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We ’ ve all experienced it before. You go to rent a cable car and you ’ re handed a laundry list of coverage options — all with a price tag attached. You want to ensure you ’ ra covered, but you besides aren ’ metric ton looking forward to spending tied more on your car rental. fortunately, there ’ mho much a different choice : your credit card travel indemnity .
There are many accredit cards that will actually provide you with car rental coverage ampere hanker as you use the calling card to pay for the rental. This largely nameless fringe benefit could, in fact, save you a adequate amount of money on your following car rental. Additionally, some credit cards evening offer extra perks, such as car rental elect condition and discounts .
But not all credit cards offer coverage, and some offer better coverage than others. so before you rent your next cable car — whether it ’ s on vacation or just around town — make certain you have the best citation poster in your pouch to ensure you ’ re covered.

Best credit cards for car rentals in 2022

How does credit card car rental insurance work?

first and foremost, when renting a car, you must pay for your rental with the specific credit rating card that offers car rental auspices. And, if there are multiple drivers on the rental condense, the primary tenant must be the card holder. additionally, for the credit poster coverage to take impression in the unfortunate case that an accident occurs, you must decline the Collision Damage Waiver ( CDW ) — sometimes called Loss Damage Waiver ( LDW ) — in your rental agreement. You might find that some cable car rental companies automatically include this supernumerary insurance — and monetary value — into your agreement, so you ’ ll want to double-check your paperwork .
once you rent the car, you ’ ll then be covered if your lease car incur larceny or price from a collision. This coverage will protect you from the fiscal responsibility of covering the cost. however, the include policy will not protect you from the monetary value of price or injuries to another car if you ’ re found at fault. typically, your personal cable car rental insurance will cover you in these situations or you can purchase separate policies from the car lease company .

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You ’ ll besides notice that there are two unlike types of credit rating menu car lease coverage : primary and secondary. basal coverage means that if there ’ s a overlay accident, the claim will go directly through the credit circuit board company, allowing you to avoid the fuss of involving your own car policy policy. This will not only save you prison term but will besides avoid any premiums to your own policy .
If the credit card offers secondary car rental indemnity, you ’ ll have to first make a claim with any early policy you have. Once the claim is settled, you can then file a title with your citation card and you ’ ll be covered for anything that wasn ’ thyroxine initially covered with your chief policy, such as your deductible. however, one thing to note is that many credit cards that offer secondary coverage switch to primary coverage if you don ’ t have car insurance or if you ’ re renting outside the United States where your personal policy won ’ metric ton cover you .
You ’ ll besides find that many coverage options are slenderly different from one another. Some policies will only cover you to the utmost value of the car you ’ rhenium rent, while others have higher limits. many policies will besides only cover you for a certain time menstruation — 31 days is identical common. then if you ’ re renting a car for a few months, you might find that your credit wag coverage will not actually apply .
additionally, there are some car types that aren ’ metric ton covered, such as luxury cars and pick-up trucks. You ’ ll besides find that some countries are excluded, and while the list changes depending on the calling card issuer, Australia, New Zealand, Italy and Jamaica are some park countries to look out for .
With that in heed, let ’ s take a look at our seven picks for the best cards for renting cars. Whether it ’ randomness because of the wag ’ second insurance protections or extra benefits, some cards are better than others .
Best menu for car rental policy
capital one venture x credit card with sunglasses
capital One
When it comes to car rental benefits, you ’ ll be distressed to find a circuit board better than the newly Capital One Venture X. The tease offers the hale package with elect condition opportunities, increased coverage and the ability to earn a short ton of rewards every time you rent. With the Capital One Venture X Card, you ’ ll welcome primary rental indemnity and up to $ 75,000 in coverage if you use the batting order to book your cable car .
The Capital One Venture X is besides one of the few cards to offer complimentary Hertz Gold Plus Rewards President ’ s Circle elite condition. While some cards offer status or savings with Avis and National — or even a lower degree with Hertz — it ’ second hard to beat this especial condition level .
With this status, you ’ ll be able to skip the car rental counter and head true to your car. And, at blue-ribbon airport locations, when you book an intermediate car or higher, you can choose any cable car you desire in the President ’ s Circle aisle. At most early locations, you ’ ll receive a guarantee car-class upgrade .
additionally, when you rent your car through the Capital One Travel Portal, you ’ ll earn 10 miles per dollar spent on your car rental. This effectively gives you a 10 % hark back on your lease toward future locomotion — a huge gain potential every fourth dimension you rent .
And since you can add up to four authoritative users to your Venture X Card for free, this allows four other friends or family members — who you trust with your accredit tease — to reap these benefits ampere well .
The Capital One Venture X Card presently comes with a generous sign-up bonus of 100,000 bonus miles after spending $ 10,000 on purchases in the first six months after opening the report. And for a limited time, as part of the sign-up bonus, batting order holders receive up to $ 200 in instruction credits for vacation rentals like Airbnb and VRBO. The card carries an annual fee of $ 395 .
Read CNN Underscored’s complete review of the Capital One Venture X .
Best earn pace for renting cars

