I am not 100% if this should be asked here or in the Chase forum... mods please move it if this is the wrong place.
I have the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, which offers primary Collision Damage Waiver coverage (and for foreign countries too). If I rent a car in Japan, can/should I decline all the insurance options?
For example, Nissan Rentacar have 3 options:
* Collision Damage Waiver Plan
* Nissan Anshin Support (NAS) plan
* NOC Support plan
I am US-based, have a car in the US, and plan on getting an international driving permit. Thanks.
I have the CSP as well and as you might have seen from my trip report, which was linked above, we rented a car for two weeks and actually put a sizable scratch on our rental.
From experience and going through Toyota-Rent-A-Car (which seems to be amongst the most popular and ubiquitous agencies throughout Japan) we were not given the option to accept or decline insurance. There was no insurance coverage extended beyond what is part and parcel with your rental per the contract. I think this has to do with the agencies own coverage for their vehicles. Unlike the US where most car rental outlets will try to rip off clients by offering unnecessary waivers, everything is pretty black and white in Japan. I can't speak to the int'l agencies like Avis, but Japanese rental companies will not even offer you the option for added insurance.
When we returned our vehicle in Kyoto, we had put a very large scratch on the front panel, above the bumper. This was caused by scraping up against a divider on a country road. It ran the entire length of both side doors from front to rear. Easily a couple thousand dollars in deductible in the US, where they would claim the parts need to be completely replaced and the entire car repainted, etc. We were charged $200 (equivalent in yen) on the floor and walked out. It was not only a relief, as I had been quite concerned about what it would cost me for days, but it was a breath of fresh air to deal with a company with integrity who wasn't trying to fleece you and put the squeeze on clients. They really made things simple and were surprisingly apologetic about even having to charge me $200 for the damage that I had caused! They made sure to provide me with all the necessary paperwork to file a claim through my credit card.
Back in the USofA:
I filed a claim with Visa (through our Chase Sapphire Preferred) and within a couple of months, was fully reimbursed the deductible that we had to pay. It didn't cost us a dime. Admittedly, Visa was a bit of a pain in the neck to deal with as they dragged things out for months, requesting documents that we had already submitted numerous times - an obvious ploy to detract clients from following through, I would assume. But minor frustrations aside, we were fully reimbursed through Visa per our CSP coverage.