How My Chase Credit Card Saved Me Thousands on Rental Car Damage Fees

Updated: November 21, 2024, 5:21am CST

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Booking the Rental Car
Rental Car Hail Damage
Insurance Headaches
Lessons I Learned From Booking a Rental Car
Bottom Line

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Travel rarely goes smoothly. There are nearly limitless incidents that can throw your trip off course, which is why trip insurance is vital.

After many years of travel, I finally had my first major claim, which was through no fault of my own. The car had $7,000 worth of hail damage, and thankfully, I paid nothing out of pocket.

Here’s how I filed the claim, the claims process, and what I learned along the way.

Booking the Rental Car

I typically book the cheapest vehicle possible when I need a rental car to be cost-efficient. For this trip, I had to transport multiple people, so I needed something bigger and more comfortable.

I booked a midsize SUV through Costco Travel and was given a 2024 Jeep Compass. It was pretty new, with under 10,000 miles on the odometer. I paid $289.73 for the car with the Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card.

Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

U.P. Rating

The Ink Business Preferred card is hard to beat, with a huge welcome bonus offer and 3x points per $1 on the first $150,000 in so many business categories.

Apply Now(at Chase's secure site)

Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card

The Ink Business Preferred card is hard to beat, with a huge welcome bonus offer and 3x points per $1 on the first $150,000 in so many business categories.

Welcome OfferEarn 90k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠.
90,000 points

UP's Bonus Valuation*:
$1,800

Annual Fee

$95

APR

20.49% - 26.49% Variable

Credit Recommended

Good to Excellent (670-850)

Why We Like This Card

The Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card is a powerhouse for earning lots of points from your business purchases, especially for business owners that spend regularly on ads.

Plus the card offers flexible redemption options, including access to Chase airline and hotel transfer partners where you can achieve outsized value.

Business owners will also love the protections the card provides like excellent cell phone insurance, rental car insurance, purchase protection, and more.

Pros & Cons

Pros

3x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 on up to $150,000 in combined purchases on internet, cable and phone services, shipping expenses, travel, and ads purchased with search engines or social media sites
Cell phone protection
Purchase protection

Cons

No elite travel benefits like airport lounge access

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Card Highlights

Earn 90k bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $900 cash back or $1,125 toward travel when redeemed through Chase Travel℠
Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year. Earn 1 point per $1 on all other purchases
Round-the-clock monitoring for unusual credit card purchases
With Zero Liability you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card or account information.
Redeem points for cash back, gift cards, travel and more - your points don't expire as long as your account is open
Points are worth 25% more when you redeem for travel through Chase Travel℠
Purchase Protection covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Member FDIC

Financial Snapshot

APR: 20.49% - 26.49% Variable
Foreign Transaction Fees: $0

Rewards Center

Chase Ultimate Rewards

You’ll earn 3x points on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year, so I earned 869 Chase Ultimate Rewards points (which we value at roughly $58). Additionally, I earned 2% back on the purchase with my Costco Executive membership.

I used this card to help earn the welcome bonus offer, and I knew the card had primary rental car insurance. However, the credit card coverage with the Ink Business Preferred card is secondary when traveling for personal reasons, which meant my primary car insurance was the first coverage to kick in.

Rental Car Hail Damage

On a recent trip to Denver for work and a wedding, I woke up to a startling hailstorm. My phone alerted me to take cover, as there was baseball-size hail headed my way.

Emergency Alert — This was not a fun message to wake up to as I was falling asleep. Image Credit: Brett Holzhauer

My rental car wasn’t under any protective cover, and I had a feeling the car was going to sustain some damage. I had a strict wedding schedule to follow that weekend, so I needed the car to be operational. When I woke up the next morning, I found the parking lot covered in hail.

Snowstorm Colorado — I knew the car was damaged when I walked out to this mess in the morning. Image Credit: Brett Holzhauer

The car now had the texture of a golf ball.

Rental car damage — This was the roof of the car the next morning. Image Credit: Brett Holzhauer

The car didn’t have anything functionally wrong, which was a relief. Other cars in the parking lot had broken windshields and significant damage.

When I contacted Alamo to report the incident, I told them I didn’t want to return the car. They said it was fine to keep the car. The car ran fine throughout the weekend, though it was just a bit uneasy on the eyes. The process of turning in the car was no different, and the attendant told me Alamo would contact me.

Insurance Headaches

After leaving Denver, I now had to play the ringmaster of 3 different parties: Alamo, my primary car insurance (Progressive), and the secondary car insurance through the Ink Business Preferred card.

Shortly after I turned in the car on June 2, Alamo began emailing me the necessary documentation to get information about my insurance coverage.

Alamo already had my info for my primary rental car insurance from my credit card. After I returned home, I filed a claim with Chase Card Benefit Services. I filed it a few days after turning the car in, and it took roughly 10 minutes to upload pictures of the damage and documentation.

A few weeks later, Alamo sent me the bill for the damage, which was just over $7,000.

For several months, I exchanged emails and phone calls with the parties involved, which was a pain. I also had to be extremely clear that I was traveling for work purposes, which I was before the wedding festivities.

First, my primary car insurance company, Progressive, covered a large amount of the cost, but not all of it. The adjuster told me they covered:

Damages less the $500 deductible
Loss of use fees
Administration fees
Diminished value

This amounted to $1,648 left on the ledger. Now, the Chase card insurance kicked in. The Alamo adjuster contacted me sometime in August to get the information for Chase Card Benefit Services. On September 25, a check was issued from my secondary insurance through Chase to Alamo. However, the check was only for $1,055, leaving a gap of roughly $500. This made me uneasy that I would still be on the hook.

However, early on in the process, the helpful claims specialist from Alamo said the fees were negotiable and they wanted to get close to the final amount owed.

On October 10 — over 4 months after the hail fell from the sky — I received my paid-in-full notice.

Rental Car Paid In Full — I felt relief when I finally got this email from Alamo. Image Credit: Alamo

Bottom Line:

After all was said and done, my car made it through the busy weekend, but the process of filing a claim and communicating with insurance companies lasted months. Thankfully, because of my Chase Ink Business Preferred card, I paid nothing out of pocket for the rental car damage.

Lessons I Learned From Booking a Rental Car

Use a Card With Primary Insurance for Rental Cars

I’ve been using my Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card for all of my purchases for simplicity. After this experience, I’ll know to always put my rental cars on this card, as it comes with primary rental car insurance no matter the reason for travel.

So if I experience another incident like this, the coverage on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card would come first and my personal insurance wouldn’t be used.

I don’t enjoy driving or the responsibilities that come along with it. In this case, I had to have a rental car to drive around 400 miles throughout the long weekend, so ride-sharing wasn’t feasible. However, this experience has only confirmed my preference for using ride-share companies.

There’s so much that can go wrong with renting a car, and when you’re traveling, it can derail your trip if your car is damaged. What’s more, using a ride-share service or public transit can be a lot cheaper than having a rental car. And there are plenty of opportunities to earn rewards on your Uber charges.

Bottom Line

Car damage is never fun to deal with, but thankfully, my Ink Business Preferred card came to the rescue. Before you book your next rental car, be sure you’re using a card with primary car insurance to fully protect you against any issues.