USAA Announces Discontinuation of Price Protection

USAA Visa Signature cardholders will no longer have access to price protection as of August 31. USAA (United Services Automobile Association) offers a small selection of credit cards to members of the military and their families, including children whose parents joined USAA. Although the selection of cards is limited, all of them currently offer price protection and other benefits without an annual fee.

But, Doctor Of Credit reported today — and I was able to confirm via my husband JT's USAA Rewards Visa Signature Card — that the price-protection benefit is ending. Cardholders have been receiving the following letter:

Specifically, USAA Visa Signature cards will see the following changes in benefits:

• Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver — There will no longer be a limit on the value of the car you rent; however, certain restrictions apply. For example, exotic car rentals are excluded.
• Extended Warranty — The claim maximum has been raised to $15,000 from $10,000.
• Price Protection — This benefit is being discontinued because cardholders weren't using it very much.

Two of the three changes are positive, but the one negative change — loss of price protection — means that the list of cards that still offer price protection is growing very short with Citi, Mastercard and Discover all discontinuing their price protection programs recently. USAA notes that the price-protection benefit "is being discontinued due to low usage by cardholders." But, low usage should make the benefit inexpensive for an issuer to provide.

USAA said the following in an email statement: "The price protection benefit will be discontinued for all of our card products as of August 31, 2019; however, our non-Visa Signature cards will have rental car term coverage expanded from 15 days to 31 days. For all of our card products, there will no longer be a limit on the value of the car rented, with certain restrictions."

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On the plus side, USAA provides online guide to benefits for all of its cards without requiring a log-in, but these guides haven't yet been updated to reflect the announced changes.