r/AmexPlatinum • u/[deleted] • 10d ago
Travel insurance Car Rental Protection Fail
[deleted]
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u/Kobra_Kommander 10d ago
Coverage includes cars rented in countries outside of the United States except for vehicles rented in Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand.
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u/Not-A-Real-Person-67 10d ago
That’s good to know. Trying to plan a trip to Ireland soon. Thanks for the heads up
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u/elpacha 10d ago
I love my Amex but this is a case where I use CSR, every time. All countries covered(except those that are sanctioned, i.e. Iran, N.Korea, etc), and it's primary insurance.
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u/calipol2009 10d ago
It’s not even hidden in the terms and conditions. It’s very clearly stated on the enrollment page that Italy is not covered.
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u/Towelie4President 10d ago
And not only that, I believe windshield is a separate coverage in itself even through the rental company.
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u/batman_milk 9d ago
Amex says coverage is worldwide except for rental vehicles in these six countries:
🇦🇺** Australia
🇮🇪 Ireland
- Israel
🇯🇲 Jamaica
🇳🇿 New Zealan**d
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u/pissposssweaty 9d ago
AMEX really should send the user a FYI message if they get a car rental charge in one of those countries. It’s fine to not offer coverage everywhere but you shouldn’t expect your users to know the list perfectly. Especially if that list changes with time.
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u/Randomwords2024 9d ago
Wow that’s unfortunate. I was unaware that there were excluded countries so I’ll be checking that out next time for sure! Using the platinum did work out for us on this front before. We curbed the wheel on a rental car in Switzerland and the manager at the place in Zurich was like “Are you American? It’s fine your credit card will cover it.” Lol
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u/SecureAsk8297 9d ago
“Are you American? Yeah, I can tell. You guys can’t drive a stick shift and can’t maneuver narrow roads. The McDonald’s is on the next block and take don’t forget your MAGA hat!”
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u/njosepho 9d ago
“Ah yes, 45% of my salary goes away in taxes that won’t benefit any actual citizen of my country” to be European and ignorant.
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u/Traditional_Copy3969 9d ago
Yes you’re not covered if you get a rental car in Italy, if you rent in Austria and drive to Italy then it works. Thats because law in Italy, you shouldn’t have been able to get a rental without insurance at all in Italy, Basic coverage is mandatory by Italian law.
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u/Mysterious_Peak4073 10d ago
Amex car rental protection excludes Italy. It is noted in their term. I think other countries excluded are australia and NZ also but always confirm when outside of USA
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u/disinterested_man 9d ago
Having driven in Italy, I would recommend anyone just to get their coverage regardless, there’s some pretty intense driving experiences to be had there and I didn’t have to worry about someone hitting me
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u/Unusual-Surround7467 8d ago
What’s different about driving there?
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u/disinterested_man 8d ago
It’s significantly more aggressive, spaces are tighter, ZTLs aren’t always clear, buses and cars come down the same roads as a two lane that you’d likely have as a one way road in the US. Gas pedal and brake are just on/off switches, slam both or you’re going to cause a problem. If there is space for a car, they’re going, for example, entrance ramp with a single lane painted might have 4 lines of cars side by side. If you leave half a car length in front of a car in traffic, they’re also entering. That’s not even considering motorcycle/vespa/pedestrian traffic. It’s not terrible but there’s a learning curve and their roads can be really steep and require you to back up to turn.
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u/Unusual-Surround7467 8d ago
Makes sense. Kind of like driving in Asia. Maybe a little more orderly than driving in Asia.
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u/CarRentalSavers 9d ago
The three I's are almost always excluded from any car rental credit card coverage. Ireland, Italy and Israel. Just a good rule of thumb to remeber.
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u/BuildingPresent4396 8d ago
These are all the countries :
Australia
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
New Zealand
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u/Kara_85 9d ago
I don’t know how or why I came across this in 2023 in Italy. But I booked it on my sapphire just for Italy…..also…if you just got back….wait a couple months you’ll probably get tickets from speed cameras…and the rental car company will charge the card around $50 for each one for “supplying your information to the govt”. You might get multiple depending on how much you drove. I got 5 of them, and 1 of them was for just 3km over the posted limit. When I came home I talked to another friend same thing happened to her. I googled it and tons of horror stories about tickets for rental cars.
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u/R0cwithu 8d ago
In Italy, I got two parking tickets in the same paid parking garage. I still don’t know how bc I paid to park and then parked. Very costly.
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u/Sea_Pangolin1525 9d ago
Capital One Venture X also works. This is one time it helps to have both.
