In addition to being a quick and convenient way to pay for purchases, all bank cards include additional services that are often overlooked, but very practical, especially during the holidays.
Your bank card is probably the item you carry with you most often. Very practical, it allows you to pay for your purchases at retailers or on the Internet. But did you know that it also offers several very useful advantages when you travel, some of which could even save your life in the event of a problem?
Holidays are often an opportunity to travel, to recharge your batteries and get away from it all. But organising a trip far from home is no easy task, and involves a lot of preparation, from choosing the means of transport, booking accommodation, renting a vehicle on site or equipment for a specific activity, such as skiing or diving.
All these operations, in addition to being time-consuming, quickly become expensive. And the bill can climb even higher when you ask yourself what insurance to take out to protect yourself against the various problems that can arise during a trip. Flight cancellation, lost luggage, bad fall or traffic accident are all mishaps that can ruin your getaway and cost you dearly.
But before you rush to the insurance offers proposed by the different airlines or tour operators, take a look at your bank card contract. Indeed, all international payment cards include a series of insurance and assistance guarantees, which cover you when traveling far from your home.
For example, insurance guarantees allow you to obtain compensation, or even a full refund, in the event of postponement or cancellation of your trip, but also in the event of an accident with a rental vehicle or loss of your luggage by the carrier. To benefit from it, you simply have to have paid for the services that caused the loss or damage with your bank card.
Assistance guarantees, for their part, offer you valuable help in the event of a problem during a stay, such as hospitalization abroad, repatriation or early return to France, and even legal aid in the event of a dispute on site. And to benefit from them, this time you just need to be in possession of your valid bank card. So remember to renew it in the event of a prolonged trip!
These general protections offered by all bank cards vary, however, depending on the range of your card, its payment network (Mastercard, Visa, etc.) and the conditions set by your bank. While the insurance and assistance guarantees remain similar, the amount of compensation and the excess, the exclusion clauses, the maximum lengths of stay or the level of service may vary.
So, it can be really beneficial to take a little time to go and dissect your bank card contract, in order to know precisely what benefits are included. You will then be able to decide, with full knowledge of the facts, what additional insurance to take out during your trip and leave with more peace of mind.