How Chase Sapphire travel insurance saved my family over $1,500

27.05.2024 - 15:03 / thepointsguy.com

Planning a dream vacation is always exciting. But no matter how carefully you plot out the details, sometimes life throws a wrench in the works.

Unfortunately, that's what happened on a recent trip that I took with my family earlier this year. Luckily, my Chase Sapphire Reserve® and its travel protections came to the rescue right when we needed them, saving us over $1,500 all told.

Here's what happened and how we were able to leverage my card's benefits to avoid losing a lot of money.

In February, my husband, our son and I were all set for an incredible safari adventure. We were going to stay at the Retreats at Sayari in Tanzania, where lions, cheetahs and elephants are often spotted roaming freely around the area. After that, we planned to end the trip with a few days of relaxation at Mango House Seychelles, LXR Hotels and Resorts — a luxury hotel on the Seychelles' largest island, Mahe.

We had been planning our trip for months, figuring out the logistics and how to save the most money on such a grand journey. We booked our flights using my Chase Sapphire Reserve® card and redeemed some of our Ultimate Rewards points to reduce the cost of the trip.

Redeeming the points directly through Chase Travel℠ at a rate of 1.5 cents apiece completely covered the cost of our three tickets on a Kenya Airways hopper flight from Nairobi to the Seychelles.

We also transferred some of our leftover points to Qatar Airways Avios and used them to book a portion of our trip in the airline's luxurious business-class QSuites; we paid the balance on the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Despite using points for part of the journey, the out-of-pocket expense was still several thousand dollars.

With everything squared away, we eagerly counted down the months and days until our trip. However, just one day before our departure, our son came down with the flu. Traveling with our sick child was out of the question, especially on a complicated itinerary like this, where we may not be able to seek medical care easily if we needed it.

So, with heavy hearts, we canceled the entire trip. While we managed to get our money and points back for the flights, the airlines hit us with cancellation fees. We had to pay $327 to Kenya Airways and $1,080 for two tickets on Qatar Airways, totaling just over $1,500 in fees. The third Qatar Airways ticket was booked on another card and it was fully refundable, so we didn't have to worry. Still, ouch.

Feeling the sting of those fees, I decided to explore the travel insurance benefits provided by my Chase Sapphire Reserve. This card offers a plethora of protections that many cardholders, myself included, often overlook. But they can come in handy for situations like mine, and that's exactly what they're