Does the CommBank Low Fee credit card come with travel insurance?

Commonwealth·A$36/year·Mastercard

Low Fee
0,3/5Independent review · verified September 2026
Travel Insurance
0,0
Car Rental
0,0
Protection
2,8

Our Verdict · Travel Insurance

Our take on travel insurance for the Commonwealth Low Fee

Pauline Laurore
Expert review · Pauline LauroreAuthor of HelloSafe's card insurance reviews

No travel insurance. None at all. Here is what that means before you book an overseas trip on the CommBank Low Fee card. Most cardholders assume any Commonwealth Bank credit card comes with some overseas cover, but this one does not, and a search for CommBank Low Fee travel insurance turns up a gap rather than a policy. Medicare stops at the airport, so a hospital admission in Bali or Bangkok can run $50,000 to $200,000 entirely out of pocket. There is no assistance line to call, no cancellation cover when a family emergency stops your trip, and no interstate flight cover at home either. If you travel even once a year, a standalone travel insurance policy is not optional here, it is the whole safety net.

What works on travel
  • Low $3 monthly fee, waived when you spend $300 or more in a statement period
  • Up to 55 days interest free on purchases
  • Simple no-frills Mastercard with no travel policy to activate or misread
Where travel breaks down
  • No overseas emergency medical cover: a serious hospital bill abroad is entirely yours
  • No trip cancellation, travel delay, or luggage cover of any kind
  • 3.5% foreign transaction fee on overseas and online foreign-currency spend
Our methodology

Every score is derived from official bank documents: terms and conditions, benefit guides, and claim procedures. No commercial relationship influences our ratings.

Travel Insurance · 20 guarantees

What does Commonwealth Low Fee Travel Insurance actually cover?

No trip cancellation cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Prepaid flights, hotels, and tours are not reimbursable if you cancel, so a standalone travel insurance policy is required for this coverage.

No overseas emergency medical cover. Holding the CommBank Low Fee card gives you no assistance line and no hospital cover abroad. All medical costs overseas are your responsibility, Medicare does not cover you outside Australia, and a serious hospital admission overseas can run $50,000 to $200,000.

No emergency evacuation or repatriation cover. There is no medical assistance service attached to this card. Emergency evacuation costs are entirely your responsibility, and an air ambulance from Southeast Asia to Australia runs $60,000 to $100,000.

No overseas emergency dental cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Emergency dental treatment overseas is paid out of pocket.

No hospital cash allowance. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. There is no daily cash payment if you are hospitalised overseas.

No additional expenses cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Costs from a trip cut short, return flights and unused hotels, are out of pocket.

No travel delay cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Meals, accommodation, and transport during a delay are your responsibility.

No missed connection cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. The cost of alternative transport after a missed connection is out of pocket.

No return home cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. The cost to fly home and resume a trip after a family emergency is out of pocket.

No luggage delay cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Purchases of essential items during a bag delay are out of pocket.

No luggage cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Replacement costs for lost or stolen bags are your responsibility.

No travel documents cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Replacing a stolen passport or covering fraudulent transaction losses is out of pocket.

No personal liability cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Legal liability for injury to others or property damage overseas is uninsured, and claims commonly reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.

No accidental death benefit. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. There is no lump sum payment to your family for an accidental death while travelling.

No loss of income benefit. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. There is no income replacement if an overseas injury stops you working.

No domestic cancellation cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Prepaid interstate flights and accommodation are not reimbursable if you cancel.

No domestic flight delay cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Meals and accommodation during an interstate flight delay are your responsibility.

No domestic additional expenses cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Extra travel and accommodation costs on an interstate trip are out of pocket.

No domestic luggage cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Replacing luggage lost on an interstate flight is your responsibility.

No domestic luggage delay cover. This benefit is not included with the CommBank Low Fee card. Essential purchases during an interstate luggage delay are out of pocket.

We source benefits from official card guides, but PDFs are sometimes hard to obtain or update. Spotted something off?

Coverage Radar

Where the Commonwealth Low Fee wins, where it loses

Coverage snapshot for this tab — click any layer to highlight its scores.

