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Reminder use AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credit!

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With the American Express Business Platinum becoming more expensive and offering less value, it is imperative to get the greatest value. To that point, don’t forget to use your AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 Credit! Here are a few ways you can get greater value, or at least stack some of the benefit.

Leverage Shopping Portals!

The first thing I recommend whenever anyone asks me how they can earn more points, is to use shopping portals! This case is no different. Unfortunately Dell isn’t terribly rewarding for shopping portals, but you could get 4% Top Cashback (my affiliate link, if you don’t already have an account), you could also go for 2x British Airways Avios, which are always super useful. 

AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credit

Dell CashbackMonitor.com on 7-7-2020

Of course, looking at the best rate, you can see that Dell has had better cashback offers over the past 15 months, as high as 20% – ironically, it was Top Cashback, and it was last around Black Friday. 

AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credit

Dell Cashback tracking over the last 15 months.

So now you’re at least starting with 2x Avios all the way up to potentially 20% cashback!

Split Payment on Dell.com if you have multiple AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credits

So there’s a few different ways you can play the actual AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credit. You could buy something to resell, you could buy something for yourself. You could buy something for someone else (at cost). But, in all of these ways there’s one super convenient option, if you have multiple AMEX Business Platinum cards. 

First, select your chosen product:

Then go through the checkout process, and enter the first credit card:

Once you enter your first credit card, you can then add another payment and you get the option of how much you want to apply to payment type:

Using this tactic, you can split payments across up to 3 different cards. It may not get you a free computer, but it should be able to get you a free monitor, printer, and many other accessories, probably some tablets too!

Wrapping Up – Use your AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credit!

Hopefully this post has given you some ideas to stack offers, and the maximize your Dell $100 credit if you have multiple cards. Dell is one of the few online stores that I’ve encountered the ability to split payment. Its a shame its only 3 different forms of payment, but, still, 3 is $300 worth of AMEX Business Platinum Dell $100 credits!

What will you buy with your $100 Dell credit? 

Is the American Express Platinum still worth holding?

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If I were one of the select few bloggers with affiliate links, you would expect this to be an immediate skip, because, from their perspective, the American Express Platinum is clearly worth holding or better yet, applying for a new one! and here’s 10 affiliate links to use! Me on the other hand, hopefully you’ve come to expect a bit more objective. 

American Express Platinum

The New Annual Fee for American Express Platinum Cards

In March of 2017, American Express added a bunch of benefits to its Personal American Express Platinum card, but with those benefits, came a jarring annual fee increase to $550.

The new benefits (via Gary Leff):

  • New metal card design
  • $200 annual Uber credit (parsed out monthly)
  • 5x earning on some hotel bookings
  • Free authorized user Gold cards
  • 2 free guests on Priority Pass lounge visits
  • 2, $100 Statement Credits for Saks 5th Avenue (my add)

Then, we learned that the Business American Express Platinum card would get new benefits, too:

The new benefits, via Doctor of Credit:

  • One Year Complimentary Platinum Global Access from WeWork ($2.7k value)
  • 2, $100 Statement Credits for purchases at Dell (think this breaks out to the first 6 months of the year and second six months)
  • $100 Hotel Credit at properties in The Hotel Collection
  • 5x points earning at Amextravel.com
  • 2 free guests on Priority Pass lounge visits

Of course, the Business Platinum comes with a jaw dropping $595 annual fee.

Let us not forget, the Sign-on Bonus Rules

Some years ago, American Express introduce a “once per lifetime” rule for getting sign-on bonuses. There are some ways to circumvent this, such as for example, when American Express introduces new cards. There are some slight variations on the business side as well.

That said, I offer that more often than not, the conversation about American Express is the long term value of holding the card, since you can justify away a lot of things when you’re getting 100,000 Membership Rewards points in year one. But is a card costing $550-595 a year worth keeping long term? For me at this point, the jury was still out.

