Many Canadian credit cards come with built-in travel insurance benefits, such as emergency medical coverage, trip cancellation protection and flight delay compensation, which can save travellers from unexpected out-of-pocket expenses. Our list of the best travel insurance credit cards come with these benefits and more.
Best travel insurance credit cards in Canada
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Gold: Best travel insurance card
National Bank World Elite Mastercard
Comes with emergency medical insurance for trips of up to 60 days (aged 54 and under), plus flight cancelation, rental car insurance, and more.
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Interest Rates:
20.99% purchase, 22.49% cash advance, 22.49% balance transfer
Welcome offer:
$320 value
Earn up to 40,000 rewards points. Must apply by March 31, 2025.
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Silver: Best travel insurance card
RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
Get unlimited emergency medical insurance for trips of up to 31 days (aged 64 and under). Seniors aged 65 and older are covered for up to 7 days.
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Interest Rates:
20.99% purchase, 22.99% cash advance, 22.99% balance transfer
Welcome offer:
$1179 value
Earn 55,000 Avion points. Apply by January 15th, 2025
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Bronze: Best travel insurance card
Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card
Comes with the full suite of coverages, including emergency medical for seniors over 75. No foreign transaction fees and points on every purchase.
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Interest Rates:
9.99% purchase, 9.99% cash advance, 22.99% balance transfer
Welcome offer:
$600 value
Earn up to $2,500 in value in the first 14 months, including up to 80,000 bonus Scene+ points. Offer ends January 3, 2025.
MoneySense award winners
Dive into the pros and cons of our gold, silver and bronze-winning credit cards for travel insurance, as well as our no-fee alternative.
Gold—Best travel insurance credit card
At a glance: The National Bank World Elite Mastercard is the best travel insurance credit card in Canada. Not only does it offer a wide range of insurance coverages—from emergency medical to trip cancellation, baggage delay and car rental insurance—but the coverage amounts are also impressive. Most notable is the duration of emergency medical coverage for travellers 54 and under: at 60 days, it’s triple the length of many other cards with travel insurance in Canada.
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National Bank World Elite Mastercard
Annual fee: $150
Welcome offer: Earn up to 40,000 points.
Card details
| Interest rates | 20.99% on purchases, 22.49% on cash advances, 22.49% on balance transfers |
| Income required | Personal income of $80,000 or household income of $150,000 |
| Credit score | 760 or higher |
| Point value | 1 point is worth $0.01 when redeeming using National Bank’s À La Carte Rewards Plan. |
Silver—Best travel insurance credit card
At a glance: The RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege is our runner up in the best credit cards with travel insurance category. It’s the only card with unlimited emergency medical coverage—a perk that even applies to Canadians over the age of 65. The card comes with all the other coverages you might expect from a premium travel credit card, including travel accident, trip cancellation, rental car and hotel burglary insurance. You will, however, need a high personal or household income to qualify.
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RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege
Annual fee: $399
Welcome offer: Earn up to 55,000 Avion points ($1,178 value).
Card details
| Interest rates | 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances and on balance transfers |
| Income required | $200,000 per year |
| Credit score | 760 or higher |
| Point value | 1 RBC Avion point = Up to $0.023 when redeemed for travel using RBC’s Air Travel Redemption Schedule. |
Bronze—Best travel insurance credit card in Canada
At a glance: The Scotiabank Platinum American Express card rounds out the top-three best travel insurance credit cards. No other card offers 10 days’ emergency medical insurance to Canadian seniors aged 75 and older. And there’s lots more to love than just the comprehensive insurance package, including the benefit of no foreign transaction fees on foreign-currency purchases. Cardholders earn 2 Scene+ points per dollar spent.
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Scotiabank Platinum Amex
Annual fee: $399
Welcome offer: Earn up to $2,500 in value in the first 14 months, including up to 80,000 bonus Scene+ points. Offer ends October 31, 2025.
Card details
| Interest rates | 9.99% on purchases, 9.99% on cash advances, 22.99% on balance transfers |
| Income required | $12,000 per year |
| Credit score | 760 or higher |
| Point value | 1 Scene+ point = $0.01 when redeemed for travel on any airline or hotel (including Airbnbs). |
Best travel insurance credit card with no annual fee
At a glance: If you want a travel insurance credit card without an annual fee, the Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard should be high on your list. Not only does it include valuable travel and rental car insurance, but it’s also one of the best cash back credit cards in Canada. For every $1 you spend, you’ll get back at least 1.5% cash back.
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Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard
Annual fee: $0
Welcome offer: None at this time.
Card details
| Interest rates | 20.99% on purchases, 22.99% on cash advances, 22.99% on balance transfers |
| Income required | $80,000 per year |
| Credit score | 725 or higher |
Pros
- No annual fee: Cards with no annual fee usually don’t come with travel insurance, but this card comes with six types of coverage, including emergency medical for up to 10 days, and car rental theft and damage coverage for up to 31 days.
- Cask back earnings: Earn 1.5% cash back on all your purchases (or 2% if you’re a Rogers, Fido or Shaw customer). Plus, with 3% cash back on transactions in U.S. dollars, you’ll save on foreign transaction fees, too.
Cons
- High income requirements: To be approved, you’ll need a personal income of at least $80,000 or household income of at least $150,000.
How does credit card travel insurance work?
Every insurance package is tailored to a specific card and program but in general, the process is simple. You’ll usually have to book your travel on that credit card but different cards have different rules. For example, some say you need to book 100% of your trip on the card while others don’t have that stipulation. Read your documents to determine your responsibilities. Once you book, you’ll automatically have access to the included coverage. You don’t have to notify the credit card company that you’re traveling or call to activate the coverage. That said, we always recommend that you read the documentation from your credit card company.