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Free Travel Insurance for CBA Gold/Diamond/Platinum Credit Card Holders - Register Online, No Spend Required

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In the past you could get free travel insurance from your credit card provider only if you paid for your flights and/or accommodation with the credit card.

That is no longer the case.

As long as you hold a Gold, Platinum or Diamond credit card from CBA, you are entitled to free travel insurance for trips of up to 6 months duration (Platinum and Diamond) or 3 months if Gold.

There is no need to buy your airfares with your credit card - in fact there is no need to spend a cent on the card to get the insurance.

You do need to activate the insurance before you travel here:

A $250 excess applies to claims for Dimaond/Platinum cardholders ($500 for Gold)

Read the PDS here

If you need transit insurance (protection from injury while on transport like planes, boats, etc) you must pay for your "trip" on the CBA card - see page 77 of the PDS.

I am doing a 70 day trip shortly. Most insurance is $200+ for 70 days (and many insurers wont insure trips that long).
Flight Centre quoted me $429 for insurance.
Although the excess here stings a little, it's not much more than the premium would otherwise be.

Free travel insurance with cards is nothing new, but the mechanism for this is and so is the nil spend requirement. See previous post for prior comments/discussion.

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  • +38

    Been this way for awhile now.

    • I hadn't heard of the change. The old system meant you had to pay for nearly everything with your card - and that often meant big foreign exchange fees.

      This new system is much more attractive. Also the cover isnt bad - it includes scuba diving as long as you are certified and you are with an instructor…

      • +2

        I hadn't heard of the change. The old system meant you had to pay for nearly everything with your card - and that often meant big foreign exchange fees.

        It's been like this for ages. Not all work this way, with ANZ you only have to pay a portion of your trip and you're covered.

        But I don't use the credit card insurance except as a fallback, some countries won't allow you in without proof of insurance and the coverage of the policies never meets my requirements.

        • +1

          I used Citibank credit card insurance to get into Cuba 3 years ago. The insurance company supplied us with a letter to show them and that was fine.

        • +1

          I travel a lot and I have yet to find a country where the insurance on my diamond amex isn't accepted and as my Wife is Russian we have to apply for a LOT of visa's.

        • @gromit:

          Just because they accept or doesn't mean the coverage is any good

        • @brentsbits: Well no it doesn't mean the coverage is any good. But the coverage is actually quite good. before I did a lot of travel thru Europe a few years ago I compared it against most of the commercial options and it was better than most of the cheap travel insurance most people buy and really only beaten by some of the very expensive premium options. In the end it is just Allianz travel insurance.

        • @gromit:

          I travel a lot and I have yet to find a country where the insurance on my diamond amex isn't accepted and as my Wife is Russian we have to apply for a LOT of visa's

          Belarus likely won't accept it, I don't expect them to accept our travel insurance but they did.

          Plus I like to upgrade the car excess to the max which is normally $6000 on the policy we use. I rent some cars for short periods that have an excess of €7500-10000 so if something happens I want to cover as much as I can.

          For the sake of $400 out of a $25,000 holiday I'm not going to pick a policy that meets most requirements.

        • +1

          @gromit:

          Fair enough. Personally, I only go for the premium options when travelling. To me, it's not worth being caught out

        • +2

          @Maverick-au: Each to their own, I don't tend to rent cars overseas and I don't waste $400 on cover that doesn't offer me anything extra when I don't need the extra items. In the end each person should do their own research, for many the insurance provided on cards is as good or better than what they would purchase separately. Incidently Belarus is not particularly strict on insurance cover, it actually has less strict requirements than most places with from memory only requiring about 20k in medical cover, far less than most countries.

          PS: you can increase the car excess on the card supplied insurance to $6000 too, when you register your travel their are a few additional options you can purchase to boost the insurance if you need the extras, but still as always do your research first.

  • Been around for awhile but sometimes you forget about it. I almost bought RACV travel insurance for my oversea trip but then remember about this free one ( I have the diamond CBA card). It is quite comprehensive, they even give you certificate of insurance etc. Even covers car rental excess. The insurance itself is done through Allianz. I think this one does not cover domestic travel though… I may be wrong.

