Comments on: Loss of use? Get lost. http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/ Living the first class life -- at coach prices Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:21:15 +0000 hourly 1 By: Thomas http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-68423 Thomas Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:03:54 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-68423 Pretty good article, and decent of Mark to stand up and say that this RAC insurance is not so cut and dry as he once thought. When you buy that insurance from the RAC company they don't even look for damage when you turn it in. That article from the Denver Post says only a small percentage of people buy the insurance at the rental car counter which makes me feel like a bit of a rube, but I don't want the hassle if something happens. Good comments accept for the obvious, tacky, rude, RAC shills. RAC= rental car company Pretty good article, and decent of Mark to stand up and say that this RAC insurance is not so cut and dry as he once thought. When you buy that insurance from the RAC company they don’t even look for damage when you turn it in.

That article from the Denver Post says only a small percentage of people buy the insurance at the rental car counter which makes me feel like a bit of a rube, but I don’t want the hassle if something happens.

Good comments accept for the obvious, tacky, rude, RAC shills.

RAC= rental car company

]]> By: George http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-67995 George Wed, 13 Jul 2011 03:58:11 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-67995 http://www.denverpost.com/travel/ci_8625501 Read this article it spells it all out....nobody has mentioned diminution of value yet which for you people too cheap (i.e. too poor) to pay this charge could bankrupt you. Get a brain, use it to make money (not working the crap jobs you probably all have) then maybe you'll be able to afford things in life and not worry about a measly 25 bucks a day of extra insurance that could possibly save you thousands. http://www.denverpost.com/travel/ci_8625501

Read this article it spells it all out….nobody has mentioned diminution of value yet which for you people too cheap (i.e. too poor) to pay this charge could bankrupt you. Get a brain, use it to make money (not working the crap jobs you probably all have) then maybe you’ll be able to afford things in life and not worry about a measly 25 bucks a day of extra insurance that could possibly save you thousands.

]]> By: Beth http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-65038 Beth Fri, 11 Mar 2011 22:58:21 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-65038 You MUST read the fine print in your credit card account agreement to see what will be covered and what will not be covered. I have 4 credit cards: 2 MasterCard, 1 American Express, 1 Discover card. The details are all different. Two cards state flat out that they DO NOT cover loss of use. One card is silent on the topic. One card says it will cover loss of use but ONLY after the rental company provides a detailed utilization log and can PROVE that it had not other cars to rent at the time the car was out of use. Good luck getting that info from a rental company. Meanwhile the rental company will still charge YOU and its up to YOU to get reimbursed by your credit card. You MUST read the fine print in your credit card account agreement to see what will be covered and what will not be covered. I have 4 credit cards: 2 MasterCard, 1 American Express, 1 Discover card. The details are all different.

Two cards state flat out that they DO NOT cover loss of use.

One card is silent on the topic.

One card says it will cover loss of use but ONLY after the rental company provides a detailed utilization log and can PROVE that it had not other cars to rent at the time the car was out of use. Good luck getting that info from a rental company.

Meanwhile the rental company will still charge YOU and its up to YOU to get reimbursed by your credit card.

]]> By: james http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-63335 james Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:57:05 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-63335 My rental car was stolen with all our luggage/wallets/laptops/etc, about 16 hours after we got the car, while we were swimming in the ocean in Puerto Rico. We were left stranded in our bathing suits with no money, no identification. This was day 1 of our 2 week vacation. My wife was livid, it ruined the trip. It was even a little difficult getting a hold of family to wire us some cash. We rented the card with Discover Card. Turns out (in the fine print) that loss of use insurance is only covered in case of physical damage, it's not covered for a car that's completely stolen! We're still dealing with this mess. The rental company is still charging us over $840 a month as if we are still there using the car but we've been back in the continental states for months. We are fighting to get those charges to stop and be credited back. We don't know what the eventual loss of use fee will be but Discover has already stated that they don't cover it and neither does our regular car insurance. Our personal stuff, computers, clothes, snorkeling gear, camping gear, cash, phones, ... are not covered either and our home owners deductible is $2000 so the approximately $2500+ loss of items is probably not worth claiming. This was a really bad experience and it's doesn't seem to have an end to it. My rental car was stolen with all our luggage/wallets/laptops/etc, about 16 hours after we got the car, while we were swimming in the ocean in Puerto Rico. We were left stranded in our bathing suits with no money, no identification. This was day 1 of our 2 week vacation. My wife was livid, it ruined the trip. It was even a little difficult getting a hold of family to wire us some cash. We rented the card with Discover Card. Turns out (in the fine print) that loss of use insurance is only covered in case of physical damage, it’s not covered for a car that’s completely stolen! We’re still dealing with this mess. The rental company is still charging us over $840 a month as if we are still there using the car but we’ve been back in the continental states for months. We are fighting to get those charges to stop and be credited back. We don’t know what the eventual loss of use fee will be but Discover has already stated that they don’t cover it and neither does our regular car insurance. Our personal stuff, computers, clothes, snorkeling gear, camping gear, cash, phones, … are not covered either and our home owners deductible is $2000 so the approximately $2500+ loss of items is probably not worth claiming. This was a really bad experience and it’s doesn’t seem to have an end to it.

