Chase Sapphire Reserve Card: Maximizing Your Car Rental Insurance & Benefits
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The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card is one of the top credit cards on the market today (and my personal favorite). This credit card exploded out of the gate a few years ago with a huge sign-up bonus and has continued to be a powerhouse among travel rewards cards ever since.
The perks that come with this card are a dream for any frequent traveler — an annual $300 travel credit, Global Entry or TSA PreCheck credit, Priority Pass Select membership for lounge access, travel insurance, and 50% more value from your points when booking travel through the Chase Travel Portal.
With so many great benefits, it can get a bit overwhelming. So, we’re going to break it down for you and focus on just one benefit at a time.
This post will show you everything you need to know about the car rental insurance and benefits that come with the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Here’s just some of what we’ll cover:
- Primary versus secondary coverage
- What the Chase Sapphire Reserve insurance includes
- Who is covered
- How to submit a claim
Table of contents
Table of Contents
Benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card
Before we get to the nitty-gritty of the Chase Sapphire Reserve car rental insurance benefits, let’s take a quick look at the main benefits this card offers.
This premium credit card comes with premium perks but also a hefty price tag. The Chase Sapphire Reserve has an annual fee of $550. While this is a lot of money, the benefits that come with it can more than make up for the price tag. That’s one of the reasons it remains a very popular card among travel enthusiasts.
| Credit Card | Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
Chase Sapphire Reserve® Learn More (at Chase's secure site) |
$1,000 Must Reads: For more on the Chase Sapphire Reserve, see our thoughts on its benefits, global airport lounge access, and travel insurance protection. Take a look here for our full review. |
Ongoing Perks of the Chase Sapphire Reserve:
- $300 annual travel credit (including gas and grocery purchases through December 31, 2021)
- Earn 10x points on Chase dining, hotels, and car rentals booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal
- Earn 10x points on Lyft rides
- Earn 5x points on airfare booked through the Chase travel portal
- Earn 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on travel and dining purchases
- Earn 1 Chase Ultimate Rewards point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85) fee credit (every 4 years)
- Points are worth 50% more: 1.5 cents per point value when redeemed through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal
- 1:1 point transfers to lots of airline and hotel partners
- Trip cancellation/interruption insurance
- Baggage delay and lost luggage insurance
- Airport lounge access through Priority Pass
- Travel accident insurance and emergency medical coverage
Hot Tip: For more information and a full explanation of all of the benefits offered by this card, see our article on the 25+ valuable benefits of the Chase Sapphire Reserve.
If, despite all of these great benefits, the price tag is still too steep for you, consider the Chase Sapphire Preferred® card. This card also earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points and has some similar benefits, but the annual fee is only $95!
Car Rental Insurance
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with an Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver, often referred to as a CDW. That’s basically just a fancy term for car rental insurance. It covers damage or theft of most rental vehicles worldwide.
Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
The auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW) provided by the Chase Sapphire Reserve applies to more than just the primary cardholder. If you’re an authorized user and listed as the primary renter, you’re also covered.
To be eligible for the insurance that comes with the Sapphire Reserve® you must do 2 things:
- Decline the collision insurance offered by the car rental company
- Charge the entire rental cost to your Sapphire Reserve®
Hot Tip: When you pay for your entire rental car cost on your Chase Sapphire Reserve you’ll not only be eligible for primary car rental insurance, you’ll also be earning 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar! You can then transfer those points to one of Chase’s hotel or airline partners or use them to book travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
Primary Versus Secondary Coverage
The coverage offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve is primary coverage.
This means that you do NOT have to file a claim with any other insurance company you may have before you can take advantage of this Chase Sapphire Reserve benefit.
Other Chase credit cards offering primary car rental coverage are:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
- Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
- Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Who and What Is Covered
So, what and who is actually covered when you take advantage of the insurance offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve?
The Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) applies to:
- The cardholder (This can be the primary cardholder or authorized user, but they must be listed as the primary renter)
- Any additional drivers listed on the rental agreement
The CDW will cover up to $75,000 in physical damages and/or theft of the vehicle for rentals that are 31 consecutive days or less. Other expenses that are covered include reasonable towing charges and loss of use charges incurred by the rental company.
What’s Not Covered
As with most insurance policies, there’s a long list of things that aren’t covered. Here are just some of the things that are NOT covered by the insurance offered by the Chase Sapphire Reserve:
- Antique cars
- Vans designed to carry more than 8 passengers
- Vehicles with open cargo beds
- Trucks
- Motorcycles
- Mopeds
- Motorbikes
- Limousines
- Recreational vehicles
- Expenses reimbursed through other forms of insurance
- Any obligation you assume under any other agreement
- Injury of anyone or anything inside or outside of the vehicle
- Any type of lease
- Loss or theft of personal belongings
- Any violation of the rental agreement
- Any rentals over 31 days in length
Bottom Line: The auto rental collision damage waiver provided by the Chase Sapphire Reserve will cover up to $75,000 in damages for the primary cardholder, plus any authorized drivers (on most rentals).
How to File a Claim
If you experience an accident or theft of your rental car, you must notify the benefits administrator within 60 days of the incident.
You must then submit a completed claim form within 100 days of the damage or theft. Any and all supporting documentation must be submitted within 1 year of the damage or theft.
