We are going to rent a car in Nice and drive around the Cote D'Azur and surrounding areas. Do we need to get the CDW and theft protection while in France? I have seen several posting recommending it for Italy.

Hi Pam. I rented a car through Auto Europe for pickup at the Nice airport last May. I used my credit card for the coverage and skipped paying the extra to Europcar.<BR>It made the rental a little less expensive. You can do either.

Check with your credit card company - they should cover you and you won't need the CDW. In Italy many people do suggest it but not France.For Paris information e-mail me: [email protected]

Hi Pam. According to what AutoEurope told me, insurance is mandatory for rentals in Italy. <BR><BR>As others have noted, your credit card may provide coverage. Another option, which I've used before, is to purchase insurance through TravelGuard. As I recall, it's only $5/day, less than what you'd pay through a rental car company (although I can't remember how deductibles compare.)

Make sure what your credit card's rules are, too. My credit card told me that if I signed up for any CDW coverage with the auto rental company itself, I would void my coverage via the credit card.<BR><BR>Unfortunately I learned that lesson the hard way, the really, really hard way.

I should explain this better. I signed up for the minimum CDW coverage with Avis while renting a car in England. We dented the car while trying to back out of a narrow driveway on a hill, and had to pay the full $900.00 deductible to Avis.<BR><BR>I found out when I got back that if I hadn't taken out the CDW with Avis, my credit card would have covered EVERYTHING.<BR><BR>So yes, I would make sure you are covered for accidental damage some way, either through full CDW and theft, or by your credit card. Our accident was a dark cloud in a very wonderful trip.

Thanks you to everyone for their responses! It will make the trip logistics a little easier (which is good since it's our honeymoon...)<BR><BR>Pam