car rental insurance with American Express

It would be best to call AMEX and ask them. I suspect it would cover you only while in France.
Check out www.worldwideinsure.com for the excess coverage. I used them last year for a trip to Italy. Rates were good and the coverage looked to cover all the gaps the rental car company coverage has. Happily didn't have an accident so have no experience on how they handle a claim.

alice, Rental car insurance provided by credit card firms often has many exclusions and limitations. I'd suggest reading the "fine print" very carefully so that you're completely clear on what type of coverage you'll have. I tend to opt for the best CDW offered by the rental firm, as I don't want any "surprises". Although you will have rented the vehicle in France, should an "incident" occur in Italy it won't be covered and you would be liable for the full cost. Also note that for driving in Italy, each driver must have the compulsory I.D.P., which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. Failure to produce an I.D.P. if requested can result in fines on the spot! Good luck!

Yes the coverage is valid unless AMEX has changed their policy since 2009. As long as you pick the car up in France you are permitted to drive into Italy. They do not cover if you pick the car up in Italy. I would suggest that you get their premium coverage which is about $24 for the entire rental period. Better coverage than their basic free cdw coverage. You can learn more about this on their website but I would also call them to make sure no changes have been made to their coverage.

You'll have to read your insurance fine print, but some insurers specifically exclude coverage in certain countries. It doesn't matter where you rent the car. And as previously noted, you must have an IDP to legally drive in Italy.

I have the AMEX premium car coverage, and the exact wording of their insurance policy is that "Excluded Vehicles" include "vehicles RENTED IN Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand."

I personally would not trust any credit card insurance - to many loop holes and conditions.

Just a comment on actually using the car rental insurance offered by AmX-for the insurance to be valid you must have declined the insurance offered by the rental company. We have done this on every car we have rented and used it twice now on cars we've driven in Europe. Both times it was a very easy process that I did after we returned from our trip. Last year in Spain the charge (for damage) was made at the rental counter. I paid it there and was refunded by AmX. The first time we had to use it, the charge was sent to us in the mail about a month after we returned and I notified AmX at that time. Both were cases of body damage from parking (ie scratches) and didnt involve any other car I know they don't cover Italy and Ireland when you are renting from those countries so it is a good idea to call and check about renting from a French agency. I call them each time just to be sure things haven't changed from year to year.

It's not a bad idea to call like Karen says, but remember that if there's a discrepancy between the written policy and what someone tells you over the phone, the written policy will always prevail. When I have a question for an insurance company, I usually submit it by email. That way I at least have some documentation of their reply.

Best to read the small print of the Amex rental car insurance. Kudos is due to Amex for making that easier to find and read in the past year. I've claimed twice on Amex rental insurance and was reimbursed each time. Though I have never rented in France and driven into Italy, so can't help you there. Regards, Mathew http://www.lodgephoto.com

Tom had it right in his November post. Period. End of discussion.

I would purchase the car insurance through the rental agency and be done with it. Use your AMEX as your secondary. Buy all the insurance and insurance upgrades available. In a worst case scenario, you want to be able to just walk away and hand them the keys with the minimum cost to you.

Commenting on Scott's suggestion to use the AmX as your secondary. Again, it is my understanding that you must decline the CDW offered by the rental car company in order for the AmX insurance to be valid. So you can't use it as a secondary. But we've had no problems with the small claims that we have made with them over the years.

You can't use your Amex coverage if you rent in Italy. Read my post of 11/28.