This card does not include trip cancellation insurance. If you cancel a prepaid trip before departure for a covered reason such as illness or a family emergency, your non-refundable costs are not reimbursed by this card. The SimplyCash Preferred protects in-trip events only, not pre-departure cancellation.
American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card insurance: which protections actually pay out?
American Express·CA$120/year·American Express·Belair Insurance Company Inc. (Intact); Travel Accident underwritten by Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada; assistance and claims by Global Excel Management Inc.
Pauline LauroreAuthor of HelloSafe's card insurance reviewsUpdated June 25, 20268 min read
3,3/5Independent review · verified June 2026
2,9
4,5
2,9
Our Verdict · Travel Insurance
Our take on travel insurance for the American Express SimplyCash Preferred
Expert review · Pauline LauroreAuthor of HelloSafe's card insurance reviews
A genuine $5,000,000 emergency medical benefit and a primary rental car cover, but no trip cancellation and no trip interruption at all. That gap defines the SimplyCash Preferred's travel insurance. The headline is the $5,000,000 emergency medical limit, in excess of your provincial plan, with Global Excel arranging direct billing where possible. The hard catch, shared with every Amex travel card: the certificate only insures travellers age 64 or under on the departure date, for the first 15 consecutive days of a trip. A 65-year-old cardholder has no emergency medical here at all. What is missing matters as much as what is present. There is no trip cancellation and no trip interruption, so a trip you cancel before departure, or have to cut short for a covered reason, is not reimbursed. For a card marketed on cash back rather than travel, that is the honest trade-off. The in-trip benefits that do exist are modest. Flight delay, missed connection, and baggage delay share a single $500 aggregate per occurrence; lost baggage and hotel burglary are each $500; and travel accident on a common carrier is $100,000 through Chubb Life. Pre-existing conditions must be stable 90 days before departure. Under 65, this is useful emergency medical and a fair set of in-trip benefits for a sub-$120 fee. Treat it as a medical-and-rental card, not a full trip-protection card, and never as medical coverage at 65 or older.
What works on travel
- $5,000,000 emergency medical for travellers age 64 and under, with Global Excel arranging direct payment where possible
- Flight delay, missed connection, baggage delay, lost baggage, and hotel burglary all included
- $100,000 common carrier travel accident through Chubb Life
- Coverage extends to spouse and dependent children, whether travelling together or not
- Low $119.88 annual fee for a card that carries real emergency medical
Where travel breaks down
- No trip cancellation coverage at all
- No trip interruption coverage at all
- Emergency medical insures only travellers age 64 or under: no medical coverage at 65 or older
- Flight delay, missed connection, and baggage delay share a single $500 aggregate per occurrence
- Lost baggage and hotel burglary are each capped at $500, and travel accident is only $100,000
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 · 11 guarantees
What does American Express SimplyCash Preferred Travel Insurance actually cover?
What's not covered
- No trip cancellation benefit. Non-refundable prepaid travel cancelled before departure is not reimbursed by this card.
Emergency medical insures only travellers age 64 or under. At 65 or older there is no medical coverage at all, regardless of the $5M limit, so a U.S. hospital stay then sits entirely on you.
Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical pays up to $5,000,000 per insured person for the first 15 consecutive days of a trip, in excess of your provincial plan. The certificate insures only travellers age 64 or under on the departure date: there is no medical coverage at 65 or older. Global Excel arranges direct payment where possible. Call before treatment, or you pay 20% of covered expenses (to a maximum of $25,000) when you use a non-approved provider.
What's covered
- Hospital accommodation and physician fees
- Emergency dental from an accidental blow
- Ground and air ambulance, prescriptions, and diagnostics
- Return to your departure point when medically necessary
- Return of a deceased person
What's not covered
- Travellers 65 or older (not insured persons for medical)
- Days beyond the first 15 consecutive days of a trip
- Pre-existing conditions not stable for 90 days before departure
- Travel against a Government of Canada advisory
- Non-emergency, elective, or experimental treatment
Call Global Excel before any evacuation or medical transport. Like the medical benefit, it does not apply to travellers 65 or older.
Emergency air ambulance, medically necessary transport, and return to your departure point are covered within the $5,000,000 Emergency Medical benefit. Global Excel arranges and pays for medically necessary transport, then your return home. Return of a deceased person is included. Applies only to insured persons age 64 or under. Call Global Excel before any transport.
What's covered
- Air ambulance or stretcher transport when medically necessary
- One-way economy airfare home when medically necessary
- Return of a deceased person (preparation and transport)
- Return of dependent children travelling with you
What's not covered
- Transport not approved in advance by Global Excel
- Travellers 65 or older
- Non-emergency or elective transport
This card does not include trip interruption insurance. If a covered emergency cuts your trip short after departure, the unused non-refundable portion of your trip and the cost of an early return home are not reimbursed by this card. A medically necessary return for travellers age 64 and under is handled under the emergency medical benefit instead.
What's not covered
- No trip interruption benefit. The unused portion of a trip cut short, and extra transport home for a non-medical covered reason, are not reimbursed.
Missed connection, flight delay, and baggage delay share one $500 aggregate per occurrence, not $500 each.
Flight Delay covers reasonable expenses when a delayed departure or denied boarding holds you up 4 hours or more with no alternative within 4 hours. The benefit shares a single $500 aggregate per occurrence with the missed connection and baggage delay coverages. The airfare must be charged to the Card.
What's covered
- Meals and accommodation during the delay
- Reasonable local transportation
- Triggered by a delay of 4 hours or more, or denied boarding
What's not covered
- Delays under 4 hours
- Expenses above the $500 aggregate per occurrence
- Expenses not incurred during the delay
Missed Connection reimburses meals, accommodation, and local transportation when a missed connection or delayed flight leaves you delayed 4 hours or more with no alternative offered. It shares the same $500 aggregate per occurrence with the flight delay and baggage delay coverages.
What's covered
- Meals and accommodation while you wait
- Reasonable local transportation
- Triggered by a 4-hour or longer delay with no alternative
What's not covered
- Delays under 4 hours
- Amounts above the shared $500 aggregate
- Voluntary missed connections
This card does not provide a trip interruption early-return benefit. The cost of returning home early for a covered reason is not reimbursed, except that a medically necessary return is arranged under the emergency medical benefit for insured travellers age 64 or under.
What's not covered
- No standalone early-return benefit. Non-medical early return home is not reimbursed by this card.
Emergency Baggage Delay reimburses essential purchases when your checked baggage is not delivered within 6 hours of arrival at your outbound destination. Expenses must be incurred within 4 days. The benefit shares a single $500 aggregate per occurrence with the flight delay and missed connection coverages, and it does not apply on flights returning home.
What's covered
- Essential clothing and toiletries
- Expenses incurred within 4 days of the delay
- Triggered by a delay over 6 hours
What's not covered
- Delays of 6 hours or less
- Flights returning to your residence
- Amounts above the shared $500 aggregate
Capped at just $500 per occurrence with tight sub-limits, and electronics, cameras, and eyewear are excluded outright.
Lost or Stolen Baggage covers loss or damage to checked or carry-on baggage and personal effects on a flight, up to $500 per occurrence for all insured persons combined. A $300 sub-limit applies to jewellery and a $250 sub-limit to golf clubs and bags. Cash, documents, electronics, cameras, eyewear, and fragile items are excluded.
What's covered
- Loss or damage to baggage and personal effects on a flight
- Up to $500 per occurrence for all insured combined
- Jewellery up to $300; golf clubs and bags up to $250
What's not covered
- Cash, currency, gift cards, and traveller's cheques
- Tickets and important documents
- Electronics, cameras, eyewear, and cell phones
- Fragile items and amounts above the $500 occurrence limit
Travel accident is capped at $100,000 here, a fifth of the $500,000 on Amex's premium travel cards.
Travel Accident Insurance pays a lump sum for accidental death or dismemberment while riding as a passenger, boarding, or alighting from a common carrier on a covered trip: up to $100,000 for loss of life or a covered dismemberment, per the schedule. Underwritten by Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada. The fare must be charged to the Card.
