Rarely do I check bags and my trip to Germany last week demonstrated once again why. Whether the blame falls on United, US Airways, or Lufthansa I know not, but I do know that my bag was lost for about 24 hours. Thankfully my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card came to the rescue.
When my bags had not arrived the following morning, I called the Chase Sapphire line, where an agent always pick up. I was not aware of the precise benefits, but figured the card had to have something. Indeed it did.
Delayed and lost luggage insurance. If you have any checked bags that have been delayed for more than 18 hours, you will be reimbursed for the emergency purchase of covered essential items. If your checked or carry-on luggage has been lost or stolen, you will receive a full reimbursement.
Note–this is for tickets (including award tickets!) you have purchased with your Chase Sapphire card.
Here’s what I found: as a cardholder, you are entitled up to $100/day for emergency essentials for up to four days (there is a long list of items not covered the agent read to me, but it was all common-sense stuff like electronics, gift cards, automobiles…). In other words, all clothes are fair game.
The first day kicks in once your bags have been delayed for more than 18 hours. Sadly, the claim is not processed directly through Chase but rather outsourced through chubb.com. I was directed to fill out a claim form on the site, but the URL given me me by Chase was invalid when I later visited the site. I eventually found the claim form and it seems a rather straight-forward process.
My bag arrived a few hours later so while I suppose I could have gone on a $100 shopping spree on the Frankfurt Ziel, I did not. But it is nice to know that the option was available and that should my bags be delayed or lost again, I can purchase essentials and be reimbursed.
Also noteworthy–
Trip delay and cancellation insurance. If your covered trip is delayed for more than 12 hours, you will be covered for your expenses, for example, if you need to eat in a restaurant or sleep in a hotel. If your covered trip is canceled for any reason, you will be provided with a full reimbursement.
Haven’t run into any long delays this year (last year I can think of one…) but this is a nice benefit as well.
upgrd.com may be compensated if you choose to apply through the application links above and ultimately are approved, but our point in offering these sign-up links is to help you effectively choose which credit card to focus your mileage earning on.
uh oh…the blog has begun its descent down the slippery slope of credit card referral bonuses….say goodbye to travel reading without the constant credit card plug. Hmm…I wonder which credit card promotion- er, travel site- I should visit next….
@Eddie–sorry, I’m not going to apologize for this. I use the Chase Sapphire card every day, you just read about how it came in handy with my delayed bag last week, and I believe smart mileage collectors should sign up for the card, irrespective of the token referral bonus I may receive for those who are approved. But if you haven’t signed up for the card yet, I’d appreciate you doing it through the link above.
Hi Matthew – Do you need to have purchased your ticket entirely using the Chase card to be eligible to claim on the insurance?
@Sit In First: That is correct–in my case, I had put my BD taxes on the card, so they said I qualified.
This was an award ticket? Wow.
I just used this last month for a lost bag. Very straight forward to do. Do keep in mind you must have made a claim with your airline within 24 hrs. And with Chase within 45 days. They will cover the excess that the airline doesn’t reimburse for up to $3K.
@Matthew
Ok what if the airline provides a hotel voucher? Then I assume the Chase reimbursement of a hotel is not going to yeild anything? Or can one decline an airline hotel voucher in lieu of $200 additional airline voucher on top of the $400 voucher already given??
Thanks Matthew for the great reminder! Encountering a lengthy delay as I speak and will apply this when I get home! Thanks!
I am currently attempting to collect on this advertised benefit with a Presidential Plus business card. 50 hour bag delay on UA EWR-LHR in June; award ticket purchased on card. Only hassle thus far: chubb paper form required notarization. Will update thread when I receive a response.
Hey can someone compare the difference between the Amex Gold and Chase Sapphire lost bag benefits?
prior mentioned benefit event was fully paid by chubb. up to $300.