You may have travel insurance without realizing it

They are problems many travelers never anticipate: a canceled flight, a missed connection, lost luggage, or worse, a last-minute illness or natural disaster before a trip.

While it seems there may be no choice but to lose (or shell out more) money, not to worry: You may unknowingly be carrying travel insurance in the form of your credit card.

“Credit-card travel insurance may provide for the reimbursement of cardholders in the event of a canceled trip, missed connection, lost or delayed luggage or even death,” according to a new Cardhub.com study.

The study identifies five cards that offer the best protection for travel-related problems: Chase Sapphire; Chase Sapphire Preferred; Discover It; Citi Prestige; and Wells Fargo Propel 365.

Some other findings include:

• Both travel-accident insurance and luggage insurance are prevalent on rewards credit cards from major issuers. Of the cards reviewed, 97 percent offered the former, 79 percent the latter.
• About 1 in 4 (26 percent) of the credit cards that offer travel-accident insurance provides benefit amounts in excess of $300,000.
• Among the cards offering luggage insurance, 84 percent provide coverage for lost luggage, 35 percent cover delayed luggage and 19 percent cover both.

According to Cardhub.com founder and CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou, “It is important to understand which credit card companies offer you these benefits for free.”