    • Never knew it covers car rental excess.
      I'm going to the US next year. Any idea what level of cover i need to get combined with this to be completely covered?

      • Not much, read the travel wiki to understand that US car rental cover is complicated. Nothing like here.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/car_rental_insurance

      • +1

        I'd recommend finding your car rental via skyscanner, as the rental rate will include cdw and ldw insurance. If you book directly through the car rental websites (e.g. Avis.com), you will need to add cdw & ldw in addition to your car rental. It can add more than $20 per day. We booked a few rentals on Atlas Choice (through Skyscanner), and if you hang around on the website for a while, a pop-up with a coupon code will appear.

      • It's pretty useless for the US as it only covers the excess, and by default the US companies won't include any cover when you rent a car. Better off organising it via the rental company (or use Priceline - they'll give you an option to add rental).

    • -1

      I'm sorry - where does it say it covers rental car excess? It says "Upgrade Options" and then "Rental Car Excess"…

      • Are you negging the deal because of rental car excess??

        • -1

          No - go to page 2 of comments and you can see why I am negging the deal.

      • +1

        read the PDS.

        If you have Gold or Plat it does.

  • +2

    do not forget to register your travel online. wish they did domestic travel insurance for inter-state travel.

    • Same. I use travel insurance frequently for domestic trips to cover car rental excess.

  • +1

    In the past you haven't needed to even activate the insurance, and your partially covered for some events. Activating it actually gives you access to all the normal provisions from credit card type insurances, importantly a policy number is issued and a one page policy document is emailed to you.

    • -1

      Too bad it includes just about NOTHING you would actually want and puts EVERYTHING you would want in the "Upgrade" section…

      Has anyone actually read the PDS or tried to book a bogus trip?

      It directs straight to a "Quote" page for "Essentials"

      • Absoulutely don't agree with you. Used this for 3 OS trips last year, after going thru all the docs, with little if any difference to other products. There is no real need to do any upgrade for a "normal" holiday.

        Do you want to explain some of the specific differences from the CBA product to any normal travel policy people take out?

    • +10

      But it is good to repost these things from time to time to remind people about these free benefits (potentially worth hundreds of dollars) that they don't know about (but entitled to) or have forgotten about it.

      • +1

        Yep, good point. But perhaps OP (or a mod?) should include link to original post?

  • No transit insurance included with this though

    • What do you mean by transit insurance?

      This has transit accident insurance included. See page 77 of the PDS.

      • +1

        Only if you pay for the flights on the credit card. Otherwise it is not included.

  • Do you need to hold the card for a minimum period before you can access the travel insurance? This would be super handy for Christmas travels coming up. I was actually looking at travel insurance for 35 days in Europe for around $300 for 2 people.

    Also seems like to be some good deals with gold, platinum and diamond credit cards with first year $0 annual fee.

  • This is nothing new. But good for people to be aware of. Underwritten by Allianz. And you can add a partner or spouse too at no extra charge. Just did it a few days ago. Saved me $200.

    • Up to 10 dependent on one card. Supplementary card holders can also get the cover individually.

  • +6

    As someone who had to claim travel insurance recently through CBA, I can assure you Allianz assistance did ask for evidence that we paid for the airfare using CBA credit card. Once the credit card statement was provided, everything was pretty smooth.

    • +1

      same experience here!

    • Good to know. Thanks.

    • +1

      I claimed on my CBA Platinum last year, about a month after I got the card. I lost my JR Pass exchange order, and had to order a replacement and claim back the cost after the end of my trip. They didn't ask for any evidence of airfare payment. It may depend on what you claim on but either way it shouldn't matter as their PDS states clearly that you only need to activate it on Netbank.
      As an aside, they forgot to charge an excess on my claim, so I got lucky in that regard.

      • Good to know. Thanks.

        I wonder if required material for claim process is actually available CBA credit card holder BEFORE submitting a claim.

        Slightly off topic, I claimed best price guarantee on a laptop purchase paid by my CBA credit card.

        Allianz asks for PRINTED catalog show the ACTUAL unit, and showing start and end dates period. This is ironic consider most marketing is now online/ digital these days.

