I was asking about the AMEX premium coverage of $24.95 yesterday and was told the residents of the following states are no longer eligible for the preium plan. Those states are:

GA,IA, ID, OK,PA and NH.

According to the Amex rep, NH has been on the list but the other 5 states were added on the 25th of January 2012. Apparently something to do with licensing approval. No one that I talked with as yet has specific knowledge as to why those states' residents are not eligible for the premium coverage. They are still eligible for the basic free cdw coverage however.

The coverage is activated when the charge on the CC is paid. Being in NH, I have been told that I am grandfathered in, but I get all answers by e-mail. They did covered us in September, 2009 for 2000 euros.

When using a broker such as Autoeurope or Kemwel, the car rental charge is not readily identified as such and the AE insurance coverage is not automatically triggered. It would be prudent to call AE to confirm that you indeed want the coverage for the rental.

Am I correct in understanding that this benefit is not part of the regular cdw offered by AMEX, but that you must "buy" the coverage? Thanks.

I just checked and my AMEX doesn't offer any kind of rental insurance, it is a low end Delta Skymiles Option Card. I do have Cap one Visa Signature card and that looks like it offers rental insurance.

You also need to check that the car rental firm accept AMEX as it's not always accepted in Europe.

I used to use the $24.95 option with my Delta Amerxo card till I found out that ANY Visa card offers the same insurance coverage for nothing. It's provided by Visa whatever the brand of card. As someone mentioned, Mastercard may provide the same.

I just read this old post and have my own questions. I am renting a car from AutoEurope to drive from Provence, France to Florence, Italy. I was advised by American Express that they do not insure car rentals in Italy (and a few other countries). Will I be able to use the American Express insurance for the portion of the trip in France then purchase the insurance from AutoEurope for the portion of the trip in Italy?

Lillian: Not really. But do you even want to do that? One way rentals have very large drop off fees. It might be better to rent one car for France and a different car in Italy. It would be cheaper and solve the insurance 'problem'.

(You might want to start a new thread w/your own specific questions)

How do you specifically anticipate that AmEx and AutoEurope split the coverage of one rental with two destinations; France and Italy? I do not see any solution for dividing insurance coverage between two carriers. You need to ask AE.

Bedar (I know this is two months later) - AmEx coverages is full Primary insurance coverage. Visa and Mastercard offer secondary coverage on collision. There is no comparison between the two coverages and they are emphatically not the same.

FWIW- after realizing that for $24.95 [per use] I can have the AMEX car rental coverage. I made my reservation almost 2 months ago with kemwel. I called today and they will refund my original payment and recharge on AMEX card - at the SAME rate. The current rate is significantly higher, so I am very pleased at their willingness to do this for me.

Again, got to love the info you get here. Thanks~

<i>AmEx coverages is full Primary insurance coverage. Visa and Mastercard offer secondary coverage on collision. There is no comparison between the two coverages and they are emphatically not the same.</i>

But does it make a difference in the final analysis since liability is included in any European rental?

<i>But does it make a difference</i>

The difference between primary coverage and secondary coverage is huge in and of itself. It´s the difference between walking away from an accident and paying for all damage then waiting to be reimbursed by the credit card insurer. If you have ever made a claim with a credit card insurer, you will not necessarily want to do it a second time.

There are also differences in maximum duration of coverage, dollar amount of coverage, what type of cars are covered, medical coverage, and loss of personal property.

_____

Separately, after reviewing the AmEx policy coverage, they state that vehicles rented in Italy are not covered. However, this does not mean that a car rented from outside of Italy is not covered when it is driven into Italy which is what Lillian_Laszlo is asking about. AmEx coverage should extend into Italy if the rental was picked up in France.

The good thing about EX

About AX'S insurance coverage, is it makes them the primary insurer. You don't have to go throught your own car insurance at home and then your credit card coverage. Lots of paperwork. I know by an experence in Germany, when AX covered the whole 2000 euros. While they cover from dollar one, they do not cover 'loss of use'. But they did get Sixt to accept whatever AX offered and I didn't pay a CENT. The insurance with AX cost me $19.95. Having just rented a car in Florida and then New Mexico, the AX coverage kicks in when you refuse all insurance coverage and the rental company charges your credit card. I like AX being the primery insurer.

Re coverage by AmEx:

We had a minor accident in Switzerland.

Filled out all the forms. Provided all the necessary information.

Filed the police report that said I was stopped and the other car drove into me.

3 mos later I got a bill for $1000 from the rental agency.

I sent the bill off to AmEx.

They handled absolutely everything. The only thing I did was read their updates.

((I))

ok - so now my next question is - reading back on all these posts, it seems that the AMEX charge [$24.95 or 19.95] doesn't appear automatically with kemwel payment since it doesn't see it as a car rental. I paid in full for the rental but still need to pay local charges when we pick the car up. From what has been said up thread, this amount since it comes from an actual car [Europcar] rental triggers a second charge. I am guessing that BOTH amounts need to be paid with AMEX to get AMEX coverage. And that the second charge is removed after calling AMEX to indicate that it was the SAME rental.

Am I getting this right??

You should pay for the "basic" rate, and I doubt that it will be lowered because AMEX would normally carry the full cost. Airport and RR fees are a separate issue as is the road tax and the pollution tax for an automatic.

I meant that AMEX will carry the full cost of the insurance, not the rental.

To be sure of getting complete AmEx insurance, pay both the rental (from Autoeurope or Kemwel) and the road tax, location surcharge, additional driver fees, environmental fees, and any other charge imposed by the rental company typically paid at drop off, all of these things on the AmEx card just to be sure of insurance coverage.

A rental from Autoeurope or Kemwel or some other broker will probably not trigger the AmEx insurance at $24.95 or $19.95. It would be prudent to call AmEx explain the situation which is what AmEx suggested that I do when I asked them this very question. It will also clarify any possible second charge when paying the required fees at drop off.