American Express Priority Passes No Longer have Priority Pass Restaurant Benefits

Late last month, it came out that for Hong Kong and US based American Express Platinum card holders will lose access to Priority Pass Restaurant Benefits. Starting 1 August, your American Express Platinum provided Priority Pass card loses significant value. If I knew which card came from American Express, it would have a giant “X” on it.

American Express Platinum, Priority Pass

Last year I wrote how Priority Pass was changing the game for airport lounges. So you can probably guess how I feel about American Express’ change to their Platinum card Priority Pass benefit.

Is American Express on its way down?

When I first started in the game, American Express was the head of the pack in the premium travel card market. They may have been the only mainstream game in town at the time. Since then, Citi Prestige came in big, and has since scaled things back, with changes such as making it harder to use their fourth night free benefit and increasing the annual fee to $495. Chase, on the other hand hasn’t made any notable pull back of benefits, unless you consider the risk of shutdown. There’s also a bunch of great discussion about Chase Shutdowns on the Milenomics Podcast, such as Episode 17.

Bottom Line: Hard to renew

Full disclosure – I just got myself a new American Express Business Platinum, with a 100k Membership Rewards sign-up bonus, so I’m in for at least the year. My wife on the other hand, has had hers for years, and we’re seriously thinking of downgrading when the annual fee hits. Both of our cards are business, and so the annual fee, while a business expense, still is significant enough that we want to be sure we are getting sufficient value. A few years ago, I had cancelled my previous American Express Platinum and we tried with me as an Authorized User. That math is even more challenged with changes like the Priority Pass downgrade.

What are your thoughts? Do you have an American Express Platinum card? Will you be renewing when the annual fee hits?

 

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon

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There’s a super awesome deal going on now, that gives you 20% back on Amazon Purchases, up to $100 back, if you pay with at least one American Express Membership Rewards point. Doctor of Credit has a great and updated post on the deal. But as I was going through Amazon, I realized I’d never linked my accounts, as a result, I couldn’t use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon!

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon

Linking is fairly easy to do, first you want to go to Amazon.com/Membership Rewards

Use Membership Rewards on Amazon

You’ve still got a few steps to go through though.

You’ll want to click that Get Started link, then you’ll see the following screen:

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon

Once you decide to add an account, you’ll need to enter your name and your credit card number:

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon

From there you’ll have to confirm address, then provide just a bit more info:

How to use Membership Rewards Points on Amazon.

Once you’ve enrolled, you’ll just need to select an American Express card to pay with, then you should have the option to pay with points. 

Wrapping Up

Hopefully this provides a pretty easy to follow way to link your American Express Membership Rewards card to your Amazon account. More importantly, hopefully this provides you a way of maximizing some of the incredible opportunities like the 20% off purchases, up to $100 back deal that is currently happening. But I’d imagine there are so many more awesome deals to come!

Targeted: Spend on your United Explorer Card, earn up to 4,000 Bonus United Mileage Plus Miles

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Like many, I’m a huge fan of getting the greatest value from every dollar I spend. This is one of those cases, where I’ll reintroduce a card into my wallet, specifically the Chase United Explorer Card. Why? Because Chase is running a promotion with the United Explorer Card that means you can earn up to 4,000 Bonus United Mileage Plus Miles. 

earn up to 4,000 Bonus United Mileage Plus Miles

Important Details to earn up to 4,000 Bonus United Mileage Plus Miles

The key details are pretty easy on this one:

  • Spend $2,000 or more in a single transaction, and earn 1,000 United Mileage Plus miles – you can do this for up to 4 transactions for a total of 4,000 bonus United MileagePlus miles
  • Register by 30 June 2018
  • Make your $2,000 or more transactions between 4/15/2018 and 6/30/2018

Don’t forget to read the Terms and Conditions (highlights are mine):

