Credit cards offer a lot of travel-related benefits that most people don’t seem to know much about. Rental car insurance, travel accident insurance, and insurance for lost/delayed luggage are just a few of these perks.
WalletHub conducted a nationally representative online survey to see whether travel benefits will be put to good use this summer or left unused, plus a whole lot more. You can find the results below.
Key Stats
- Tariffs Making Perks More Appealing: 43% of Americans say tariffs will make them explore credit card travel benefits more.
- Safety First: 33% of people want their credit card to give them insurance for accidents while traveling, making it the most popular travel benefit, followed by trip delay or cancellation insurance (29%), rental car insurance (20%), and airport lounge access (18%).
- Missing Out on Perks: More than 2 in 5 people don’t know what travel benefits their credit cards have.
- Confidence in Card Coverage: 67% of people trust the rental car insurance provided by credit cards more than what rental companies offer.
- Paying for Premium Perks: 35% of Americans are willing to pay a higher annual fee on a credit card in return for premium travel benefits.
Full Survey & Responses
| Which credit card feature do you want most? (select one) | |
|---|---|
| Insurance for accidents while traveling | 33% |
| Trip delay/cancellation insurance | 29% |
| Rental car insurance | 20% |
| Airport lounge access | 18% |
| Do you take advantage of your credit card’s benefits? | |
| Yes | 85% |
| No | 15% |
| Do you trust rental car insurance from your credit card or the rental agency more? | |
| Credit card | 67% |
| Rental agency | 33% |
| How important are travel benefits on your credit card? | |
| Somewhat important | 47% |
| Very important | 38% |
| Not important | 15% |
| Has inflation forced you to use credit card travel benefits more? | |
| No | 57% |
| Yes | 43% |
| Are you willing to pay a higher annual fee on a credit card in return for premium travel benefits like airport lounge access and elite status perks? | |
| No | 65% |
| Yes | 35% |
| Do you know what travel benefits your credit cards have? | |
| Yes | 57% |
| No | 43% |
| Will tariffs make you explore credit card travel benefits more? | |
| No | 57% |
| Yes | 43% |
| Are the travel benefits on credit cards overrated? | |
| Yes | 53% |
| No | 47% |
| Which type of credit card do you prefer to use when traveling? | |
| Travel credit card | 47% |
| Airline credit card | 33% |
| Hotel credit card | 21% |
Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Survey Methodology
This report reflects the results of a nationally representative online survey of 200 respondents.
After we collected all responses, we normalized the data by age, gender, and income so that the sample would reflect U.S. demographics.
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