USAA Car Rental help!

[Anonymous]

I am not a member of military, but signed up for USAA as non-military just for rental car discounts.

I found a rental car through the USAA rental car portal with Hertz and am able to save over $700 because of young driver fees.

I saw that through USAA rental portal you can get primary liability insurance, so I called them and they told me that I am not able to receive any benefits whatsoever because I am not military.

They are saying that I would need to show my USAA insurance card or Military ID upon car pickup at Hertz in order to receive the discounts. USAA is also wondering how I became a member, even though anyone can sign up on their home page without any military connections.

Does anyone know about this? I am not familiar with rentals or USAA, and would like advice.

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I am not a member of military, but signed up for USAA as non-military just for rental car discounts.

I found a rental car through the USAA rental car portal with Hertz and am able to save over $700 because of young driver fees.

I saw that through USAA rental portal you can get primary liability insurance, so I called them and they told me that I am not able to receive any benefits whatsoever because I am not military.

They are saying that I would need to show my USAA insurance card or Military ID upon car pickup at Hertz in order to receive the discounts. USAA is also wondering how I became a member, even though anyone can sign up on their home page without any military connections.

Does anyone know about this? I am not familiar with rentals or USAA, and would like advice.

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Unless you're grandfathered (pre August 2013) USAA membership requires a military connection, and they are more restrictive than NFCU. 

With USAA you can gain membership via your own service, though a military spouse, or inherited from a parent.  It's notable that with USAA you can't gain membership via a sibling or child, which is one of the ways their membership criteria differs from NFCU.

Detail on their membership can be found here:  https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/pub_eligibility_task_entry?akredirect=true

If you somehow were able to circumvent the requirements and you have a membership number you weren't entitled to I honestly don't know how that will work with renting a car.  In my own case I'm a USAA member but I don't have insurance with them, and I wasn't aware that having insurance through them was a requirement to take advantage of the Hertz discount. 

In the past when I've rented from Hertz and others I've never been asked for ID to prove my affiliation with an organization (for AAA or employer discount) but I suppose it could happen... I'll leave that for others who rent more frequently to address. 

In closing, if you gained USAA membership by 'mistake' you would probably be better off to not try to actually use the benefits, since the results could be unpredictable and/or inconvenient.

[Anonymous]

Anyone can go to their site and follow the steps to register. You can select "I have no military affiliation" and still get a USAA Membership number like I do. I believe I only have access to the travel deals (hotels, rental car, etc.) and investment products.

It seems that their Customer service line isn't aware of this legitimate way of joining USAA. 

I joined honestly, followed the registration, and received a discount code for my Hertz auto rental. 

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Anyone can go to their site and follow the steps to register. You can select "I have no military affiliation" and still get a USAA Membership number like I do. I believe I only have access to the travel deals (hotels, rental car, etc.) and investment products.

It seems that their Customer service line isn't aware of this legitimate way of joining USAA. 

I joined honestly, followed the registration, and received a discount code for my Hertz auto rental. 

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In that case it sounds like you would be fine to use the Hertz discount, but just not any of the rental car insurance coverage.

It's good to know that they are still open to the general public for investment products... when they took banking away in 2013 I wondered if investment had been taken away as well; it's good to see that it wasn't.

I'm not too surprised about the disconnect with customer service over membership... USAA membership not only can get quite complicated, it has changed several times over the years.  @Anonymous made some great posts a few months back detailing the various levels of USAA membership; if I come across the thread I'll put a link here.

[Anonymous]

I am conflicted about replying to this but decided that because rental car companies are all greedy and I would otherwise be unable to rent if it weren't through USAA which I am full member thanks to my family service. Regardless I HAVE been challanged to provide proof of membership when renting cars in both Phoenix and St. Louis locations, I would hate to see what they would do if you showed up and had no proof. You may be able to get away with it, may not. But I would suggest joining AAA instead, you can still get many of the young driver fees waived plus be a legitimate member. PS I am a young renter as well (19). 

[Anonymous]

I believe the discount page is called (or was at some point) called MemberShop.  So MemberShop, Investments, and Life Insurance through USAA are open to the public, also affinity credit cards (partnered with Veteran groups, like the VFW, DAV, IAVA, Togetherweserved, etc.).  The affinity credit cards don't have great benefits but if you really wanted to support a veteran group and/or have a USAA branded credit card that'd be the route to go.

I believe the benefit of getting primary liability insurance on a rental through USAA requires USAA auto insurance.  Even USAA branded credit cards only offer secondary collision damage waiver (again this is all from memory).  This I found and was new news to me:

"If you rent through USAA's Alliance Services, which offers exclusive discounts on car rentals and other services, your policy will cover the damages previously mentioned and the rental car companies will waive fees for administrative, loss-of-use and loss-of-value fees you may face that aren't covered by your insurance."

source: https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/advice-auto-rentalcar?akredirect=true

Loss of Use fees can get stupid high especially if the rental car can't be fixed for quite some time.

Oz

[UncleB]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am conflicted about replying to this but decided that because rental car companies are all greedy and I would otherwise be unable to rent if it weren't through USAA which I am full member thanks to my family service. Regardless I HAVE been challanged to provide proof of membership when renting cars in both Phoenix and St. Louis locations, I would hate to see what they would do if you showed up and had no proof. You may be able to get away with it, may not. But I would suggest joining AAA instead, you can still get many of the young driver fees waived plus be a legitimate member. PS I am a young renter as well (19). 

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This is exactly the kind of feedback that is needed... my own experience is just a (very) small sample, and was a while back at that.

I've had AAA for more years than I'm willing to admit (let's just say my AAA membership would be legal to drink, if it could... LOL) and I can say they are fantastic.  If the Hertz discount via AAA is comparable with USAA that would definitely be something for the OP to consider.   

Thanks for chiming in! 

[UncleB]

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@Anonymouswrote:

I believe the discount page is called (or was at some point) called MemberShop.  So MemberShop, Investments, and Life Insurance through USAA are open to the public, also affinity credit cards (partnered with Veteran groups, like the VFW, DAV, IAVA, Togetherweserved, etc.).  The affinity credit cards don't have great benefits but if you really wanted to support a veteran group and/or have a USAA branded credit card that'd be the route to go.

I believe the benefit of getting primary liability insurance on a rental through USAA requires USAA auto insurance.  Even USAA branded credit cards only offer secondary collision damage waiver (again this is all from memory).  This I found and was new news to me:

"If you rent through USAA's Alliance Services, which offers exclusive discounts on car rentals and other services, your policy will cover the damages previously mentioned and the rental car companies will waive fees for administrative, loss-of-use and loss-of-value fees you may face that aren't covered by your insurance."

source: https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/advice-auto-rentalcar?akredirect=true

Loss of Use fees can get stupid high especially if the rental car can't be fixed for quite some time.

Oz

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^^^ This is why I defer to the expert. 

Thanks as always Oz!  We owe you yet another one!   

[Anonymous]

Guys, thanks for all the advice. I'm going to try to cancel my booking and then join AAA and book through them. Prices on AAA look even better than USAA. 

[Anonymous]

I'm on mobile.

Check your CC. If you have any premium cards, AX plat, CSr...etc you can search offers. You could have an elite status through several car rental agencies as well. That could help in finding a deal. I know AX has car rental discounts time to time.

Also, I am a USAA member. I do advertise that it is part of my dowry upon marriage. (cheeky today)