* Additional 1,000 miles on purchase transactions of $2,000 or more: To be eligible for this bonus offer, you must log on to the website referenced in this offer and enroll by 06/30/18 11:59 p.m. ET. You’ll earn an additional 1,000 miles, up to a maximum of 4,000 miles, for the entire promotional period, on purchases of $2,000 or more when you use your United MileagePlus® Explorer or Awards Card credit card for transactions from 04/15/2018 through 06/30/2018. A purchase transaction must bill and post to your account in an amount that is equal to or greater than $2,000; for example, purchase transactions with items that ship at different times and bill in amounts less than $2,000 will not qualify for this bonus. Your bonus miles are calculated each billing cycle based on the number of purchase transactions of $2,000 or more during the promotional period that falls within that billing cycle. Miles earned in a monthly billing cycle are generally available to be used at the beginning of the next billing cycle; bonus miles earned on purchases made near the end of a billing cycle may take up to one additional billing cycle to become available. You’ll see miles you’ve earned on chase.com and on your monthly card billing statement. See Rewards Program Agreement for details on qualifying purchases. Bonus miles are subject to the Rewards Program Agreement. Credit card product changes during the promotional period will forfeit this bonus offer. To qualify for this promotional offer, account must be open and not in default at the time of fulfillment. This promotional offer is non-transferable. This is a limited time offer. United and MileagePlus are registered service marks. Miles accrued, awards, and benefits issued are subject to the rules of the United MileagePlus program. Taxes and fees related to award travel are the responsibility of the passenger. Additional terms may apply. For additional details of the MileagePlus Program go to united.comOpens Overlay.

Bottom Line

While 4,000 miles aren’t amazing, every little bit helps, and when you do pursue these types of promotions, the miles start to accumulate quickly. For 4 transactions of $2,000 or more, you can essentially earn a minimum of 1.5x on your spend, if you do $8,000 total in spend across those 4 transactions. 

Were you targeted to earn up to 4,000 Bonus United Mileage Plus Miles? Will this bonus be enough for you to put your United Explorer card back in your wallet? 

Chase Ultimate Rewards adds 2 new partners!

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I’m a huge fan of Chase Ultimate Rewards, so it was great to see a note from Chase in my e-mail about adding yet more transfer partners!

Chase Ultimate Rewards adds 2 new partners!

Chase Ultimate Rewards adds 2 new partners!

The particularly exciting thing about this is that Iberia usually has fewer fuel surcharges on premium cabin awards! There is a way to transfer between Avios accounts, but if you’re able to just transfer points directly, it becomes a time saver.

http://travelisfree.com/2017/01/08/5-tips-before-you-use-your-british-airways-avios/

I’m not particularly familiar with Aer Lingus’ AerClub, but looking at the award chart, it seems to be cheaper than the British Airways chart by just a bit. First you’ve got to consider the distances (in order to make the award chart make sense):

Aer Lingus AerClub

Now understanding Aer Lingus AerClub’s zones, take a look at the redemption costs:

Aer Lingus AerClub

I couldn’t find a one to one match, as the BA flight I could find included a connection in London, but if AerClub prices out based on total mileage of the itinerary, rather than on a per segment itinerary, then this could be a helpful option.

Wrapping Up – Chase Ultimate Rewards new partners

Overall, I’m not sure that this action necessarily changes the game for Chase Ultimate Rewards. They are logical partners to add given the Avios tie up and strong co-brand card relationship Chase has with British Airways. Does it make the program more attractive? Definitely. For me, this makes me want to spend some more time looking to see if there are any discriminators that make AerClub more attractive than say, Iberia. On the whole, this is a good news story.

Have you redeemed with Aer Lingus’ AerClub? Should this be a bigger deal?

An Introduction To How Credit Scores Are Calculated

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For a long time I had referenced credit scores in post, but never really wrote anything introductory like this, rather just talking about things like the best credit cards for reselling. In truth it’s a topic I understand but never considered myself an expert in. So I asked William Charles of Doctor of Credit, who is truly an expert in this stuff to write the following Introduction to How Credit Scores are Calculated. -Trevor

How Credit Scores are Calculated

Trevor asked if I might be interested in writing a guest post on how credit scores are calculated and here we are. In this post I’ll try to give you a primer on the different types of scores and how they are calculated. There are two major credit scoring algorithms:

  • FICO Score
  • VantageScore

To make matters even more confusing for you each of these scores has different variations and model numbers (e.g FICO offers a FICO Bankcard Enhanced 8 model that aims to be more useful to credit card issuers). That being said, it’s important not to get bogged down by the details and instead focus on the overarching scoring criteria instead. Remember that the aim of credit scores is to determine how ‘worthy’ an individual is of credit without manually having to look at their credit history. This lets lenders make split second decisions on whether to extend you credit or not.

