Does the Capital One Platinum card offer roadside assistance?

Capital One purchase protection covers things you purchase entirely with your Capital One card from theft or damage for the first 90 days after the purchase. They will replace, repair or reimburse you up to the original purchase price. The maximum amount per claim/cardholder depends on the type of credit card and its network.… read full answer

Types of Cards with Purchase Protection

Capital One’s purchase protection benefits depend on the tier of your Capital One Mastercard or Visa. For example, Capital One’s Visa Signature, Visa Professional, and Visa Business credit cards have this benefit. On the Mastercard side, Capital One’s World, World Elite, World Elite Business, and Business Platinum Mastercards offer purchase protection. The tiers without purchase protection include Visa Platinum and Platinum Mastercard. The tier you get generally depends on your creditworthiness at the time you apply for a card.

To see which kind of Capital One card you have, flip the card over. You’ll see the Visa or Mastercard logo, and “Signature,” “Platinum,” “Business,” etc., will be written above or below the logo. But keep in mind that just because you have one of those cards doesn’t mean your card has the purchase protection benefit, though.

Here is more info about the Capital One purchase protection coverage:

• What is covered: Some examples of what’s covered by Capital One’s purchase protection include items purchased with your Capital One card that are stolen, damaged by fire or vandalism, or affected by “certain weather conditions.”
• What is not covered: The list of what’s not covered is extensive and specific: perishables, software, plants and animals, collectibles, used items, items stolen from vehicles or common carriers or checked luggage, and “lost” items that have disappeared without evidence of a wrongful act, among other things.
• Coverage amount: The maximum amount that you will get depends on the tier of your Capital One Mastercard or Visa. But it can vary between $500 to $10,000 per claim.

It’s important to note that many credit card benefits, like purchase protection, have been getting cut from benefits packages in recent years. The information above is correct right now, but could quickly change. If you plan on getting one of these credit cards, refer to the benefits booklet that comes with your new card for the most accurate information. You can also look up your card’s benefits on the Capital One website.

Capital One’s rental car insurance covers physical damage or theft of a rental vehicle. It also covers reasonable towing costs and any valid loss-of-use charges from the rental agency. Put simply, Capital One’s rental car insurance covers the same things as the insurance add-on from the rental agency.

To receive Capital One rental car insurance, all you have to do is use your Capital One credit card when you make the reservation and reject the insurance offered by the rental agency. Capital One’s rental car insurance is not valid for domestic rentals that exceed 15 days or international rentals exceeding 31 days. Not all vehicles are covered by Capital One’s rental car insurance, either. Expensive/exotic/antique automobiles are not covered. Neither are motorcycles, trucks, recreational vehicles or certain vans.… read full answer

If you need to file a claim with Capital One’s rental car insurance (also called the “auto rental damage collision waiver"), call the Benefits Administrator within 45 days of a covered incident. You’ll need to get a claim form from the Benefits Administrator. You’ll also need a copy of the repair estimate and an itemized bill from the auto shop. Plus, don’t forget to ask the rental agency for copies of the accident report as well as the initial and final rental agreements. If available, it’s best to have photographs of the damaged vehicle and a copy of the police report, too. Claims are usually finalized within 15 days of the Benefits Administrator receiving all of the required documents.

Travel credit cards work just like any other rewards credit card, though they tend to reward cardholders more for making travel-related purchases than anything else. The points or miles that travel credit cards provide are also usually worth more when redeemed for travel, compared to other redemption methods. Plus, travel credit cards commonly offer features such as travel insurance, no foreign transaction fee, airport lounge access, and reimbursement for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry application fees.… read full answer

Travel rewards credit cards offer rewards in one of two currencies: miles or points. There isn’t much of a difference between the two, but miles are more frequently used in the context of airline rewards, while points are often associated with hotels. On that note, co-branded travel cards tend to give higher rewards rates and special perks with specific airline and hotel brands, while non-cobranded travel cards don’t favor any particular brand but give good rewards on travel purchases in general.

How Travel Credit Cards Work

They often reward you more for travel.

Travel purchases are usually going to be a lot more profitable rewards-wise than other types of purchases. For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred gives 5 points per $1 spent on travel purchased through Chase, 2 points per $1 on all other travel purchases, 3 points per $1 on dining and online grocery purchases, 3 points per $1 on select streaming services, and 1 point per $1 on all other purchases. But this isn’t true for every card. Capital One Venture, for instance, gives 2 miles / $1 on almost all purchases.

Travel redemption is usually the best value.

In most cases, you don’t have to spend your rewards on travel, but the credit cards companies give big incentives for you to do so. Take Chase Sapphire Preferred, for example. You get 25% more value from your points when you redeem them for travel.

No foreign transaction fees.

Very few travel cards will charge you extra for using your card abroad or with foreign merchants online. But you should check your cardholder agreement just to be sure.

There may be booking restrictions.

Some travel cards, like Capital One Venture, pride themselves on rewarding you equally for any type of travel, no matter where you book it. But other cards, especially airline or hotel cards, may only give travel-specific rewards rates if you book directly through the issuer.

You may need at least good credit.

Travel rewards cards are typically available only to people with good or excellent credit. You should shoot for a credit score of 700+ for cards that require good credit and 750+ for excellent credit.

You’ll often get travel insurance & other perks.

Travel insurance is a big plus. Some cards will cover you for trip cancellation, delays or accidents. Many travel credit cards still offer rental car insurance, too, though many regular credit cards have dropped that benefit. Certain cards, generally those with annual fees, also give you a yearly credit toward airline or travel purchases. You may even get other perks like free airport lounge access and the ability to transfer your points or miles to hotel and airline loyalty programs.

So if you travel frequently, getting a travel credit card is a good idea. After all, you might as well get rewarded for trips you’d go on anyway.