel the trip before the start due to a medical issue, it still covers.). That’s a big hole, in my opinion. The actual cost of the travel itself is at most a couple of thousand dollars (non refundable cruise fare, for example), but if you break a bone or have a hernia or appendicitis or whatever while you are on the road, the cost could be tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. As my wife and I are in our 50s now, and as our financial situation is good enough to not need to worry over a couple of hundred dollars, a dedicated travel insurance with adequate coverage on medical expenses and medical evacuation is a must for us going forward.
A big part of being FI is that you don’t have to worry about the small money stuff. To us, trying to save $200 by skipping a travel medical insurance is not worth it.
I agree 100%. I had a windshield replaced on a rental SUV in California while traveling. I called Chase Sapphire and they took care of everything. Never heard another word about it!
Which card did you use for price protection? I used to do this years ago, usually to support small businesses charging full price and then price match with an online retailer that sold the same product at a steep discount, but I thought essentially all cards had this benefit removed.
Capital one venture. Certain Mastercard seem to still have this, check it out
I've never once used and price protection or extended warranty from a credit card. I should probably pay more attention to those features.
I've used the Sapphire trip insurance though. That was great. We had to cancel a trip last minute due to a medical issue and we were able to get fully reimbursed for a few thousand dollars of non-refundable tickets, etc.
Don't forget trip insurance. The Chase Sapphire Preferred (along with other premium cards, I'm sure) has outstanding trip insurance. Sure, it won't cover you if you decide to not take a trip for no particular reason. But if your flight gets cancelled, baggage lost, etc., it provides great coverage. I have family members who insist on buying the agent-provided insurance for every trip (to the tune of $500-$1000 per person per trip) and it kills me to see them waste money like that, when there are travel cards that provide and equivalent (or even superior in some cases) benefit.
Thanks for this reminder Roberto. My teen has a school sponsored international trip this summer and they are requiring us to prove we have travel insurance. I’m going to look into whether my Chase benefit is sufficient!
Thanks!
Lisa
1000%. I actually just used the trip insurance policy through the Capital One Venture X card last month and was able to get reimbursed for 2 non-refundable flights.