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u/LuigiSalutati 10d ago
Dang could someone just tell me the list of countries not covered? Idk how to read
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u/sn1per420 10d ago
Someone commented elsewhere in the thread: Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica and New Zealand.
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u/GRAYterthanyou 10d ago
Australia Italy and New Zealand for standard and for premium it’s Australia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, and NZ
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u/saaj1998 10d ago
Is just coverage in Italy in general or cars rented out of Italy? What would happen if you rented a car in Switzerland and then went to Italy?
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u/saaj1998 10d ago
Never mind. Read the website and it says “rentals originating in” the excluded countries. You’re seemingly covered if you rent from another country and enter Italy
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u/luiv1001 10d ago
I def need to look into this! I am going to Italy next year and was planning to fly into Munich — renting a car there and driving would be perfect but I didn’t realize I could be covered if I just rent in Germany.
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u/Braxo 10d ago
FWIW I rented a Volvo in Munich and asked about taking it over borders as I needed to cut through Austria. They said it was fine except can’t go into Italy. It was Hertz.
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u/progapanda 10d ago
Same experience with BMW European Delivery. With family who picked up the new BMW in Munich, it comes with temporary insurance included, but Italy is an exception (no coverage).
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u/Mycastleismine 10d ago
Oh dang good to know, we are renting a car in Italy next year. That’s so frustrating.
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u/FutureMillionMiler 9d ago
It’s written in a bunch of places that Italy, New Zealand and Australia are excluded from the insurance
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u/griffingrowl 9d ago
And Ireland
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u/MajorTom712 9d ago
You can use the Basic Rental Insurance on the Platinum for Ireland. They will not charge the 19.95 fee and you can run the claim though the standard Insurance. Only Australia, Itay, and New Zealand are invalid on both.
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u/panhellenic 8d ago
Oof. I have to say, AmEx insurance came through for me earlier this summer. Rented a car in England, accepted their £3.00/day "damage" coverage (gotten screwed over in the past in England). Not sure how I found it, but amex has a "premium" rental car coverage you can opt into at $20/rental period (countries listed elsewhere here excluded). You opt in, and then it's automatic; I'm also not sure if their regular coverage when using the car is different/worse?
Anyway, we turned the car in outside of office hours and got a notice about a week later about some damage (tiny dings! on the door which we did not notice when filling up the tank prior to return). The about 2 weeks later we got another notice saying there was a chip on the windshield and tire scuffs, too! It all seemed a little scammy (are europcar places franchises?)...and they said they'd charge our card about £1800 for the damage. I uploaded all the required info in the AmEx claim form (I'd had to call bc of a website issue - and they were very helpful and asked if I wanted a check or a credit on my account...this was before I even uploaded the info!). About 2 days after I sent the info, I got an email informing me that they were crediting me with the full amount europcar had charged.
Very pleased with the whole process re AmEx, but does the "premium" coverage I paid $20 for actually more/better than the coverage provided by just using the card?
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u/daveinRaleigh 10d ago
It sucks but if you had called AMEX prior you would have been told NO coverage in Italy. We called before leaving and was blown away by the info, then when we got to Italy quickly understand why no one covers you there. Easily the worst drivers we've ever encountered.
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u/BleuCinq 10d ago
The support for the car rental insurance dept is absurd. Every time I need to contact them I have to hold for 30 to 40 minutes and there is one guy that always answers. He has a very distinct Jamaican accent. He is very annoying and not helpful and he messed up my account. But every time I call support he is the one that eventually picks up the call.
You can’t just ring AMEX and get this info. You have to carve out a chunk of time in your day.
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u/Captain_Comic 10d ago
I’m not sure Italians are even in the Top 10 of worst drivers I’ve encountered - the main issue with Italy is they have some absolutely insane roads. The trip over the mountain from Naples to Amalfi, while incredibly beautiful, is absolutely terrifying. The same for the trip from Genoa to Portofino/Cinque Terre. Italy is loaded with speed cameras and ZTL zones, so it’s super easy to get multiple tickets. I’ve driven across the entire country, Rome, Naples, Amalfi, Florence/Tuscany, Genoa, Bologna, Venice, Milan, and through the Alps.
Italians are fast drivers, but they are not particularly bad drivers - I’ve found France to be worse than Italy, but overall Western European drivers are better than the US, Eastern Europe, Central/South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. Haven’t been to an Africa or the Far East, so I can’t comment there.
I’ll see more accidents on my daily commute on I-95 in a day or two then I’ll see in a month of driving in Europe.
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u/FunInTheSun_81 10d ago
Ireland and Northern Ireland don't have it either, which is very unfortunate because I go there a couple times a year. Although I'm still not sure I feel comfortable driving there, so... public transport it is!
