Car rental insurance Provence

Hi. You will hear different opinions. Credit card insurance is cheapest (free), but more hassle if you have damage. CDW from rental company is way more expensive, but less hassle if you have damage. I have used my free cc insurance and have never had damage in eight rentals, so have probably saved $1,500 or more. But maybe I have been lucky... I do read the fine print in my cc info before I go to make sure I understand coverage and restrictions. Enjoy your trip!

you probably won't know the total cost of CDW until you actually get to the rental desk, as they 'nicely' avoid posting the costs on their web pages etc. then try and sell it to you when you pick up the car. something to watch out for.

I rented cars twice in France and both times got the full coverage from the rental agency. I know it's more expensive but I was willing to pay for the convenience and the 'no out of pocket' cash issue. I know that with most cc insurance you may have to pay up front and then collect from the ins company, which to me would be more costly and inconvenient (time and paperwork wise), so I bit the bullet. At that time (2012) the rental car full no deductible ins was €9/day for the 5 or 6 days I rented. I was glad that I bought it because I was involved in an accident (no fault of mine) where I was the creme in the Oreo sandwich and the car was damaged in both the front and the back. It cost me zero in cash or cc payment and the only inconvenience was having to drive the injured car to an 'off my route' town to turn in the car for a replacement and hand over my copy of the police report to them.

Only you can decide if the extra cost is worth it to you, but for me €45-54 was well worth it.

The fourth possibility is the flat rate add on policy with an Amex rental charge, about $20. In this case there is no insurance company (third party) so they will pay upfront.

Watch out for outrageous deductibles with CDW, like $1200, so imagine what you would feel like if you forgo the free insurance with no deductible and paid for insurance with a high deductible.

The problem with posting this question is no one has had an experience with all four methods so no one knows what's best. You won't find 9 euro/day CDW now, though, more like 12.

I have primary insurance for international rentals though the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. However, I opted for the zero deductible insurance through the rental car agency. I booked Europe Car through Auto Europe at the Avignon TGV. Very smooth experience. Got the CDW through Auto Europe and paid a little more to Europe Care for reduce the deductible for the windshield and tires to zero. Total cost of 6 day rental was about 400 euro with this. Thought it was totally worth the stress reduction. Yeah, you can go through your CC, but I didn't want the stress of going through a third party hanging over me if I even got a minor scratch.

I have used the Amex coverage for $17.95 for up to 42 consecutive days that gives $100,000 coverage.
Mike

As has been said. Amex offers a great, flat-fee, CDW coverage when you use their card AND have previously signed up for the offer AND decline all the rental agencies optional insurance. Like other rental insurance offers, you have to know the rules ahead of time. For a one time charge, you have full CDW up to something like a month rental.

It's not available on every Amex card. I used to have it on my Costco card but that became Citibank, so I opened an Everyday Cash card (I think that's what they call it) as a no annual fee card option with the rental feature.

The fee varies depending on your home state (I think $25 or $29 for me), and it can't be offered in some states, but it's a really good deal - definitely worth checking into.

Amex offers a great, flat-fee, CDW coverage when you use their card AND have previously signed up for the offer AND decline all the rental agencies optional insurance.

I just signed up for the Amex premium (flat fee) insurance, and unlike every other credit card insurance I've ever used, their terms don't require that you decline the rental company's CDW or other optional insurance.

This is true what Robert said, I specifically asked Amex if I have to turn down CDW and they said no.

This is handy for countries like Italy or Ireland or Mexico where the rental agency not not rent without minimal CDW but with the Amex policy there's no need to buy super CDW.

I believe another benefit is that the name on the card does not have to match the driver, must call and ask.

I have used both super CDW and AMEX premium rental car coverage. Was glad I had the super-CDW in Ireland in May 2016, since some scratches appeared on the front underside of the bumper that may or may not have occurred on my watch. Rental car company has no incentive for their pre-rental photos to be well lit, or high-resolution. The guy agreed with me that it looked like something might have already been there, and I know I did not hit anything during the rental. Hertz guy informed me that if I had not had the super-CDW they could have charged me "whatever they wanted." (Car rental agents are often especially obnoxious in Europe, pick up and drop off both.) I have used AMEX coverage on most other rentals, my issue with that is they only charge the premium when they see a charge from a rental car company. Autoeurope is not a rental car company, so AMEX does not charge you until you drop the car off and pay local taxes on the rental, if applicable. I am not a lawyer but there is a concept in legal circles of consideration, if money changes hands you have a contract. I much prefer to know that we have a contract before I drive the car. Insurance companies have legions of people to figure out the reason why after you have a claim, they don't have to pay the claim because of the way the contract is written. (Admittedly, the super-CDW they will try and figure a way to get out of a big claim too). AMEX will charge the premium manually in advance if you call and explain to them, if you can get through to someone with basic communication skills, which typically is not the case. It takes a month to charge it through though. For my Ireland rental I called AMEX and told them I did not want to pay the premium, because their contract explicitly excludes Ireland from the premium insurance plan. If I was not covered (and paid hundred for super-CDW as a result) I don't want to pay the $20 premium. They said the only way to have the premium refunded was to file a dispute. That took a month, and sure enough I got a $20 credit. They also sent me a letter saying they were fulfilling my request to remove the premium car rental insurance from my account (which basically means any time you do have a rental, they will cover you in the future). Which was not what I requested at all. I attribute this to communication issues related to the lack of communication ability on the part of their agents. AMEX has gone way down hill on their level of service. My level of confidence in the claims service is not real high based upon my experiences with AMEX. I don't know what I will do on my next rental. The more experienced I get as a traveler, the more I look for ways to avoid driving.

AMEX will charge the premium manually in advance if you call and explain to them, if you can get through to someone with basic communication skills, which typically is not the case.

Oh, great! I recently signed up for the Amex Premium Rental Protection, and am just about to rent a car in France through Auto Europe for next month. I saw the language about when they add the charge, and assumed AE would qualify. Given the level of "service" I encountered when I called to sign up for the Premium plan a couple of weeks ago, I don't look forward to having to deal with them again.

AutoEurope: I've called Amex and asked to have the $20 added onto an AutoEurope rental beforehand, but paid a drop fee on the Amex upon return so was double charged. As an aside not using AutoEurope in Europe, wasn't impressed with the Mexico experience I had, although it worked out.

I am so happy to see this thread. I am checking into rental now through Europcar for pickup/return at Avignon TGV and am overwhelmed by the "add on" options. I think I will go for the Premium insurance coverage with $0 deductible (I'm guessing that's what "excess" means), but forgo the aSuper Loss Damage Waiver add-on since it looks like I'm pretty well covered with the Premium. I'm doing this, as one previous commenter mentioned, for the peace of mind of knowing I can just drop off the car and not worry about any scratch they might want to pin on us. Does sound that sound right? Does anyone recommend Road Side Assistance as well? We will only be in Provence for 4 days with this car.

Also - I see that we save just a little by booking in advance, but not really that much. Is advance payment recommended or is it better to pay there for other reasons besides price?

Sorry for so many questions, but thank you for your help!!