Capital one venture card rental car benefits

In the interest of full disclosure, OMAAT earns a referral bonus for anyone that’s approved through some of the below links. These are the best publicly available offers (terms apply) that we have found for each product or service. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of the bank, credit card issuer, airline, hotel chain, or product manufacturer/service provider, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Please check out our advertiser policy for further details about our partners, and thanks for your support!

Link: Apply now for the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card

There’s a lot to understand about the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, which is Capital One’s premium consumer credit card.

One benefit people look for with a premium credit card is good rental car protection, and that’s something that the Capital One Venture X offers. In this post I wanted to discuss the card’s rental car protection in greater detail. This nicely complements the card offering Hertz President’s Circle status, plus the card offering 10x Venture miles on rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

• What rental car coverage does the Capital One Venture X offer?
• How do you file a rental car claim with the Capital One Venture X?
• How does this compare to rental car coverage offered by other cards?
• Bottom line

What rental car coverage does the Capital One Venture X offer?

The Capital One Venture X offers primary auto rental collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage for rental cars, both in the United States and abroad. There are some basic terms to be aware of, as you’d expect:

• This coverage reimburses you for damages caused by theft or collision, up to the actual cash value of rental vehicles with an original manufacturer’s warranty of up to $75,000 when new; furthermore, valid loss of use charges by the rental car company, as well as administrative fees and reasonable and customary towing charges, are covered
• This coverage doesn’t apply for expensive, exotic, and antique cars, cargo vans, vehicles with an open cargo bed, trucks, motorcycles, mopeds, motorbikes, limousines, and recreational vehicles
• This coverage doesn’t cover any other type of loss, like damage to another driver’s car, or injury of a person
• To take advantage of this, review the auto rental agreement and decline the rental company’s collision damage waiver option, or a similar provision
• Rental periods of up to 15 consecutive days are covered within your country of residence, or rentals of up to 31 consecutive days are covered outside of your country of residence; this benefit is in effect during the time that the rental car is in your control, and terminates when the rental company reassumes control of the vehicle
• Coverage is not valid in Israel, Jamaica, and the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland
• The coverage applies when you pay for your rental with the Capital One Venture X (either with cash or by redeeming Capital One miles); this applies to both primary cardmembers and authorized users, and coverage applies to you as the primary car renter, and any additional drivers permitted by the rental car agreement

You’ll want to consult the full Capital One Visa Infinite benefits guide for all the details, as they’re subject to change, and there are some further restrictions. Also note that this coverage is specifically for rental cars, and not for car sharing services like Turo (though Capital One and Turo have a partnership offering up to 10x Venture miles on rentals).

How do you file a rental car claim with the Capital One Venture X?

In the unfortunate event that you actually need to use the Capital One Venture X rental car coverage, how do you go about it?

• If you have an accident or your vehicle is stolen, immediately call the Benefit Administrator at 1-800-825-4062 to report the incident (outside the United States you can call collect to 1-804-965-8071)
• Report the theft or damage as soon as possible, but no later than 45 days from the date of the incident
• You’ll then have to file a claim, and you’ll want to ask the rental car company for several documents, including a copy of the accident report form, a copy of the initial and final auto rental agreement, a copy of the repair estimate and itemized repair bill, two photographs of the damaged vehicle (if available), a police report (if obtainable), and a copy of the demand letter that indicates the cost you’re responsible for
• You’ll then have to submit the above documents, plus some additional documents, within 90 days of the theft or damage date, even if other required documents aren’t yet available
• Additional needed documents include a copy of your monthly billing statement (showing the last four digits of your account number) that show the transaction was made with your eligible account, and any other documentation required by the Benefit Administrator to substantiate the claim
• Your claim will typically be finalized within 15 days of the Benefit Administrator receiving all the documents needed to substantiate your claim

How does this compare to rental car coverage offered by other cards?

For those wondering how the rental car coverage offered by the Capital One Venture X compares to the coverage offered by other premium cards, let’s compare the coverage to some popular competitors:

• The Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card (review) has very similar coverage, with the biggest difference being that the Chase card doesn’t have any country limits (while Capital One has a few countries excluded)
• The Platinum Card® from American Express (review) doesn’t offer primary rental car coverage, so in that sense Amex really can’t compete

I think it’s also important to emphasize that even primary collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage doesn’t fully cover you — this isn’t a full insurance policy. It covers you for the damage to your car, but doesn’t cover damage to other cars, or bodily injury.

People may be covered for that with their personal insurance, but for those without a personal insurance policy that covers rentals, you might want to pay for more premium protection, in the unlikely event that another car is damaged, or there are injuries.

Bottom line

The Capital One Venture X offers primary collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage both within the United States and in most countries abroad, for the primary cardmember and authorized users. This is an important perk for premium credit cards that I know many people value, so hopefully the above is a useful summary of how it works. Capital One’s rental car coverage policy is very competitive with what’s offered by other premium credit cards.

And of course this is only one of many great reasons to apply for this card, as it also offers a great welcome bonus, plus perks like a $300 annual travel credit, 10K bonus anniversary miles, a Priority Pass membership, access to Plaza Premium Lounges, access to Capital One Lounges, awesome authorized user perks, cell phone protection, and more.

What do you make of the Capital One Venture X‘s rental car coverage policy?