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If you’ve relied on the “free travel insurance” that comes with your credit card, it’s now more important than ever to check your cover before you travel.
Recent updates from BNZ, taking effect for trips departing after 3 February 2026 have highlighted a broader shift across the market: credit card travel insurance is becoming more specific, less automatic, and increasingly dependent on travellers meeting detailed eligibility criteria.
While BNZ’s changes have drawn attention, they’re part of a wider move among New Zealand banks to refine, update or rebalance their policies. What’s included, what’s excluded, how you activate cover and how benefits are applied can now vary significantly between providers.
What’s changing at BNZ?
For BNZ Advantage Visa Platinum & Business cardholders, the following changes apply to trips departing from 3 February 2026:
- Excess increases from $200 → $300 per claim
- Snow sports cover removed unless purchased as an add-on
- Cruise cover removed unless purchased as an add-on (and if your trip includes a cruise without buying this cover, the entire trip may be uninsured)
- Domestic rental vehicle excess cover removed for Platinum cardholders
- Trip duration limits remain: 90 days (Platinum) and 35 days (Business), with extensions requiring approval
These changes don’t necessarily reduce the overall value of the benefit but they do make it essential for travellers to check what is and isn’t included for their specific trip.
But BNZ is not alone. Across the major New Zealand banks, there has been a wider move toward more specific eligibility rules, optional add-ons, tightened benefit limits, and stricter activation requirements.
What have the other banks changed
Kiwibank: made substantial policy updates this year from 1 July 2025:
- Simplified activation: Spend $500+ on prepaid international travel ($250 for domestic)
- Domestic travel now included (previously overseas only)
- Updated definition of pre-existing conditions (some can never be covered)
- Travellers aged 80+ now eligible for non-medical benefits
- Benefit limits now apply per policy, not per person (e.g., $5,000 cancellation limit applies to the entire travelling party)
- Managed by Allianz Partners for claims
- Airpoints cards closed; customers migrated to a new Platinum Visa
These changes introduce both enhancements and new constraints reinforcing the need to check details before travel.
ASB: Updated wording and more emphasis on activation (from 1 March 2025)
- Updated policy wording underwritten by AIG
- Strong emphasis on using the ASB Activation Questionnaire for each trip
- Optional extras (pre-existing conditions, extended trips >90 days) available for an additional premium
- Eligibility still requires paying 50%+ of your return travel with the card
ASB’s changes are less about removals and more about tightening processes and clarity.
Westpac: Incremental updates, optional extras remain key
- Rental-vehicle excess cover increased from $3,000 ➜ $5,000 (Dec 2021)
- Snow sports and similar activities still require optional extensions
- Cover depends on policy wording at the time you activate cover, not the time of booking
While less dramatic than BNZ or Kiwibank, but travellers still need to watch activation requirements and exclusions.
ANZ: Fewer recent changes, but strict conditions still apply
- 90-day trip limit remains (must apply for an extension if travelling longer)
- Unlimited medical/cancellation cover available but only if eligibility criteria are met
- Some cards (e.g., ANZ Platinum Cash Back) no longer include travel insurance
- Exceeding the 90-day limit without approval means no cover at all, even for the first 90 days
ANZ remains relatively stable but with strict rules that can catch travellers out.
The real trend: More specific, less automatic, and more responsibility on travellers
Across the market, New Zealand credit-card travel insurance is shifting from broad, automatically-included benefits to more conditional, more specific coverage.
Common themes across banks now include:
- Higher excesses in some cases
- More benefits becoming optional add-ons (snow sports, cruises, adventure activities)
- Stricter and more detailed activation requirements
- Tighter age and medical-condition rules
- Benefit limits increasingly applied at a per-policy level
- More reliance on cardholder actions (activation, spending thresholds, documentation)
Credit card travel insurance remains a valuable perk, especially on premium cards but it is no longer safe to assume you’re fully covered without checking the details.
What travellers should do now
1. Check your card’s current policy wording
Travel insurance changes frequently, and the terms for your trip depend on the version active when you activate cover.
2. Confirm your eligibility for every trip
Activation requirements vary:
- Minimum spend
- Payment with the correct card
- Pre-trip registration
- Age/health eligibility
3. Identify gaps based on your itinerary
Snow sports, cruises, adventure activities, or long trips often need optional extensions.
4. Consider standalone cover for bigger or more complex trips
As our partner Financial Advice partner Monument note:
“More than ever, standalone travel insurance covers you far more comprehensively than any credit card’s free cover.”
- Monument Insurance
But basic doesn’t always mean comprehensive. And as changes continue across card providers, Monument’s advisers warn:
“In early 2026, members should watch out for the banks and credit card providers announcing reductions to these covers still further – typically increasing excesses or removing key elements of domestic cover.
So if you are going away on a trip, please do take the time to look at the standalone travel insurance offered at a discount from Cover-More as a member of HealthCarePlus.
More than ever, it covers you far more comprehensively than any credit card’s free cover.”
5. Compare your card’s cover with discounted member-only options
Remember you can access discounted Cover-More travel insurance, which may provide fuller protection.
Source List:
BNZ: Policy changes effective 3 Feb 2026
Kiwibank: Policy updates effective 1 July 2025
ASB: Policy wording updates effective 1 March 2025
Westpac: Rental-vehicle cover update (Dec 2021)
ANZ: Current policy conditions & eligibility requirements
Monument Financial Advisers (Cover-More partner insights)
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