        Allianz refused digital catalog and print screen from website at first, but accepted them after painful and time consuming engagements. I'm sure my blood pressure pumped at that moment :(

  • +1

    Nothing to see here, CBA have had this offer and conditions since July 1 ,2015
    No purchase necessary since that date.

  • Not going to neg this, but it's not a huge deal, given a lot of cards only need you to spend $250/$500 on prepaid expenses to qualify. Certainly not worth having the card for this feature alone (even if you got a fee waiver).

    • +1

      Works well for FF Award trips, where tax costs may not go over the spend limit.

      • Oops, just checked PDS and taxes generally don't trigger insurance spend.

    • Why do you say that? If you get the fee waived, and score free travel insurance, then where do you lose?
      Btw I am genuinely interested in your response, because I am very soon planning to book a holiday to Italy, and was seriously considering signing up to CBA credit purely for the travel insurance, would honestly like to know the arguments against it, and any alternatives if possible? thanks :)

      • Well, for a start, pretty much all platinum and elite credit cards offer free travel insurance. Some of it requires you to purchase your return international flights, while some of it merely requires you to spend $250/$500 of prepaid travel costs (hotels, flights etc) on the card, in order to activate it.
        If you wanted a card for a first year fee waiver, there are often promos that give you a fee waiver and bonus points. None at the moment, but, for example, you can get the Woolworths Qantas card, which has a $99 first year fee, and 40k bonus Qantas points. You'd still get travel insurance, but you'd get a much better deal for the trouble of applying for a new card.

        If, on the other hand, you didn't care about bonus points, you could just get a Bankwest Platinum or Gold fee free card, which never has an annual fee, but will still get you travel insurance - and you can have the card in your bottom drawer for whenever you need to book travel. Also, the Platinum cards at Bankwest have zero currency conversion fees, so are also very good for travelling (trust me, it's much easier to use a credit card to pay for hotels than it is your fee free Citibank debit card, which I use only for ATMs).

        So there's my two cents - I just don't think the CBA cards are the best deal for travel insurance, as there are options on either side of it - always fee free if you didn't care about reward points, or hefty bonuses if you did.

        Cheers.

      • Look through the conditions and consider your options. I agree with Eyebrows in that CBA's credit card product overall is quite poor compared to others around. I personally keep it only for the travel insurance. Being able to simply activate it on Netbank with no spend requirement is a great bonus in my mind.
        Again in agreeance with Eyebrows, it's a pretty bad idea to use a debit card for services such as hotels where they place a large hold on your funds. If you're looking for a card with no exchange/foreign fees AND points earn, you can also check out the ANZ Travel card (40k points seem to be spotty though looking at the comments). I personally use a Coles Rewards MC which has an $89 annual fee, and at least 1% back with FlyBuys. And now that FlyBuys has linked up with Velocity, I can earn VA points as well.

  • +2

    Thank you so much. I paid for flights via Paypal, thinking the linked credit card (Platinum) would auto-include insurance. Turns out it didn't. But this deal made me aware that I could, in fact, receive travel insurance.

    • Hello Shiny,

      How do you know it didnt?
      I called bankwest, and they said it would be covered.

      • My wife read some fine print somewhere. I think we didn't 100% conclude that we weren't covered but looking at some keywords, I think we weren't.

  • I have a CBA Gold Card and used the travel insurance 2 months ago for a delayed flight in Japan. I did not spend a Cent on the credit card, activated the insurance correctly. There was no excess for the travel delay claim and all expenses were reimbursed.
    My regular excess was $250 for the Gold Card is this now $500?

    • Well you were lucky. When I got caught in Bali with the Volcano. The stingy buggers wouldn't pay for laundry, even though In was stuck for 12 days and only used the laundry twice (and not for socks/underwear).

      • -1

        12 days of laundry in bali would have cost $50 bucks max!! Not sure who the stingy one is!

        • +1

          Its ozbargain - 😀 we are all stingy here.

          Plus the point is they wont pay for Laundry in Bali OR in NYC

      • They didn't pay laundry for me either. But they did cover us shouting dinner and drinks for two other people (where we ate as if we were a group of ten). Also a trip to the movies. And our 5 Star accommodation. Go figure.

