Apr 3, 2024, 10:08 am
Last edit by: mia
This thread discusses American Express PREMIUM Car Rental Protection. This is an extra cost service that is offered only to cardholders residing in the USA. This is not the same as the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) that is a standard benefit of many American Express cards.
Premium Car Rental Protection website: https://feeservices.americanexpress....erage/home.do A chart comparing Premium to the standard CDW benefit is at the bottom of that page.
Premium Car Rental Protection offers Primary coverage. Primary means only that the insurer pays first when there is a covered claim. It does not imply that the coverage is superior. The standard CDW provided with USA issued American Express cards provides Secondary coverage if the cardholder has other collectible automobile insurance. If you do not have an automobile insurance policy, or if your policy does not cover rental cars in the area where you are traveling, the standard CDW Waiver becomes Primary.
Premium Car Rental Protection website: https://feeservices.americanexpress....erage/home.do A chart comparing Premium to the standard CDW benefit is at the bottom of that page.
Premium Car Rental Protection offers Primary coverage. Primary means only that the insurer pays first when there is a covered claim. It does not imply that the coverage is superior. The standard CDW provided with USA issued American Express cards provides Secondary coverage if the cardholder has other collectible automobile insurance. If you do not have an automobile insurance policy, or if your policy does not cover rental cars in the area where you are traveling, the standard CDW Waiver becomes Primary.
AMEX (USA) Premium Car Rental Protection
Sep 6, 2018, 9:17 pm
#302
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 74
AMEX Premium Car Rental Protection for Prepaid Rental
I've used Premium Car Rental Protection several times in several countries, all of them are "pay upon rental", therefore when I got charged at the counter (hertz, budget, etc.), the flat fee of $19.95 will kick in after that automatically.
I have a trip coming up in Japan and reserved a prepaid rental for the first time (as it's cheaper to pay in advance) via Rentalcars. The charge posted in late June (showed as Rentalcars.com) and the flat fee never showed up in my statement (the card is enrolled several years ago).
Reading through past threads, I wonder should I call them ahead of time to have them manually charge it, or, should I wait and maybe the fee will kick in when they pre-auth my card for incidentals (at the car rental counter) ?
Appreciate if anyone could help!
I have a trip coming up in Japan and reserved a prepaid rental for the first time (as it's cheaper to pay in advance) via Rentalcars. The charge posted in late June (showed as Rentalcars.com) and the flat fee never showed up in my statement (the card is enrolled several years ago).
Reading through past threads, I wonder should I call them ahead of time to have them manually charge it, or, should I wait and maybe the fee will kick in when they pre-auth my card for incidentals (at the car rental counter) ?
Appreciate if anyone could help!
Sep 12, 2018, 2:06 pm
#303
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SEA
Programs: Amex,AS,DL,Marriott,Hilton
Posts: 38
I've used Premium Car Rental Protection several times in several countries, all of them are "pay upon rental", therefore when I got charged at the counter (hertz, budget, etc.), the flat fee of $19.95 will kick in after that automatically.
I have a trip coming up in Japan and reserved a prepaid rental for the first time (as it's cheaper to pay in advance) via Rentalcars. The charge posted in late June (showed as Rentalcars.com) and the flat fee never showed up in my statement (the card is enrolled several years ago).
Reading through past threads, I wonder should I call them ahead of time to have them manually charge it, or, should I wait and maybe the fee will kick in when they pre-auth my card for incidentals (at the car rental counter) ?
Appreciate if anyone could help!
I have a trip coming up in Japan and reserved a prepaid rental for the first time (as it's cheaper to pay in advance) via Rentalcars. The charge posted in late June (showed as Rentalcars.com) and the flat fee never showed up in my statement (the card is enrolled several years ago).
Reading through past threads, I wonder should I call them ahead of time to have them manually charge it, or, should I wait and maybe the fee will kick in when they pre-auth my card for incidentals (at the car rental counter) ?
Appreciate if anyone could help!
Sep 14, 2018, 2:13 pm
#304
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,017
Other cards that cover CDW specifically state you must decline CDW in order to be eligible.
Does Amex Premium also require this? I know it seems silly, but I'm wondering if I kept the basic insurance with the car rental company, would my Amex Premium insurance still work and cover the deductible the basic car rental insurance does not?
Does Amex Premium also require this? I know it seems silly, but I'm wondering if I kept the basic insurance with the car rental company, would my Amex Premium insurance still work and cover the deductible the basic car rental insurance does not?
Sep 14, 2018, 7:43 pm
#305
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: ATL
Programs: DL Scattered Smothered Covered Medallion, Some hotel & car stuff, Kroger Plus Card
Posts: 10,745
Other cards that cover CDW specifically state you must decline CDW in order to be eligible.
Does Amex Premium also require this? I know it seems silly, but I'm wondering if I kept the basic insurance with the car rental company, would my Amex Premium insurance still work and cover the deductible the basic car rental insurance does not?
Does Amex Premium also require this? I know it seems silly, but I'm wondering if I kept the basic insurance with the car rental company, would my Amex Premium insurance still work and cover the deductible the basic car rental insurance does not?
Within the applicable limits, Amex Premium would cover the actual claim and act as primary. Not sure why you would want it to only cover a deductible when you're paying for a much more comprehensive coverage.
Sep 15, 2018, 1:39 pm
#306
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,017
To your point, I do not want to accept any insurance from the car rental company. But I have an upcoming Europcar rental and the phone agents are unable to remove the insurance from the reservation. They think the office will be able to remove it when I show up - but wanted to understand what happens if they cannot or will not.
Sep 16, 2018, 6:52 am
#307
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,095
Did the same for a Hotwire car rental booking, and also did it for some travel package bookings. The Amex reps manually posted the charge for the insurance on affiliation with the bookings made to pay for the rental cars.
Sep 17, 2018, 8:28 pm
#308
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 111
premium car insurance email
anyone know why amex is sending out the email telling us that we have to enroll each new card in premium card insurance if we want to use it? my cards used to automaitcally enrolled. why the change? annoying.
Sep 18, 2018, 6:06 pm
#311
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Florida
Posts: 274
It's actually expecting a lot for people to remember to re-enroll when the get a replacement card several years down the line. Most will not remember.
I'm considering switching to my CSR for rental cars since primary insurance is included for no additional fee.
I'm considering switching to my CSR for rental cars since primary insurance is included for no additional fee.
Oct 1, 2018, 8:30 am
#315
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Miami, Mpls & London
Programs: AA & Marriott Perpetual Platinum; DL & HH Gold
Posts: 48,958