Credit card travel insurance: is yours still there, switched on and enough?

Often not by default: card cover usually has to be activated, several banks have cut or removed it on existing cards, and even active cover is often shorter and narrower than a comprehensive policy, so check your card's current PDS against each trip before you rely on it.

Across NAB's and ANZ's own pages alone, 15 card products lose or shrink their complimentary travel insurance between May 2026 and March 2027. That is our count, made by adding two lists. NAB names six cards that no longer include international travel, domestic travel or rental vehicle excess insurance and three whose international cover is cut from up to 3 consecutive months to 30 consecutive days. ANZ's changes to complimentary insurances take travel insurance off two cards and shorten it on four more. Eight lose cover outright. Seven keep a shorter version.

So before you lean on your card for a summer trip, answer three questions. Is the cover still there? Is it switched on for this trip? Does it fit this trip? Smartraveller is blunt about the first: "Don't assume your credit card still comes with travel insurance for your next trip, even if you have used it before." At Travel Times, we'd put this check on the same list as your passport.

Which cards have lost or cut travel cover, and when?

Source: NAB, CommBank, Insurance Business and ANZ

The changes land on different dates for different cards, and existing cards are affected, not just new ones. In date order:

15 May 2026, NAB. NAB Rewards, Flybuys Rewards, Low Rate Platinum, Velocity Rewards Premium, Premium and Low Fee Platinum no longer include international travel, domestic travel or rental vehicle excess insurance. On Qantas Rewards Premium, Qantas Plus and Platinum Visa Debit, international cover was cut from up to 3 consecutive months to 30 consecutive days.
29 September 2026, CommBank. Included cover activated from 29 Sep 2026 is provided by XCover, while earlier policies stay with Cover-More. Insurance Business reported that CommBank removed all insurance from several lower-tier cards from the same date.
1 October 2026, Westpac. Insurance Business reported that Westpac scaled back international cover on affected cards and removed trip cancellation, travel delay and luggage cover.
9 December 2026, ANZ, first phase. ANZ Rewards Platinum loses complimentary international travel, domestic travel and rental vehicle excess insurance, keeping purchase protection and extended warranty. ANZ Platinum, Frequent Flyer Platinum and Rewards Travel Adventures become Level 2, with a shorter maximum trip and narrower cover. The two Black cards stay at Level 1 on this date.
24 March 2027, ANZ, second phase. ANZ Rewards Black loses travel insurance, and Frequent Flyer Black's maximum cover period drops from up to 6 months to up to 2 months.

Each line applies to the cards it names, not to everything a bank issues. Your own card's answer is on your bank's page and in its current product disclosure statement (PDS).

On ANZ and NAB cards, booking before a change date doesn't lock in the old terms: cover is judged by when the insurable event occurs and the booklet in force on the date of the claimable event, not by when you paid. A January trip booked in November on an ANZ Platinum card falls under the Level 2 terms.

"Don't assume your credit card still comes with travel insurance for your next trip, even if you have used it before."

Smartraveller, "Credit card travel insurance is changing"

Insurers are saying the same. A travel insurance manager quoted by Insurance News warned travellers "shouldn't assume the cover they've relied on previously is still in place".

How to activate credit card travel insurance

Before you rely on your card: seven checks

Still covered? Find your card on your bank's current page: some cards have lost travel cover, some have had it shortened.
Activated? If your card needs activation or notice of each trip, do it before you leave Australia (eligible CommBank cards allow activation up to 12 months before departure).
Minimum spend met? Many policies need around $500 on the card; eligible CommBank cards need at least $500 in a single transaction on prepaid travel costs (checked November 2026).
Return ticket? Some policies only activate with one; a one-way flight, or two one-way flights, can leave you uninsured.
Family on your card? Some policies need your spouse's and dependants' tickets on your card too.
Points booking? Some cards cover points purchases and others don't.
Trip length within the cap, counting stopovers and transit points?

Smartraveller says card insurance usually has to be activated, and spells out the cost of forgetting: "You could find yourself overseas without insurance when you need it."

What activation means depends on the card. On eligible CommBank cards, you do two things before leaving Australia: spend at least $500 in a single transaction on prepaid travel costs on that card (checked November 2026), then activate in the CommBank App. You can activate up to 12 months before departure. A claim needs evidence of the $500 transaction on the eligible credit card statement (checked November 2026), and a payment on another account, such as a debit card, doesn't count.

Other cards work differently. The CHOICE guide on Smartraveller says some banks require you to notify them for each trip. Skip that, and base cover still gives emergency medical treatment, but property and luggage-delay cover may be missing. Most card policies also set a minimum spend, usually "around $500" (checked November 2026).

Read each check above against your PDS. Smartraveller suggests looking for activation requirements, trip-duration limits, excess, exclusions, family cover and any "effective from/to" dates.

Does your card cover a trip this long?

Source: ANZ, NAB and Smartraveller

Trip length is where the cuts bite hardest for summer travellers. Smartraveller notes that multi-trip and credit card policies can restrict the length of each trip, and some let you pay for extra days. Across card policies, trip duration varies from a few weeks to 365 days.

The new caps are short. ANZ's Level 2 cards fall from up to 3 months to up to 1 month from 9 December 2026. NAB's Qantas Rewards Premium, Qantas Plus and Platinum Visa Debit already sit at 30 consecutive days. A five-week trip, 35 days in our example, runs past both. Smartraveller flags exactly this: your trip may be longer than the new maximum period.

Measure the whole journey, not just the destination. Stopovers and transit points must be covered too.

Source: ANZ and NAB

Is credit card travel insurance enough?

