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Built-In Credit Card Travel Benefit You Probably Didn’t Know

Feb. 08, 2018
3 min read
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Built-In Credit Card Travel Benefit You Probably Didn’t Know
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Premium rewards credit cards play a big role in my life not only for the points they provide that allow us to travel more for less, but also for the multitude of built-in protections that have our back when we use them to buy everything from an iPhone to a new shirt to a flight. If you have hung around sites like this for very long you may have already heard of some credit card benefits such as price protection benefits when you shop, extended warranty and purchase protections in case you break or lose one of your gadgets, or even trip delay and interruption coverage in case of a serious flight delay, cancellation, or one of your kid gets sick and you have to cancel your trip.

We have used all of those credit card protections at one point or another, but I recently learned of a new protection available on some Citi credit cards that I have never used or even heard of until now.

In the Benefit's Guide of the Citi Prestige, Citi Premier® Card, and a Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard I found the following event as being a reason for trip cancellation coverage to kick-in:

The Covered Traveler's Pet, has an injury or serious illness that is either life threatening or requires care and is verified by a licensed veterinarian. Pet(s) means any domesticated or tamed animal that is kept as a companion and cared for affectionately.

The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

For many people, pets are family members, so it is pretty awesome that these Citi credit cards will reimburse you if you have to cancel a trip because your pet gets really sick or injured, requiring that you stay behind to take care of them. I know when my husky was getting up in years it started to impact when and where we could travel, especially when she would take a turn for the worse.

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Now we have a young crazy dog who is thankfully very healthy, but it is good to know that if we booked airfare with one of those Citi cards that we could cancel to take care of her if she became sick or injured.

While every card handles this slightly different, to give you an idea of how it works, the Citi Premier® Card provides for a maximum of $5,000 per covered traveler per trip, and the trip protection will cover costs like change fees, unused and non-refundable tickets, deposits, etc. once a covered event takes place. Note that this only works if you paid for your tickets on the card. While I've never made a trip cancelation claim due to a sick dog, I am sure you will have to provide documentation of the illness from your vet's office along with documentation of all of your non-refundable expenses incurred from the canceled trip.

Did you know that some rewards credit cards have built-in protections to cover your trip if your pet gets sick?