Trip cancellation: not covered by this card
Medical fees abroad: not covered by this card
Medical repatriation: not covered by this card

Compare

Low FeeThis card0.3/5?
A$36/yr
With travel insuranceIdeal
Complete coverage · 5.0 / 5
Premium card avg.
A$237 avg. annual fee

Click a layer to highlight its scores on the radar.

Side-by-side comparison

How the Commonwealth Low Fee stacks up against the alternatives

Same 5 coverage dimensions, ranked head-to-head against the cards most Low Fee shoppers also consider.

Card
This card
Low Fee

Low Fee

Commonwealth · A$36/yr

0.3/5?
Vertigo Platinum

Vertigo Platinum

St.George · A$99/yr

4.3/5?
Amplify Signature

Amplify Signature

Bank of Melbourne · A$295/yr

4.3/5?

Trip cancellation

Per person, per trip cap

Unlimited

Unlimited (all prepaid)

Unlimited

Unlimited

Emergency medical

Hospital bills abroad

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited

Emergency evacuation

Air ambulance + repatriation

Unlimited

Unlimited evacuation

Unlimited

Unlimited evacuation

Trip delay trigger

Hours before benefits kick in

6h / $1,100

Trigger: 6 hours

6h / $1,100

Trigger: 6 hours

Trip interruption

Covered amount

Unlimited

Extra travel & accommodation

Unlimited

Extra travel & accommodation

StrongLimited / misleadingNot covered

Data verified against each card's Guide to Benefits, May 2026.

Cardholder reviews

What cardholders say about the Commonwealth Low Fee

Real experiences on fees, service, and disputes 50 reviews

S(

Steph (ProductReview)

March 2019

Held it for decades

I have held this card for more than 30 years now and I have never looked back.

V(

Vinny (ProductReview)

June 2023

No help with a dispute

Sadly, with CBA they do not offer any such service, CBA offered no support at all and only wanted to fob me off.

P7

Possum 76 (ProductReview)

August 2024

The small monthly fee is a nuisance

Not only is it a nuisance if zero balance for a couple or three months in paying up $6 or else interest.

Emergency · Card assistance line

How to contact Commonwealth Low Fee assistance?

Australia claims and enquiries (Cover-More)

1300 467 951

Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm, Sat 9am to 4pm Sydney time

From overseas

+61 2 8907 5060

Benefit administrator: Cover-More Insurance Services Pty Ltd, on behalf of Zurich Australian Insurance Limited (ZAIL)

How to claim on your CommBank Low Fee purchase cover

1

Step 1: Check the claim is worth more than the $100 excess

A $100 excess is deducted from every approved purchase security or extended warranty claim, so a low-value item may not be worth lodging. Confirm the amount charged to the card before you start.

2

Step 2: Lodge online at commbank.com.au/cbatravelclaims within the deadline

Report any theft or loss to police within 7 days of becoming aware of it, then submit the claim online. Hold on to the original documents, because Cover-More may request them.

3

Step 3: Provide the receipt, card statement, and any police report

Cover-More administers the cover for Zurich and will ask for proof the item was charged to the card, the purchase receipt, and a police report for theft. Some claims are approved within a few weeks, others take repeated document requests, so lodge early and keep everything dated.