]]> By: thaddeusbuttmunch http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-62473 thaddeusbuttmunch Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:21:57 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-62473 Obama and the federal government should regulate or take over the rental car industry. Enough iwth the abuses!! Obama and the federal government should regulate or take over the rental car industry.

Enough iwth the abuses!!

]]> By: Jax http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-40988 Jax Sun, 19 Sep 2010 04:41:42 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-40988 Loss of use will be abused. The rental company has ZERO incentive to get the car back from the bodyshop if they can charge loss of use a rental rate for a car just sitting in some repair lot and not racking up any miles. The body shop can take a month to do a repair that should have taken 3 days to complete and they rental company will tell them to just take their time since they could care less. They do not have to prove that the car would have been rented during that time (all cars of the class all rented out every day during the repair period), so they may be getting paid for a car that would not have been rented those days anyway. It's a scam if there is nothing to force them to not drag their feet. Loss of use will be abused. The rental company has ZERO incentive to get the car back from the bodyshop if they can charge loss of use a rental rate for a car just sitting in some repair lot and not racking up any miles.
The body shop can take a month to do a repair that should have taken 3 days to complete and they rental company will tell them to just take their time since they could care less.
They do not have to prove that the car would have been rented during that time (all cars of the class all rented out every day during the repair period), so they may be getting paid for a car that would not have been rented those days anyway.
It’s a scam if there is nothing to force them to not drag their feet.

]]> By: Super Travel Insurance http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-36973 Super Travel Insurance Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:30:17 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-36973 Too funny to read the various comments.and this site is nice and more information Say the rental car company got you for a month at $30 dollars a day… $900. How much would it be worth to insure against that expense sophia Too funny to read the various comments.and this site is nice and more information Say the rental car company got you for a month at $30 dollars a day… $900. How much would it be worth to insure against that expense
sophia

]]> By: Gabriela http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-36267 Gabriela Sun, 16 May 2010 19:29:36 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-36267 welll if you dont take the LDW you will be screwed especially in FL it happened to me I had to pay thousands and thousands out of pocket because my insurance only pays for so much ....they lied to me and said i was covered when it happened they covered me up to the depreciated value of my own vehicle they did not cover ANYTHING .. not taking the coverage is dumb thing to do ..... Don't be stupid take the LDW everytime ... welll if you dont take the LDW you will be screwed especially in FL it happened to me I had to pay thousands and thousands out of pocket because my insurance only pays for so much ….they lied to me and said i was covered when it happened they covered me up to the depreciated value of my own vehicle they did not cover ANYTHING .. not taking the coverage is dumb thing to do ….. Don’t be stupid take the LDW everytime …

]]> By: atom http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-33416 atom Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:24:41 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-33416 Do the math. CDW coverage is insurance. Insurance is a bet that you make that something bad will happen. If your standard auto insurance and cc cover everything but loss of use, then the entire risk you are insuring against is this loss of use charge. Say the rental car company got you for a month at $30 dollars a day... $900. How much would it be worth to insure against that expense? If cdw coverage is offered at $25 a day, then you'd be betting that you have an accident that results in 30 days loss of use once every 36 days you rent a car. If you don't expect to have one accident (or stolen car) every 36 days, then decline the insurance and save money in the long run. Just make sure you have an emergency fund in case the worst does happen. Do the math. CDW coverage is insurance. Insurance is a bet that you make that something bad will happen. If your standard auto insurance and cc cover everything but loss of use, then the entire risk you are insuring against is this loss of use charge. Say the rental car company got you for a month at $30 dollars a day… $900. How much would it be worth to insure against that expense? If cdw coverage is offered at $25 a day, then you’d be betting that you have an accident that results in 30 days loss of use once every 36 days you rent a car. If you don’t expect to have one accident (or stolen car) every 36 days, then decline the insurance and save money in the long run. Just make sure you have an emergency fund in case the worst does happen.

]]> By: Beyond points: Choosing a credit card with which to buy big-ticket items | Upgrade: Travel Better http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-33365 Beyond points: Choosing a credit card with which to buy big-ticket items | Upgrade: Travel Better Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:43:51 +0000 http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/2007/02/25/loss-of-use-get-lost/#comment-33365 [...] consideration is rental car coverage. Because of Visa’s more generous loss-of-use coverage in the case of damage to the car, I always use a Visa when [...] [...] consideration is rental car coverage. Because of Visa’s more generous loss-of-use coverage in the case of damage to the car, I always use a Visa when [...]

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