topic Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help! in Credit Cards

AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 04:50:47 GMT

Hi guys,

Has anyone used AMEX's rental insurance benefit with the card?

How does it differ from the insurance offered by the rental car company?

Thanks!

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:07:20 GMT

So even though I'm an employee of American Express, I'm talking strictly 100% as a Card Member right now because I've been using this since before I even started employment there.. if you're talking about Premium Car Rental Protection, I strongly suggest it - it basically acts as your primary insurance for the duration of your rental for a flat fee of $25 (up to 42 days) charged only when you're making a car rental reservation.. the car rental companies charge usually between $10-20/day. What's nice is in the event that there were an accident or some other sort of damage claim, you just work directly with American Express and it all gets taken care of internally - no notifying your insurance company first (which subjects you to a rate hike at renewal) like many other credit card companies or the base coverage called Car Rental Loss and Damage Insurance.

I'd recommend reading up on it (you can also enroll if you desire) at https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do and personally, I strongly recommend it.

If you were discussing the base benefit, you can read up on the details and coverages here: https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/car-rental-insurance.html

Hope this helps!

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Skye12329 — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:11:32 GMT

One saves you money

We used our PRG when renting a car. I dont think PRG offers the primary insurance, but we didnt get into an accident. As for insurance, when offered by the rental company. You decline theirs and pay with your amex or card offering it. The car must fall within the T&C though. Usually no exotic cars or luxury...etc.

Also i would suggest googling primary vs secondary insurance. Some cards offer primary such as CSP and some offer secondary. It explains the difference.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

UncleB — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:23:45 GMT

I had a thread a few months back about this very subject... American Express has an option called "Premium Car Rental Protection" which you if you sign up for actually becomes the primary coverage for rental cars. It's actually a pretty good deal, especially for extended rentals (but less than 42 days).

Here's the direct link to the Amex site that has more details:

https://www295.americanexpress.com/premium/car-rental-insurance-coverage/home.do

I'll try to find the other thread to link back to as well... there was good information there as well.

Hope this helps!

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

UncleB — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 05:27:39 GMT

Found it!

Here's the link to the thread I mentioned above... it has some good info on the Premium Insurance Coverage:

http://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/Amex-Premium-Car-Rental-Protection-your-thoughts/m-p/4275928#M1219493

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 06:51:14 GMT

Awesome!

I want to thank all of you for providing helpful information, I appreciate it!

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 08:09:04 GMT

Good info Thanks

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

bz386 — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 04:50:55 GMT

Why would you pay for "premium" car rental protection, when there are plenty of cards that offer it for free. For example the CSP and the United Explorer both have primary protection. Plus the insurance is actually valid worldwide, unlike Amex who excludes certain countries like Ireland and Israel. Seriously, I have multiple Amex cards but would never buy the overpriced "premium" cover.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

jsucool76 — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 05:01:14 GMT

@bz386 wrote:
Why would you pay for "premium" car rental protection, when there are plenty of cards that offer it for free. For example the CSP and the United Explorer both have primary protection. Plus the insurance is actually valid worldwide, unlike Amex who excludes certain countries like Ireland and Israel. Seriously, I have multiple Amex cards but would never buy the overpriced "premium" cover.

Kinda +1

If you have a card that offers primary rental insurance (CSP, United, Ritz, Fairmont, Diner's, or one of the Chase Ink cards) Pay with them. (Note: Ink cards only provide primary coverage if you're renting the car, and driving for "business.")

I think the amex premium insurance is a better deal than purchasing insurance from the rental car company, but I don't really think either is necessary.

Note: Many cards that offer rental car insurance that is secondary, will offer primary insurance while renting overseas. Always check your CCs guide to benefits and benefit terms.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

UncleB — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 06:09:08 GMT

@bz386 wrote:
Why would you pay for "premium" car rental protection, when there are plenty of cards that offer it for free. For example the CSP and the United Explorer both have primary protection. Plus the insurance is actually valid worldwide, unlike Amex who excludes certain countries like Ireland and Israel. Seriously, I have multiple Amex cards but would never buy the overpriced "premium" cover.

I actually have a very good reason... I don't carry any of the cards that offers primary coverage for free!

I'll agree that it's not for everybody, but for an Amex card holder who only rents occasionally it can be a bargain compared to the overpriced coverage offered by the rental agencies.

Some folks might say primary coverage isn't needed anyway, and again, I'll concede that for some that may be the case, but for me, I feel it is necessary, if for no other reason than my own peace of mind. For $25 it's nice to know if something minor happens I won't have to involve State Farm.

An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 08:57:47 GMT

Why would I want to pay $25 a day for Amex or $48 a day that Enterprise wanted to charge me? I normally pay my insurance company $25/month. If I have to call my primary insurane company, that's what they are for.... Plus, I have minor accident forgiveness anyways.

