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Car rental questions

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We (group of 4) will be traveling to Sao Miguel island in Azores soon. Car rental has been arranged through Economy Car Rentals for pickup at Ponta Delgada airport. Looking through the reservation confirmation, it looks like the real rental provider is Sixt. The rental fee includes Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) and Third party insurance. My questions:
1. When we land at the airport, do we go to the Sixt counter directly? Or is there a counter for Economy Car Rentals? If anyone has had experience with this sort of arrangement, please share your experience.
2. The booking was done on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card. This has rental car insurance, but one of the conditions is that I should refuse all insurance at the counter. Does the inclusion of CDW in the rental fee void this? I do not think there is a choice to decline CDW.
3. Would it be advisable to buy extra insurance at the counter? I hear of Excess Deferral (?) insurance- maybe I have the name wrong.

Thanks in advance for replies.

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  1. Go to the Sixt Car Rental counter. I rented from them before in the Azores and Lisbon with no problems. It is located at the arrivals area, to the left of the exit doors, outside of the luggage carousels.

  2. The CDW comes included with your rate. Decline anything extra regarding insurance.

  3. The term is Super CDW. I never get any extra insurance, as my card has this as a benefit. Plus, your regular car insurance probably will be the primary insurance coverage, and the credit card will be secondary. If you want to compare some car rental insurance policies versus the cost of a zero deductible offered by the car rental company, visit www.insuremytrip.com. I purchased a car insurance only policy from them once and it was much cheaper than a zero deductible from the car rental company.

Sao Miguel car rental agents seem to have have eagle eyes. Take a video (and pics) of the entire exterior and interior (not just where you see damage) of the car before you leave the parking lot. Make sure ALL damage, even the tiniest that you can see, is marked on the rental form and signed by the lot attendant. I had to use a video once to prove damage was there before I left the lot.

If peace of mind and no more research is your goal, pay the Super CDW and anything, no matter how big or small that occurs, will be covered.

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