Here’s something I wasn’t expecting to write: My credit card’s rental car coverage actually paid out for damage I was almost certain would be excluded.
I almost didn’t even bother filing a claim, and I learned a valuable lesson about double-checking in the process.
On a recent trip to Fiji, heavy recent rain and low visibility caused me to hit a water-filled pothole, which shredded my tire. When I got home and checked the fine print on my premium credit card’s coverage policy, things looked grim.
The policy excluded “wear and tear, gradual deterioration, or mechanical breakdown” — and when I asked Google, ChatGPT and a fellow TPG expert whether a flat tire might be covered, all three told me it almost certainly wouldn’t be.
But before I wrote it off as a travel misadventure, I called the benefits administrator directly. While it took some time to get a definitive answer, it turns out that sudden impact damage from a road hazard is treated very differently from gradual wear and tear.
Ultimately, my claim was approved in full after I submitted the appropriate documentation. Word to the wise: Make sure you get a receipt for any repairs, and always do this one quick and very important thing before driving your rental.
The lesson here isn’t really about driving cautiously. It’s that the fine print on credit card travel benefits is genuinely complex, and even a thorough reading (or an AI second opinion) can lead you to the wrong conclusion. If you’ve ever assumed a claim wasn’t worth filing, you might want to think again.
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Photo Credit: ANDRES BALCAZAR/GETTY IMAGES.
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