Itallian_Chauffer

Just returned yesterday evening from most recent trip. Rented a five passenger people mover from Sixt via Irish Car Rentals on the web. Used my MBNA Platinum Master Card to waive the CDW and had no problems on that end.

Leona

We are going to Ireland in August, renting a car out of Shannon. We met with our t/a just last night & he told us that in both Ireland & Italy, you MUST purchase the CDW. No credit card will cover an American in those two countries.

MileKing

Leona, your travel agent is misinformed about Ireland. Most Mastercard (not VISA) Gold and Platinum cards will provide coverage as long as the car rental firm accepts it. As others have noted, most do.

Leona

Thank you, Mileking,

I'm looking into it further. I would hate to purchase something we don't need.

wojazz3

Leona:

Your travel agent may well get a commission on selling CDW. My experience is that you will get much better travel advice here than you ever will from a travel agent. MileKing is absolutely right. The 800 number in question is BTW 800 MCASSIST. They can tell you if you have coverage.

Bill

amyprib

Yep, your travel agent is wrong about Ireland. I just returned last nite, and we used my Mastercard Platinum for the CDW. We used Hertz (after hearing some horror stories about other rental agencies, plus we got a good price for 12 days), and they are well informed about the use of credit cards for CDW insurance.
Didn't have any problems with that part.

Hertz was pretty good to us, you'll hear the stories when I post my trip report this weekend. But we had to switch cars in Wexford (they don't have a location in Waterford anymore we found out), and then they compensated us decently for gas and such.

But yes, you definitely need to check with the rental agency to make sure they accept your credit card for CDW because they're the ones who have the right to decline it, but with that, check the fine print too. If you have the credit card, I'd suggest using that. Buying it from the rental agency or whoever really tacks on a chunk of money.

With Hertz you can get a "letter of coverage" from Mastercard saying you're covered. I had gotten two letters, the second one being slightly different in that it actually said "we will cover you in Ireland, Jamaica, etc." And then to check with the rental agency to make sure they accept it.

We ended up calling the Shannon airport Hertz counter to MAKE SURE they accepted the "letter of coverage" and MC coverage. We had been getting slightly different answers every time we called MCASSIST.

StephenG

"but they just want to get the money directly from you, and never have to deal with your insurance or credit card to get payment (in the event of damage)."
I don't think it works that way.
I beleive you better have enough credit to pay for the damage because you are the one who has to collect from Mastercard.
Personally never had an accident but I do pay for coverage in both Ireland( very narrow roads) and in Italy( just crazy Italian drivers). When I invest 8-10 grand in a vacation another $150 seems worth less worry.

amyprib

Ok - that's kinda what I said. The car rental agency wants to be able to get money immediately if you damage their car, and they would get it from you. Which means, you then would go back to your MC and get reimbursed. The car rental agency isn't going to wanna deal with your credit card company. That's what I meant.

In that old post, I guess I was thinking about the fine print 2000eu "hold or freeze" amount they may apply to your card, even if you use MC coverage. Basically they could allot themselves 2000eu on your card, if you use MC coverage, so that they have a chunk to take from you immediately if you damage their car. We were annoyed with this, but when I called Hertz airport counter, they said they didn't do that. And I don't think that it was on my contract that I signed.

I guess I'm not sure what you disagree with, or if you just misunderstood what I wrote.

If you invest 8k+ on a trip, sure 150 isn't much. Although, it seemed to me the cost added up to more than 150 when we added up all the rental insurance offers (depends on length of trip too maybe for per day charges). Some people don't want to pay that much if they don't need to. If I have MC coverage, I'm going to take advantage of it, for free and w/ zero deductible. If I wreck the car, then I guess I'll deal with my credit card to get reimbursed (if Hertz charged me directly). Thankfully, we didn't have any problems the last two weeks.

We were worried after reading about the road conditions and types, but for us, driving was simple, even being the first time driving on the "wrong" side. I'm a confident driver so I wasn't too worried about running into stone walls and such and went with MC coverage. You can tuck the mirrors in, and almost all rental cars are scratched and scraped all over, so scraping shrubbery needn't be worried about.

