Hertz - Car rental in the USA from an European point of view

Hello,

I have rent a car before in the USA, and I have always paid for full SLI and CDW which usually raise my rate atrociously.

I am an Italian citizen and know for sure that most standard (but often even premium) credit cards in Italy do not give any kind of insurance. Even personal car insurances do not offer this kind of thing. I hold a standard Mastercard and an AMEX Blue and they do not offer anything like that.

I know my question is kind of rhetorical, but, should I decide not to purchase CDW and SLI, in the unfortunate case of a car accident I'd be in serious trouble...is that right?

(I know well that PAI and Personal effects insurance are basically a scam, since those are covered by my Europ Assistance travel insurance).

If you drive like an italian you had better get the insurance!

that's a good one - anyway it seems Italian residents get exactly the same rates the Irish or English do....we must be no worse than them on US streets....

Hi,

You may want to find out if your M&M membership doesn't give you access to a CDP code that could include the insurance.

I know that my Flying Blue membership gives me free insurance at Avis ...

Cheers,

GenevaFlyer

I have noticed if you go to European discount websites that cater specifically to the Europeans, they usually throw in car insurance for free. My German friends got a much better rate than I could even possibly find!

Wiggums' answer was my first thought: consider a car rental wholesaler that caters to Europeans renting abroad.

Another step - which might or might not be applicable to you - is to call you own insurance carrier in Italy and ask about costs to buy a short-term policy that covers your rental. That way, you can rent from whichever agency you like and decline all of their coverages. Coming from the U.S. to Europe, I've done this a few times. (Before '96 or so, my insurance provider would give me these short-term policies at no additional charge; now they charge a few bucks, but it's still very much worth it.)

Thank you !
Don't ask me why I didn't check the likes of expedia, edreams, octopustravel and so on before...rates are lower and all of them offer full CDW and SLI.

Thanks a lot!