Travellers relying on credit card-included travel insurance are being urged to check their coverage, as major Australian banks reduce or remove complimentary benefits ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s card surcharge reforms taking effect from 1 October 2026.
Banks apply different timelines and changes
NAB has removed complimentary international and domestic travel insurance, along with rental vehicle excess cover, from some cards for claimable events on or after 15 May 2026, though some eligible cards have added mobile phone insurance instead. ANZ is moving to three levels of insurance benefits from 9 December 2026, with some cards seeing reduced cover and others losing complimentary travel insurance entirely.
CommBank will reduce or remove insurance across various card options from 29 September 2026. Customers with a trip planned on or after that date who want cover under their existing policy must activate travel insurance by 28 September 2026 and spend at least $500 in a single transaction on prepaid travel costs using their eligible card before departing Australia. Westpac’s changes take effect from 1 October 2026, requiring customers to activate cover before travel under its revised complimentary insurance policy.
Compare the Market’s Chris Ford said the differing approaches across banks added to traveller confusion.
“We’ve long urged travellers to err on the side of caution with credit card-included cover and to look out for potential policy gaps. Now, those gaps could be getting even bigger,” Ford said.
“Travellers who have relied on complimentary credit card-based travel insurance will need to be even more wary due to these changes and should always double-check the bank’s fine print.”
Standalone policies offer comparable value
Ford said standalone travel insurance often represented better value than a credit card carrying a high annual fee for its benefits alone.
“Unless you were already using the card and taking advantage of the other points benefits, getting a credit card for travel insurance cover alone probably wasn’t the best-value option in today’s competitive travel insurance market,” he said.
Compare the Market found standalone cover for a 30-year-old travelling to Thailand for 12 days in December 2026 available from $83, including $10,000 in trip cancellation cover and $5,000 in luggage cover with a $200 excess. The same traveller taking a six-day Australian cruise instead could find comparable cover from $43.
