R2134

I've earned a weeks worth of free car rental days with National. Problem is I have no car, therefore no car insurance and cannot use any of my credit card's car rental supplemental insurance policies because it is a redeemed rental.

If I use a free rental day then add insurances it becomes more expensive than normal rental.

If I use contract code + apply free rental days I basically get only $30 off.

Is there anyway around this (eg being able to just use CC insurance) or since I don't have my own car insurance they are pretty much worthless?

Auto Enthusiast

It sounds like you're using free days for simple, cheap roundtrips. As you see, poor value. Use it for $211/day midsize one-way long distance and pay $25/day for CDW. That's a phenomenal deal.

matrixca7

Did you use only one credit card when renting and earning free days? If yes, most likely the same card's insurance covers you. Or as other fellow member suggested use them for expensive one way rentals and just pay for CDW.

3Cforme

You might consider one paid day and the balance free days after a close read of the real policy (not the benefit summary) of your credit card rental car protection.

The bombastic rhetorical 'Are free rental days useless?' Not if you're using them thoughtfully.

Wiley

Get a non-owners annual liability policy. Usually well under $100.

hughc99

Well under $100? Please tell us which insurance carrier offers this.

I called every insurance co. under the sun about non-owners policy and no one was even close to $100. A lot were $500+.

Still doesn't solve OP's dilemma WRT coverage for damage.

BlueEngineer

It probably depends on your age, state, and driving history, but in Virginia, both Geico and State Farm offered plans in the $100 range.

For the OP: you might want to look at the AMEX Premium insurance. It costs $17-$25 per rental for primary collision-only coverage. An adjuster once told me, when I called, that as long as some taxes/fees are charged to the card, the insurance would be active. I would recommend you give them a call to confirm this, though- it's been awhile since I called.

91StealthES

Yes, they are useless. Please PM me and we can transfer them to my account.

Chingyul

I'm just about to book a rental with free days.
Even though I have enough free days to cover, there's still a couple fees and I end up paying $4.50 or so, which I pay with the Visa.

The wording is:
"You must pay the full cost of the car rental with an Eligible Visa card"

I'll probably call to confirm, but that makes sense to me.

PaceLaw2012

It is well-documented on FT anbd by both Chase and AMEX personally, that both Chase Sapphire Preferred and AMEX Premium Rental Car Protection provide CDW when using free days, AS LONG AS at least $0.01 is charged on the card (taxes, fees, etc.). If there is no charge, then obviously the primary insurance protections of that card dont accrue.

cestmoi123

Try Travelers. I pay around $120-130 for $500k in coverage. It's in NYC.

bocastephen

This provides important liability coverage but doesn't help the OP wrt damage to the car.

Chase was very clear with me about their coverage - it isn't the $0.01 rule, but that a rental fee must be charged to the card, not just tax. If the only charge is tax (one day free rental), there is no damage coverage, however a two day rental with one paid and one free day would be covered.

This was Chase Ink, not Sapphire, but I imagine they have the same rules, no?

I pay about 180/yr for Non Owners Liability of 100/300/50 through AAA Southern California. I'm going to check Travelers too for higher limits, but every other company I called had no idea what non-owners liability was, or insisted they didn't offer it (including State Farm, Progressive, etc)....even Travelers makes no mention of that policy on their website.

cestmoi123

It's very much a niche product, since the number of US households that (a) don't own a car, AND (b) do actually drive cars, AND (c) aren't essentially judgment-proof, is very small.

I only found coverage through an agency (Cambell Solberg) here in NYC, who apparently do a lot of these policies, since NYC actually has a material number of people who fit the three criteria above.

Good point on coverage on the rental car, although, due a quirk in NY law, my non-owners coverage also covers my rental car. That clearly doesn't apply to people in other states.