General Credit Scoring Factors

Almost all credit scoring algorithms will look at the following, with slightly different weighting of importance:

  • Payment History. The importance of looking at payment history data should be obvious. If you had two friends and one had always paid you back on time and the other was always late in paying you back who would you prefer to loan money to? The same is true for any financial institution and this is usually why payment history is the most important scoring factor.
  • Credit Utilization. Your credit utilization is the amount you owe divided by the total amount of credit you have available to you. For example if you have one credit card (ridiculous I know) and it has a credit limit of $10,000 and you’ve used $1,000 of that limit your credit utilization will be 0.1 or 10%. The thought is that if somebody has used a high amount of the credit currently available to them then they are likely to be under financial strain or duress and more likely to default or become delinquent on their loans. It’s important to note that credit utilization traditionally has had no history (e.g credit scoring models will only care about what is currently being reported) but this is changing over time so expect utilization history to be more of a factor in the future.
  • Length of Credit History. This helps qualify the rest of your data. If you’ve never made a late repayment and you’ve had a credit card for 20 years then you’re less likely to be a risk than somebody with no late repayments who has had a credit card for six months. This usually incorporates other factors as well such as age of newest account, oldest account and average age of accounts.
  • Recent Searches For New Credit. Similar to credit utilization too many searches for new credit can be a signal that somebody is under financial duress and might be more likely to default/become delinquent on their loan obligations.
  • Types Of Credit Used. There are two types of credit: installment & revolving. An installment loan is where you borrow a fixed amount and pay back the loan over time (think mortgage or auto loan) and revolving credit is where you have a fixed credit limit and can use/payback the loan as you see fit (think credit card).

FICO Score

This is the most used credit scoring brand (I think the last official figures were that it was used in 90% of all lending decisions, but that data is somewhat old). Their scoring breakdown or weighting looks like this for the classic score:

  • Payment History: 35%
  • Credit Utilization: 30%
  • Length of Credit History: 15%
  • Recent Searches For New Credit: 10%
  • Types Of Credit Used: 10%

As I mentioned at the start there are different variations of the FICO score that are aimed at specific markets like credit cards, auto loans, mortgages etc. In general these use similar criteria but put more emphasis on those types of loans, for example an auto specific score would pay more attention to late installment loan repayments. Discover offers Credit Score Card and this provides a free FICO score (you don’t need to be a Discover cardholder). It’s also quite a common credit card benefit.

VantageScore

This is the second most used credit scoring brand and a brainchild of the three nationwide credit bureaus. VantageScore has never given specific weighting breakdown like FICO, instead they provide us with the following information:

Extremely Influential

  • Payment history

Highly Influential

  • Age & Type of Credit
  • % of Credit Used (also known as credit utilization ratio)

Moderately Influential

  • Total Balances/Debt

Less Influential

  • Recent Credit Behavior and Inquiries
  • Available Credit

Experian used to provide the exact breakdown on their website and it was as follows:

  • Recent credit: 30%
  • Payment history: 28%
  • Credit utilization: 23%
  • Credit balances: 9%
  • Depth of credit: 9%
  • Available credit: 1%

There are lots of sites that provide free VantageScores. One of the more popular sites is Credit Karma.

