Yes, the Costco Anywhere Visa by Citi covers rental car insurance, reimbursing up to $50,000 per incident for theft of or damage to the rental vehicle itself.1Citi. Costco Credit Card Travel Benefits2University of California Riverside Business. Expert Insights: Costco Credit Card Benefits To use the benefit, you have to charge the full rental to the card and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver or loss damage waiver at the counter. The coverage does not include liability, so it will not pay for injuries to other people or damage to other vehicles, and you may still need a separate source of liability protection.
What the Coverage Pays For
The benefit reimburses collision damage, theft, vandalism, and related towing charges on the rental vehicle. The payout is capped at $50,000 or the actual cash value of the vehicle, whichever is less.2University of California Riverside Business. Expert Insights: Costco Credit Card Benefits It applies to rentals of up to 31 consecutive days.3WalletHub. Costco Visa Card Car Rental Insurance
Primary or Secondary Coverage
Whether the card pays first depends on where you rent. Inside the United States, coverage is secondary: you file first through your personal auto insurance, and the card picks up what your insurer does not.3WalletHub. Costco Visa Card Car Rental Insurance For international rentals the card acts as primary, since most U.S. auto policies do not extend overseas.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage That is where the benefit tends to matter most.
What You Have to Do to Activate It
Two things have to happen. The entire rental cost must be charged to the Costco Anywhere Visa; paying with rewards earned on the card also counts.3WalletHub. Costco Visa Card Car Rental Insurance And you have to decline the rental agency’s optional collision or damage waiver.1Citi. Costco Credit Card Travel Benefits Accepting that waiver can void the card benefit entirely.
What Is Not Covered
The gaps are as important as the coverage.
- Liability. The card does not pay for injuries you cause to other people or damage to other vehicles or property.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage
- Personal belongings stolen from or damaged inside the rental car.5Citi. What to Know About Car Rental Insurance
- Excluded vehicles, including full-size vans on truck chassis, pickup trucks, campers, trailers, motorcycles, mopeds, RVs, antique cars over 20 years old, limousines, and exotic or luxury cars such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Aston Martin, and Rolls Royce. Coverage generally sticks to standard passenger cars and small SUVs.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage
- Drivers not named on the rental agreement, and any unlawful use of the vehicle, including driving under the influence.5Citi. What to Know About Car Rental Insurance
- Off-road driving damage.5Citi. What to Know About Car Rental Insurance
- Rentals in certain countries. Standard Visa rental benefits exclude Israel, Jamaica, and Ireland, and specific exclusions can vary, so Citi advises checking the card’s guide to benefits or calling the number on the back of the card before renting in a country where coverage may not apply.6NerdWallet. Credit Card Rental Car Coverage
Using the Card for European Rentals
A frequent worry is whether mandatory insurance bundled into European rental prices voids the credit card benefit. It generally does not. In countries like Italy, where basic liability is built into the rental price, the card benefit still applies because that coverage is mandatory rather than an optional add-on you agreed to buy.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage What you need to decline is any optional collision or damage waiver the counter tries to sell you on top of it.
Travelers who have used the card in Europe report that counter staff sometimes push hard on those optional waivers. Calling Citi ahead of the trip to confirm that mandatory local insurance will not void the benefit is a reasonable step, and some renters have asked for a letter of coverage to carry along, though most say they were never asked to show one. Documenting all pre-existing damage at pickup and getting the rental agent to sign the condition report is strongly recommended by experienced users to head off disputed damage claims.7Rick Steves Travel Forum. Rental Car With Costco Visa Card
How to File a Claim
Contact the benefit administrator promptly rather than waiting until you get home. The domestic claims line is 1-866-506-5222 and the international line is 1-312-356-7830; the general benefit administrator line is 1-866-918-4670.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage3WalletHub. Costco Visa Card Car Rental Insurance
You will submit a completed claim form with supporting documents, typically the rental agreement and a police report if one applies. The form and materials have to be submitted within 180 days of the incident.3WalletHub. Costco Visa Card Car Rental Insurance For a domestic claim, because the coverage is secondary, you file with your personal auto insurer first and then send any remaining balance to the card’s administrator. Once all documentation is received, processing usually takes 30 to 45 days.4NorteApp. Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi Rental Car Coverage
The Liability Gap
Because the card covers only the rental vehicle, think about where your liability coverage will come from. U.S. personal auto policies typically extend liability to a rental car domestically, but often not abroad.5Citi. What to Know About Car Rental Insurance Renters who do not own a car and therefore have no personal auto policy face the widest gap: without separate liability coverage, they would be personally on the hook for injuries or property damage they cause. In that situation, the rental company’s supplemental liability protection or a travel insurance policy that includes liability is worth considering.