So when I rent, I just pay with my CC and sign the waiver. That's it

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

UncleB — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:15:12 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Why would I want to pay $25 a day for Amex or $48 a day that Enterprise wanted to charge me? I normally pay my insurance company $25/month. If I have to call my primary insurane company, that's what they are for.... Plus, I have minor accident forgiveness anyways.

So when I rent, I just pay with my CC and sign the waiver. That's it

With Amex, it's not $25 per day, it's $25 per rental... up to 42 days. For a one day rental, yeah, it's a little high, but historically my rentals are longer (usually a week).

Again, to each his/her own. If my car is vandalized (as happened before) or I have a single-car 'fender bender' I prefer not to involve my own company. My deductibles aren't the lowest (by design) and for my own low-frequency car rentals it's cheaper to pay $25 each time I rent and be worry-free than to pay monthly for a lower deductible.

"Accident Forgiveness" is nice, but I would prefer to use that 'forgiveness' on something a bit more significant than minor damage to a rental car. This might be universal (I'm not an expert) but my own insurance company treats any chargeable accident over $750 the same for rating purposes (i.e. $800 damage is the same as $8000). I don't want my 'freebie' used for a rental car that gets keyed because I'm not aware I'm parking in a questionable area.

We all have different levels of acceptable risk, and at one time I traveled all over depending on nothing more than my own auto policy (not even using a credit card's coverage at all). At this point, I prefer the peace of mind, and $25 per trip is a low-cost way to get that.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:34:01 GMT

My bad. I thought it was $25/day. I learn something new everyday.

If you rent often though, might as well just get the CSP for $95/year

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

UncleB — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 09:54:29 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
My bad. I thought it was $25/day. I learn something new everyday.

If you rent often though, might as well just get the CSP for $95/year

True, but with Chase's 5/24 rule, I won't be eligible for a CSP for a while... if ever... LOL.

Luckily in my own case, my rentals aren't often enough to justify the AF on the CSP anyway; the once-in-a-blue-moon 'per trip' fee works well for me.

(Also, note on the other thread there's a caveat with the CSP and primary coverage; the rental must be paid for in full with the CSP to be covered... Amex is a bit more relaxed with this. With Amex, any purchase with the MCC of a rental company will cause the coverage to be billed to the card... even if it's for a road atlas.)

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

takeshi74 — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 14:06:16 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
How does it differ from the insurance offered by the rental car company?

Rental car companies (and their insurance) aren't all lexactly the same. You need to carefully compare. Which AmEx rental car coverage are you referring to?

@bz386 wrote:
Why would you pay for "premium" car rental protection, when there are plenty of cards that offer it for free.

Again, carefully compare. Don't just assume that all coverages are the same. I use AmEx's premium not only because it's primay (not all rental car coverage from cards is primary) and it covers cars that I sometimes rent that would be excluded with over insurnace offerings. YMMV.

Go beyond the price, read the details for each option and determine what works best for you. These are not one-size-fits-all matters so don't assume that what works best for yuo works best for everyone.

@Anonymous wrote:
Why would I want to pay $25 a day for Amex or $48 a day that Enterprise wanted to charge me? I normally pay my insurance company $25/month. If I have to call my primary insurane company, that's what they are for.... Plus, I have minor accident forgiveness anyways.

As stated above, it's not $25 a day. Why you would or wouldn't is for you to determine. I have accident forgiveness with my insurance company as well but I'd still prefer being able to not use my insurnace and use AmEx's. Again, read up and decide for yourself. These are not one-size-fits-all matters.

@bz386 wrote:
For example the CSP and the United Explorer both have primary protection. Plus the insurance is actually valid worldwide, unlike Amex who excludes certain countries like Ireland and Israel.

Last I checked coverage with Chase cards had exclusions as well. How often do you travel to Ireland and Israel? If it becomes an issue for me (has not been so far) then I'll find another solution for those specific trips. I"m not going to worry about Ireland and Israel if I don't go there. Again, YMMV. If you go to one or more of them often then it could certainly be a dealbreaker for you.

@Anonymous wrote:
If you rent often though, might as well just get the CSP for $95/year

Again, people vary in their situations and needs/wants/preferences/priorities/etc. I have the CSP and the UMPE and I still use AmEx's premium.

Re: AMEX Rental Car Insurance help!

youdontkillmoney — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 14:48:06 GMT

In California the per per rental fee is $17.95.

I believe the insurance covers the rental car only, so liability is not covered, for example, if you hit rear end someone else's car, you are still responsible for that other person's car if at fault. So you have to use your own personal insurance for liability still.