Originally Posted by
beep88
I rented with Toyota and others. Paid for the "menseki hosho", "免責補償" , and wrote "I decline CDW" next to my signature.
That means NOC will be covered by credit card. Liability deductible is covered by 免責補償.
For Toyota, 免責補償 reduces your LDW(and similar) deductible to zero, reduces 3rd party deductible to zero.
If I don't use credit card insurance, I need to buy 免責補償, but I still have to pay NOC if things happen. Some rental companies can have NOC waived if you pay extra, but not Toyota.
If I use credit card insurance and don't buy 免責補償, everything is covered except 3rd party deductible.
>> But no idea if I'm playing with fire in doing so
Many foreigners don't buy 免責補償. It is a very expensive "insurance" if you rent for 15 days or longer, for example.
2000 X 15 = 30k premium, for that you get covered for the deductible of 50k CDW + 50K liability. That's a 30% premium rate for 15 days.
I usually rent only for a couple days, so I pay it. Amount offset by the Hertz discount.
Thanks. That's a fairly concise description. I usually rent for a single day here and there when I'm travelling inside Japan, so it's always been a question mark for me. Guess I should just keep paying the menseki hosho, decline CDW and pay with my Canadian Amex to cover the car damage and any deductible.
Originally Posted by
beep88
Until it directs you to a business that is permanently closed. Also the routings are not optimal compared to Japan based in-car or online GPS.
Oh, this is entirely true. I've compared routes it suggests to the GPS I have in my car in Japan, and obviously my car is far more intricate - not to mention Google maps voice guidance does not name exits on a highway, so it's much harder to navigate using "left at the next fork, then right at the next fork" compared to "left at the next fork towards Tohoku / Kita-Ikebukuro, right at the next fork towards Joban / C1". But hey, when bereft of options, it'll do the job - and now that Google Maps offers offline navigation, it's actually useful. Most GPSs (owned or rented) in Japan still do not offer English - though this is beginning to change (oddly enough, my radar detector has a completely perfect English mode, complete with voice prompts and reading out of signs in English.... really, really strange).
[edit] forgot the most important failure of Google Maps: it *sucks* at providing non-toll route options. I don't know what the algorithm is, but the moment it's a long enough route, it will refuse to offer a toll-free (public road) route, which can be annoying if you want to go sightseeing.