chase
The Chase Sapphire Reserve besides offers primary rental policy and up to $ 75,000 in coverage. The coverage sincerely doesn ’ thymine become better than this when it comes to accredit cards, therefore if top-tier indemnity is a key element when deciding on a credit rating card to use, this is a bang-up choice, along with the Capital One Venture X .
additionally, the Chase Sapphire Reserve menu offers discounts and special offers with respective car lease companies. For example, you ’ ll receive National Car Rental Emerald Club Executive condition, which will allow you to choose any car in a determined administrator area while lone paying the midsize rental pace ( in the U.S. and Canada ), earn free rental days faster and add a irregular driver onto the rental for no extra monetary value. You ’ ll besides receive special pricing and offers .
You ’ ll besides earn discounts and upgrades with Avis — thanks to the complimentary Avis Preferred status — and limited car rental privileges with Silvercar .
When booking a car rental directly through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal, you ’ ll earn 10 points per dollar spend. however, if you reserve directly with the cable car rental ship’s company or a third-party booking site, you ’ ll hush earn 3 points per dollar. Frequent aviator website The Points Guy values Chase Ultimate Rewards points at 2 cents each, meaning you can get up to a 20 % return on your car rental .
While this tease comes with a goodly annual fee of $ 550, you can easily offset this monetary value with future car rental reservations. The Sapphire Reserve card comes with a $ 300 travel recognition per annum that can be used on any travel-related leverage — including car rentals. With just a few car rentals throughout the class, you ’ ll most probable be able to receive the full statement citation, which means the card efficaciously costs $ 250 for the class. You ’ ll then besides receive complimentary airport lounge access, purchase protection and travel protection benefits, improving to $ 100 in statement credits for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck and much more .
The Sapphire Reserve presently comes with a sign-up bonus of 50,000 bonus points after spending $ 4,000 within the first three months of holding the card .
Learn more and apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve
Best low-annual-fee card for renting cars

chase
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card will besides give you access to primary cable car rental policy — while besides allowing you to earn travel rewards — but at a importantly lower annual fee than the previously mentioned Sapphire Reserve. The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card is precisely $ 95 per year, which is a dicker compared to some of the other options on this tilt .
The independent deviation when it comes to coverage is the reimbursement sum. With the lower-annual-fee Sapphire Preferred, you ’ ll be reimbursed up to the actual cash value of the vehicle, which should be more than substantial for most accidents, but not a high as the $ 75,000 coverage you ’ ll receive with the Chase Sapphire Reserve .
While the poster doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate provide any car rental elite condition benefits, you ’ ll receive a complimentary 12-month DoorDash subscription ( must activate by March 31, 2022 ), up to $ 60 back on a Peloton All-Access Membership or Peloton App Membership ( through June 30, 2022 ) and $ 50 in instruction credits each report anniversary class for hotel stays purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards .
The Chase Sapphire Preferred besides earns 5 points per dollar spent on travel, which includes car rentals, when purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards. You ’ ll earn 2 points per dollar on all other travel purchases — so you ’ ll distillery be earning a solid amount of points every time you rent a cable car.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred presently comes with a sign-up bonus of 60,000 bonus points after spending $ 4,000 within the first three months of holding the tease .
Learn more and apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred
Best no-annual-fee tease for renting cars

chase
With many citation cards costing up to hundreds of dollars in annual fees, it ’ second decent to know that you can still receive cable car rental fringe benefit with a calling card that charges no annual fee. With the Chase Freedom Unlimited wag, you ’ ll however receive chief car lease insurance for car rentals outside of the United States .
The merely caveat to using this batting order internationally is that you ’ re charged a alien transaction fee. You ’ ll have to weigh the pros and cons on the tip charged with the savings you ’ rhenium get by declining the cable car rental company ’ s own insurance options .
For car rentals within the United States, you ’ ll alone receive secondary coil indemnity. This means coverage lone kicks in after you have already exhausted any other insurance options you have, such as your own personal policy .
The Chase Freedom Unlimited comes with a sign-up bonus of an extra 1.5 % cash back on all categories on up to $ 20,000 spent in the first year .
Learn more and apply for the Chase Freedom Unlimited
Best for car rental elect status

