Originally Posted by
MDtR-Chicago
This is a financial decision, right? So let's try to put a model together. Again, assuming US driver traveling within US and Canada exclusively.
Let's assume that, in general, you drive almost every day - say 300 days/year. I don't know what the average accident rate is in the general populace. Let's say it's once every 3 years.
So your odds of being in an accident on any given driving day are 1:900. Let's say that an accident will make the cost of your policy go up $500 per year for five years. Thus, the total cost of the accident to you is $2500.
Let's say your average car rental is 4 days. That turns your 900 driving days into 225 trips. If you were to take out the $18 AMEX primary insurance add-on for each of your 225 trips in that 3 year period between accidents, the total cost to you would be $4050. In other words, you are paying $4050 to avoid a $2500 increase in premium.
Sorry don't mean to the hijack the thread from the OP, but do want to continue a bit about the pros/cons of paying for supplemental Primary coverage insurance thru a credit card.
Yes, this is a financial decision -- almost every aspect of traveling is the concept of price vs. comfort and usually trying to find the sweet spot. I don't think your math is fair showing what it would cost if one were to take out 75 rentals per year as that's not reality. It's sort of like saying that it's stupid to pay the $15 per day to use the hotel internet when you could just drive 2 miles to McDonalds & use it for free - over a 3-year period you'd be paying an unnecessary $16,425. If I need or want it I'll pay the $15 simply a decision of money vs. convenience. Likewise I'm willing to spend the additional $100 or so a year (not the $4050/3 years) for the convenience and peace of mind I get from the additional insurance. I abhor the idea of paying for damage to my rental from other people (think tiny hotel parking spaces, excessive valets while on the road, etc.) but that may be just me -- in any event, vive la différence.