jcoop

Am I missing something, or can I actually get decent value by redeeming points for a car rental?

I am looking at renting a car for two weeks from LHR at the end of August. The best price I've found so far for a Standard/Class F car (Vauxhall Insignia or similar) is $643 CAD all in. Aeroplan.com and AVIS want 46,000 points for the same booking, so that's 1.4 cpm. Not an amazing deal, but not terrible either, right?

lowside67

YYZ-LHR-YYZ on Air Canada business is one of the worst redemptions around, it's $1253.41 + 101,000pts (90,000pts "paid" + 11,000pts "not earned"). The cash price for that flight on a flexible business fare on my sample dates was $6030.06, so those points are still worth approximately 4.7CPM.

1.4CPM is pretty much the worst, yes you could search and find some redemption that is worse but basically even the most uneducated use of them for a business class fare will triple or quadruple that value.

Mark

flyquiet

What would be the insurance impact? Your travel credit card might cover the insurance, but if you pay with points, you would have to purchase coverage, no?

mountaingrl

We have found good value using AE points for car rentals, especially for one ways in Europe or other countries (AE says they don't do one way rentals but we have booked quite a few one day one way rentals to get to the starts of hiking trails). When you check in you still need a credit card so we just use one with good insurance on the card.

danlauz

Nothing can beat AA points to cover cars rentals. I just book a 4 days convertible car in Miami for 16000 AA points + 0$... It cost around 350-375$ for this rent. I think its a good deal... You however have to verify with your insurance company about insurance...

jcoop

I realize that business reward travel will invariably result in a higher CPM, but at this point in my life I don't have the luxury of organizing my travel plans around Aeroplan availability. Instead I have plenty of points but no obvious way to use them, so looking for decent ways to use up the points accumulating in my account.

Good question! The T&C of the CIBC Aerogold (for example) includes the following language:

You are covered if points earned under Your CIBC Eligible Visa Card (member points program) are used to pay for the rental.

It's a bit odd in that Aeroplan points aren't directly tied to that particular card, but it sounds like I would be okay.

flyquiet

Pessimist that I am, I would check with the credit card about the interpretation of that language and whether "member points program" means "Aeroplan". As you say, the Aeroplan miles that you are redeeming may have been earned by flying on Lufthansa paid for with your BMO MasterCard, and they are not precisely "member points" vis a vis CIBC. Worst way to find out that they chose those words specifically not to say "Aeroplan" for a reason would be to have something happen on this specific trip.

bennymac

Anyone who just assumes their insurance is covering their rental car has likely never actually dealt with an insurance claim before.

You generally have to pay the full amount with the card (or use points accrued with that card) to trigger the insurance. You can't show a RBC Avion card for a rental you booked with Aeroplan points and expect RBC card insurance to cover you. If you think the insurance company is going to be sympathetic if you get it wrong you're going to have a bad day.

Also be aware there is generally a maximum retail price of the car you can rent and still be insured. This is not generally an issue in NA but in Europe you could feel all great about getting that BMW as a rental car only to find out, when you screw up the whole 'other side of the road' bit that your car's original price was too high and now you have zero coverage.

I hate reading the fine print - but when it comes to rental car companies and rental car insurance a few minutes of your time and a mild headache are a small price to pay.

danlauz

Small note: it cost 0$ to book car with AA but, you need to have your personnal car insurance option add ( annual fees is 50$ for me) and they cover car value up to 100 000$. I called Rbc (avion) previously and, they dont cover if 100% of the car rent is not paid by the card and/its an award booked outside RBC AVION.

jnswinnipeg

I have used AE points for car rentals several times on OGG and found it to be a good value. It is nice to use points and pay NO cash with them.

Cana2013

This is the reason I do not use miles for car rentals. I do not think credit cards will cover rental with miles.

danapop

Check with our auto insturance provider at home. I am with Meloche Monnex and they cover me for rental cars...

jcoop

The language is vague because the same T&C covers several different CIBC credit cards including Aventura. That being said, I will call CIBC and my own car insurance and confirm coverage before booking anything.

I did make a claim through the CIBC Aerogold coverage for a paid rental about 7 years ago - totaled an almost brand new Dodge Avenger. I found it to be a very painless process (aside from the accident!) as the insurance company took care of everything including the tow from the accident scene.

flyquiet

I believe my car insurance covers me as well, but am never sure if it is for both collision and liability or liability only. The credit card insurance is collision only, as far as I understand it, therefore the liability is what I need from my own coverage. Everyone would do well to double check their coverage. I have had the rental agents trying to insinuate that my credit card and personal insurer would not cover me outside of my home province/country etc. and it is good to know for sure. Hard to steer the car with the fingers tightly crossed.

danapop

Car Rental counter agents are scam artists. I picked up a vechicle from AVIS in YWG yesterday and said (As I always do) "Ill bring it back full and I dont need any coverage." He hammered me with questions for about 10 minutes, insisting I need some coverage, even road side assistance and it is a "red flag" for them when someone says the dont need insurance....