Rental Car Protection From Your Credit Card

Avoid Unnecessary Insurance Fees

When renting a car, paying with the right credit card could save you big. Rental car company’s charge anywhere from $10 to $30 a day for Collision and Loss Damage coverage, but if you’ve booked your rental car with the right credit card you can opt out of these hefty fees and still have the same valuable protection.

Credit Cards Policies For Car Rental Protection

  • Most credit cards will offer secondary rental insurance, which means they will only cover damages not covered by your personal car insurance policy; however, more cards are starting to offer primary rental insurance coverage.
  • All credit cards that offer car rental insurance require that you actually pay for the rental using that credit card.
  • Most credit cards that offer car rental protection require that you turn down the coverage offered by the rental car agency.

How Each Network Has You Covered

Coverage will vary for cards within each network, but overall network policies are consistent:

  • American Express: Offers free secondary coverage with a maximum of 31 consecutive days and the option for primary coverage for a small fee.
  • Discover: Limits coverage to a maximum of 31 days.
  • MasterCard: Limits coverage to 15 consecutive days or less depending on the card.
  • Visa: Limits coverage to 15 consecutive days domestically or 31 days abroad.

Your Credit Card’s Rental Car Protection

Rental car insurance coverage varies significantly for each credit card. Sift makes it easy to determine which of your cards has the best coverage for your needs. To unlock your credit card’s hidden travel benefits and more download Sift from the Apple Store or Google Play.