New laws were recently created to help protect consumers against the abuse and excessive fees they often receive from the credit card companies. Well, if you're one of those people who think your credit card still protects you when you travel by offering perks like insurance when renting a car, baggage delay insurance, travel accident insurance, and/or roadside assistance, for example, think again.Many of the major credit card companies that once offered these perks to travelers have discontinued them. Often the credit card companies disclose changes to their card holder agreements through direct mail pieces disguised as junk mail (which credit card users typically throw out). In other words, the perks you think your credit card offers may no longer be available, and you might not realize it.
Before your next trip, if you're planning to utilize travel protection perks offered by your credit card, call the credit card issuer directly and make sure these perks are still offered. While you're at it, make sure you understand what these insurances and travel-related perks cover, as many of the offers are a bit misleading in terms of coverages.
If you want a wide range of protections when you travel for business or pleasure, consider investing in travel insurance from a company like TravelGuard. Whenever I travel overseas, I always purchase this insurance, and for me, it's come in very handy on several trips in the past.
To help you better understand the new credit card laws, visit a website like CreditCards.com. You can also read an article published on Federal Reserve's website by clicking here.
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