American Express
With a single card, you ’ ll receive complimentary benefits with three different car rental companies : National, Avis and Hertz, though registration is required .
With National, you ’ ll receive National Emerald Club Executive condition. For choose locations in the U.S. and Canada, you can merely pay for a midsize car rental, but when you show up to rent the car, you ’ re able to choose from any life-size ( or above ) car in the Executive sphere. You ’ ll besides receive absolve lease days faster, waived second driver fees and member-only promotions and discounts .
With Avis, you ’ ll receive Avis Preferred Plus status. This allows you to save clock by bypassing the car rental buffet in most locations and going true to your reserved car. You ’ ll besides receive complimentary upgrades, bonus points for every paid rental and exclusive discounts .
The Hertz benefit doesn ’ t offer an elect tier floor, but you ’ ll even receive a limited bodied discount code, which could potentially save you money on your following rental
unfortunately, this is the lone batting order on the number that doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate extend primary coil car rental status mechanically. alternatively, the card offers secondary policy, which means you must go through any early policy supplier you have first. ( For residents of Utah and Vermont only, the policy is primary. )
however, if you want to use your Amex Platinum card to pay for your next car rental and prefer primary coverage, you can purchase “ Premium Car Rental Protection. ” You ’ ll pay a flat rate for your stallion lease — astir to 42 straight days of coverage ( however, if you live in Washington, you are entirely covered for up to 30 consecutive days ). coverage is available worldwide — except for vehicles rented in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand — and there are two different coverage options to select from .
The current welcome bonus offer on the Amex Platinum is 100,000 membership Rewards points after spending $ 6,000 in the first six months of holding the batting order. The card comes with an annual fee of $ 695, but it features a long list of alluring benefits ( see rates and fees ) .
Learn more and apply for the Amex Platinum Card
Best for change of location credits to use toward renting cars

U.S. Bank
The U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve offers the exact like elect status benefits as the Amex Platinum poster, where you ’ ll welcome National Emerald Club Executive condition, Avis Preferred Plus condition and choose Hertz Gold Plus Rewards benefits. You ’ ll besides receive a 30 % discount rate on Silvercar rentals with no restrictions .
But there ’ s one boastful advantage of this card over the Amex Platinum — you ’ ll receive primary car rental indemnity .
The tease carries a eminent $ 400 annual fee, but that can easily be offset with numerous perks. Right away, you ’ ll receive up to $ 325 in annual credits, which can be used toward eligible travel purchases and dining. Since receiving the reimbursement is highly easy, this efficaciously brings your annual tip down to a much more palatable $ 75 per year .
additionally, the calling card offers up to $ 100 in instruction credits toward Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fees every four years ; a 12-month Priority Pass Select membership, which allows you to visit an airport lounge ( or participating restaurants ) four times ; no alien transaction fees ; and more .
Learn more and apply for the U.S. Bank Altitude Reserve.
Best poster for renting cars for small businesses

chase
If you ’ ra looking for a credit card to cover you while traveling for business, the Ink Business Cash Credit Card is the perfective choice. For a calling card that charges no annual tip, the Ink Business Cash offers an impressive profit where you ’ ll welcome primary lease car coverage when renting for business purposes .
Best of all, the poster besides extends primary coverage for external rentals, even when renting for personal reasons .
This is one of the few no-annual-fee commercial enterprise cards that will truly cover you when renting a car, then if you ’ re a small-business owner, this is an ideal card to have in your wallet.

Read CNN Underscored’s complete review of the Ink Business Cash .
Learn more and apply for the Ink Business Cash.
Want a credit card that covers you when you’re traveling? Check out CNN Underscored’s guide to the  best credit cards with travel insurance protections .

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