Here’s how:
- File a claim over the phone: 1-888-675-1461
- File a claim online: www.eclaimsline.com
You may be asked to supply supporting documentation with your claim. This could include any or all of the following documents:
- Car rental agreement showing that you declined the CDW offered by the rental company
- Credit card statement showing you paid for the entire rental with your Chase Sapphire Reserve card
- A police report
- Repair estimates
- Photos of the damage
- Any other documents deemed necessary by the benefits administrator
Important Dates to Remember
The timing of your claim is important. For your claim to be approved, it must comply with the following timeline:
- You must contact the benefits administrator within 60 days of the incident.
- You must file a claim within 100 days of the incident.
- You must submit all supporting documentation within 365 days of the incident.
Bottom Line: To file a claim with your Chase Sapphire Reserve, call 1-888-675-1461 or go online to eclaimsline.com.
Special Car Rental Privileges and Discount Codes
Along with collision and theft protection, your Chase Sapphire Reserve offers you special privileges and discount codes with different car rental agencies.
National Car Rental
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with complimentary Emerald Club Executive Level membership with National Car Rental.
You can also save up to 25% on qualifying rentals in the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean using code 5030849. To be eligible for this discount you must book directly through National on their website or by calling National at 1-800-227-7368.
Avis
Once you’re enrolled in Avis Preferred you can save up to 30% on qualifying rentals with Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) Number S107100.
To receive this discount, you must book directly through Avis — the discount doesn’t apply when booking a rental car through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
The discount applies to the base rate only and will vary based on location, date, and type of car. You’re required to make your reservation 24 hours in advance to receive these benefits.
Silvercar
After creating a Silvercar account and verifying your card’s eligibility, you’ll be eligible for special discounts as a Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholder.
Your Chase Sapphire Reserve must be saved as the default payment on your Silvercar account to receive a discount. The discount must be applied at the time of booking and can only be used when booking directly through Silvercar.
The discount isn’t available when booking a rental car through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
Bottom Line: The discounts and benefits offered by Avis, National Car Rental, and Silvercar are only available when booking directly through the car rental agency. A discount code may be required. These discounts can’t be applied when booking a rental car through the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal.
How to Find and Activate These Benefits — A Step by Step Guide
These special car rental privileges require you to sign up with each car rental agency individually. Thankfully, links to sign-up are easy to find in your online Chase account.
Step 1: First, sign in to your online Chase Ultimate Rewards account and click on the menu icon in the upper left-hand corner.
Step 2: If you have more than 1 Chase credit card, be sure to select your Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Step 3: Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on Card Benefits.
Step 4: Scroll down until you get to Special Car Rental Privileges. You’ll find more information and links to sign up with the 3 programs that offer discounts — National Car Rental, Avis, and Silvercar.
Final Thoughts
Renting a car can be stressful, but having the right credit card in your wallet can help make the process a little easier.
The Chase Sapphire Reserve comes with many benefits including primary rental car insurance. This policy is activated if you decline the collision damage waiver offered by the rental company and pay for the entire cost of the rental using your Sapphire Reserve® card.
Knowing this type of coverage is included with your credit card can take some of the stress out of renting a car.
I rented a car with Chase Reserve recently and was told I also needed to provide my regular car insurance to them because Chase does not cover liability.
Hi Pam,
The Reserve provides primary auto rental Collision Damage Waiver (CDW). This is not liability insurance, so you’re only covered for damage and theft to your rental vehicle. CDW does not cover damage to someone else’s property or if someone is injured in a wreck.
In the USA car rental companies are required by law to provide liability insurance. Lots of people in the US don’t own a car and therefore don’t have any car insurance, they can still rent a car declining all the optional coverage! The problem is that the default insurance only covers the state minimum requirement, which might be ludicrously small. So that’s why they ask for your coverage or try to sell you “supplemental liability”. I think it’s illegal to *require* you to purchase the supplemental (in the US). Foreign countries seem to do it as a matter of routine.
I booked a car rental in January with my CSR using points, but I am thinking about downgrading the card soon as I don’t think I’ll need it as much after this trip. Would my rental still be eligible for the insurance coverage if I downgraded the card before the trip?
Hi Marcus,
Unfortunately, it will not be eligible for the insurance, since you need to be cardholder when submitting a claim.
I’ve seen articles like this reference that trucks are excluded from coverage. However, reading Chase Sapphire Reserve’s Guide to Benefits dated 11/ 1/19 on page 3 it says that certain vehicles are not covered include: “antique cars (cars over twenty (20) years old or that have not been manufactured for ten (10) years or more), cargo vans, vehicles with open cargo beds, trucks, (other than pick-ups), motorcycles, mopeds, motorbikes, limousines, and recreational vehicles and passenger vans with seating for more than nine (9) people, including the driver (passenger vans with seating for nine (9) or
less, including the driver, are covered).”
Also, on page 4 it address damages that are excluded from the policy including “Damage to the interior bed of a pick-up truck unless such damage is caused by or the result of a covered loss, such as theft or collision” and “Damage to a pick-up truck that is a result of loading or unloading objects into the bed.”
This seems like contradictory language. Trucks are excluded from coverage – “other than pick-ups.”
Has anyone had any experience with this?
Can you still get primary car rental coverage if you are only paying taxes and fees on the rental with a Chase Sapphire Reserve? I have enough points with Enterprise to rent a car for free for 8 days. I’m only required to pay the taxes and fees on the rental.
Hi Pat. The terms and conditions state that you must “initiate and complete your entire car rental transaction” with the card. You may want to call the number on the back of your card and speak with Chase for any further clarification.