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    Which Credit Cards Have The Best Rental Car Insurance?

    By Meg Marco, 1:24 PM on Thu Aug 7 2008, 14,325 views

    One of the tricks that seasoned travelers know is to always deny the insurance when renting a car. Why? Because the credit card that they are using already comes with insurance that they are familiar with, and because you are required to deny coverage from the rental car company in order to take advantage of your credit card's insurance. But how do you pick a credit card that has good rental insurance?

    We found this handy chart on CreditCards.com (a credit card comparison site):

    Payment network
    Do all cards offer basic coverage?
    Amount of coverage
    Vehicle exclusions
    Limit on rental length
    Country exclusions

    American Express

    Yes, but you can upgrade to to premium protection for a fee

    Up to $50,000 for Green, Blue, Gold, Optima, Small Biz, & Small Biz
    Gold cards; up to $75,000 for Platinum, Centurion, & Small Biz
    Platinum cards

    Any type of pick-up truck, full-sized SUV, luxury van, any exotic sports car and any type of cargo van

    Up to 30 days

    Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica New Zealand

    Discover

    No: Available to holders of only Platinum, Miles by Discover, Discover
    Motiva, Discover Titanum, Discover Business & Discover Business
    Miles cards

    Up to $50,000

    Off-road, antique or limited edition motor vehicles; trucks,
    recreational vehicles, campers, pickup trucks, and minibuses; limited
    edition motor vehicles or high value, exotic, high performance or
    collector type; any vehicle which has not been manufactured for 10
    years or more

    Will not exceed 31
    consecutive days, or 45 consecutive days if the insured is an employee
    of an organization which has provided a card for business use

    Coverage applies to vehicles rented in the U.S. and Canada only

    MasterCard

    No: Available only to Gold, Platinum, World & World Elite cardholders

    The lesser of the actual repair amount, current market value (minus salvage), or $50,000 per incident

    All trucks, pickups, full-size vans mounted on truck chassis, campers,
    off-road vehicles, and other recreational vehicles; trailers,
    motorbikes, motorcycles, and any other vehicle having fewer than four
    wheels; antique vehicles

    Up to 31 consecutive days

    Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand

    Visa

    Yes

    Up to actual cash value of the vehicle as it was originally manufactured

    Expensive, exotic, and antique automobiles; certain vans; vehicles that
    have an open cargo bed; trucks; motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbikes;
    limousines; and recreational vehicles

    Up to 15 consecutive days in your country of residence or up to 31 consecutive days outside your country of residence

    Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand

    As you can see, you're not automatically covered just because you have a credit card, so make sure you read and understand your credit card's rental car insurance policy. That way you can avoid wasting money on an unfamiliar policy offered by a rental car company.

    If you're currently researching credit cards, try CreditCards.com or Bankrate.com to compare offers easily.

    Compare credit cards' rental insurance policies [CreditCards.com]
    (Photo: Marike79 )

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