andyandy

Just got off the phone w/ MC. My Chase Ink Bold (World Elite MC) does include MasterRental and covers Ireland and Northern Ireland. Just received e-mailed coverage letter as well.

Andyandy

Adrade

I'm sorry to bump up an older thread, but I found this while searching for information on Ireland car rentals, and upon investigation with Chase and Mastercard itself, I have been told separately that Chase Ink does not (any longer?) cover rentals in Ireland. I spoke with Chase, who told me they do not cover Ireland, N. Ireland, Israel, and Jamaica, and received confirmation from their claims administrator, who they forwarded me to directly. They told me they would mail me a statement of coverage (they apparently can't fax or email), but they made it fairly clear my car rental coverage did not extend to Ireland.

My card is a Chase Ink Plus (versus Bold), which they told me has the same benefits as the Bold. My card also is a "World Elite", printed on the back.

That said, very quickly, since I'm already going to be bumping this sucker just to post this followup info (don't want folks showing up in Ireland with a Ink card just to get denied), I'll mention one thing. It appears all the US sites charge basic rates for their franchise car rental locations overseas, and then add standard insurance coverages, which are VERY hefty, and can easily triple the cost of the reservation. However, if you go straight to the car rental websites in Ireland (company-name.ie), it seems to be very clear that mandatory insurance, including CDW, theft, and third-party, are included in the cost of the rental, and the rates end up being quite a bit lower. I have emails to two rental companies right now waiting for this confirmation. The "super" coverage is additional, but I believe is better purchased from a third-party for reimbursement should anything happen, assuming of course, you can front the deductible cost until you get reimbursed.

I have spent most of my morning trying to sort through all of this. This is a great thread, and I hope my little contribution can assist others in the same position as me.

ANC RED-EYE

I cannot speak to the Chase Ink cards directly, however I came across a similar situation. What I discovered is that World Elite Mastercards (and I believe just "world" mastercards) who offer rental car insurance through the masterrental DO cover cars in Ireland. However, not all world/world elite mastercards offer their coverage through the masterrental program - as some elect to offer their own benefits package. For example, the Ameriprise World Elite Mastercard offered their own rental car coverage, NOT through masterrental and thus did not cover Ireland.

The key is the coverage has to come through masterrental, and not through the bank's own arrangement.

rybolt

I just returned from a 29 day trip to ireland. Before leaving I researched this question extensively. The World Mastercard will cover you in most cases. It's worth checking with them to make sure that your bank is in the program. Also, have a letter of coverage. The car rental people don't care how you provide coverage. They are going to make a sizeable hold on your credit card. If you return the car undamaged they release the hold. If there is ANY damage they will charge you for the repair, the towing and the loss of use. Be sure your World Mastercard does not cover just the damage portion of the bill.
If you do have damage to the vehicle they will charge you and you will file a claim with the credit card company's agency in order to be reimbursed.

Personally, I went with Dan Dooley Car Rental. They have a US location and they are one of the few rental companies that have full disclosure of all fees upfront. I accepted their Super CDW coverage as well as glass and tire coverage. My deductible would have been €100. I did incur some scratches on the passenger side door- it was a hedgerow or a tour bus and I chose the hedgerow. So far they haven't billed the €100.

Superorb

This is no longer the case. On my wife's new SPG card they offered the rental car insurance for $24.95 per rental and it specifically did not apply in Ireland, Isreal, etc.

mayodave

Was at Manchester airport a few weeks ago in UK. Went to drop my car off and realised I had not filled up the tank. There was an American couple who looked very flustered. Came back 30 minutes later and they were still there and were looking like life was about to end for them. I asked them if they were OK. They had been there 4 hours. Thought their credit card insurance was OK and even had print outs. Guess what. It was OK, they just needed to shell out 2500 UK Pounds and everything was going to be OK. For 10 US $ a day they will cover you for everything apart from the sun falling out of the sky. The poor guy behind the desk looked equally frustrated and said he gets at least one a week from USA where they come to UK and think everything should be the same as USA and cant understand why they have to p[ay up because they didnt follow the rules.

Jenbel

So not quite following your post - did the US couple have the choice of using their own insurance, which meant the car hire company would put a hold of £2.5k on their cards just in case... and so they were refusing to pay the US$10/day - or had they had an accident an only found out after the event that their insurance was an issue?

HIDDY

Not quite following it either.

This year was the first year we took out third party no excess insurance for around £2 a day compared to Hertz supercover which costs over £15 a day.
Had a right palaver when picking the car up at GLA with the agent refusing to believe our policy was a no excess one despite me telling her I had read through all the t&c's of it several times. She went on to tell us that there would be a charge if we returned it with so much as a scratch on it. We would then have to claim the money back through the insurance company therefore it would be much easier to take out the Hertz policy.
I told her I already knew all this but she kept insisting that our policy was not as good as theirs and we should take out another one .....great way to start a driving holiday I thought.
We still had a temporary hold charge put on the card though....around £250 I think.

stut

I've had similarly aggressive sales pitches for insurance add-ons recently. I can only assume several companies are now putting the desk agents on commission.

I now just go for a flat out (but polite!) "no, thankyou" and refuse to enter into discussion.

It does all, however, get confused by the fact that basic cover is included in rates booked "in Europe" - and I use those quotation marks deliberately. If I book a car in the US with a US agency, yet through a UK-customised website (or even just with a UK address), it's not immediately clear what insurance is included or required. I can only assume the same applies in reverse.

KevinInRI

I was just on the phone with Chase today as I was considering renting a car in Ireland for a trip in December. I was aware of the rental coverage country exclusions (Ireland, Jamaica, Israel, etc.) on most cards but I have the Chase United Mileage Plus Explorer card, which is one of the few cards out there that has primary rental insurance as a standard benefit, and I wanted to see if this was any different. The rep on the phone said that although the same country exclusions are in place now, that they were ending these exclusions as of November 1, 2013. She had me call another number to get more details on this benefit, but they didn't have any further information as of now. I was wondering if anyone had more details on this, if this was just for the Explorer card, or if this was going to change for all VISA cards?

Superorb

So they're ending excluded countries in a few days? This would be great as we have a 17 day trip to Ireland next summer.

philemer

Has anyone called Chase about this news? I'd like to use my MP Explorer card next year in Ireland.

KathinJax

I read the post as the couple had to have a £2.5k hold on their credit card. When the car was returned, you would receive a credit for the hold amount. The insurance would cost $10 a day, much cheaper than the £2.5k hold, but of course no credit available at the end of the rental.

bevoinva

I just wanted to provide some up to date info here. In the past I was able to use my US Airways World elite Mastercard for rental car coverage in Ireland. On my recent trip last month when I called up to get the coverage letter, I was told the card no longer provided coverage.

Fortunately, I was able to confirm with my Chase Ink business card that they now provide primary coverage internationally including Ireland. They sent me a letter and I had no issues renting with Thrifty at DUB.

Superorb

What number did you call to confirm? I have a 2 week trip to Ireland this summer. Also, was your trip for business? Apparently that's the only way they'll cover you if you need to use the insurance.