Rental Car Insurance
 

We will be in Sicily in April. thanks for all the great tips savvy travelers.
We are renting a car. I am about to buy my trip insurance and am really unclear if I add on car insurance here or is it better to use the car insurance offered by the rental company. I believe my credit card covers some too. I just want to make sure we are covered for collission and glass. We have two credit cards: USAA and Capital one.

thanks for any tips before I proceed.

Very few if any credit cards provide rental car coverage in Italy. They do in most countries but not Italy nor few others. You'll have to price out the specific differences between coverage by your trip insurance or the coverage provided by the rental agency.

Last year I rented in Palermo with Sixt which I arranged through booking dot com…. On booking I paid for their insurance and had no issues. The price through booking was less than Sixt, and less then AutoEurope.

I'd certainly go with a broker in Sicily who will negotiate for you if there is any confusion.
Last time I was there, someone (a passerby?) managed to stick a screwdriver into a tyre (no deflation) and the agent tried to get us to pay for a whole new tyre. I just rang Auto-Europe and handed my phone to the guy. Deal done. Given how hard it is to get hold of anyone in Booking do you really feel they will have your back?

I rent with SIXT in Sicily and take the maximum insurance that they offer. It might cost more but it's worth it to me for peace of mind. I had a problem with my car the first day of the rental (low battery light) and because I had the insurance, the company brought another car to me at my hotel on and took away the original one. Without the maximum insurance I would have had to drive the car back to Catania (from Marina di Ragusa) and get a different one. I like that company and have been renting from them lately, in Italy and in Spain.

I don't know anything about booking through the third party site; I've never done that.

Another vote for AutoEurope, a highly reputed aggregator with very high service standards and very competitive pricing including insurance (we always opt for their full protection/zero deductible cover for complete peace of mind). Stick witha frontline supplier like Avis, Hertz, Sixt, etc. when booking. In 2022, we reserved with Avis via AutoEurope (pickup Palermo, drop-off Catania), and had a flawless experience. AE is our default choice across Europe.

Another vote for AutoEurope and for getting the zero deductible insurance through them. They will provide you with a number to call if there are any problems when you pickup or return. They also tell you what charges you may have to pay directly to the rental agency such as one-way drop off fees.

Some people might find it reassuring to just buy the rental car company insurance, but not all of us can afford that expense, or at least, some of us might prefer to use our limited funds for other purposes if that expense is unnecessary. FWIW, I had insurance that fully covered me when in Sicily, and I had written documentation to prove it. The agent at the rental office tried to get me to buy the (exorbitantly priced) insurance coverage offered by the rental company. When I declined, they put a $5,000 hold on my CC. Irritating, but at least I didn't have to pay for the extra insurance!

Anyone interested might look into getting an AMEX credit car that offers Amex's "Premium Car Rental Protection" (which I believe you must enroll in separately). I didn't have that particular coverage at the time I visited Sicily, but I've used it since and have been completely comfortable.

FWIW, I make all my international car rental arrangements through gemut.com, a broker in Eugene, Oregon. They work with AutoEurope and are incredibly helpful.

Amex Premium Rental car protection is expressly void in Italy, Ireland, Israel, and a few other countries. The Capital One Venture X equivalent of Amex Premium does cover Italy however (its only exclusions are Israel, Jamaica, Ireland, and Northern Ireland).

Amex fine print is listed under "What It Offers: Protection": https://feeservices.americanexpress....verage/home.do
Capital One fine print is on page 2: https://ecm.capitalone.com/WCM/card/...te-english.pdf

Good info -- thanks!

I always remember it as the "three I's" -- Israel, Ireland, Italy -- that most US credit cards don't cover. One type of World MasterCard used to cover Ireland but I don't think that card is still offered.

Chase sapphire Reserve used to cover Auto insurance in Italy but do not know if they still do