Credit card changes to affect some travel insurance

Imminent credit card changes will affect the travel insurance that’s offered with them.

For example, from October 1, Westpac is removing trip cancellation, travel delay, and luggage cover. It is also decreasing maximum trip duration and the insurance will have to be activated before leaving Australia.

Also from October 1, Bankwest is making changes to its credit cards and complimentary credit card insurance. For example, both Bankwest Platinum Mastercard and Bankwest World Mastercard will no longer include “interstate flight inconvenience”.

But World Mastercard adds limited baggage delay and repatriation coverage.

From September 29, 2026, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is closing the CommBank Awards program and introducing CommBank Yello points as the new way to earn points.

But it is removing complimentary travel insurance on most standard credit cards, though it remains on select premium cards like Ultimate.

It will also “impose a $500 pre-trip spend activation requirement” for policies from September 29.

ANZ is phasing in measures which reduce trip cancellation limits, personal liability caps, and maximum cover duration to one month on certain cards, with further card insurance removals slated for December.

From December 9, 2026, the bank will introduce three levels of credit card insurance benefits. Each level determines the cover available.

For example, the ANZ Platinum credit card will be classified as a Level 2 Card, with these changes to international travel insurance cover:

+ The maximum period of cover will reduce from up to three consecutive months to up to one month for the travelling, their spouse and/or dependants.

+ Trip cancellation cover reduces from $20,000 to $10,000 per cardholder or spouse. Dependants are included within the cardholder’s limit.

+ Personal liability cover will be cut from $3m to $1m per event for the cardholder or spouse. Dependants are included within the cardholder’s limit.

From the same date, some international travel insurance benefits will be removed. But overseas emergency assistance (including medical evacuation and repatriation), overseas emergency medical, overseas emergency dental (spontaneous toothache), cancellation and

personal liability will remain,

From March 24, 2027, there will be further changes to the international travel insurance cover for Level 1 Cards such as ANZ Frequent Flyer Black and ANX Rewards Black, including a reduction in travel insurance caps.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

It is estimated that there could be as many as 290 types of credit cards offered by more than 30 financial brands in Australia.

So this story serves mainly as an alert — to check for any policy changes for the credit cards you hold.

And remember that, even within one bank, its different credit cards may have different benefits and changes.