Rental car excess

[Mr Magoo]

Does Mastercard Gold Card cover rental car insurance excess or is it advisable to take out a travel insurance policy?

 

[AdMEL]

Does Mastercard Gold Card cover rental car insurance excess or is it advisable to take out a travel insurance policy?

In which country? Which Mastercard Gold card?

Most Gold Mastercards issued in Australia include rental car excess cover when travelling to other countries, but do not provide cover in Australia. This is useful in the UK and Europe where rentals have an excess, but no use in the US where they don't.

Some Platinum cards issued in Australia also provide cover for rentals in Australia - all Westpac platinum cards include $5,500 excess cover in Australia.

ANZ also has Car Rental Excess cover in Australia of $2,050 ($2,400 - $350 excess) available on any of its cards for $24 a year.

You might like to read other posts on this forum for more details.

 

[NM]

Be sure to read the Policy Disclosure Statement (PDS) that is available from your insurance provider - either Mastercard themselves or the bank providing the card and cover.

Also note that "excess" is not always the same in all countries. As eluded above, Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) in the USA is different to traditional insurance with excess as we understand it in Australia.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Thanks for the info. We'll be hiring in Oz before leaving for Japan. It's a MyCard Mastercard Gold.

Mr Magoo

 

[AdMEL]

Thanks for the info. We'll be hiring in Oz before leaving for Japan. It's a MyCard Mastercard Gold.

Mr Magoo

MyCard appears to be a credit union card issued by Citibank in Australia. I couldn't find the terms and conditions, but it's unlikely it will cover rental excess in Australia.

If you're hiring the car for a number of days, some Auto Clubs such as RACV in Vic can provide a rental excess policy. Cost will depend on the amount of excess cover you want - I think it starts at about $30 for $1,000 and goes up from there.

It's probably not worth the hassle if you're only hiring for a day or two, as it's probably no cheaper than paying the car hire company excess reduction.

 

[GladstoneTim]

When doing personal rentals in Australia I've tended to use standbycars.com. Their rentals through Thrifty, which are at a good rate, cap the excess at $350 or so. The daily rate is about $5 above their regular rates but the excess through standbycars is so much lower i.e. about 10% of the usual. For work rentals their insurance covers the excess so I book where I can get the FF points

 

[AdMEL]

When doing personal rentals in Australia I've tended to use standbycars.com. Their rentals through Thrifty, which are at a good rate, cap the excess at $350 or so. The daily rate is about $5 above their regular rates but the excess through standbycars is so much lower i.e. about 10% of the usual. For work rentals their insurance covers the excess so I book where I can get the FF points

I forgot to mention that lastminute.com.au and holidayautos.com.au offer reasonable rates with $385 excess through Thrifty, Europcar and Red Spot.

Last minute use Holiday autos but tend to be slightly cheaper.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Thanks again to all who responded. I think I'll just pay the extra rate at hire. Seems the easiest.

Mr Magoo:shock: