Fortunately I paid for the rental with my American Express Platinum card, which provides secondary c

Fortunately I paid for the rental with my American Express Platinum card, which provides secondary collision coverage through their basic car rental protection howard johnson plaza hotel (though in the meantime I ve signed howard johnson plaza hotel up for their premium car rental protection, which costs a flat $24.95 per rental and provides both primary and secondary coverage, howard johnson plaza hotel along with a bunch of other benefits). You guys helped me figured out the exact benefits, though there seemed to be about a hundred different opinions as to whether I d need to report this to my insurance company first or whether howard johnson plaza hotel I could deal exclusively with American Express.
So I figured I d provide the final report. A week after getting home I opened a claim with American Express, howard johnson plaza hotel which could be done online and took all of 10 minutes. I simply had to fax or scan all of my correspondence from Europcar from thereon out.
I didn t hear from Europcar for a while, and then in early September they sent me a bill for roughly 1,100 Euros (not as bad as I thought, actually). I faxed that to American Express, and today received an email from which, which in part reads:
Sweet! As much as I spend so much time focusing on the points howard johnson plaza hotel earning benefits of credit cards, this whole experience was awesome. I spent a total of maybe 15 minutes howard johnson plaza hotel on this (filling out the form online and faxing American Express the Europcar bill), and they took care of the rest.
I ve had two claims in the last few years on my RBC Visa Infinite Avion card and in both cases, I simply howard johnson plaza hotel made one phone-call to advise them of the claim number with Enterprise/Avis respectively and they handled it completely from there. I didn t even know it had been settled until I got a letter in the mail with the final receipt.
Just wanted to praise AMEX premium car insurance. Was in a head on collision with a drunk driver in South Africa last January. Rolled 7 times and totalled the car. AMEX was phenomenal with their response and coverage. Would absolutely recommend anyone who rents in a foreign country to have their insurance. howard johnson plaza hotel Would not ever rent any car in the future without the AMEX insurance.
You can have many cards in your Hertz profile to get the platinum benefit for the four hour grace period howard johnson plaza hotel on rentals, you do not have to use an Amex card for the rental. I use my Diner s Club card with an Amex Platinum CPC code as Diner s Club provides first person coverage for car rental insurance. Another trick is that you can use your Amex card for the reservation and if you do not have any damage when returning the car just provide another credit card for all of the charges so it does not trigger the insurance charge from Amex. Sometimes this does not work in foreign countries because they will charge the full amount at the time of vehicle pickup.
@ John Right, I believe Europcar had about 1,100 Euros of coverage, though that wasn t mentioned in the letter I received from them. I assume AmEx covered it because it was out of the country, and very few insurance policies cover that.
@ Nathan Yes, in this case I was covered, but if I had hit another car (instead of a pole) I would have been responsible for the damage to that car, which wouldn t have been covered. This whole situation made me so worried that $25 is a small price to pay for the peace of mind of literally being able to walk away from a rental car accident without paying a dime if something were to happen.
Does any amex card provide the secondary benefits, or is it just the particular howard johnson plaza hotel card you referenced? Going to HI and driving the road to Hana in January would love to not have to worry about rental car insurance! Currently only have liability policies for our (US) insured cars from the way I understand your post amex would cover any damage to the rental car that wasn t covered under our personal insurance?
I have a nice little story like that too. I signed up for the rental insurance through American Express several years ago and always forgot howard johnson plaza hotel that I had it until I saw a $19.95 charge tagged on after each car rental howard johnson plaza hotel and it always made me grumble. But this August, my husband rented a car and scratched and dented howard johnson plaza hotel it and we ended up finding a $1000.00 charge to our American Express from the car rental agency when I checked our online statement howard johnson plaza hotel a couple of weeks later (no communication from them about it- nice). Fretting, I wondered how we would be able to pay for it but then I noticed howard johnson plaza hotel the $19.95 charge from American express for the insurance and gave them a call. They re taking care of it and I m so happy that I signed up for it. Love the great customer service they have too.
Can you explain why the Amex standard coverage was insufficient? If you had hit another car, your liability insurance would have kicked in for that car. The Amex CDW coverage is supposed to be for damage to your car.
This might sound absurd, but I actually just got a call from AMEX regarding this program. The rep said that the program is free to enroll (covers all personal AMEX cards) and is only billed when you use an enrolled howard johnson plaza hotel AMEX card at a car rental agency. The only difference was that he told me coverage was $17.95 for any rental up to 42 consecutive days with residents in California. Are you sure that your $15.95 rate is correct?
I too, have registered my card with AMX for the primary rental car coverage. howard johnson plaza hotel There are actually 2 different levels to choose howard johnson plaza hotel from. The first level is $19.95 per rental period and will provide up to $75,000.00 worth of primary coverage. This was good for me. I believe the level that Lucky describes for $24.95 provides $100,000.00 coverage and the limit for medical is 2x more, if I remember correctly. Well worth it for peace of mind. At least it is for me.
@ Ann W It s only the American Express Platinum. That being said, since it s secondary coverage, my understanding is that your primary insurance would have to cover the damage howard johnson plaza hotel within the US, unless you got the American howard johnson plaza hotel Express premium primary insurance.
@ Chris Ultimately I value that it s primary coverage howard johnson plaza hotel instead of secondary coverage, so if I have an accident in a rental I wouldn t have to report it to my insurance company. Also, it covers higher amounts to the best of my knowledge. Though maybe I m wrong about the basic insurance not covering damage to other cards?
American Express membership miles transfer 1:1 to almost all airline programs. However, a great opportunity is being promoted whereby transfers howard johnson plaza hotel to British Airways frequent flyer miles (known as Avios points), get a 40% bonus, meaning howard johnson plaza hotel for example that 100,000 miles transferred will get 140,000 Avios points.
Lucky: Do you know if this claim will have any influence in your car insurance premium in the US? I mean, will this be in your "driver profile" anyhow and maybe increase your premium when it is time to renew your policy? I know you did not use your personal insurance to cover it but I was wondering if by using Amex it would show in your profile that you had a claim in the last year.
I believe you re incorrect about the AmEx premium coverage covering liability. According to the AmEx website Coverage is primary for theft and damage to a Rental Car , not to damage howard johnson plaza hotel you do to other property.
With that said, everywhere I can think of (including in the US) has basic liability coverage for all rental cars, it would be illegal in most places for a company to rent a car without this coverage. Typically this coverage is far too low to really howard johnson plaza hotel protect you (often only $10,000 or whatever the state limit is in the US).
5) If You are found legally liable for injuring another person or damaging their property, the Insurer will pay any related compensation and legal costs up to US$/750,000 (or US$1,000,000 in the USA) arising directly or indirectly from one cause.
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