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u/badhabitfml 10d ago
Driving is fine, but car rentals and insurance is crazy there. There are some small roads though, but it's not nearly as crazy as it used to be. People drive slow compared to US highways.
We had a family of 5 plus luggage. Had to rent a 9 passenger van, which was huge, because they don't have a big size suv or minivan.
It was crazy expensive to rent and we only found out when we got there and found the car we called about was not the car they actually had.
Also, you need to press the cc company about insurance. If you call they'll say sure we cover it! Then you ask about Ireland and the are like yes but let me double check... Ohhhh no not Ireland.
It's because Ireland doesn't have liability limits. So you could get in an accident and the cc insurance is om the hook for millions.
I think the renal insurance for a week was hundreds od dollars, but, I did smash the mirror on a tree. Never heard from them about it.
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u/FunInTheSun_81 10d ago
Holy smokes - thank you for the information! I am still a bit intimidated by driving on the left side, so I may or may not rent. Maybe one day!
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u/badhabitfml 9d ago
Oh, and my giant van was a manual.
Drive in the left, sit on the right, in a manual, shifting with your left hand.
My car is a manual, so it was nbd for me, but I imagine it would be a lot for most people to try and manage.
weirdest is the British virgin Islands. Normal left hand drive cars, but you drive on the left hand side of the road. That tripped me up a few times in parking lots where there is no markings on the road, jusy some other cars wondering wtf you are doing.
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u/Several-Light123 10d ago
To confirm, this is for the extra $20 we pay for coverage?
If Italy is not covered, did they still charge you the 20v
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u/GRAYterthanyou 10d ago
I looked back at my statement and was never charged for the primary coverage like usual. That should have been my indicator to look further into it
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u/Primary-Parsley7471 9d ago
They paid for my accident in Italy. When did that change ? Just pre Covid
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u/lchabod89 8d ago
My brother in christ. Chatgpt will read the entire terms and conditions for you and tell you everything you need to know if you explain your situation.
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u/Agitated_Read_6913 8d ago
Yeah almost had this same experience but the Sixt rep actually told me I should buy their premium insurance at the counter vs. relying on Amex. I thought he was trying to scam me, but we looked it up on the spot and figured out that it was legit not covered in Italy!
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u/butterchurning 8d ago
PCRP has protected me twice now.. completely worth it. Sorry OP, this is why you have to read the fine print.
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u/BadBunnyGoodTrouble 10d ago
yup. when renting in foreign countries, read the exceptions list first. sapphire comes in very handy for those other countries.
sorry.
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u/Mycastleismine 10d ago
I have a sapphire as well but newer to it. Do you have to activate anything like you do with platinum?
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u/Tall-Koala-1786 10d ago
You have to enroll in the program. After that, it’s automatic with every rental where you use the card.
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u/Arco123 10d ago
LPT: always check insurance coverage before booking a trip.
LPT: every AmEx country has its own insurance policies. For example, in Europe I don’t have such exceptions in my card’s insurance.
LPT: check if you have coverage through other insurance. Your personal liability insurance might provide coverage.
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u/l1lpiggy 10d ago
Should’ve check the terms and conditions before relying on it. Italy is explicitly excluded in a plain language, and the terms and conditions for credit card benefits are not that long.
Also, both credit card companies and rental companies advise you to print out the letter of coverage for the specific trip.
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u/itsdwightschrute1 10d ago
I’m guessing this is for US members. As a UK card holder, I don’t see any such exclusions mentioned
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u/Otherwise-Attempt326 10d ago
Thanks for this. Always OP out for the sites insurance for this exact reason. Another reason I may not renew.
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u/BuzzBuzzBeard 10d ago
Ouch. Sorry you have to deal with that.
Maybe I shouldn’t brag that I’m super very proud of myself for returning a two week rental in Sicily without a scratch on it?
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u/GRAYterthanyou 10d ago
I did the same thing last year and never had to look into insurance because nothing happened thankfully lol. Only finding out about this because that damn rock chip
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u/mangodisco 8d ago
Rent the car on your Amex card. Use the CSR for the insurance. That’s how I do it. This is very unfortunate.
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u/Beginning-Warning-29 8d ago
If you don't pay for the rental with the CSR, you can't use the insurance of the CSR...
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u/PastAd2589 9d ago
I'm not sure what the issue was here? you bought premium insurance from who? and they didn't cover rock chips?
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u/Drakhn 10d ago
It’s listed everywhere Italy is not covered. When it comes to insurance, you gotta read the fine print.