ANZ cover before 9 Dec 2026 vs Level 2 (checked November 2026)

	Before 9 Dec 2026	Level 2 (ANZ Platinum, Frequent Flyer Platinum, Rewards Travel Adventures, from 9 Dec 2026)
Maximum cover period	up to 3 months	up to 1 month
Trip cancellation	$20,000	$10,000 per cardholder or spouse
Personal liability	$3 million	$1 million per event
What's covered	International Travel Insurance under ANZ's booklet dated 7 June 2024	emergency assistance, medical, emergency dental, cancellation and personal liability
ANZ Frequent Flyer Black from 24 Mar 2027: up to 6 months becomes up to 2 months, cancellation $20,000 to $10,000, liability $3 million to $1 million.

Source: ANZ

Sometimes, for a short and simple trip. Often not. Smartraveller says card cover is often narrower, with fewer situations covered and lower item limits, and suggests reading the PDS against a comprehensive policy. Its own view: "Comprehensive travel insurance is always the best option for overseas travel."

ANZ's Level 2 change shows how cover thins. It narrows to emergency assistance, medical, emergency dental, cancellation and personal liability, so luggage and travel delay are not on the list. Trip cancellation falls from $20,000 to $10,000 per cardholder or spouse (checked November 2026). Personal liability falls from $3 million to $1 million per event (checked November 2026). Frequent Flyer Black takes the same two cuts from 24 March 2027.

Smartraveller's change page lists what a card holder may have lost: medical expenses, delays and cancellations, luggage, and rental vehicle excess. Five more gaps are worth testing:

Pre-existing conditions. On card policies they are probably not automatically covered, and undeclared conditions are rarely covered. On CommBank's included cover, a condition that isn't automatically listed may need a health assessment and extra premium, and people aged 80 or over must apply for upgrade cover.
Excess. Card policy excess is usually fixed at around $250 (checked November 2026).
Domestic trips. The CHOICE guide says card cover generally doesn't apply to domestic travel, but some cards have carried domestic travel insurance (it is one of the benefits NAB and ANZ have removed from some cards), so check whether yours still does.
Destinations. You usually won't be covered in a "Do not travel" destination, and card policies may exclude travel to countries such as Cuba, Iran or North Korea. For transit through a "Do not travel" or "Reconsider your need to travel" place, the CHOICE guide suggests looking for a specialist provider. Our guide to how Smartraveller's advice levels affect your cover goes further.
Timing. If an event is already in the media or on Smartraveller when you buy, it is a "known event" and usually isn't covered. That matters for trips north this summer: the tropical cyclone season runs 1 November to 30 April, so sort your cover early rather than once a storm is in the news.

Card cover vs a comprehensive policy: what to compare

What to compare	What card cover typically does	Ask of a comprehensive policy
Medical and item limits	often narrower, fewer situations, lower item limits	What are the medical and item limits?
Pre-existing conditions	probably not automatically covered; undeclared conditions rarely covered	Which conditions are listed, and what must I declare?
Cancellation	ANZ Level 2 limit $10,000 per cardholder or spouse (checked November 2026)	What is the cancellation limit?
Trip length	a few weeks to 365 days, depending on the card	Does it cover my whole trip?
Excess	usually fixed at around $250 (checked November 2026)	What is the excess, and can I change it?
Stopovers and transit	must be covered	Are my stopovers covered?
Destinations	usually no cover in "Do not travel" places; some exclude countries such as Cuba, Iran or North Korea	Does it cover every country on my route?
Domestic travel	often not covered, though some cards include domestic travel insurance	Do I need domestic cover?

Source: Smartraveller, CHOICE guide on Smartraveller and ANZ

The traps that leave card holders uninsured

A sunlit front hallway on departure day: a navy suitcase, a green suitcase and a child's pale blue koala-print case stand by the front door, a pink jumper draped over the small case, with a glass of water and a digital thermometer on the hall table — Illustration: bags packed by the front door on departure day

Each of these comes from the CHOICE guide on Smartraveller, and each is easy to miss at the checkout.

A cheap fare or a points booking can leave you uninsured, because "if you bought your tickets on sale for $499, you won't be covered" (checked November 2026) and some cards cover points purchases and others don't.

One-way tickets. Some policies only activate with a return ticket, so "a one-way flight, or even two one-way flights, will leave you uninsured".
Family tickets on another card. Your spouse and dependants' tickets must also go on your card.
Splitting the payment. Paying part of the trip on a second card or by debit can break the rules. CommBank, for example, needs the $500 in a single transaction on the eligible card, not on another account (checked November 2026), and claims for emergency items may need to be paid on the same card.
Activating late. The guide's case study is a family whose cancellation claim was denied because the child's illness was already known when the card cover was activated, about an hour before departure. Activate when you book, not once something has gone wrong.

The checks at a glance

Source: CommBank, CHOICE guide on Smartraveller, ANZ and NAB

Every figure here is set by a bank or reported in the CHOICE guide, applies only to the cards named, and was checked in November 2026. Your PDS has the final word.

Your next step with Travel Times

Pull up your card's current PDS this week and set it beside the trip you're planning: the dates, every stopover, who's travelling and how you paid. If the card falls short on trip length, cancellation or a pre-existing condition, compare it with a comprehensive policy. NAB itself suggests considering a separate policy if your card no longer has cover. With several trips coming up, ask insurers about annual multi-trip cover as well.

Then tell Travel Times where you're headed, using the enquiry form below this article. If you're renewing a passport for the holidays too, our Australian passport processing time guide has the lodge-by maths, and our destinations in Australia and Africa are a good place to start the trip itself.