You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life ’ s fiscal travel. Bankrate ’ s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make fresh personal finance decisions. We follow hard-and-fast guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our column team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. so, whether you ’ re reading an article or a recapitulation, you can trust that you ’ re getting credible and reliable data. We value your hope. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check column capacity to ensure the information you ’ re read is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our column team. Our column team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Bankrate follows a nonindulgent editorial policy, so you can trust that we ’ re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate contented to help you make the correct fiscal decisions. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most : rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every future. At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — careless or where you are in your travel — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a divers range of experts from credit rating calling card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertness and perspectives, we keep conclude tabs on the credit wag industry year-round to : At Bankrate we strive to help you make smart fiscal decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. here ‘s an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the mailing date ; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Travel recognition cards offer a broad compass of perks that can make locomotion more commodious, more comfortable and even more low-cost. One such benefit is rental cable car insurance, although the type of rental cable car coverage your credit tease comes with will determine its utility and value. But, how does car rental coverage work ? The process is actually rather dim-witted. once you sign up for a rewards credit calling card that offers this benefit, you ’ ll use your credit card to pay for the full rental agreement when you rent a car. At that sharpen, the coverage you have with your credit circuit board will apply to your car rental agreement. however, since there are unlike levels of car rental coverage offered by a credit calling card, however, it ’ second crucial to know your card ’ randomness offer inside and out .
How to use credit cards for rental car insurance
Some rewards credit cards offer primary rental car coverage, which you can use in put of your own indemnity. When your recognition batting order offers primary rental car coverage, you can decline the paid coverage at the lease anticipate and respite assured you ’ re covered up to the limits of your policy. You should besides note that car rental indemnity, which is frequently called a Collision Damage Waiver, can be elementary or secondary. While primary coverage kicks in before early coverage you have, secondary coverage can only be used after you file a call and exhaust benefits from any other indemnity you have, including your own car insurance policy. To get the most out of cable car rental coverage offered by a credit wag, you need to know what kind of coverage you have, understand any limitations and use your credit card to pay. You besides have to be absolved that you ’ re declining the paid coverage offered by the lease car company and that you list everyone who might drive the car on the lease agreement. While any credit batting order that offers car lease indemnity can be useful, some cards offer a better lease car benefit than others. The be cards offer the best primary coverage among travel credit cards on the market today .
Best budget card with primary coverage
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is an excellent deal when you consider all the perks you ’ ll pick up for its $ 95 annual tip. This card lets you earn 5X points on change of location purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards®, 3X points on dine and 2X points on all other travel purchases ; 1x points on all other purchases, but you can besides earn 60,000 points worth $ 750 in travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards when you spend $ 4,000 on your calling card within three months of bill open. When you go to redeem your rewards, you can cash them in for endowment cards, statement credits, travel through the Chase portal site ( with 25 percentage more value ) or 1:1 transfers to airline and hotel partners.
Read more: Best car insurance companies for 2022
Travel benefits include a primary collision damage waiver coverage for rental cars that ’ s worth astir to the actual cash value of the rental car. coverage is besides good for rental periods of up to 31 days, and for damage, larceny, towing charges and loss of use charged by the rental car party. other significant travel-related perks you ’ ll receive include trip cancellation/interruption policy, baggage check policy, travel delay coverage, lost baggage reimbursement, travel accident insurance and roadside dispatch .