FAQ

What people ask about the Commonwealth Low Fee

  • There is no travel insurance to activate. The CommBank Low Fee card does not include complimentary international travel insurance, so there is no spend threshold, no return-ticket rule, and no policy to switch on. The only insurance on the card is Purchase Security and Extended Warranty, which apply automatically when you charge an eligible item to the card. If you want overseas medical, cancellation, or luggage cover, you need a separate travel insurance policy. Note that the CommBank Low Fee Gold card is the variant that carries travel cover, not this one.
  • For travel, no one, because the CommBank Low Fee card has no travel insurance. The Purchase Security and Extended Warranty cover applies to the cardholder, and to permanent Australian residents who receive an eligible item bought on the card as a gift. There is no overseas medical, cancellation, or rental cover for you, a partner, or children. Cover-More administers the purchase and warranty benefits on behalf of the insurer, Zurich. For any travel protection for your family, a standalone policy is the only option with this card.
  • No. The CommBank Low Fee card does not reimburse rental vehicle excess, overseas or in Australia. If a hire car is damaged or stolen, the excess charged by the hire company is entirely yours, and that commonly runs $2,000 to $5,500 on an Australian hire. Charging the rental to the card makes no difference, because there is no rental excess benefit attached to it. A standalone rental excess policy, or the hire company's own excess-reduction cover, is the way to close this gap.
  • You can only claim on the Purchase Security and Extended Warranty cover, since there is no travel policy. Lodge the claim online at commbank.com.au/cbatravelclaims, and report any theft or loss to police within 7 days. Cover-More administers the cover for Zurich and will ask for the purchase receipt, your card statement showing the item was charged, and a police report where relevant. A $100 excess is deducted from each approved claim. Some cardholders report approvals within a few weeks, others describe repeated document requests, so lodge early and keep everything dated.
  • The CommBank Low Fee card has no travel insurance at all: no overseas emergency medical, no cancellation, no luggage, no travel delay, and no rental vehicle excess, overseas or domestic. It also has no mobile phone insurance, no refund cover, and no price guarantee. What it does cover is new purchases, through Purchase Security for 90 days against theft, loss, or accidental damage, and Extended Warranty on the manufacturer's Australian warranty. Both carry a $100 excess and a $3,000 per claim sub-limit on jewellery. For anything travel related, you are relying on a separate policy.
  • No. The CommBank Low Fee card does not include mobile phone insurance. If your phone screen cracks or the handset is stolen, the repair or replacement is your cost, and a flagship screen repair runs $200 to $600 while a full replacement can reach $1,200 to $2,300. Purchase Security may cover a phone in the first 90 days after you buy it on the card, against theft or accidental damage, but that is a purchase benefit, not ongoing phone insurance. Beyond 90 days, standalone mobile cover or your home contents policy is the only option.
  • Yes. Purchase Security covers new personal goods bought on the CommBank Low Fee card against theft, loss, or accidental damage for 90 days from the purchase date, anywhere in the world. The overall limit is $125,000 in any 12 month period, with a $3,000 per claim sub-limit on jewellery, watches, and fine art, and a $100 excess per claim. You must charge the item to the card and report theft or loss to police within 7 days. Items left behind or walked away from in a public place are not covered.
  • Yes. Extended Warranty extends the manufacturer's Australian warranty on items bought on the CommBank Low Fee card, by a period equal to the original warranty, up to one extra year. It does not apply if the original Australian warranty already runs longer than five years, and it covers only the breakdowns the original warranty would have. The overall limit is $30,000 in any 12 month period, with a $100 excess per claim. Keep the receipt and the original warranty terms, because Cover-More asks for both when you claim.
  • There is nothing to cover skiing or snowboarding, because the CommBank Low Fee card has no travel insurance. On a card with an overseas travel policy, on-piste skiing is often included while off-piste and racing are excluded, but none of that applies here. Any injury on the slopes, overseas or in Australia, along with medical evacuation, is entirely your cost. Medicare will help with treatment inside Australia, but not overseas. For a ski trip abroad, a dedicated snow travel policy is essential with this card.
  • No, not for overseas travel. The CommBank Low Fee card carries no travel insurance, so it does nothing for overseas medical, cancellation, luggage, or rental excess. For any international trip, you would be travelling uninsured unless you buy a standalone travel insurance policy. The card's real strengths are elsewhere: a low monthly fee waived on $300 of spend, and Purchase Security plus Extended Warranty on things you buy. Treat it as a low-cost everyday card, and arrange travel cover separately whenever you leave the country.
Not just Commonwealth

Other cards worth considering

Low Fee is a strong choice — but depending on what you prioritize, one of these may suit you better.

Vertigo Platinum

Vertigo Platinum

St.George

See Vertigo Platinum review
Amplify Signature

Amplify Signature

Bank of Melbourne

See Amplify Signature review
Low Fee Platinum

Low Fee Platinum

Westpac

See Low Fee Platinum review
Altitude Qantas Black

Altitude Qantas Black

Westpac

See Altitude Qantas Black review

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