Does anyone use this benefit that you get with gold and platinum cards? Is the insurance from the rental company more convenient to use than the insurance from the credit card company?
I use it every time I rent a car. If you pay for the car with your card you get free collision/loss/etc coverage, so you can waive the one offered by the rental company. This translates into about $15 less per day... read the contract you have with your card issuer for details...
I go to about a dozen business trips a year, and I only get liability coverage since even if my gold AMEX corporate doesn't cover collision,loss,etc, my personal auto insurance covers rental cars. Since my liability on my insurance is only $30,000, I think it's worth paying a few bucks so if I cause a humungous accident and get sued, my ass is covered. TomL
George, So don't you have to have both to be fully covered? Or is it, if you took out rental insurance and have an accident, the credit card will nullify all responsibility toward the car and force you to rely on the rental policy only? I remember something being very tricky about the Gold car rental priviledge. Marci
What I have been told is that your personal car insurance is "primary", they pay first...then the credit card insurance pays what is left over up to a point...then YOU pay anything else. If you get the rental car companies insurance...they will probably pay less than what your insurance plus the credit card insurance would pay...(LOTS OF FINE PRINT)!!! IF YOU HAVE "CREDIT CARD INSURANCE", IT SAYS YOU MUST!!!!! DECLINE CAR RENTAL COMPANIES INSURANCE. You should have gotten the "FINE PRINT" car insurance paper with your gold card...read it.
its a lot easier to just pay the $10/day insurance, a friend of mine says you can pretty much wreck the car with their own insurance, walk back in hand them the keys and get a new car in a minute. Theres a lot more "crap" you'll have to go through to use your platinum insurance etc..
IF YOU WANT TO PAY $10.00-$15.00 PER DAY FINE... The point is that you already paid for the "personal" car insurance, and the "credit card insurance" is FREE.
A little over two years ago while driving to Chicago, I was in an accident in a rental car (got rear ended slowing down for an off-ramp). The car was totaled (luckily no injuries), the rental car company (Avis) handled everything under their insurance. I filled out one form, and a rental agreement and then got another car as soon as the local office opened and went on with my vacation. I got a phone call a week or so after my return to Hawaii for details and maybe a month later a letter saying everything was settled. I'm not sure how a personal insurance company or a CC would handle it, but I doubt it would be as convenient or that the insurance company wouldn't hold it against me. YMMV. -Will