Best luxury card with primary coverage
Chase Sapphire Reserve®
The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is the more epicurean cousin of the Preferred card, albeit with a much higher annual tip of $ 550. This card lets you earn 5X total points on atmosphere travel and 10X total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the inaugural $ 300 is spent on travel purchases per annum. Earn 3X points on other locomotion and dining & 1 point per $ 1 spent on all early purchases. You ’ ll besides earn 50,000 points after you spend $ 4,000 on your card within three months of account hatchway. Since these points besides fall within the lapp Chase Ultimate Rewards course of study, you have the same redemption options available to you. The only remainder is, you ’ ll get 50 percentage more prize for travel when you redeem points in the Chase portal vein, whereas the Preferred card gives you a 25 percentage boost in value. This means the Chase Sapphire Reserve ’ s 50,000 bonus sign up points are worth $ 750 in travel through the portal. Cardholder benefits include a $ 300 annual travel credit, up to a $ 100 application fee credit for global submission or TSA Precheck, one year Lyft Pink membership and Priority Pass Select airport loiter membership. Plus complimentary DashPass subscription from DoorDash ( after activating by March. 31, 2022 ), get outright deliveries with a $ 0 manner of speaking tip and boil down military service fees on orders over $ 12 for a minimum of one year on qualifying food purchases. Auto rental coverage is besides elementary and worth up to $ 75,000 in damage from collision or larceny. other travel perks you could benefit from include stumble cancellation/interruption insurance, lost baggage indemnity, trip stay coverage, wayside aid, travel accident indemnity and emergency emptying and exile coverage .
Best business card with primary coverage
Ink Business Preferred Credit Card
If you travel for occupation much, you should besides consider the Ink Business Preferred Credit Card. This card offers chief rental car coverage when you use your recognition poster to pay for a rental agreement and you are renting the car for business purposes. You can earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $ 15,000 on purchases in the first three months from account possibility. That ’ s $ 1,000 cash back or $ 1,250 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards. In accession, you ’ ll earn 3x points on the inaugural $ 150,000 spent on travel and blue-ribbon business categories, along with 1x points on all other purchases. other crucial cardholder benefits include cell call protection, loose employee cards, slip cancellation and break policy, extended warranties and purchase protective covering .
Best airline card with primary coverage
UnitedSM Explorer Card
If you fly with United Airlines much and want to earn miles in the United MileagePlus program, you can besides check out the United Explorer poster. This airline credit wag starts you off with 50,000 bonus miles when you spend $ 3,000 on your card within three months of history opening. You ’ ll besides earn 2x miles at restaurants, hotels booked direct and purchases made with United Airlines, along with 1x miles on everything else you buy. Cardholder benefits include chief car rental coverage that ’ s the same coverage you get with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. You ’ ll besides receive trip delay reimbursement, baggage delay indemnity, purchase protection, lost baggage reimbursement, trip break or cancellation coverage and a inaugural check cup of tea free when you fly United, among other perks .
Things to know before using a credit card for rental car insurance
Plenty of other travel credit cards offer auto rental coverage
We highlighted the best credit cards for car lease coverage above, but we only included cards with the best primary coil coverage. Keep in mind that batch of other travel credit cards offer secondary car rental coverage that can help cover losses after any other policy policies you have are exhausted .
Some cards ask you to pay a premium for primary coverage
besides be aware that some cards, including premier American Express change of location credit cards, offer junior-grade coverage with the choice of paying for premium primary car rental coverage. For exemplar, you could sign up for The Platinum Card® from American Express to take advantage of its secondary coverage, or you could pay a flat rate per vehicle for up to 42 consecutive days of bounty car lease protection .
Some limitations apply, so make sure to read the fine print
Most credit cards that offer rental car coverage tilt some fine print you should be aware of, including wording that limits the type of automobiles they ’ ll cover. With Chase rental car coverage, for case, old-timer and exotic cars may not qualify. This coverage is besides only good for rental periods up to 31 days.
Read more: The Best Car Insurance Companies for 2022
Most policies offered by a credit card let you file a claim online
Different accredit cards may have different policies when it comes to filing a claim. however, most offer an on-line claims portal that lets you submit your claim paperwork and proof of your claim via the web. Make certain to gather evidence of your title including photos of damage, police reports and any other attest related to your specific trouble, whether it ’ second damage, larceny or some other bad luck. The information about the United Explorer Card has been collected independently by Bankrate.com. The calling card details have not been reviewed or approved by the batting order issuer .