Secondary Versus Primary Coverage
Your credit card issuer will offer CDW coverage as either primary or secondary coverage. If it is primary, you don’t need to do anything special before making a claim. Also, you won’t have to pay a deductible.
If the coverage is secondary, it will only apply to expenses not covered after you file a claim with your primary insurer. You’ll have to file two claims — one with your primary insurer and one with the credit card company’s partner insurer. If you have to pay a deductible, your credit card’s collision damage waiver might reimburse you.
What Score Do You Need For Costco Citi Card
You must have excellent credit to get approved for the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi. That generally means a credit score of 720 or above. Is the Costco Anywhere Visa the best credit card for gas? If you want rewards that are more flexible than Costco rewards, see our top picks for best gas credit cards.
Q: Can Insurance Be Added To The Rental
Optional insurance through the car rental company is available. It is the same price whether it is prepurchased by phone or added at the time of pickup. For information, you must contact the car company directly. Some credit card companies offer rental insurance, including the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, so check with your credit card company for terms and conditions. For questions about the rental car insurance benefit from Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, you can call 1-866-918-4670 24/7/365 or call collect internationally at 1-312-356-7839.
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Chase Freedom Flex And Chase Freedom Unlimited
If youre looking for a no-annual-fee card that offers secondary car rental insurance, the Chase Freedom Flexor Chase Freedom Unlimited might be a good pick. These cards provide insurance for theft and collision damage for most cars in the U.S. and abroad and even cover valid loss-of-use charges, administrative fees and towing charges related to covered incidents. Insurance within your country of residence is secondary, but insurance outside your country of residence is primary.
Although neither card has an annual fee, both cards charge a 3% foreign transaction fee. That means using these cards to pay for a car rental outside the U.S. would add damage protections but would also increase the cost of your rental. See the Chase Freedom Flex credit card review and Chase Freedom Unlimited credit card review for more information.
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What Is Pae Pai Pec Or Ppp

Commonly referred to as Personal Accident Insurance , this type of insurance has multiple names: Personal Accident and Effects Personal Accident Insurance or Personal Effects Coverage Personal Protection Package .PAI protects you against costs related to injuries caused to the driver or the passengers of the rental car in the event of an accident. This can include costs like medical costs, emergency ambulance costs, accidental death cover etc.
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Some Countries Are Excluded
Although the exact list of excluded countries varies from card to card and issuer to issuer, the most common exceptions Ive noticed are Australia, Israel, Italy, Ireland, Jamaica, Northern Ireland and New Zealand. Regardless of where youre traveling, its best to call the customer service number on your card to ensure your destination is covered when renting a car outside the United States. Other exclusions for coverage will include countries with U.S. economic sanctions, meaning rentals in Cuba might not be covered.
Three Things To Remember Before You Rent
You might already look for rental car specials and deals, or maybe you strategize the points and miles you earn with your credit cards. Either way, add rental car coverage to your travel hacking arsenal. It’s a valuable credit card benefit that can save you money while providing a layer of financial protection.
Lastly, check out our guide if you’re wondering “Do I need rental car insurance?”
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What Is Excess Cover
To explain what Excess Cover is, its important to understand what excess is. Excess is what youre liable to pay in the event of an accident or damage is caused to your rental vehicle. Excess Cover is the insurance that you can purchase to help cover the excess.The excess amount will be determined by the rental company and can vary according to where you live, your destination, your age and the type of vehicle youre renting. For example, if you purchase insurance and your rental vehicle is damaged, youre liable to pay the excess amount to cover the cost of damage and repairs.RentalCover.com charges $0 excess. Whether damage or an accident costs $100 or $8000, you are only required to cover the cost of repairs upfront and we’ll refund it to your account once the claims process is complete. The only thing you pay for is the cost of purchasing the policy.
What About Liability Coverage
So far, we have talked about damage to your rental car. Are you covered if you
- damage another car?
- injure somebody?
You will need liability coverage that meets the state minimum insurance requirements for the state that you are driving in. You should know what those minimum requirements are and verify that your personal automobile insurance policy meets those requirements. If you have no liability coverage, the other party will come after the car rental company. You can be sure that the car rental company will then come after you.
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Important Things To Know About Credit Card Rental Car Insurance In Costa Rica
You must check with your credit card company and the specific car rental agency youre working with for coverage details but there are some things that are generally true and important to know about using VISA, MasterCard or American Express.
Other Options | Damage Claims | Fine Print
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card And Capital One Ventureone Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card offer auto rental collision damage waiver insurance. Insurance is secondary when you rent within your country of residence and primary when you rent outside your country of residence. However, benefits are only available to accounts approved for the Visa Signature card, and terms apply.
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The Capital One Venture card currently offers 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Youll earn at least 2 Capital One miles per dollar spent on every purchase but earn 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel. The card has a $95 annual fee. Read our full Capital One Venture credit card review for more details.
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card currently offers 20,000 bonus miles once you spend $500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening. Youll earn at least 1.25 miles per dollar spent on every purchase but earn 5 miles per dollar on hotel and rental car bookings through Capital One Travel. The card has no annual fee. Read our full Capital One VentureOne credit card review for more information.
Official application link: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card.
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How Do I Check To See If My Credit Card Has Rental Car Insurance
Simply Google Guide to Benefits, download the PDF, and do a search for Auto Rental Collision Damage Liability Waiver .
Again, its common for travel rewards cards to have Primary coverage while many regular rewards cards may only have Secondary coverage .
Be sure to read the terms and conditions carefully. For example, Chase covers some BMWs and not others so if you plan to cruise down Highway 1 in a shiny new M240i, be sure to call them to confirm coverage.
If you discover that your card doesnt have any rental car coverage , you might consider upgrading to the right travel rewards card before your next big trip.
Q: Does My Rental Waive The Additional Driver Fee