Anyways, I still think the rental agencies offers are still rip-offs because if you don't buy the super-cdw (which with Hertz direct you can't at all if you're under 25), then you have to pay extra just to drop your deductible to zero.
Preferences I guess - if you have the cash, pay for it. If you have MC coverage, I'd say use it.

POlson

I just spoke with Customer Service at MBNA Mastercard Platinum Plus and they indicated that they do not provide CDW insurance in Ireland (or anywhere outside US). They also said that no mastercard does. Based on what I've read here, I'm not convinced. I think someone wrote that you have to go through mastercard not the issuing bank, so I'll try MCASSIST next.

Itallian_Chauffer

The MBNA rep told me the same thing. When I checked with MasterCard's rep, however, they said that it wasn't up to the individual bank -- MasterRental coverage is a MasterCard offering and is inclusive. We used the MBNA in June, with Sixt, through Irishcarrentals.com and had no problems.
The only limitation is wether or not the RENTAL CAR COMPANY will accept the MC waiver, not if MC will cover you, in Ireland.

kathcoll

I'm going back to Ireland (7th trip) in October. I'm renting a car through Isle Inn tours from Hertz. They've assured me they accept mastercard platinum CDW. I called MCASSISt only to find THEY do not cover Citibank Mastercards - so there is a change since last year when all mastercards were covered by the same insurance company...so now I'm waiting to hear if Citibank MC will cover us...incidentally, the very same company as the original poster wrote about. Their phone number to check for coverage is 1 800 377 7200, hours from 8 to 5 Eastern time (USA)

althom1122

I just returned Friday, and we rented a car at Shannon through Thrifty. We were told that although they accepted MasterCard insurance, there would be a 10 Euro per day charge for us to use it instead of theirs. That made absolutely no sense to me, but that's what the woman said. We had already pre-paid for the CDW insurance and I wanted to switch to the MasterCard coverage. She balked and said she wasn't sure she could do it since we'd already paid for it. And then she added that there was a 10E per day charge for using any credit card insurance anyway. I don't know if she told me that to discourage me from pushing on making the switch or what. But that's what she said. We ended up going with their CDW, AND paying an extra 15E per day to ensure we had full coverage. I felt like we got ripped off. But at least we had the peace of mind that the car was fully covered. I've rented cars in England, Germany, France, and Italy and have NEVER had anything like this happen before. (Still, Ireland was wonderful!)

kix

BE very careful. We rented a car through Herzt at the port in Dun Loughrie. I specifically ordered a Mastercard from Chase in order to decline the CDW and obtain coverage under the credit card. I ended up having a very small accident (took the passenger side mirror off--a story in itself, biggest thing to get used to driving on left side of road is keeping car centered. Upon return of the car at the end of our trip I was told the cost to repair the mirror would be 107 euros, not bad, and covered by the Mastercard, so no worries.

When I returned home, I found out that Hertz had charged me for CDW and also for theft prtoection, which nearly doubled my rental. They ALSO charged the 107 euros for the mirror. The sent me a copy of the rental form and it does appear I initialed the "accpt" colums under CDW and theft protection, but I never would have done that knowingly. I was told at the time of rental they needed to put a 2000 euro freeze on my credit card if I wanted to decline CDW and theft. I said fine. He wrote down 2000 euros, turned the form around, and asked me to initial, which I did, without paying too much attention. Turns out I initialed "accept" CDW and theft and that the 2000 euros was the deductible!

I am in a big dispute with Hertz about this now. Frustrating? Oh yeah, after I had researched this issue just like you all are doing. Anyone else having a similar problem, please let us know.

Travelermebe

The following comes directly from MC's website:
Where you're covered:
? In general, coverage is accepted worldwide, but there are exceptions.
? You may be unable to use this service in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and New Zealand. Please contact your car rental company before you travel.
? Coverage is not available where prohibited by law.

Anyone thinking about using any credit card for CDW should make sure they read that credit card company's specific terms and conditions. Some, like MC, limit you to 15 days coverage. Others have dollar limits and limits on the kind of cars they cover.