Planning a road trip this summer? Or looking to rent a car at your new travel destination? Beware of potential sticker shock as anything car related has become much more expensive this summer. It just makes good sense to look for all ways possible to maximize your savings when you are looking to rent a car.
While many of us know about credit card reward program sign up bonuses and even how and where to spend to get 3 to 5 times of points or miles, the area most people miss out on are ways to save on car rentals through your credit card reward program insurance benefits.
Here are some suggestions:
1. Waving collision/damage insurance
You can wave the collision insurance when renting a car which offers a potential savings of $25.00 plus per day. With many credit cards, when you charge the full amount of the rental on the card, you would receive up to 48 days of coverage, great for extended trips and snowbirds.
2. Deals with car rental companies
Another way to save? Check if your card has a deal with any of the car rental agencies. Different premium credit cards have partnerships with specific car rental agencies where you can save up to 25% of base rate when you pay for the rental on the credit card.
3. Use your points to pay for the car rental
See if you can redeem your points or miles to pay for the car rental. It helps to have a credit card with a flexible reward program where you can redeem the points/miles for a variety of things – and not Just flights for example. Check the redemption value of your points – most credit card reward programs offer 1% redemption value, meaning that each 1000 points = $100. Sometimes the redemption values are even more 10,000 = $150, so make sure to check.
If you can use some of your points to pay for the car rental, save $25 plus per day on collision insurance and get 25% off your base rent- all of a sudden the car rental becomes a very viable solution for a potential road trip or anything else!