        • Yea they are so strange, and they have nothing to give you any indication what they think is fair and whats not.

          Maybe we need to set up a wiki page to indicate what people successfully claimed and whats not claimable

          I also got knocked back for bag storage at Perth Airport, where I stored my bags waiting for my next flight, even though I stayed in the loiunge and never charged for meals.

          The trick would have be to have someone mind the bags and pay them with a meal and drinks. Of course that would cost them more but would be approved.

          BTW it would appear that Allianz just administers the claims process, Comminsure handles the risk

        • +1

          @RockyRaccoon:

          Erm Rocky you are wrong on the risk…

          PAGE 2 of the PDS:

          The Insurer and the Product Issuer
          Commonwealth Bank is not the issuer of these insurance covers
          or policies referred to in this booklet and neither Commonwealth
          Bank, nor any of its related corporations, guarantee or are liable
          to pay any of the benefits under these covers.

          The Insurer and the Product Issuer, Allianz Australia Insurance Limited,
          ABN 15 000 122 850, AFS Licence No. 234708, of 2 Market Street,
          Sydney, NSW 20

        • @GreatWhiteHunter: Thank you for pointing that out.

    • yes I was just looking this week and saw $250 for the gold. did I misread the conditions/

  • So to clarify, I don't need to purchase any part of my travel on the card to claim insurance if I need it? I've used Amex velocity to book flights to the USA and redeemed Starwood hotels there but have just applied for this insurance using my cba diamond card (free with home loan).

  • There are some conflicting comments above, do you need to buy tickets using CBA card? @andrew81 and @whypaymo seemed to imply we need to purchase tickets using cba as Allianz ask for proof of purchase using cba card when lodging the claim.

    • +2

      Since so many of you guys are interested in this topic, I thought it would help to show a copy of the letter from CBA : https://postimg.org/image/q6oebli7j/

      Name and address were redacted for the obvious reason.

      • Interesting. Here's my email that I received as a response to my claim being lodged. It was received on 2015-12-22. http://puu.sh/rUYy9/8eeb912db4.png
        Bemusingly, the official PDF version of this letter that was attached to the email was not from my claim… Whoever you are and wherever you are, Mr Dodd, I hope your insurance claim for your mobile phone went well. =\

    • It appears if you want transit accident insurance (eg. protection for you being injured while on a plane, bus, taxi etc) you need to have paid for the "trip" with your CBA card. This is on page 77 of the PDS in the link above.

      The "trip" seems to be defined as the flights and transport expenses from what I can tell but I am not a lawyer.

      Other than transit accidents, you are covered regardless of how you paid.

      • It appears if you want transit accident insurance (eg. protection for you being injured while on a plane, bus, taxi etc) you need to have paid for the "trip" with your CBA card. This is on page 77 of the PDS in the link above.

        This to me is a good reason to go standalone cover because there are times you can't pay for a method of transport on the card or where you aren't paying for the transport. What happens if you're in a taxi that has an accident and you haven't paid? Are you covered? What about free buses or ones where you just pay a tip? What if a friend is driving you?

  • That excess is a killer blow

    • +1

      I reckon it really depends on your financial circumstances + other factors. For us 4 weeks in an overseas private hospitals plus the airfares for the 4 of us to get back to Melbourne at peak season totally 14K+ was definitely worth it

    • +1

      If you only make one claim on your trip, it roughly evens out with a paid-for insurance policy with Allianz if you consider you're not paying a premium.
      Edit: Only if you hold a Platinum or Diamond card though. Wow, didn't notice the $500 excess on Gold…

      • Most travel insurance policies have an excess starting from $100.

        $250 is not excessive. I would prefer it to be less, but given the insurance is free, overall I think it makes it a pretty good deal still…

        The $429 cover that Flight Centre tried to sell me for my 72 day trip was not a lot better than this free cover - and in some areas it wasn't as good. As a result I am pocketing the $429 and taking the risk I am not injured "in transit"…

    • I just checked the conditions. The excess of $500 applies if you do not activate the insurance through Netbank. If you activate it is $250 for Gold, Platinum etc.