What You Should Do To Improve & Maintain Your Score

Once you understand how credit scores are calculated, what you should do becomes a lot clearer. Here are my tips:

  • Always pay your bills and repayments on time. You’re hopefully doing this anyway to avoid late payment and interest charges but remember that your payment history is the key scoring criteria for both of the major scoring models. If you’re forgetful then set up automatic repayments.
  • Keep your utilization low. It’s generally considered best to keep your credit utilization at 1-10%. Keep in mind that the credit utilization is based on what is reported to the three nationwide credit bureaus and they all have different reporting dates. This means even if you pay your balances in full every month you might be reporting a large balance. You can see what date card issuers report to the credit bureaus on Doctor of Credit.
  • Product change instead of canceling. Credit length is important so instead of cancelling a credit card with an annual fee why not see if there are any useful no annual fee options you can product change that card to instead? That will help keep your average age of accounts higher than cancelling would. (Note: Currently FICO allows closed accounts to continue to age on your credit report until they fall off after 7 years so this isn’t hugely important. I believe they will be making changes to this in the next scoring iteration as it doesn’t currently make sense from a risk perspective).

You can also try doing things like making sure you have both revolving and installment loans. Most readers will have lots of revolving credit reporting, but you can use something called the secured loan trick to get an installment loan reporting as well.

Questions On How Credit Scores Are Calculated?

Feel free to ask below and I’ll do my best to answer them. Obviously this is just an introduction how credit scores are calculated, and you should do your own research but hopefully this is helpful to some readers. Thanks again to Trevor for inviting me onto the blog. Credit scoring is actually why I originally started my own blog so it’s nice to share this sort of information!

Priority Pass cards, United Devaluation, Wrong Journalists, 5/24 Rule

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The Weekly Travel News Roundup is a collection of headlines from around the internet that caught the attention of the Tagging Miles team. Content on these blogs do not necessarily reflect the positions of Tagging Miles, and should not be considered endorsements. Have a great story we should read? Contact us now and let us know.

Travel:

  • Doctor of Credit has a quick tip for differentiating Priority Pass cards that come with different benefits.
  • On July 4th this happened… At the time when I read in real time on twitter I was going through a variety of emotions, now I just shake my head.
  • Too Little Too Late from American for elite members… Gary received an offer, though I didn’t. I suspect that might be because I’ve had a total of 4 revenue segments on American this year as an Executive Platinum.
  • United announced another devaluation. It’s not horrible but it’s certainly not good news. I still need to dig deeper myself, but Gary has a good overview.

Miles and Points:

Tagging Miles:

 

Do this now if you have the Chase Fairmont Visa

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Last week the Blogosphere was rattled with news that Chase Fairmont Visa holders would have their cards converted to Chase Sapphire Preferred cards in August. For some this may not be so rattling, but, Fairmont, like SPG, attracts a rather dedicated bunch. If you don’t believe me, just check out my review of the Fairmont Southampton, which I did in two posts.

Chase Fairmont Visa

But, there is still something you can do to extract some remaining value from the Chase Fairmont Visa!

Getting the last of the Chase Fairmont Visa Benefits

First of all, the Chase Fairmont Visa is a great card. Its got some great benefits, but, at this point, this post only matters to you if you already have the card. You see, in addition to all of the great sign-up benefits that there were, there’s also a little bit of an Easter Egg in that if you spend $12,000 per year, you get a free night. So far as I am able to figure out, this annual free night is based on your card member anniversary–read: when your annual fee hits–rather than calendar year. Why is this important? Because, if your annual fee is in August or, probably the following 6 months, you might be able to get some reprieve from the $12,000 spend.

What to do?

Update #1: Start considering your spend now. If your annual fee is anytime from August to to the end of the card being offered, The letter says that the required spend drops down to $6,000 for the annual free night benefit.

Update #2: Of course, if your annual fee is in June or July and you aren’t quite at the $12,000, or even $6,000, you may want to call and see if they can move your anniversary date further out, so you can meet the necessary spend for the annual free night. That’s what my father was able to do (see comment below).

Wrapping Up

Its a big shame that Chase and Fairmont are parting ways. We’ve really enjoyed the benefits of the Chase Fairmont Visa, its just that good a card, and Fairmont is that good a hotel chain. But there is still some opportunity to get a bit of value from the Fairmont card, that is, putting some spend on it between now and 15 August when it gets converted to a Chase Sapphire Preferred. Spending $6,000 may either be huge, or not a big deal, depending on how you feel about manufactured spending, but, for some properties, this can be an arbitrage opportunity. I say that, because there is always a cost to spend, but many Fairmonts can be, well, pricey. So, do the math, make the phone call, and please share a comment on your experience.

Citi ATT Access More Clarifies 3x Eligible Categories

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Yesterday Citi ATT Access More cardholders got some bad news. Citi clarified what purchases receive 3x Citi Thank You Points. For some this is a big deal, for others its not. For many, this was a very lucrative train that unfortunately is coming to an end.

Why the Citi ATT Access More 3x Clarification Hurts Some

The Citi AT&T Access More card is one of the most lucrative and dynamic points earning credit cards on the market. Earning 3x Citi Thank You Points (TYP) on nearly every online purchase is amazing. Some even found other ways to make the card work for them even better, paying their rent or mortgage. It was a great gig.

Citi ATT Access More 

It shouldn’t come as a great surprise that the Citi ATT Access More would clarify further what purchases are eligible for 3x Citi Thank You Points given how it was being used. Specifically stating that you’ll earn 1x for rent, real estate, and gift card purchase or reload isn’t terribly unreasonable. Of course how they execute this will still be interesting.

Resellers should be unaffected, but be vigilant!

The Citi ATT Access More card has been and will continue to be my go to credit card for reselling. I think Matt puts it best:

Citi ATT Access More

That said, I think it is important to be vigilant. Whenever changes like this happen, mistakes can happen. It could just as easily happen that a legitimate online retailer gets coded from earning 3x to earning 1x just as easily as Plastiq or other bill pay vendors can be coded differently. 

Furthermore, I don’t think resellers should be terribly concerned about this development unless they leverage things like the MileagePlus X App for gift cards, or otherwise buy gift cards to stack discounts or miles promotions. I’d advise for folks that do that, to test with low dollar amounts and validate the results before going in big.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a net loss for many. For resellers, I’d say its less bad news, but there is still risk whenever things get coded differently. 

Were you leveraging the Citi ATT Access More card to pay your rent or mortgage? Will you keep your card?

Credit Card Primary Car Insurance Is not Equal

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Recently I did a one way car rental from Orlando, FL to Maryland. You see, in the April to May time frame, one way car rentals are super cheap if you’re going north. So, what else was I to do? I booked myself a Full size SUV, with the plan to pick up some things from my parents house, and do some sourcing along the way to fill the rest of the way. Of course, it was on the drive from my parent’s house to my favorite Florida restaurant, Highjackers–aptly named since it is on the grounds of the Palm Coast Airport–that my father asked which card I had paid for the rental with. Since we planned this as a business trip for our Reselling Business, logically I had put it on my Chase Ink Plus. That’s where the conversation changed.

You see, my father was reading the fine print of miles and points before I could read, well, at least close to it. His initial position was that I should’ve paid with my Chase Sapphire Reserve–a card I had recommended to him last year after getting it myself in the pre-launch release. Well, after reading Dia’s post on the Chase Sapphire Reserve’s Travel Insurance being insufficient, I had to dig into this Primary Car Insurance question!

It is important to note that all of the credit cards and coverage in this post are specifically Primary Car Insurance, meaning, this insurance is what you would refer to before you would contact your normal car insurance provider. This is meaningful because it could save having impact on your car insurance premiums.

