Question
Not sure where my summary of additional benefits is, but is anyone familiar w/their policy? I want to cancel my diner's club card before the 31st but have to rent a car in early June...will I be able to waive coverage w/my CitiCard? (I live in New York and don't have a car, thus am uninsured.) This is all I found on their website:
Receive free coverage for damage due to collision or theft when you rent a car and charge it to your Citi card.
Answer
I believe that for MasterCard, the credit limit must exceed $2000 for the rental car coverage option to be valid. I use a CapitalOne Platinum MasterCard for car rentals, and, like you, credit card coverage is primary for me.
I had a small dent caused by a stone hitting the roof of the car a few months ago. The rental agency submitted the claim directly to CapitalOne, who paid it in full except for "loss of use" and administrative fees. The car rental agency waived those charges, apparently, as I never heard anything more. Those fees were about $200, and the damage claim was about $600. Both amounts appeared excessive to me.
Answer
I believe that for MasterCard, the credit limit must exceed $2000 for the rental car coverage option to be valid. I use a CapitalOne Platinum MasterCard for car rentals, and, like you, credit card coverage is primary for me.
Not true. I just received a Household Bank MasterCard (for the 1% foreign exchange fee) with a $500 limit, and because the card is "Gold" it includes the full MasterRental insurance just like any other Gold or Platinum MC.
Almost all credit cards will provide primary rental collision insurance if you don't own a car or don't have collision/comprehensive coverage on your own car, but it's best to double check with Citi before assuming so. Someone just posted over on the Diners Club board that his/her MBNA MasterCard does not cover collision damage to rental cars without a primary auto policy.
All Visa credit cards, since March 1 2004, include rental collision insurance...even "Classic" cards with low credit limits. Visa's coverage is handled through Visa itself for all Visa cards (Mercury International is the actual insurer) while for MasterCard it's either the issuing bank or MasterCard that underwrites the included policy on the card. I don't have a Citibank card so I don't know if Citi or MC provides the rental insurance.
Answer
Citi AAdvantage Gold World Mastercard has CDW coverage. It's definitely good enough to waive the more expensive mandatory CDW in some countries (like Israel), and there's no need to ever pay for CDW in the USA if you use that card.
Not all Citi cards have rental car coverage, however. My old student MC from Citi had no coverage at all.
Answer
Is the coverage through Citibank or through MasterCard?
Answer
Is the coverage through Citibank or through MasterCard?
It's definitely not Citibank. Not sure if it's MC or some fourth-party. When I called Citi before my first Israel rental last year to ask if it would cover me, they had to refer me to a different phone number for insurance issues. And then those guys just snail mailed me the T&C's. Not sure who it was.