laurie_ann

I found a great rate through Expedia for Dollar company car rental at Frankfurt Airport. In checking some details I found the following on the Dollar company website:

"To decline Dollar LDW, the customer must have either US issued Gold/Platinum MasterCard or Canadian issued Gold/Platinum Visa Card and provide WRITTEN PROOF by the credit card insurance company that the card has relevant coverage for GERMANY. Only US issued Gold/Platinum MasterCard or Canadian issued Gold/Platinum Visa can be used to waive LDW coverage. . . . . If a relevant card AND cover letter are not produced at time of commencement of rental then Dollar LDW must be purchased."

My Expedia confirmation says only "Includes estimated taxes and fees. May not include mandatory insurance charges that are required for certain international rentals. Car charges are billed at time of rental."

I usually do not purchase LDW (also called CDW). Has anyone had this requirement imposed for a car rental with Dollar in Germany or any other country? Did you try to show the kind of credit card and the proof of coverage under the credit card? Did it work?

I do have Platinum MasterCard so I would be able to show the credit card. But not sure what they are imagining I would bring to show proof of insurance under it. (The quote above refers to a "cover letter".)

I am going to email Expedia and see if they can tell me more but thought I would see here too.

Dukey1

First of all, I would call your credit card issuer. I would also make sure that LDW and CDW are the exact same thing. Be aware that some agencies will charge you for the LOSS OF USE of any vehicle which is being repaired to any degree after any accident.

I assume you have compared the prices with those through the wholesaler Autoeurope

ira

Hey la,

As noted, call the rental agency (not the broker) and your CC issuer.

Have you checked prices at www.kemwel.com, and www.gemut.com?

ira

PS, I'ce never had a problem declining the cdw with $ car rental in Germany.

However, your mileage may vary.

laurie_ann

Thanks for the prompt replies. I have also written Expedia, Dollar and my credit card company for more details and so I have the proof if I need it.

And thanks for the always great car rental websites. I checked them all first and couldn't beat what I got from Dollar through Expedia. Not when 11 Euro per day base rate for three days plus about 19 Euro estimated fees.

treplow

I don't know if you ever read any other travel boards. They have literally hundreds of commemnts that warn readers to stay away from Dollar in Frankfurt or Munich. There, Dollar car reservations made in the US are passed to a concessionare, "Terstappen".

People have been swindled literally out of hundreds of dollars, b coverage. In addition to its proprietary insurance coverage, the requires sizeable deposits which usually are lost, because they charge ridiculous prices for even minor repairs for body damage, which often was on the car and noted at the time the car was picked up.

laurie_ann

Thanks everyone. A quick search of "Terstappen" at tripadvisor.com was enough to convince me to ditch the Dollar car rental reservation. My reservation voucher came back as with Avis.

It's a good lesson. My booking details from Expedia did not mention the special requirements either to take the LDW or to have certain documents to waive it. (Just a mention that the rental might be subject to other local policies.)

I only found it when I went looking for something else about the rental on the Dollar website.

I made a new booking at autoeurope.com. It was about $50 total more for the three days but I can't abide poor customer service. My vacations are too short to argue at the car rental counter.

laurie_ann

I inserted the sentence about Avis in the wrong place. Avis is where my autoeurope.com booking came out. (When you reserve on autoeurope which I have done many times you don't know the actual rental company until your reservation is confirmed and your voucher issued.)