Chase Sapphire Reserve Primary Car Insurance Coverage

The Chase Sapphire Reserve benefits are fairly exhaustive, but to summarize the important pieces, coverage is up to $75,000 for rentals not to exceed 31 consecutive days. Chase does specifically identify what is not covered, but also caveats that it is not an exhaustive list, here are their examples:

  • Antique automobiles; vans designed to carry more than 8 people; vehicles that have an open cargo bed; trucks; motorcycles, mopeds, and motorbikes; limousines; and recreational vehicles
  • Expenses reimbursed under your personal auto insurance policy, your employer or your employer’s insurance
  • Any obligation you assume under any other agreement
  • Injury of anyone or anything inside or outside of the vehicle
  • Leases and mini leases
  • Any violation of the auto rental agreement
  • Loss or theft of personal belongings

Unfortunately, the above descriptions make it hard to determine if you’d be covered for some rentals with your Chase Sapphire Reserve. The Chase Sapphire Preferred is very similar in coverage.

Chase Ink Plus Primary Rental Car Insurance Coverage

I typically rent cars for business purposes. The nature of my business–Reselling–means that I often need a car with greater capacity than those that I own. Of course, when I rent for business purposes, I want to use a business card, and because the Chase Ink Plus offers primary car insurance coverage, it is my first choice as a card to use. I cannot highlight enough: to be covered, you must be driving for business purposes. 

There’s not really a conclusive list or guidance that I could find, however I did call the Ink Plus folks and they gave me a rough idea of the guidelines, which I will summarize below:

  • There is not necessarily a dollar value limitation
  • You are covered for Economy through Luxury Vehicles
    • When asked for specifics, I was told that the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator are both covered. 
  • Trucks or anything with an open cargo bed is excluded (like the Sapphire Reserve)
  • Expensive vehicles are excluded
    • When asked for specifics, I used the BMW X5 – which is in fact excluded.
Primary Rental Car Insurance

This is not the car for you, if you want to be covered!

I was particularly disappointed with the responses here for a few reasons. Particularly because, if I have a business, I might need a vehicle with an open cargo bed. Second, as a business owner, I’d like to know what vehicles are or are not covered, so I can make sure my employees stay within the necessary bounds.

It is important to know also that the Ink Preferred and Ink Cash also offer primary insurance coverage. 

Diner’s Club Primary Rental Car Insurance

I realize that not many folks use Diner’s Club these days, however they do provide primary car insurance. They provide two levels. One for regular card holders, and a higher level for those Carte Blanche card members. Here are the details:

  • Receive primary coverage, anywhere in the world (except where prohibited by law), when the entire cost of a car rental is charged to a Diners Club Card.
  • For most card members there’s usually no need to file a claim with your own insurance company, so your personal insurance premium won’t be affected.
  • The insurance covers physical damage and theft of the vehicle, reasonable loss of use charges, reasonable towing charges, and includes Secondary Personal Effects insurance.
  • Protection applies to rental cars with Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price up to $75,000 for covered damages. For Carte Blanche card members, up to $100,000 for covered damages.
  • To qualify, you must decline the rental agency’s collision damage waiver (CDW), saving up to $16 per rental day.

Citi Prestige and Premier Primary Rental Car Insurance – Only outside of the US!

This is where I think the Citi Thank You Card portfolio of credit cards fails. Citi Prestige provides primary car rental insurance only outside of the US. While this can be positive, I personally think Citi is missing the boat here in that for a premium credit card, primary rental insurance in the US should be standard.

American Express’ Primary Rental Car Insurance is an extra cost

So, you have your American Express Platinum card (personal $550, business $450), and you want to rent a car. Well, Be careful! Because American Express wants you to enroll in another program in order to be covered. In other words, so far as I can tell, you don’t get any coverage for the base annual fee. 

Wrapping Up

Overall, I was very surprised with what is, and is not covered by credit cards that offer primary rental car insurance. In truth, I expected coverage to be much better, given how much credit card companies promote this as a benefit. I was particularly surprised that business cards specifically do not cover pick-ups. I mean, how many businesses could see value in renting a pick-up truck over another vehicle? Similarly, “expensive cars” which is a vague term to begin with, are excluded from Chase credit cards coverage. So if you get an upgrade, you may be at more risk than if you had a standard car. Ironically though, a Cadillac Escalade is covered, but a BMW X5 is not. This is unfortunately both very confusing and frustrating.

Have you looked into what your credit card truly offers for primary rental car insurance?

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