    • Not really. If you travel a lot and don't claim very often, you'll come out ahead easily. If you're traveling with a partner, you practically come out even on the first trip, even if you claim.

  • I am new to the cba platinum card world so i have go a few questions:
    1.does it cost anything to activate this function?
    2.if I am not a regular traveler can i still have it ready just in case?
    3.up to 6 months duration, if i have two or more trips a year, the total days is over 6 months but individually not, is it okay?
    4.I bought my flights to europe using my platinum card a month ago but not all the hotels (hotels are not booked, planning to use my citibank for better local rates), can i still claim this cover prior to my trip…
    5.i have already purchased another insurance (travelmore), it's been over 15 days so they said no refund, would it be good to have two different insurances at the same time?

    cheers

      1. No
      2. yes
      3. Not sure…..but you said you're not a regular traveller?!
      4. Yes, even under the old scheme, you only needed to purchase your "primary" flights with gold/platinum card. The new scheme you don't need to use the CBA card at all.
      5. Bummer…..Maybe, maybe not. http://www.ausbt.com.au/investigator-can-you-claim-from-two-…
      • 5.oops i wasn't thinking of claiming it twice for 200% money back, just thought it maybe good to have 2 just in case one is easier to deal over the other

        • That is fraud I believe. Get accused of fraud and be unhirable forever is the saying

        • @cowiie: the AusBT link is a good read. Travel insurance double up is probably more common than you'd think. As long as you don't try to defraud them, it shouldn't be a problem.

        • @KayDat: but claiming the same item twice would be fraud? Right?

        • @cowiie: See qwertyaz's comment about not claiming for 200% back. That's a no-no.

  • So much conflicting info in these comments, it's really confusing!

  • I have overseas trip planned (tickets already purchased) for more than a month coming up with a spouse and baby; This seems like a good deal instead of paying expensive travel insuranc which will cost me more than >$400. That being said, is the awards program with diamond / platinum cards anything worthwhile pursueing? ((i.e. how much I should spend to get a free flight?) or should I just get a low fee Gold card to get the travel insurance?

  • +7

    Okay, so yes this has been around for awhile now but I thought I'd provide some clarification. Under the current/new system you don't need to pre-pay any travel expenses on the CC.
    But I run into this problem with people daily where they want to make a claim and it's declined as you need to activate the policy before you leave on your travel either online or by contacting Allianz insurance. Failing to do so will result in any claim not being accepted by Allianz.

    So keep that in mind before you travel :)

    • +1

      I've used this myself several times (but luckily only had to claim once), it's quite straightforward. Register your travel plans via Netbank (which you should do anyway, so the bank knows not to lock your card when they see an intl transaction), and they email you your Certificate of Insurance for your policy. http://puu.sh/rUYfs/e4980641d4.jpg

      • You're absolutely right. But you'd be surprised how many people and complaints I deal with in regards to people not knowing this.

        But it's a fair call if you don't know this as a new to bank customer (very few people read the T&Cs) but existing one's were advised of the change before it happened in a letter.

        • I believe (correct me if I am wrong) that many CBA customers still assume they automatically qualify for travel insurance as per the policy pre 01/07. I recall there was a change of provider (from Zurich to Allianz) that may have something to do with this new requirement

        • +1

          @andrew81:
          Yeah that's right, we changed from Zurich to Allianz which promoted the change. Essentially, the way it works with the travel insurance T&Cs (to an extent) is that they are dictated by the insurance underwriter, not the bank.

          But yeah a lot of people still aren't aware of the change which sucks.

        • +1

          @andrew81: Self activation with no spend requirement certainly gives greater flexibility in your travel plans, but you're right. Most CC travel insurances are automatic, in that all you need to do is place your travel spend on your card. In this case, you are actually issued an insurance policy each time you activate on Netbank. Feels more reassuring to me personally, but I'm a bit of a control freak.

        • @tags:

          I have to say "tags" that CBA did a piss poor job at promoting this change.

          The deal and cover is actually very good, but I and many others had no idea you had implemented this more than a year ago.

        • @tags:

          I have to say "tags" that CBA did a piss poor job at promoting this change.

