Tag: Primary Rental Coverage

Why I’m Considering Ditching All Of Our Premium Credit Cards

What do you think of when you hear the phrase premium credit card. Exclusivity? Luxury? Benefits? Perks? For a while, these cards offered all of these.

The grand daddy of the premium card is the American Express Centurion card. A card that’s so exclusive AMEX has to invite you and no one knows the requirements to get said invitation. What we do know is that the card has a $7,500 initiation fee and a $2,500 annual fee. Since I occasionally run a cash register for my day job, I’ve held a few of these cards over the years. It’s wasn’t nearly as exciting as I hoped.

Personally, I’m not at that level. However, I was able to get a base level of premium card from all the major banks. American Express Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve and Citi Prestige. So why have I reached the point where I’m considering not holding any of these cards?

Here’s the reason:

Continue reading “Why I’m Considering Ditching All Of Our Premium Credit Cards”

Should You Pay For The Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) When Renting A Car?

It’s easy to forget that when you rent a car, you’re “borrowing” a vehicle that costs tens of thousands of dollars from a major corporation. When renting it, you expect the car to be in great condition with no dents, dings or scrapes on it. So what happens when the car is damaged during your rental? Even if it wasn’t your fault, the rental car company is, of course, going to expect you to pay for the repairs. Rental car companies know the fear of getting a large bill for repairs makes you an easy target to purchase the “insurance” they’ll sell you for just a few dollars a day.

We’ve already written about the excessive charges for gas and the markup on tolls that car rental companies charge. Why would we believe that all of a sudden car rental companies will sell you insurance at a reasonable price? It’s not that the coverages they sell aren’t necessary, because they are. It’s moreso you may already have coverage that makes buying their insurance unnecessary. Knowing what coverage you already have allows you make an informed decision ahead of time. I’ll also share a trick that lets you avoid the hard sell at the counter. But first, what is the car rental company trying to get you to buy?

Most of the information listed below only applies to cars rented in the United States. Rentals in other countries have different rules and restrictions. Please note I’m neither an insurance agent nor an expert so I suggest reading the policies including, but not limited to the parts about policy limits, deductibles and exclusions.

Continue reading “Should You Pay For The Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) When Renting A Car?”

Our Experience Renting From Sixt Rent A Car in San Antonio

We recently returned from a long weekend trip to Texas Hill Country visiting Austin, New Braunfels and San Antonio. While we usually fly into Austin airport, this trip it made more sense for price and schedule to fly into San Antonio. It had been several years since we’d visited and I’m happy to report there have been many positive changes, at least when it comes to renting a car there.

I checked Autoslash and found the best price for our rental to be with Sixt Rent A Car. I was familiar with the company because they have locations in Orlando around Disney World but I had never rented from them before. The main reason for that was their locations were usually off-airport, requiring a shuttle bus to and from the rental car location. The only time I’ll use an off-airport rental is when there are no on site rental locations.

In San Antonio, that’s no longer a problem.  Continue reading “Our Experience Renting From Sixt Rent A Car in San Antonio”

Credit Card Review: United MileagePlus® Explorer

 

Most of the co-branded credit cards for airlines will give you benefits just below those of the most frequent flyers. This is one reason why I never feel the need to go for any type of status with airlines. There’s one airline credit card that gives you certain perks but then puts restrictions on those perks that make them feel like an imposition instead of being a courtesy. Continue reading “Credit Card Review: United MileagePlus® Explorer”