I HAVE learnt the hard way to distrust the word free.

There was a time I was easily swayed by freebies till I ended up buying a television because it came free with a toaster. Neither worked properly a single day.

Eventually, I got tired following up with the company and put it up on ebay, enticing other unsuspecting customers with the free bait.

Today, I consider myself savvy. When something comes 'free', there is always a catch -- in the form of small print, false promises, tricky paperwork or extra money.

Credit card companies use the word free liberally -- they even claim to give you free insurance. So where is the catch? This is what we found.

Check the big and the small
You are excited. The credit card company has printed in font size 80, bold, that you are eligible for accident insurance, baggage loss, purchase protection and waiver of premiums.

But don't miss the size eight sentence they print: it says you are eligible to make a claim only if you fulfill certain conditions.

The main cover is the accidental death and disability benefit cover. These are provided to the family of the card holder should death or disability occur due to accidents arising from air travel.

The catch: an insurance cover worth Rs 30 lakh (Rs 3 million) to Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) is much publicised, but the claim is processed only if the accident or death is a result of airborne travel.

Non-air travel compensation is about Rs 3 lakh (Rs 300,000) to Rs 4 lakh (Rs 400,000).

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