          The deal and cover is actually very good, but I and many others had no idea you had implemented this more than a year ago.

    • +1

      Problem is that CBA don't look after the existing customers. I been CBA customer for ages, because of these forums I find out the new terms of their travel insurance and my illegibility of AMEX card.

  • +1

    $0 annual fee card is available here until end of oct
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/255818

  • Yeah be careful. Last time this was posted someone dug into the detail and found the "don't even have to pay with your card!!!" part was misleading and only applied under particular circumstances.

    • +2

      You too, can "dig into the details" by simply reading the PDS.
      If you mean Interstate Flight Inconvenience or Transit Accident Insurance, then yes the PDS does say:

      This cover extends to the personal Diamond or personal Platinum
      cardholder’s spouse and/or dependent children provided they
      are travelling with the personal Diamond or personal Platinum
      cardholder and the entire cost of their return interstate flights (but
      not taxes, or airport or travel agent’s charges) was also charged to the
      personal Diamond or personal Platinum cardholder’s eligible credit
      card account. (P75)

      and

      This cover is available on trips where prior to the trip, the entire
      payment for the trip was charged to the cardholder’s eligible credit
      card account. In certain circumstances the benefits also extend to the
      cardholder’s spouse and/or dependent children, provided they are
      travelling with the cardholder and before the trip, the payment
      for their trip was also charged to the cardholder’s eligible credit
      card account. (P77)

      But you you're talking about International Travel Insurance, then it's just as it is laid out here in the post. So I would reverse your statement, and say that you are forced to spend on the card only for specific insurance cover.

      • +1

        In any case, every insurance policy is different. You should read the PDS anyway, even with paid-for insurance policies.

  • +2

    Seriously, where have you been?

  • Looks like it's only for international travel, how about domestic? can I still use this?

  • +1

    It's not that easy to qualify for insurance on some of these….
    With the Citibank Signature (which a lot of people here would have) you have to pay for the airfares in full but if you are using frequent flyer points you have to have transferred 15,000 points in the last 12 months from your signature to the frequent flyer program.

  • Be sure to read the PDS. Back when I was working as a travel agent these free credit card travel insurance policies were worth exactly what you paid for them.

    Maybe it's changed but that would strike me as being too good to be true

  • +1

    Be aware that in addition to excess this is also not "new for old" replacement, and that it does not cover damage to items in checked-in luggage. Below a few relevant fragments, BUT you really have to read complete PDS:

    "we will deduct the following amounts from the replacement cost for: phones, electrical devices, communication devices, all computers, photographic equipment, tablets and electronics equipment - 1.75% for each month you have owned the item up to a maximum amount of 60% […long list of similar exclusions follows]"

    and:

    "we will not pay for loss of or damage [in] checked-in baggage/luggage […] unless the baggage/luggage is directly under your personal supervision or that of your travel companion".

  • Great to know however ensure to read the PDS as applicable to your specific travel needs.

    For example, car or motorcycle coverage (including medical, 3rd party and hire insurance excess) may be compromised or void if you are not validly licensed for that country.

    Often this requires to have an International Drivers licence (get over the counter at many NRMA branches for around $39 per year) and that you are also licensed for the class of vehicle.

    eg. if you don't hold a full motorcycle licence then you are not covered for certain bike capacities. Or that you are NOT COVERED if you are riding without a helmet, under the influence of drugs/alcohol or even riding pillion with an unlicensed rider.

    DO not discover this AFTER you have your accident! Read the PDS and prepare before your trip.

    • Often this requires to have an International Drivers licence

      Just to clarify this is a international drivers permit and requires your license to be carried with it. It's purely a translation of your drivers license.

      The price is also a ripoff for what it is and it should be smaller to match the size of the passport. Another way our motoring organisations rip us off.

  • After reading all the posts here I got more confused…
    Can someone provide the answer Yes or No to the followings:
    If
    I hold a CBA Platinum card
    AND I register via Netbank to activate the travel insurance
    AND I spend nothing (zero amount) on the credit card
    AND I travel overseas (outside Australia)
    Then
    Am I 100% covered for CBA complimentary travel insurance (Yes/No)?

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