Yes. For Alamo and Enterprise, the additional driver fee is waived for rental in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Ireland and Spain. For Avis and Budget, the fee is waived for rentals in the U.S.
The additional driver must meet all renter requirements, appear at the rental counter with the primary renter, present a valid driver’s license and present a major credit card in their name at the time of rental .
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Better Travel Starts Here
- Citi® Concierge Citi® Concierge experts are ready 24/7 to assist you with your travel, shopping, dining, entertainment, and everyday needs. Contact us at concierge@yourconciergecenter.com or 1-800-508-8930 .
- Travel Notice Citi is by your side when you travel. Were continually monitoring your account for suspicious activity our goal is to create a hassle-free experience for you when you use your card while traveling.Learn More
Your card may have additional benefits other than these listed above. Terms and conditions apply. For more information, please login or call Citi Customer Service at 1-800-950-5114 . View the Card Benefits Site Terms of Use.
Rental Car Company Vs Standalone Rental Car Insurance
Some of the most popular rental car insurance companies can offer additional insurance anywhere between $19-$37 per day. Depending on the company, the coverage can vary wildly, often excluding important things like keys, windscreens, tires and underbody damage The standalone rental car insurance that we offer at RentalCover.com gives you much greater coverage for around $7-16 and has no excess depending on the country you are in.
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What Is Supplementary Liability Insurance
Supplementary Liability Insurance insures you for injuries to other drivers and their vehicles. This will be offered generally in states where third party liability is not required to be held by the vehicle owner. The SLI cover is usually between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000. However we always recommend that you ask the rental company as there are differences from state to state.
Does Chase Freedom Student Have Car Rental Insurance
The Freedom Student card does not offer rental car insurance. But there are other Chase cards that do have this benefit, which covers theft, damage, valid loss-of-use charges imposed by the auto rental company, administrative fees, and reasonable towing charges to the nearest qualified repair facility.
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Citi Costco Credit Cards Are The Exception
These new benefit changes affect the lions share of Citibank-issued cards. The exception is co-branded Citi Costco cards.
The Citi Costco Anywhere Visa Business Credit Card still covers primary car rental insurance. Unusually, it does not explicitly exclude personal rentals from primary coverage.
Its important to pay with a credit card that offers at least secondary insurance. Better yet, choose a card that offers primary insurance protection. If youre unsure what your credit card offers, call the issuer before you pay.
Before booking a trip, always double check to ensure that your credit card will offer the perks and benefits you need. If not, use another card to pay for the trip.
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Do Credit Cards Have Rental Car Insurance
Most credit cards offer some type of car rental insurance as a cardholder benefit. But the coverage, its limits and exclusions, vary from card to card. And there are cards, such as most from Discover, that do not include any rental car coverage at all. Call your credit card company or check your “guide to benefits” to find out what your card offers.
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Is Credit Card Car Rental Insurance Enough
Wondering if your credit card car rental insurance is enough to cover you in a worst-case scenario?
That depends on what kind of coverage and how much you already have on your other policies.
Keep in mind that auto insurance covers car rental in most cases. But it’s always important to review all of your insurance coverage, read the details of the policy offered by your credit card and also review options for insurance you can buy from the rental car agency.
In general, credit card rental car insurance may be enough if you:
You should also consider your policy limits, deductibles and how much you want to avoid filing a claim on your personal insurance.
How It Is Today

Renting a car now has become a high-pressure up-sell session with the agent at the counter. Many of the taxes and fees are unavoidable including fees for vehicle license recovery, tire usage fees, franchise fees, airport surcharges and the like. The agent bombards you with upsell items starting with car upgrades, GPS, toll passes to various insurance and refueling options. Unless you are an attorney that reads everything that requires an accept or decline answer, you probably keep tapping without completely understanding what you are getting. Here is the list of optional coverages from Hertz:
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What Credit Cards Give Rental Car Insurance
Many credit cards offer car rental insurance, including cards from Capital One and Chase. It’s always important to verify that your specific credit card offers the coverage and to check exactly what is and isn’t covered before you forgo coverage from the car rental company. Examples of cards with car rental coverage include: the American Express® Gold Card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
What Is Super Cdw Or Scdw
If you take out the basic CDW as advised above your excess is still in the range of /$/£1500-3000. This can be lowered with Super CDW. It can be confusing because the rental companies might also call this product “CDW” but the main thing to be aware of is that these policies reduce your excess from somewhere between /$/£1500 and /$/£3000, towards /$/£0.These policies are sold aggressively at the rental company rental desks. The cost is similar to CDW with similarly hidden exclusions . Repairs for those types of damage are charged at the full rate but limited to the reduced liability of /$/£1500-3000.
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Chase Car Rental Insurance
Chase offers robust credit card car rental insurance on many of its cards. Chase coverage is:
- Primary on many cards
- Usually limited to car rentals lasting no more than 31 consecutive days
- Typically limited to the actual cash value of the vehicle
Chase credit card rental car coverage also has a number of exclusions when you dig into the fine print. The coverage typically excludes antique, exotic or specialized vehicles. For example, Chase cards generally won’t cover expensive vehicles such as a Bentley, a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, a Porsche or a Maserati. The coverage also excludes cargo vans, large passenger vans, limousines, motorcycles and mopeds and RVs.