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Boardwalk :: Forum List Europe Travel Advice and Reviews Renting a Car in Europe
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Re:CDW insurance
Date: 2007/08/21 07:13 By: fisher972002 Status:  
 
I rented in Germany, rode trains in Italy, I wouldn't drive in Italy, Germany/austria are made to be driven. We declined the CDW from AVIS, We scratched up the car in the Mountains to the tune of $5200 Euro or $6572 US Dollars. Avis did all the estimating and took all the pictures, we had to get the paperwork, the photos and estimate and credit card bill and fax to MasterCard MasterRental, there was a list of about 5 or 6 documents, it wasnt' too bad.. A month later they settled in full, we didn't even pay a deductible, we had to pay the $62 estimator fee and the $23 dollar registration fee whatever that was, and about an hour or two of my time faxing and calling germany avis a few times.. onece for the Fleet utilization log, they faxed it to me right away.
I would say you're ok w/AVIS, but I've never had to go through this with any other rental agency.. No need for CDW w/Avis.

Good Luck
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Re:CDW insurance
Date: 2007/08/21 11:11 By: basketman Status:  
 
That's a great story of how Mastercard stands behind you with their free CDW, but you rlast comment is a bit misleading. You still need CDW with Avis or any other rental company in Europe, it's just that it's best to rely on a credit card rather than purhcase it from the company. At least I think that's what you meant.

The no-deductible comment is also right-on. Rent a car from overseas brokers such as Argus, Nova, Carhire3000, and you are unable to rely on your credit card for CDW and theft. They sell that insurance in their basic rates, BUT with a big deductible or excess..usually $1500 to $3000. The price sounds great until you realize that in order to get that deductible down to zero they want to sell you “excess coverage” at a high cost. Better to rent from gemut.com and rely on the credit card.
Basketman
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Boardwalk :: Forum List Europe Travel Advice and Reviews Renting a Car in Europe

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