Recommended : CA$500,000
What's covered
- Accidental death or covered dismemberment, up to $100,000
- Coverage as a passenger on a licensed common carrier
- Applies when the fare is charged to the Card
- Covers the cardmember, spouse, and dependent children
What's not covered
- Private or non-licensed transport (rental vehicles are not common carriers)
- Self-inflicted injury or suicide
- War or terrorism
- Losses outside the benefit's time limit
Hotel Burglary pays up to $500 per burglary occurrence for loss or damage to your personal items from forced entry of your accommodation while you are registered as a guest. The accommodation must be charged to the Card.
What's covered
- Loss or damage to personal items from a burglary
- Applies while registered as a guest
- Up to $500 per burglary occurrence
What's not covered
- Theft without a forced-entry burglary of the accommodation
- Burglary of a place other than your accommodation
- Cash and documents
- Amounts above the $500 occurrence cap
Policy document 1
Policy document 2
We source benefits from official card guides, but PDFs are sometimes hard to obtain or update. Spotted something off?
Coverage Radar
Where the American Express SimplyCash Preferred wins, where it loses
Coverage snapshot for this tab — click any layer to highlight its scores.
Compare
SimplyCash PreferredThis card3.3/5?
$119.88/yrWith travel insuranceIdeal
Complete coverage · 5.0 / 5Premium card avg.
$150 avg. annual feeClick a layer to highlight its scores on the radar.
Side-by-side comparison
How the American Express SimplyCash Preferred stacks up against the alternatives
Same 5 coverage dimensions, ranked head-to-head against the cards most SimplyCash Preferred shoppers also consider.
| Card | This card SimplyCash Preferred American Express · $119.88/yr 3.3/5? | Aeroplan Reserve American Express · $599/yr 4.1/5? | Rewards World Elite Mastercard BMO · $150/yr 4.3/5? | World Elite Mastercard National Bank · $150/yr 4.1/5? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Trip cancellation Per person, per trip cap | Not covered Cover this gap → | $1,500 / person Covered reasons apply | $2,500 / person ($5,000 / account) $0 deductible | $2,500 / person Up to $2,500 / person |
Emergency medical Hospital bills abroad | $5,000,000 Age 64 or under only | $5,000,000 Age 64 or under only | $2,000,000 (under 65, first 21 days) First 21 days only | $5,000,000 / person Up to $5,000,000 / trip |
Emergency evacuation Air ambulance + repatriation | Within $5M medical Within emergency medical | Within $5M medical Within emergency medical | Actual cost (pre-authorization required) Pre-authorization required | Actual cost Actual cost |
Trip delay trigger Hours before benefits kick in | 4h / $500 agg 4-hour trigger | 4h / $1,000 agg 4-hour trigger | $500 / account / trip (6h+ delay) Trigger: 6 hours | $500 / person Trigger: 4 hours |
Trip interruption Covered amount | Not covered Cover this gap → | $1,500 / person Covered reasons apply | $2,000 / person Up to $2,000 / person | $5,000 / person Up to $5,000 / person |
StrongLimited / misleadingNot covered
Data verified against each card's Guide to Benefits, May 2026.
Emergency · Card assistance line
How to contact American Express SimplyCash Preferred assistance?
Travel and purchase coverages run through Global Excel Management
Canada and U.S. Assistance
1-800-243-0198
24/7
International Assistance
+905-475-4822 (collect)
Collect calls accepted · 24/7
Benefit administrator: Belair Insurance Company Inc. (Intact) underwrites the travel and purchase coverages; Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada underwrites Travel Accident | Global Excel Management Inc. is the assistance and claims service provider
Claims & pre-authorizations
How to file an American Express SimplyCash Preferred Card claim
1
Step 1: Call Global Excel before treatment
For a medical emergency, call Global Excel before you seek treatment at 1-800-243-0198 (Canada and U.S.) or +905-475-4822 collect from abroad. They are available 24/7 and can arrange to pay the provider directly where possible. If you do not call and use a non-approved provider, you pay 20% of covered expenses (to a maximum of $25,000). Emergency medical applies only to travellers age 64 or under.
2
Step 2: Report the day it happens
For a flight or baggage delay, missed connection, hotel burglary, or lost baggage, contact Global Excel the day the cause occurs or the next business day. For a rental car loss, report it within 48 hours. Keep boarding passes, your Card statement showing the charge, and any police, hotel, or airline reports.
