What Are Travel Assistance Services? Key Benefits Explained

  • Travel assistance services provide real-time help for emergencies, from rebooking flights to finding medical care.
  • Common benefits include medical referrals, lost luggage assistance, and translation services.
  • These services are typically bundled with comprehensive travel insurance plans.

Have you ever needed help rebooking a missed flight, getting medical care while traveling, or finding your lost luggage? 

Travel assistance services are included in travel protection plans and with some credit cards, and they can make stressful situations more manageable. 

They provide 24/7 emergency and logistical support when you’re traveling. 

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What Are Travel Assistance Services?

Travel assistance services offer logistical, medical, and emergency support as a non-financial benefit of trip insurance.

While travel insurance reimburses you after something happens, travel assistance services are available right when you need them.

For example, a comprehensive travel protection plan covers the cost of doctor or hospital visits. But travel assistance services can refer you to a local hospital and help you navigate any bills you receive.

They can also help if you don’t speak the local language. For example, SafetyWing is an insurance provider that caters to digital nomads. They maintain a medical directory to help travelers find English-speaking hospitals around the globe. 

Some travel credit cards provide complimentary travel assistance services. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, for example, offers legal and medical referrals, as well as emergency assistance.

RELATED: Your Guide to Digital Nomad Visas

Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

Rewards Rate
  • 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
  • 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries
  • 2x on all other travel purchases
  • 1x on all other purchases
Welcome Offer

Earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening.

Annual Fee

$95

. . .

Key Benefits of Travel Assistance Services

While you might not think you’ll need travel assistance, it can offer peace of mind the next time you travel.

Medical and emergency support 

If you are experiencing a medical emergency, you can contact your insurance provider’s customer support team for guidance on what to do. They can recommend which medical facilities to visit or coordinate an evacuation if your emergency is serious.

Let’s say you’re a few days into a trip and you start experiencing abdominal pain. You reach out to the medical support team to get advice on what to do. They refer you to a local hospital where you’re diagnosed with appendicitis. 

Your travel assistance team continues to work with you after you’ve been treated. They can help you adjust your travel plans, coordinate an emergency evacuation, and help navigate the billing process so you can focus on recovering.

Travel logistics support 

Travel assistance services can also step in and help you rebook a canceled flight. If your trip is delayed, they can help you book accommodations until you can get a return flight home.

Let’s say you booked a flight with a layover. You thought you’d have enough time to make your connecting flight but your first flight was delayed. By the time you make it, you’re too late and your connecting flight has already left.

If your insurance includes travel assistance services, they can help rebook your flight and arrange accommodations. This simplifies things on your end so you don’t have to separately work with an airline or hotel.

RELATED: Flight Delay Compensation: What You’re Entitled to and How To Get It

Help with lost or stolen belongings 

Lastly, travel assistance provides logistical support for more mundane but important tasks like recovering lost luggage or replacing a lost passport. They’ll help you fill out the paperwork and guide you on getting your passport replaced quickly.

For example, SafetyWing provides a dedicated team that helps replace essential documents. They’ll help you file a report with the local authorities and guide you in getting a new passport.

If you book a trip with your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase will reimburse you up to $3,000 for lost luggage.

RELATED: Baggage Delay Insurance: How It Works

How To Access Travel Assistance Services 

Travel assistance can be accessed via phone or in-app support.

Before you go on your trip, download information for offline access. Record your provider’s emergency hotline number somewhere, in case you don’t have cell service. 

Add information about where you’re staying and important emergency services like a local hospital to a map. You can download Google Maps for offline use even if you don’t have cell service where you’re traveling.

It’s also a good idea to keep physical and digital copies of everything. Keep a scan of your passport so if you lose it, you can provide the scan to travel assistance services when they’re helping you replace it.

Tips for Using Travel Assistance Services 

Travel assistance is an added benefit that doesn’t add additional costs to your insurance premium. Here’s how to get the most out of your plan.

Check your insurance policy 

While most comprehensive travel insurance plans include travel assistance services, it’s good to double-check that it’s included in your policy.

Confirm that they provide 24/7 support, medical and emergency support, assistance during travel disruptions, and document support. 

Make sure there are no exceptions. For example, if you get a standard policy that doesn’t cover scuba diving and you have an accident, you want to make sure travel assistance services will still provide support.

You can browse and compare policies through an online platform like VisitorsCoverage, to see which plans offer the best coverage and assistance for the best price.

Understand service limitations 

Travel assistance services will coordinate a logistical response to an emergency, but they don’t cover out-of-pocket expenses. They can tell you which hospital to go to but they won’t pay for it unless it’s part of a comprehensive plan.

Make sure your insurance plan provides sufficient financial coverage for your needs, in addition to free travel assistance.

Use assistance early in an emergency 

Contact travel assistance services immediately during an emergency for support. Most offer a 24/7 hotline.

You have the service, so use it rather than stressing about navigating an emergency on your own.

Leverage non-emergency services 

Travel assistance services aren’t just for emergencies They can also act as a concierge, helping you make reservations at restaurants or book excursions. 

They can also brief you on anything you need to know about what’s happening inside a foreign country and help you make an advanced safety plan.

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FAQs About Travel Assistance Services 

What’s the difference between travel insurance and travel assistance services?

Travel insurance covers financial losses from cancellations, medical expenses, or lost personal belongings.

Travel assistance provides logistical support to rebook a flight, coordinate medical care, or help you process paperwork to replace lost luggage or an important document. 

Are travel assistance services included with all insurance plans?

Comprehensive travel protection plans often include travel assistance services but it isn’t offered in all policies.

Can travel assistance help me replace a stolen passport?

Travel assistance can help you replace a stolen passport by guiding you on filling out the right paperwork and finding the nearest embassy or consulate.

TL;DR: Getting Real-Time Help for Travel Emergencies 

Sometimes things don’t go to plan, but travel assistance services can offer essential logistical support during emergencies — so you have one less thing to worry about. 

Check your policy to see what’s covered. Ideally, your plan should include 24/7 support for travel disruptions (like a flight delay), medical emergencies, and lost luggage or documents. 

Just remember that travel assistance doesn’t cover any costs from the emergency — those will need to be submitted to your insurance company as a claim for reimbursement.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
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I'm an award-winning lawyer and personal finance expert featured in Inc. Magazine, CNBC, the Today Show, Business Insider and more. My mission is to make personal finance accessible for everyone. As the largest financial influencer in the world, I'm connected to a community of over 20 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. I'm also the host of the podcast Erika Taught Me. You might recognize me from my viral tagline, "I read the fine print so you don't have to!"

I'm a graduate of Georgetown Law, where I founded the Georgetown Law Entrepreneurship Club, and the University of Notre Dame. I discovered my passion for personal finance after realizing I was drowning in over $200,000 of student debt and needed to take action-ultimately paying off my student loans in under 2 years. I then spent years as a corporate lawyer representing Fortune 500 companies, but I quit because I realized I wanted to have an impact; I wanted to help real people and teach them that you can create a financial future for yourself.

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Advertiser Disclosure

Our aim is to help you make financial decisions with confidence through our objective article content and reviews. Erika.com is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as MileValue.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Advertiser Disclosure

Our aim is to help you make financial decisions with confidence through our objective article content and reviews. Erika.com is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as MileValue.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.