The problem with getting CDW with your European rental car is that is costs more than the car rental itself - we got quotes from AutoEurope and Hertz for a 2 1/2 week rental out of Barcelona. The base rental was about $300 but CDW was nearly $400 additional.
I have a gold card that's supposed to cover CDW in Europe. What with all the horror stories of phony ripoff damage claims and $600 flat tire charges, I'd be interested if anyone has used their credit card insurance successfully. Thanks,.
My credit card insurance turned down my claim because I didn't have a sufficiently large credit LINE (not available credit, credit line). This was not disclosed to me before my trip. Check with your CC to see if they have this rule.
WM,
It would be a good idea to check with your credit card company, to determine the specific coverage for CDW. In many case, the CDW insurance is provided by a separate insurance company, and NOT the credit card company. There are often some "exclusions", so you MUST be clear on what's covered!
I've found that understanding all the exclusions and terms is a bit complicated, so I may just take the coverage provided by the rental car firm when I'm travelling this fall. I don't know what this will cost at this point, but suppose I could always revert to the Card coverage if necessary.
Good luck!
Or you could just take the train and forget about all of the drop-fees, rental fees, late charges, damages, scratches, thefts, tolls, traffic jams, lack of parking, etc.
Tim,
Yes, your points are certainly valid! While car rental does provide a degree of flexibility, it can also be problematic in many ways. There are some cities in Europe I don't EVER want to drive in!
I tend to use car rental somewhat "strategically" according to circumstances. There are sometimes areas I want to see that either don't have a lot of public transportation, or the transport is infrequent or difficult to schedule. On a visit to the U.K. in 2004, I found that having a Car was a huge benefit, as I was able to very quickly and efficiently get to some rural areas that I wanted to see.
I normally prefer to use rail or in some cases Bus, but will again be renting a car in the U.K. for a few days in order to get to some out-of-the-way locations. I'll be travelling in Ireland also, but felt that a tour was the best option there (might want to sample a "wee pint" so don't want to be driving).
Cheers!
try www.travelguard.com for $9US/day CDW coverage. It's a part of the AIG insurance group so a big name
It can be a pain in the ass to get your CC to reimburse you so do the following:
Paolo - THANKS for the TravelGuard link! The quote for 10 days in France for me is $102, almost 1/4 what the auto rental cos quoted (150e per week plus 30e per day). I have zero faith in the MasterCard insurance since I have been unable to contact anyone by phone at MC who knows anything about it, other than to just promise to send me brochures in the mail, which either don't arrive or don't have much detailed information.
As far as renting a car in Europe - don't be afraid to do it! We are going out into the sticks in Midi Pyrennees where there is no train coverage. And, for two people traveling together, train fares in France are surprisingly expensive. We've been to Italy and rented cars, and actually never had any trouble (Italian drivers turned out to be less terrifying than San Francisco's). And since CDW is required in Italy AFAIK there's no monkey business with quotes and coverage, and the it is probably cheaper since everyone gets it.
If one plans on relying on CC CDW, make sure you contact your CC holder, ask who the carrier is, then talk directly to them about your plans. Most people are not aware that coverage is not available in all countries; Italy, as noted, and Ireland are common ones not included. Also understand what coverage your existing auto insurance policy might have, as well as your homeowners policy for liability coverage. Finally, the suggestion about third party coverage is good as well.
My CC's policy said Ireland WAS covered, and they didn't deny it based on where the accident happened. They just dreamed up another reason to deny it.
I don't believe any auto insurance in the U.S. covers travel in a foreign country,.
Also, even if you take the car rental company's
cdw, there is still a hefty deductible.
Juli, many US policies do cover you for foreign travel. And there is additional insurance available through the rental places to cover the deductible, too.
Thanks, Nancy for the info. I know about the
insurance to cover the cdw deductible but not that
the US policies cover foreign travel.
Italy - the great thing about Italy is, since you are required to buy CDW, the CDW is priced reasonably since everyone has to get it, everyone has to quote it. Thus the rental agencies are less likely to jerk you around. I wish the whole EU would do this.
I finally managed to get a copy of the CDW offered by my Mastercard. It seems to be legit. It's clearly stated that it doesn't cover Israel and Ireland.
What's the deal with Ireland?
I checked with my insurance here and they don't
cover anything outside of the U.S.
WM-We used our AmX card to rent a car on our first family trip to Europe (8 years ago). I called AmX ahead of time and talked with a rep about what was covered. Sure enough we hit a light pole on our 2nd day in Copenhagen. Continued to drive the car for the rest of the trip and turned it in at the Frankfurt airport. We attempted to talk to the agent about the damage but did not get very far so we just left it. A few weeks later we got a letter (in German) with what appeared to be the charges for the damage to the rental car. I called AmX at that time and told them about our accident. They asked me to fax the German info to them and it was taken care of. We never paid any additional amount for the damage.
We have returned to Europe each year since then. We rent a car for at least some of the trip. I always call and ask detailed questions of AmX. I was not able to get insurance in Italy or Ireland so had to pay the extra CDW. We have been very happy using AmX for car rentals.
WM, it does not cover passengers/driver inside the
car. Nor does it cover damage to other cars or
their passengers. Autoeurope has some coverage for
this.