3
Step 3: Gather your documents
Collect itemized receipts and invoices, your Amex Card statement showing the trip or purchase was charged, your provincial health plan statement for medical claims, and original proof of loss. For a mobile device claim, keep the purchase receipt and proof the device was charged to or financed through the Card. Keep all originals.
4
Step 4: Submit within the deadline
Send your completed claim form and original documents to Global Excel Management Inc. within the filing deadline (generally 90 days from the date of loss). Travel accident claims are handled with Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada. Approved claims are paid in Canadian funds.
FAQ
What people ask about the American Express SimplyCash Preferred
- There is no separate enrolment. Emergency medical, flight and baggage delay, missed connection, hotel burglary, lost baggage, and travel accident coverage apply when you charge your travel to the Card. For rental cars, decline the agency collision damage waiver at the counter and charge the full rental to the Card. In a medical emergency, call Global Excel first at 1-800-243-0198, or you pay 20% of covered expenses. Note that this card has no trip cancellation or trip interruption coverage.
- Emergency medical covers the cardmember, spouse, and dependent children only if they are age 64 or under on the departure date and hold a valid provincial health plan; travellers 65 or older are not insured persons for medical. Flight and baggage delay, lost baggage, hotel burglary, and travel accident cover the cardmember, spouse, and dependent children whether travelling together or not. Purchase protection, extended warranty, and mobile device insurance cover the cardmember's purchases.
- Charge the entire rental to the Card and decline the rental agency collision damage waiver at the counter. Coverage is primary, so Belair pays for theft, loss, or damage up to the vehicle's actual cash value with no deductible, before your personal auto insurer is involved. It applies to vehicles with an MSRP of $85,000 or less for rentals up to 48 consecutive days. Report any loss to Global Excel within 48 hours. There is no third-party liability or roadside assistance.
- Call Global Excel Management at 1-800-243-0198 (Canada and U.S.) or +905-475-4822 collect from abroad, on the day the event happens. Submit your claim within the filing deadline, generally 90 days, with itemized receipts, your Card statement showing the charge, your provincial health statement for medical claims, and any police or airline reports. Travel accident claims are handled with Chubb Life. Approved claims are paid in Canadian funds.
- There is no trip cancellation and no trip interruption coverage at all, so a trip cancelled before departure or cut short after departure is not reimbursed. Emergency medical does not cover travellers 65 or older, and pre-existing conditions must be stable for 90 days before departure. Flight delay, missed connection, and baggage delay share a single $500 aggregate per occurrence, hotel burglary and lost baggage are each $500, and travel accident is capped at $100,000. There is no price protection, return protection, or identity theft coverage.
- Emergency medical is excess coverage that pays in excess of your provincial plan and any other insurance. Where possible, Global Excel arranges to pay the hospital or clinic directly when you call first, which is a real advantage on a large bill. For smaller bills or where a provider will not bill an insurer, you pay up front and claim it back. Calling 1-800-243-0198 before treatment protects both your reimbursement and any chance of direct billing, and avoids the 20% penalty.
- It is primary. Belair pays a covered rental theft or collision claim up to the vehicle's actual cash value, with no deductible, before your personal auto insurer is involved, which keeps your own policy and record clean. Decline the agency collision damage waiver and charge the full rental to the Card. The vehicle MSRP must be $85,000 or less and the rental no longer than 48 consecutive days.
- Not for emergency medical. The certificate defines an insured person for medical as someone age 64 or under on the departure date, so a traveller 65 or older has no emergency medical coverage on this card, regardless of the $5,000,000 limit. The non-medical benefits, such as flight and baggage delay, lost baggage, hotel burglary, and travel accident, still apply. Travellers 65 or older should buy a separate medical policy before departure.
- Yes. Mobile Device Insurance covers a lost, stolen, or accidentally damaged mobile device up to $1,000 per occurrence when the full purchase price is charged to the Card, or financed and paid through the Card. You are reimbursed the device's depreciated value (2% per completed month) less a 10% deductible, so the real payout on an older phone is well below $1,000. Claims are limited to one in any 12 months and two in any 48 months. This is a benefit the pricier Amex Gold Rewards Card does not include.
Not just American Express
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SimplyCash Preferred is a strong choice — but depending on what you prioritize, one of these may suit you better.
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