When renting a car, after finding the vehicle type you need at a reasonable price (here’s the best way to do that), there’s one more decision to make. You have to pick which credit card to use and there’s more to consider than which one earns the most points.
Most travel credit cards offer some type of collision coverage, also known as CDW or LDW, which covers physical damage. Rental car companies offer other types of coverage but no credit card offers comparable coverages. When referring to rental car coverage, I mean CDW/LDW insurance.
I’ll limit my scope to the mainstream offerings from each bank currently available to new applicants. I’m also excluding business cards because their rental coverage only applies if the vehicle is being used for business purposes.
One bank that didn’t make the list is Citibank because they removed rental car coverage, along with most other travel benefits and purchase protections, a few years ago.
American Express cards are out of the running because they provide secondary coverage. AMEX does offer optional primary coverage for a fee. While the coverage is good, I don’t consider it a perk of a card since you have to pay for it.
The new entrant into the premium card club is the Capital One Venture X.
Capital One Venture X
The Venture X’s CDW acts as primary coverage and covers theft, damage, valid loss-of-use charges imposed and substantiated by the auto rental company, administrative fees and reasonable and customary towing charges, due to a covered theft or damage to the nearest qualified repair facility
Here are the rules to use the Venture X rental car coverage:
- Use your card to initiate and complete your entire car rental transaction.
- Review the auto rental agreement and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW/LDW) option, or a similar provision, as accepting this coverage will cancel out your benefit.
Occasionally rental agents will claim you need to use their own coverage and credit card plans are insufficient. If that happens, Capital One says to call the Benefit Administrator for assistance at 1-800-825-4062. Outside the United States, call collect at 1-804-965-8071.
Coverage is good in the US and most foreign countries except Israel, Jamaica, the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland.
Certain vehicles are not covered by this benefit including expensive, exotic, and antique cars, Cargo vans; certain vans; vehicles with an open cargo bed; trucks; motorcycles; mopeds; motorbikes; limousines; and recreational vehicles.
An expensive automobile is defined as any vehicle with an original manufacturer’s suggested retail price of more than $75,000 when new. Vans are not covered but ones seating up to nine people, including the driver, are covered.
Coverage is good for rental periods up to fifteen consecutive days within your country of residence or thirty-one days outside your country of residence.
Let’s compare that to the coverage provided by the card which previously had the best rental car coverage.
Chase Sapphire Reserve
The Sapphire Reserve coverage reimburses damages caused by theft or collision up to $75,000. The CDW acts as primary coverage and covers theft, damage, valid loss–of–use charges imposed and substantiated by the auto rental company, administrative fees, and reasonable and customary towing charges to the nearest qualified repair facility. The Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver covers no other type of loss. Rental periods up to thirty–one consecutive days are covered.
To get coverage, use the Sapphire Reserve to initiate and complete the entire car rental transaction and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver (CDW/LDW) option or a similar provision. Accepting this coverage will cancel out Your benefit.
The rental car coverage does not include antique cars (cars over twenty [20] years old or that have not been manufactured for ten [10] years or more), cargo vans, vehicles with open cargo beds, trucks, (other than pickups), motorcycles, mopeds, motorbikes, limousines, and recreational vehicles and passenger vans with seating for more than nine [9] people, including the driver.
Final Thoughts
Capital One Venture X and Chase Sapphire Reserve provide similar rental car insurance benefits which makes sense because both are Visa Infinite cards. There are slight differences with the Sapphire Reserve providing coverage for rentals up to 31 days while the Venture X only covers rentals for 15 days in the country of residence. The Sapphire Reserve also has more lenient timetables for reporting a claim and submitting information.
For most cardholders, these are subtle differences they’ll never notice but in those certain cases, it makes a huge difference. Otherwise, I’d have no problems booking a car with either card. The Venture X and Sapphire Reserve both offer 10X points for car rentals made through their respective travel portals. If you were only keeping your Sapphire Reserve because of the primary rental coverage, it could be time to reevaluate how much value you’re getting from your annual fee.
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