Hi S,

> I could have gotten a rental car at another agency that INCLUDES the CDW -- for about the same price! <

Are you sure it's the same insurance coverage?

Did you check the deductible on the CDW from the other agency?

ttt

I want to rent a car through Hertz or Oscannlain on line and want to DECLINE ALL insurance (I will be using Mastercard Platinum credit card coverage) they provide but there isn't a place to put that on line...can I just book the car on line to reserve it and then when I actually pick up the car at the Hertz place in Dublin can I DECLINE ALL insurance at that time or does it have to be done when I book it????

I rented in Ireland for 14days from rentacar and took what they call walk-a-way insurance.Everything is covered.It isnt cheap 600.00 for two weeks but no worries.If you have coverage with a credit card and you have a accident for 3-4,000 the rental company will in all likelehood charge your credit card the entire amount until you pay up.Imagine fighting with this thousands of miles away.In the whole sceme of things 600 buys a lot of peace of mind and at least for me it is worth it.I have gotten this type of coverage on my other trips to Europe also.

I rented a car from Alamo in the UK and booked a ratre that included CDW, there was no way to decline it, even at the counter. Since I did not technically accept the coverage since it was included, can I claim of my cc for the excess, I had a minor accident and have a £500 excess, I declined all other coverages.
Thanks

WE buy trip insurance that includes primary coverage for rental cats.

Your message was not "surprising" to me. A couple years ago we rented for a week plus in England and Wales through Auto Europe and they were the ones who suggested I check with our credit card company to avoid the deductible. I found out we would be covered with no deductible if we declined all coverage so we did. Not only did we save a couple hundred dollars that way, but when we totalled the car in Wales -- yep -- we didn't owe the $500 (or was it 500 pounds?) deductible we would have had to pay if we had gone with the more expensive insurance. The credit card paid everything -- right down to the towing bill, storage of the wreck, and everything else.

Underhill,

What company do you use to purchase your travel insurance from for primary coverage for rental cars? How many times have you purchased travel insurance? Have you ever had to file a claim?

Just to add fuel to the discussion, we rented a car from Budget in Lisbon Portugal and it was a disaster. We have a Visa Gold which requires you to decline the CDW and they will cover you. When we did that they want us to put up $ 28000 on our credit card to cover the car. We tried everything including having the Visa company speak to them and Visa finally said rent from someone else. So avoid Budget in Lisbon.

I just spoke to Mastercard to find out what my Citibank Platinum Mastercard would cover. They only cover 15 days continuous rental, $50,000 damage to the rental car and nothing else. (If my own car insurance covers rental cars in Europe, and has a deductible, Mastercard will pay the deductible or "excess". Unfortunately, Geico does not cover rental cars outside US and Canada.) In order to get this Mastercard benefit, I must decline the CDW of the rental card company, pay for the entire rental with my Mastercard and be sure any drivers are listed in the rental agreement. This benefit is not good in Ireland, Israel or Jamaica. (Go figure!)

What is important to remember is that I still need to purchase liability insurance for myself and anyone else injured as well as property damage insurance for the other car (or brick wall) that may be damaged.

So, I think I have it straight! I guess I buy this from the car rental company unless I can find a carrier that will do it. I am looking at Travel Guard, it just seems as if I have to buy a lot of stuff I don't want. But I will keep at it.

This UK based company provides insurance to cover the 'excess' including windshield, tires, etc. when renting with 'inclusive' rates. Pretty reasonable costs. If you look around the site, you should be able to find daily rates as well as the more obvious yearly rates.

http://www.insurance4carhire.com/ind...=1&curID=1

The site for the daily rate is
www.dailyexcess.com

Ahulani
In Europe, liability is included in the rental price.
Just in case you hit that brick wall.

I just called my AE Platinum card to see if they cover rental insurance, and he said that for $19 or $24 they would cover it for 45 days. We'll be in Italy.